AETHUS Biomass Farming, Early Fuel Uses, and Crafting Recipes

Biomass in AETHUS is an early-game organic fuel and crafting material obtained by harvesting surface flora like cacti and palm trees with Roland's mining laser. It powers early makeshift forges, runs biomass generators, and fuels basic cooking recipes at the scrap grill.

How to Gather Biomass

Players acquire biomass immediately after landing on the surface of claim AZ1. Roland uses a targeted energy laser to break apart environmental objects, and biomass drops directly from organic vegetation across the desert plain.

Surface harvesting provides steady yields from two primary targets:

• Cacti: Blasting the base of standard cacti shatters the plant into biomass clumps. Some variants yield separate cactus fruits alongside the raw plant matter.
• Palm Trees: Desert palm trees yield large amounts of organic material per node, providing a fast way to stockpile stacks of biomass when preparing early outpost expansions.

Underground expeditions into the deeper cavern systems reveal fungal variants known as mycelial biomass. Outcrops near overgrown research sections and corrupt Gorgon trees can be fractured repeatedly with the mining laser to gather specialized fungal biomass needed for laboratory projects.

Early Crafting and Refining Uses

Before advanced nuclear and electrical systems come online, biomass acts as the primary combustible component for survival infrastructure. Setting up a functional base layout requires feeding raw organics into initial processing stations.

In the makeshift forge, combining biomass with metal scrap refines the mixture into building materials. These building blocks are required to fabricate your first makeshift habitat, bed, and storage boxes. Once players assemble a basic smelter connected to an RTG power source, the electric furnace processes metal scrap into building blocks directly without consuming biomass.

The scrap grill relies on biomass to prepare meals. Cooking raw flora yields best food items that restore stamina, hydration, and nutrition while granting the well-fed status buff. Combining biomass with cactus fruit yields grilled cactus fruit, which grants 7 energy, 7 nutrition, and 4 hydration. Combining two biomass with eight cave mushrooms and one water bottle produces basic mushroom soup, restoring 12 energy, 15 nutrition, and 22 hydration.

Biomass also fuels the biomass generator, a compact power station constructed inside corridors or connectors to supply electrical current to workshops before high-tier generators are unlocked.

Advanced Biological Processing

Progressing deeper into the cavern network toward Facility Theta shifts organic requirements toward fungal strains. Specialized plant cultivation at the biology lab integrates mycelial harvests into outpost operations.

Using the biology lab crafting panel, raw mycelial mass combines with harvested seeds to grow cleansed mycelia, which matures into inert mycelia. These cultivated stocks allow players to assemble an herbicide charge or load empty injectors with anti-mycelial antigen to traverse toxic spore chambers. While exploring these overgrown ruins, players can also uncover ancient bones and rare specimens to fulfill research requests submitted through the corporate trade exchange.

Biomass Allocation Priorities

Managing early fuel supplies determines how quickly players transition out of basic scrap gear. The choice between burning biomass for heat, power, or nutrition depends on current station unlocks.

Tracking available recipes ensures that surface vegetation is not overspent on smelting once electrical smelters are active, reserving future harvests for nutrition and biology bench cultivation.