Refiners & Industrial Production in No Man's Sky
Refiners are cornerstone tools for resource management and crafting in No Man's Sky, transforming raw materials into more valuable or usable forms. From basic Carbon refinement to complex element conversion, refiners are essential for progression, base building, and survival. Understanding their various types and outputs is key to efficient gameplay.
There are three main types of refiners: the Portable Refiner, the Medium Refiner, and the Large Refiner. The Portable Refiner is ideal for on-the-go processing, allowing you to refine materials directly from your inventory while exploring. The Medium and Large Refiners are base-building components that offer increased capacity and faster refining speeds, making them crucial for automated resource production.
The core function of a refiner is to take one or more input materials and produce an output material. The recipes are numerous and varied. For example, refining Carbon can yield Carbon Nanotubes or even Oxygen. Larger quantities of Carbon can be refined into Condensed Carbon, a more potent fuel source. Other common refinements include turning Ferrite Dust into Pure Ferrite, or Sodium into Sodium Nitrate.
Industrial production extends beyond simple refining. By building specialized base modules like the Mineral/Gas Extractor and the Supply Depot, you can automate resource gathering. These extractors, when placed over resource deposits, will passively collect materials over time. The collected resources are then stored in connected Supply Depots, which can be accessed remotely or by your freighters.
| Refiner Type | Capacity | Speed | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portable Refiner | 2 slots | Standard | Inventory (Deployable) |
| Medium Refiner | 3 slots | Faster | Base Building |
| Large Refiner | 5 slots | Fastest | Base Building |
To optimize your industrial production, consider setting up a network of extractors for common resources like Carbon, Ferrite Dust, and various minerals. Link these to Supply Depots and then use Large Refiners at your base to process these materials into more advanced components or valuable trade goods. This automation frees up your time for exploration and combat, while your base continues to generate resources in the background.
Furthermore, some advanced crafting recipes require refined materials as inputs. For instance, creating advanced technology modules or building complex base structures often necessitates processed resources. Mastering the use of refiners and industrial automation is therefore a vital step towards becoming a self-sufficient and prosperous intergalactic traveler.