The refiner has hundreds of recipes, but most of them don’t matter. The ones that do matter can multiply your resources, print nanites, or turn a small stack of materials into millions of units. Here are the recipes worth knowing, with exact quantities from the game data.
Nanite Farming Recipes
These are the best routes to Nanite Clusters depending on what materials you have access to.
Tainted Metal → Nanites (Best Single-Step Recipe)
1x Tainted Metal → 2x Nanite Clusters Works in any refiner. This is the most efficient straightforward nanite recipe in the game.
Tainted Metal drops from Corrupted Sentinels (the purple-crystal variants you find on Dissonant planets). Kill them, loot Tainted Metal, refine it. At 2 nanites per metal, a good Sentinel farm can generate thousands of nanites per hour.
Runaway Mould Chain (Best for Bulk Farming)
The classic setup. Runaway Mould refines into nanites at a 5:1 ratio, which sounds bad until you realize Runaway Mould itself multiplies.
| Step | Input | Output | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1x Atlantideum + 1x Pugneum | 3x Runaway Mould | Bootstraps the farm |
| 2 | 1x Living Slime | 1x Runaway Mould | Alternative if you have Living Slime |
| 3 | 5x Runaway Mould | 1x Nanite Cluster | Final conversion |
Find Curious Deposits on planets (they look like pulsing yellow nodes), extract Runaway Mould, and refine it. Build your refining operation next to a cluster of deposits and you have a passive nanite farm.
Creature Products (Best Nanite Rate Per Item)
If you’ve been ignoring creature product drops, stop. These have some of the highest nanite conversion rates in the game.
| Input | Output | Refiner |
|---|---|---|
| 1x Larval Core | 50x Nanite Clusters | Any |
| 1x Flesh Rope | 50x Nanite Clusters | Any |
| 1x Radiant Shard | 50x Nanite Clusters | Any |
| 1x Vile Spawn | 50x Nanite Clusters | Any |
| 1x Inverted Mirror | 95x Nanite Clusters | Any |
| 1x Hyaline Brain | 230x Nanite Clusters | Any |
Larval Cores drop from destroyed Biological Horrors. Hyaline Brains and Inverted Mirrors come from corrupted planet creatures. A single Hyaline Brain gives you 230 nanites in one refiner cycle. That adds up fast.
Salvaged Data → Nanites
1x Salvaged Data → 15x Nanite Clusters
Not the most efficient use of Salvaged Data (it unlocks base building blueprints), but if you have more than you need, refining it is a solid fallback. 15 nanites per data point adds up fast when you’re sitting on 100+ of them.
Unit Farming: The Chlorine Expansion Loop
This is the best unit-farming recipe in the game and it hasn’t changed in years. The ratio alone tells you why:
1x Chlorine + 2x Oxygen → 6x Chlorine
Every cycle multiplies your Chlorine by 6 (net +5 after replacing your input). Run it again with the output, and again, and again. A stack of 9,999 Chlorine sells for a few million units at any Galactic Trade Terminal.
To start the loop you just need a small amount of Chlorine. You can buy it from pilots at space stations or refine it from Salt:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 2x Salt | 1x Chlorine |
| 2x Salt + 2x Oxygen | 5x Chlorine |
| 1x Kelp Sac + 1x Salt | 2x Chlorine |
The same multiplication trick works on Ionised Cobalt:
1x Ionised Cobalt + 2x Oxygen → 6x Ionised Cobalt
Ionised Cobalt is worth less per unit than Chlorine, but it’s easier to stockpile early on. Either loop works. Pick whichever resource you have more of.
Oxygen source tip: Build Gas Extractors near Oxygen hotspots on a planet and let them run. Oxygen is the catalyst for both loops, so having a steady supply makes these farms essentially free to run.
Chromatic Metal Recipes
Chromatic Metal is used everywhere: technology upgrades, base parts, craftable products, exocraft. The best recipe depends on what stellar metals you have access to.
Basic Conversion (Any Refiner)
| Input | Output | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 2x Copper | 1x Chromatic Metal | 2:1 |
| 2x Cadmium | 1x Chromatic Metal | 2:1 |
| 2x Emeril | 3x Chromatic Metal | 2:3 |
| 2x Indium | 4x Chromatic Metal | 2:4 |
| 2x Quartzite | 4x Chromatic Metal | 2:4 |
Indium and Quartzite are the most efficient basic conversions. If you’re using Copper, you’re leaving Chromatic Metal on the table.
