One of the key resources in No Man's Sky, especially in the early game, is Chromatic Metal. It's used for many different purposes---including crafting new technologies and building terminals on your base. Chromatic Metal isn't a natural resource, so here's how to create plenty of it to carry around for whatever purpose may arise.
No Man's Sky: How to Get Cadmium
A complete guide on Cadmium in No Man's Sky, how to get it, and what to use it for.
How to Get Chromatic Metal in No Man's Sky
Refine Metals
The main way you can get Chromatic Metal in No Man's Sky is by refining stellar metals. Every planet has at least one stellar metal you can refine into Chromatic Metal. Use the Analysis Visor to locate nearby resource deposits and mine them using a Terrain Manipulator upgrade for the Multi-Tool. Add the resources to any Refiner alongside Carbon for fuel and start refining. The rarer the stellar metal is, the more Chromatic Metal you'll get.
Here are all the metals you can refine into Chromatic Metal:
- Copper
- Cadmium
- Activated Cadmium
- Emeril
- Activated Emeril
- Indium
- Activated Indium
- Quartzite
- Activated Quartzide
Prioritize using activated resources to refine Chromatic Metal. Activated Copper, Activated Indium, and others serve no purpose outside of being refined into Chromatic Metal, while regular versions are required to craft technology modules, structures, settlement buildings, and more.
In medium and large Refiners, you can add Pure Ferrite to another input slot to increase the total Chromatic Metal output.
Buy at a Galactic Trade Terminal
Many things can be bought with Units in No Man's Sky, and Chromatic Metal is no exception. Head to the nearest Space Station and look for Chromatic Metal at its Galactic Trade Terminal. One Chromatic Metal costs around 120 Units but can vary from station to station. If the Galactic Trade Terminal doesn't have Chromatic Metal, try your luck with passerby pilots who dock at the station before jumping into another system.
Loot and Shoot
If Chromatic Metal isn't your number one priority, you can do other things and get it passively. Hunting down pirates, rescuing freighters, and more can net you Chromatic Metal, among other resources. If you come across crashed ships, you can also dismantle any modules installed for Chromatic Metal, Wiring Looms, Antimatter, and other resources.
How to Get Infinite Chromatic Metal in No Man's Sky
There's a way to get infinite Chromatic Metal using Indium or Quartzite and a medium Refiner. Refine a part of the stellar metal into Chromatic Metal, then add Chromatic Metal to the second input slot to duplicate the original resource. Rinse and repeat for infinite Indium or Quartzite that you can refine into Chromatic Metal.
The reason this works well with Indium and Quartzite is because of their Chromatic Metal output ratios. Technically, you could do the same with Emeril, but the results are so negligible that it's not worth the effort. Doing this with other metals results in you losing resources rather than gaining.
No Man's Sky
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 36%
- Released
- August 9, 2016
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
- Publisher(s)
- Hello Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
- How Long To Beat
- 30.5 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 20.36 GB (September 2024)
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Supported VR Headsets
- Sony PlayStation VR, Sony PlayStation VR2, Valve Index, HP Reverb G2, HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC VIVE Cosmos, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro
