Astroneer is a space exploration and survival game set on alien worlds, and vehicles are the machines you use to get around them. Rovers cross the planet surface and haul resources back to base, shuttles carry you between planets, and rail vehicles run along track you lay yourself. You can collect and keep track of every vehicle as you unlock it, from the first Tractor to the rarer machines earned through missions.
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Rovers
Shuttles
Rail vehicles
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What Vehicles Do in Astroneer
Getting around a planet on foot is slow, and vehicles let you cover more ground and move more gear in each trip. Rovers drive across the surface and bring resources back to your base. Shuttles lift you off a planet and fly you to another world, while rail vehicles travel along track you build yourself. A few special machines, like a flying craft and a rolling globe, add other ways to get around.
How to Unlock and Build Astroneer Vehicles
Most vehicles are built at a Printer, and the bigger ones need a larger Printer. Before you can build one, you need its schematic, the plan that gets unlocked through research. Research earns you Bytes from the items and samples you find on planets, and the bigger vehicles cost more Bytes to unlock. The biggest machines also need rarer parts, such as EXO Chips, so they take the longest to put together.
Some vehicles skip Bytes entirely. The VTOL and the Hoverboard are free rewards from long mission chains, so the story missions are worth following.
Keeping Vehicles Powered and Fueled
Rovers and rail vehicles run on power, so a vehicle with an empty battery just sits there. Each rover carries a small battery of its own, but it only covers a short drive. For longer trips, you connect it to a base or to power modules such as generators, solar panels, wind turbines, or Power Cells.
Shuttles run on thrusters instead. They need a Solid-Fuel Thruster or a Hydrazine Thruster loaded with Hydrazine. A Solid-Fuel Thruster covers one round trip, a Hydrazine Thruster lasts for several, and landing doesn't use fuel.
Rovers for Hauling, Towing and Scouting
The larger rovers do most of the heavy lifting. Their attachment slots can hold storage, a Crane with a drill head for gathering resources in bulk, or a Winch for towing. Rovers can link into trains of up to four, and a Medium Rover can pull three loaded Medium Rovers or one loaded Large Rover.
The Buggy works differently. It's quick and easy to steer, and it can climb steep slopes and near-vertical walls and fit into large caves, so it's built for scouting rather than carrying. Its speed means drivers can tumble off cliffs or into holes, and it can't join a train.
Shuttles and Travel Between Planets
Shuttles are how you leave the ground and reach the other planets and moons. Step in, press the Use key, and choose one of two launches. One takes you into orbit above your current planet, where you can land at an open landing zone. The other opens the solar system view, where you pick another planet to fly to. You can't land on a zone another shuttle is already using.
The Mega-Mini Training Shuttle is the odd one out, with a built-in thruster and only one attachment slot, and its printing plans come from the Intermodal Terminal missions instead of research.
Rail Vehicles and Train Lines
Rail vehicles run on track you lay yourself with rail posts. The posts connect automatically as you place them, and you can call the nearest train to any post whenever you need it. Rail lines also carry oxygen and power, so they can link bases and excavation sites that are far apart.
The two basic pieces are the Rail Car and the Rail Engine. A Rail Car has a large storage slot for cargo. A Rail Engine has a built-in seat, and a train with one runs about twice as fast as a train of Rail Cars alone. Trains can be up to six vehicles long, and each vehicle adds to the power the train draws.
The C.O.L.E. is the fastest rail option. It has a seat for a rider, supplies that rider with oxygen, and can pull up to five more cars or engines. Finishing the Travelling Companion mission gives you one, and after that you can reclaim it from a Landing Pad or Logistics Depot whenever you need it.
Vehicles as Oxygen Sources and Camps
Vehicles can also keep you breathing. Medium Rovers and Buggies supply unlimited oxygen, and a Tractor supplies oxygen wherever it's parked. Shuttles and the VTOL keep nearby players supplied too, and a Trailer parked on its own can act as an unlimited oxygen source.
That makes a parked rover useful as a temporary camp while you explore, so you can keep working far from base.
Special Vehicles: VTOL, Hoverboard and Gravity Globe
The VTOL is a light flying craft that flies over a planet's surface and carries three people, which makes it the way to cover long distances from the air. Double-tap the jump button to lift off, hold it to climb higher, and double-tap descend near the ground to land. It climbs on its own near slopes and obstacles, but bailing out at high altitude can be fatal, so land first.
The Hoverboard is a personal device that moves you faster than running. It keeps full speed even when you carry an object, which makes it handy for hauling. It goes in your backpack, and you double-tap the jump button to switch it on. You still take fall damage, and picking an item up into your backpack turns it off, so you'll need to switch it back on.
The Gravity Globe is a large sphere you sit in and roll in any direction, mostly for fun. Pressing jump pushes you away from whatever you're touching, so a cliff won't hold you. A Galastropod can ride inside and roll around on its own.
Which Astroneer Vehicles to Get First
For most players, the Tractor is the first one to get. It's cheap to unlock and build, it can tow up to three other rovers, and its drill tunnels quickly through soil, which makes it useful early on.
Once you have the Bytes for it, the Large Rover is the one to aim for when hauling is the priority. It has more room than a Medium Rover, with a top slot for extra large items. For leaving the planet, the Small Shuttle is the entry-level choice, with the lowest Byte cost of the shuttles you research.
FAQ
Do you need a Rover Seat to drive a rover?
Most rovers do. The Tractor is the exception and drives without one. The Buggy, Medium Rover and Large Rover all need a Rover Seat, and the Trailer does too, but it can't be driven alone even with a seat. A Large Rover Seat lets more players ride in a Medium or Large Rover, and the first player to sit in it becomes the driver.
How do you get the VTOL in Astroneer?
It's free, and you earn it through a long mission chain that starts with Fuel for Thought or Onboarding. Along the way you destroy the Vehicle Data Recorder on Vesania to get an EXO Chip, then deliver resources and EXO Chips to the MAT. Activating the MAT at the end collects the VTOL, its Schematic and two Hydrazine.
Can you craft a Hoverboard?
Yes. Once the Desolo mission chain gives you its schematic, you can craft more at a Backpack using a single EXO Chip. Once it's running, it uses one unit of power per second, so you'll need a steady source such as a QT-RTG.
Does the Gravity Globe need power, and where do you find one?
No. It needs no power and gives unlimited oxygen, though it struggles on rough ground and steep slopes. You can find one in wrecks across the planets, or buy one from a Trade Platform for 8 Astronium.