Starbound‘s crafting system is more robust than it’s ever been pre-full release, and it’s pretty overwhelming for players both brand new to the game and coming back after a nearly three year hiatus. So many crafting stations and so little explanation makes for a confusing, but fun, time.
If you’re finding that you’re taking too much damage from monsters and are in dire need of some armor, it’s time to get accustomed to the game’s crafting system and make yourself some equipment.
The basic iron armor set you can craft early on in the game is pretty decent for keeping you alive against weaker monsters and can make your early game life much easier. And hey, while you’re crafting it you get used to messing around with the game’s crafting system. There’s not much here to lose.
Beginning with the Inventor’s Table
The first crafting station you need to make is the Inventor’s Table, which can be done via the basic crafting menu you have available by default.
Click this icon or press the ‘C’ key to enter Basic Crafting.
To craft the Inventor’s Table you need:
- 4 Wooden Logs
- 12 Timber
- Made via basic crafting, requires 3 Timber total
Once you’ve made and placed your Inventor’s Table, press the ‘E’ key to interact with the table and have access to its blueprints. The next station you need to make is the Primitive Furnace via the Inventor’s Table.
Making and using the Primitive Furnace
To craft the Primitive Furnace you need:
- 20 Cobblestone
- 4 Mud
- 1 Campfire
- Made via basic crafting, requires 4 Wooden Logs and 1 Torch
The Torch is also made via basic crafting and requires 1 Wooden Log and 1 Coal.
The next step requires the Anvil, which is also made via the Inventor’s Table. But in order to craft the Anvil you need Iron Bars, which you must make with the Primitive Furnace you just crafted and hopefully placed.
If you have any Iron Ore, now is the time to use the furnace and start to smelt it into Iron Bars. You’re going to need 8 Iron Bars to make the Anvil in the step after next and 10 additional Iron Bars to make the three-piece set of iron armor.
Making and using the Spinning Wheel
The Spinning Wheel is your ticket to softer materials like Woven Fabric and String, both of which needed to get decked out in your first set of iron armor.
To craft the Spinning Wheel you need:
- 40 Timber
- Made via basic crafting, requires 8 Wooden Logs
- 5 Cobblestone
- 1 Rope
- Made via basic crafting, requires 2 Plant Fibre
You’ll make use of this station soon enough. You’re going to need to make 10 Woven Fabric and 1 String for the three-piece armor set.
Making and using the Anvil
The Anvil is the station you use to further refine your bars into actual usable items. It may be your first hurdle in getting all your crafting stations up and running if you haven’t found much Iron Ore yet, which you desperately need early in the game.
To craft an Anvil you need:
- 8 Iron Bars
- Made via the Primitive Furnace, requires 16 Iron Ore total
- 20 Timber
- Made via basic crafting, requires 4 Wooden Logs
- 1 Wooden Log
You’ll be using the Anvil to make the starter equipment. Since my character is an Avian, the first set is the Hatchling’s set.
Crafting your first iron armor set
Now it’s time to get to it. Finally, after making all these crafting stations!
There are three pieces to your first iron armor set: one for the chest, one for your head, and one for your legs. And luckily they’re all very easy to make.
In unrefined basic materials you need 20 Iron Ore and 50 Plant Fibre total to make all three basic iron armor pieces.
Your breastplate (+25% attack, +12.5 defense, +5 energy, +5 health) will require:
- 5 Iron Bars
- 5 Woven Fabric
- 1 String
Your headpiece (+15% attack, +7.5 defense, +3 energy, +3 health) will require:
- 3 Iron Bars
- 5 Woven Fabric
And lastly your leg armor (+10% attack, +5 defense, +2 energy, +2 health) will require:
- 2 Iron Bars
- 2 Woven Fabric
You craft the Iron Bars necessary using the Primitive Furnace, and the Woven Fabric and String at the Spinning Wheel.
And with that you’ve not only familiarized yourself with Starbound‘s crafting system, but got yourself a reliable set of beginner’s armor as well. Was it worth the effort? Absolutely.
Hopefully this helps you get yourself outfitted properly! Check out the rest of our Starbound guides for more tips and tricks:
- Starbound: Some Helpful Tips for Beginners
- Starbound: Farming and Crop Growth Times
- Quick n’ Dirty Starbound 1.0 Weapon Overview Guide
- Upgrade Your Starbound Ship Faster With These Tips
- How to Build a Space Station in Starbound Version 1.3
- Building and Using Mechs in Starbound 1.3