Activated Metal Conversion (Better Ratios)
Activated metals give you more Chromatic Metal per unit. Mine Activated variants when you can — they’re the same mineral from different planet types.
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 1x Activated Copper | 1x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Activated Cadmium | 2x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Activated Emeril | 3x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Activated Indium | 4x Chromatic Metal |
Best Recipe: Activated Metal + Pure Ferrite
Adding Pure Ferrite to the mix multiplies output:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 1x Activated Cadmium + 1x Pure Ferrite | 4x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Activated Emeril + 1x Pure Ferrite | 6x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Activated Indium + 1x Pure Ferrite | 8x Chromatic Metal |
1 Activated Indium + 1 Pure Ferrite → 8 Chromatic Metal is the most efficient recipe without a Large Refiner. If you have Indium access, use this.
Large Refiner: Stellar Fusion
For the truly absurd Chromatic Metal output, combine Silver, Gold, and a stellar metal in a Large Refiner:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 1x Silver + 1x Gold + 1x Copper | 5x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Silver + 1x Gold + 1x Cadmium | 10x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Silver + 1x Gold + 1x Emeril | 20x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Silver + 1x Gold + 1x Indium | 30x Chromatic Metal |
| 1x Silver + 1x Gold + 1x Quartzite | 30x Chromatic Metal |
That’s a 10:1 ratio on three inputs. Gold and Silver are both farmable from asteroids or planetary deposits, so running this chain is practical if you have Indium on your main base planet.
Carbon and Condensed Carbon
The basic recipe (2x Carbon → 1x Condensed Carbon) is fine in a pinch, but it’s not the one you should be using. Oxygen changes everything.
| Input | Output | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2x Carbon | 1x Condensed Carbon | Baseline, ratio is poor |
| 2x Carbon + 2x Oxygen | 5x Condensed Carbon | Much better. Use this. |
| 1x Condensed Carbon + 2x Oxygen | 6x Condensed Carbon | Best. Multiplies your stock. |
The third recipe (1 Condensed Carbon + 2 Oxygen → 6 Condensed Carbon) is effectively the Chlorine loop but for Carbon. Start with a small stack of Condensed Carbon, add Oxygen, and your supply multiplies every cycle. Condensed Carbon is better to carry than raw Carbon (it’s more inventory-efficient and used in more recipes), so this is worth setting up early.
Ferrite Upgrades
Ferrite Dust is everywhere, but some base parts and repairs need Pure Ferrite or Magnetised Ferrite. The upgrade chain is simple:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 1x Ferrite Dust | 1x Pure Ferrite |
| 2x Pure Ferrite | 1x Magnetised Ferrite |
You can accelerate this with Pugneum:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 2x Ferrite Dust + 1x Pugneum | 3x Pure Ferrite |
| 2x Pure Ferrite + 1x Pugneum | 3x Magnetised Ferrite |
Pugneum drops from Sentinels, so if you’re farming Tainted Metal anyway, you’ll have Pugneum as a byproduct. Use it here for faster Ferrite throughput.
Note: Magnetised Ferrite also refines back down to 2x Pure Ferrite if you need to reverse the chain. You won’t lose anything.
Bonus: Warp Cell Recipe (Large Refiner)
Warp Cells from scratch without crafting Antimatter:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 25x Condensed Carbon + 5x Sodium Nitrate + 250x Chromatic Metal | 1x Warp Cell |
| 25x Condensed Carbon + 10x Sodium + 250x Chromatic Metal | 1x Warp Cell |
250 Chromatic Metal per Warp Cell is steep, but if you’ve got the Activated Indium loop running it’s free. Useful when you need Warp Cells quickly and don’t have Antimatter in stock.
Which Refiner Do You Actually Need?
Most of these recipes work in any refiner: Portable, Medium, or Large. The only exceptions are the three-input recipes (stellar fusion Chromatic Metal, Warp Cells, and alloy recipes), which require a Large Refiner.
If you’re just starting out, build a Medium Refiner as soon as possible. The Portable one caps out fast. The Large Refiner unlocks the three-input slots but doesn’t speed up single/dual input recipes.
For the full recipe list, the refining page has every combination searchable by input or output.
Sources
- Extracted game data
- All refiner recipes
- Tainted Metal
- Runaway Mould