10 best Starfield items for research and crafting

As you explore Starfield, you need a wealth of resources and items to perform research and crafting. Some of these will come to you easily, while others may require a bit more work. However, they are, without a doubt, the most useful objects you’ll come across, making them valuable resources. In this article, I go over how rare these might be and a series of things you could use them for as you progress across the cosmos.

How you rate and value these items could vary, though. It also depends on what you want to focus on while you explore Starfield. In general, research and crafting will use significant amounts of the items mentioned below, provided you spend time doing both.

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Most useful items for research and crafting in Starfield

10) Copper

You will need a lot of copper throughout the game (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Slug Shot, Semi-Automatic weapon mods, EM Shielding spacesuit/helmet mods, Cooking Station, Research Lab.

Copper is an incredibly common resource in Starfield and is still one of the most useful research and crafting items. If you’re going to build an outpost at all, you need Copper in large amounts. Many of the important features of your base, such as the Solar Array and Helium-3 Extractor, require it.

You also need it for a Research Lab. It is useful in a variety of weapon mods and ammo, making it a key resource that you’re going to want to farm across the stars.

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9) Iron

Iron is another common but useful resource (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Iron Extractor, Industrial Workbench, Pharmaceutical Lab, Tech Barrel, Long Barrel mods

Copper and Iron are frankly similar in so many ways that it’s unfair to label one better than the other. However, Copper is a bit more common. In general, you’re going to use a lot of Iron when constructing buildings. It is also common in many of the stations you will build on your outposts. That makes it just as important as Copper for research and crafting but slightly more useful.

It’s not a hard resource to find, either. It’s said you can find Iron on over 300 planets in the galaxy, so no matter where you are in the early game, you will likely find this valuable object.

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8) Sealant

Sealant is used in quite a few projects (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Several dozen weapon mods - Depleted Uranium Rounds, Fully Automatic, and Choke mods

Sealant can be found in the wild, but honestly, it’s much easier and faster to spend some money and acquire it from vendors across Starfield. While you’re on the main story mission, All That Money Can Buy, you will come across two vendors who carry it - Newell and Sieghart. Quite a few others sell it, too, so it won’t be hard to come by.

Barring that, you can find Sealant in similar places to Adhesive as you explore the various planets.

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7) Adaptive Frame

If you want to really farm exp, this is what you need, among other things (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Domestication, Horticulture, Manufacturing, and more

While Adaptive Frame isn’t used as frequently as some of the other Starfield resources, its need for research is second to none. It is used in a significant number of projects at the Research Lab, making it a key component if you want to carry out any research at all.

Thankfully, it can be purchased from vendors like Wen Tseng and Dietrich Sieghart, although you can also craft it. It only takes 1x Iron and 1x Aluminum. With that in mind, you will need a lot of it, so stock up. It's especially great when farming exp.

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6) Lead

Good ballistic weaponry and ammo requires Lead (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Penetrator Rounds, Slug Shots, Drum Magazine, Hornet Nest, and various Battery Mods

If you’re like us, and you like shooting things in Starfield, you need a copious amount of Lead. It’s used in a wide assortment of ammo mods, as well as Magazine and Battery modifications. Thankfully, this resource is incredibly common across hundreds of worlds.

Most of the early game will give you plenty on planets like Earth, Mars, and Luna. It’s not hard to find, and as long as you need to unload ballistic weapons, you will want this resource.

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5) Polymer

Having a stock of Polymer will help with weapons and spacesuit upgrades (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Drum Magazine, Focus Nozzle, Shock Charge Band, Energy Shielding, Heavy Shielding, and more

Polymer might be a little harder to find in Starfield, but thankfully, there are a few merchants you can rely on – Dietrich Sieghart and Amoli Bava. It is used in many weapons workbench items and a few important spacesuit mods as well.

If you want Heavy Shielding in your spacesuit, you will need Polymer. It’s an exotic resource and may be rare in the world, but it is still useful.

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4) Adhesive

Adhesive is easily one of the most useful objects you can farm (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Modding items on the Weapon and Spacesuit Workbenches, Research Lab, Magazine and Battery Mods, Helmet Mods, and more

Adhesive is one of the most useful substances you can have in Starfield. Whether crafting and researching for more powerful armaments or simply designing something that will look nice, you will require Adhesives and Sealants.

Jemison Mercantile might be the easiest place to find it, but you will also see it in the objects you loot while exploring strange planets. It's safe to say that it is fairly easy to find.

The best thing about Adhesive is that it never goes to waste. Virtually all types of mods use it in some form or another. You can also use it in weapon mods, like Explosive Rounds.

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3) Titanium

Titanium is rare, but there are planets you can farm plenty on (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Fully Automatic, Semi-Automatic, High Velocity, High Powered, Choke, Suppressor, and others

Rare but valuable, Titanium is something you may want to look out for across the various planets you head to. You can find it on Helio (Cheyenne System) and Procyon II (Procyon System), though there are other places where it spawns.

The purpose of Titanium is primarily for weapon mods. It’s great for the Research Lab and Spacesuit Workbench, but its main purpose is to help you kill aliens faster. Note that it is used in some incredibly potent weapon mods.

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2) Tungsten

Tungsten isn't so rare if you know which planets to visit in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Researching Horticulture, Manufacturing, Helmet Mods, Barrel Mods, Muzzle Mods, Armor-Piercing Rounds, Large Magazine, and more

Tungsten is an incredibly valuable research material in Starfield but also has many item uses. You can find it in a few dozen recipes alongside the aforementioned research options. It can be found across the Sol System and is used for several weapon, helmet, and spacesuit mods.

This is a rather rare resource, but it is an item you need to farm when available.

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1) Aluminum

Aluminum is both common and useful in equal measures in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

• Use examples: Solar Array, Industrial Workbench, Spacesuit Workbench, Research Lab, Iron Sights, Compensator, Whitehot Rounds, Tactical Stock, and more

Aluminum is easily one of the top resources in Starfield. It’s used for so many different research platforms and weapon mods. While it is incredibly common, like copper and iron, it is far more useful.

Whether you’re making Industrial Goods, Weapon Mods, or Research Projects, you will want a steady stock of Aluminum.

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These are far from the only resources in Starfield when it comes to crafting and researching. They are, however, for our money, the most valuable ones. You can learn more about the game in our in-depth review.