Quick Links
- Traveling With Fuel
- Liquid Erchius Fuel vs. Crystal Erchius Fuel
- Mining For Fuel On Moons
- Erchius Ghost
- Buying Fuel From Infinity Express
The entire universe is at your fingertips in Starbound. There are thousands of different planets to visit, and the only thing holding you back is fuel. It's easy to get carried away exploring space, forgetting that traveling uses fuel.
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In this guide, we are going to talk all about Erchius fuel and the two different ways to obtain it, so you can keep exploring to your heart's content.
Traveling With Fuel
You will need fuel to travel. Every time you jump between solar systems, you will consume 100 fuel. In the image above, you may notice that it only costs 83 fuel to jump to a new system. If you have a mechanic in your crew, the amount of fuel you need will decrease by 10%. This will decrease by 15% if you have two mechanics, and by 17.5% with three mechanics. Overall, try to have at least one mechanic in your crew.
If you want to travel to different planets within the same solar system, you will use no fuel. This means that you are able to travel as much as you want within a solar system without having to worry about using up your fuel.
To use your fuel, interact with the fuel tank in front of your ship. There will be six available slots for you to place fuel, with a meter going up to 1,000. This is the maximum amount of fuel you can have. With no mechanics in your crew, this will be enough for ten FTL jumps. Let's take a look at the two different types of Erchius fuel that you can place here.
Liquid Erchius Fuel vs. Crystal Erchius Fuel
While playing Starbound, you will come across liquid Erchius fuel and crystal Erchius fuel. These fuels are found in different locations but are both used to power your ship.
Liquid Erchius fuel has a 1:1 ratio for fuel, while the crystal version has a 2:1 ratio. This means that if you place 100 liquid fuel in your ship, you will have a total of 100 fuel. If you place 100 crystal fuel in your ship, then you will have a total of 200 fuel. The fuel essentially doubles.
Mining For Fuel On Moons
You can find Erchius fuel on every moon. Moons have no atmosphere, so you will either need the Breathing EPP or a mech.
You can craft a Breathing EPP from an anvil with 6x tungsten bars, 10x glass, and 1x living root. This EPP will allow you to breathe on moons and underwater.
If you don't have the Breathing EPP, you can also use your mech. To get your first mech, complete the Test Drive quest, which can be found in the underground portion of the Outpost. Talk to Dr. Akaggy (a penguin) to take a mech for a test drive, and you will receive a basic one after the course is complete.
Once you have either the EPP or mech, head to a moon. You can choose any moon as they all contain Erchius fuel.
After exploring the moon's surface, you will notice clusters of glowing pink ore. This is the crystal Erchius fuel. To mine the fuel, approach it with your mech and right-click.
There will be deposits of fuel along the surface of the moon, but you will be able to find larger clusters the farther underground you are.
Underground, you may also encounter the fuel in liquid form. To collect it, you will need the liquid collection upgrade for your Matter Manipulator. It's dangerous to explore deep into a moon, so it's definitely okay if you just want to just skim the surface of the planet looking for the crystal Erchius fuel.
Erchius Ghost
When you first land on the moon, there will be no enemies. After mining the first crystal Erchius fuel ore, an Erchius Ghost will spawn, prompting S.A.I.L. to warn you about their presence. If you travel to a moon with fuel already in your inventory, an Erchius Ghost will spawn as well. This is a pink, worm-like ghost that will follow you. These ghosts move incredibly fast and should be avoided.
When gathering fuel on moons, move quickly, and leave when you are having a hard time finding fuel. There are plenty of other moons in the universe to get more fuel at.
Buying Fuel From Infinity Express
If you don't want to visit moons to mine for fuel, you can purchase liquid Erchius fuel from the Infinity Express at the Outpost.
Here, one fuel will cost you 5 pixels. This means that if you need to buy 100 fuel for one jump, it will cost you 500 pixels. As mentioned earlier, this fuel has a 1:1 ratio. It's not the best deal, but if you are stuck in a solar system with no moon, you can teleport to the Outpost to quickly buy some fuel.
That's all there is to know about Erchius fuel. Once you have enough fuel to travel, go explore the rest of the universe!