Lightyear Frontier has a bounty of vibrant resources for us to discover and farm. In the tutorial, you’ll be asked to grab some Aluminum Rods. This is typically a resource that needs to be refined and processed, so you may want some help to get them.
Gathering Aluminum Rods in Lightyear Frontier
In Lightyear Frontier, Aluminum Rods are a naturally occurring resource that you need to track down and farm. They are needed to upgrade your Mech, but are also used in dozens of other recipes.
Aluminum Rods spawn naturally in several regions, but the most convenient for you will likely be in The Meadows or Pine Heights. Head to the north passages of Pine Heights or the south of The Meadows to see what look like groups of grey hexagons. These are the Aluminum Rods.
You can harvest this resource using your Spike Saw – the tool you start the game with. They’ll break easily enough.
Additionally, Aluminum Rods can be gained by feeding creatures. Once you’ve fully fed a nest or species in a region, subsequent feedings will give you resources. Upon feeding a Swiftplume after fully feeding their nest, I was given an Aluminum Rod, although note that they won’t always give the same item.
Make sure to harvest a few Aluminum Rod geodes before moving on – you’ll need them.
Note that upon harvesting your first Aluminum Rod, your map will update every region that hosts them. So if you need a refresher on what regions house Aluminum, check the map. Any new region you cleanse will also tell you if it has Aluminum Rods in it.
Making the Upgrade Depot in Lightyear Frontier
Upon harvesting your first Aluminum Rod in Lightyear Frontier, you’ll be told to make an Upgrade Depot. This is a rather large structure that’ll upgrade and improve your Mech’s capabilities, a must-have for any exo-farmer.
Head back to your base and open up the build menu. The Upgrade Depot will be found in the Essentials tab (Star). It is quite demanding of space, so make sure you’ve got open grounds for you to place it. You’ll need 10 Stone and three Aluminum Rods. If you don’t like where you place it, well, you can always get rid of it.
Once built, walk your Mech over to the platform with the Mech sigil, and attach it to the Upgrade Depot. Hop out and walk over to the screen facing the Mech. From there, you’ll be able to choose from a range of upgrades, each costing different materials.
The one you’ll be able to buy right away is the Spike Saw upgrade, which costs only some Aluminum Rods. You’ll now be able to break more valuable materials.
You’re on your way to becoming an expert exo-farmer. The next step will be to build a Merchant Lander.
