How to Unlock More Crafting Recipes in StarRupture – Complete Recipe Guide

If you’ve been playing StarRupture for more than an hour, you’ve probably hit that moment where you need to craft something specific but can’t find the recipe anywhere. The game’s crafting system is deep—borderline overwhelming at first—and it doesn’t exactly spell out how to unlock everything.

Here’s the deal: almost nothing is available from the start. Whether you’re trying to make basic building materials, advanced tech components, or just want to cook some food, you’ll need to unlock recipes through a specific progression system. Let’s break down exactly how this works so you can stop fumbling through menus and start actually building your industrial empire on Arcadia-7.

The Recipe Station: Your Gateway to Everything

Before you can unlock any advanced recipes, you need the Recipe Station. This is the central hub for your entire crafting progression system, and without it, you’re stuck with the bare basics.

How to Get the Recipe Station

Step 1: Reach Reputation Level 2 with Moon Energy Corporation

This is your first major milestone. You’ll need to complete deliveries and contracts for Moon Energy Corp to boost your reputation. The grind isn’t too bad early on—just focus on fulfilling their basic commission requests through the Orbital Launch Station.

Step 2: Build the Recipe Station

Once you hit Level 2:

• Press B to open the building interface
• Navigate to the Stations category in the menu
• Craft and place the Recipe Station using Basic Building Materials

Don’t skip this. Seriously. The Recipe Station is arguably the most important structure you’ll build in the early game because it gates your access to literally everything else.

How the Recipe Station Actually Works

Once your Recipe Station is up and running, interact with it to open the interface. Here’s what you’ll see:

The station displays all your unlocked crafting stations (Smelter, Fabricator, Furnace, etc.) in a menu format. When you select a station, it shows:

• Already unlocked recipes (highlighted and ready to use)
• Locked recipes (grayed out with unlock requirements listed)

To unlock a locked recipe, you’ll need to pay the cost shown—usually a combination of:

• Data Points (the universal unlock currency)
• Specific materials (varies by recipe)

This is where strategy comes in. You can’t unlock everything at once, so prioritizing the right recipes makes a massive difference in your progression speed.

Which Recipes Should You Unlock First?

Here’s my honest take after spending way too much time optimizing this system:

Tier 1: Absolute Essentials (Unlock These First)

Wolfram Sheet & Titanium Sheet These are the foundation of everything. You’ll use these materials constantly for:

• Building advanced structures
• Fulfilling corporate commissions
• Crafting higher-tier equipment
• Upgrading your base infrastructure

Without these unlocked early, you’ll bottleneck hard. Trust me, unlock them as soon as you have the Data Points and materials.

Basic Consumables & Food Don’t neglect survival recipes. You can unlock food and consumable crafting by “donating” plants and raw materials to the Recipe Station. Early game healing and sustenance options save you from constantly scrounging for resources while exploring.

Tier 2: Power & Automation

Once you’ve got the basics covered:

• Power generation recipes for grid expansion
• Automation components to set up ore extraction systems
• Advanced building materials for larger construction projects

Tier 3: Combat & Specialization

After your base infrastructure is solid:

• Weapon modifications and advanced ordnance
• Grenade types for combat versatility
• Specialized materials like Ignitium for endgame crafting

Finding Blueprints in StarRupture

Not all recipes unlock through the Recipe Station interface. Some require blueprints that you find scattered across Arcadia-7. Here’s where to look:

Common Blueprint Locations

Abandoned Outposts & Structures Explore every building you come across. Blueprints often spawn:

• On desks and workbenches
• Inside storage containers
• Near crashed equipment or vehicles

Secret Chests These are your best bet for rare blueprints. Secret chests also contain War Bonds and other valuables, so they’re worth hunting down. Check out our guide on unlocking the map to make exploration easier.

Fallen Colonists Bodies scattered around the map sometimes carry blueprints alongside Calcium and other loot. Not the most cheerful scavenging, but Arcadia-7 isn’t exactly a vacation spot.

Corporate Rewards Some blueprints unlock automatically when you hit certain reputation levels with corporations. Pay attention to your reward claims at the Corporate Terminal.

Enemy Drops Occasionally, tougher Vermin enemies or special encounters drop blueprint fragments. It’s rare, but it happens—especially in higher-threat zones.

Pro Exploration Tips

• Expand your inventory size before long exploration runs
• Bring a MedTool for healing when venturing into dangerous areas
• Mark blueprint locations on your map as you find them
• Use all available characters strategically—some have bonuses for exploration

Understanding the Data Point Economy

Data Points are your primary unlock currency, and managing them efficiently matters. Here’s the priority breakdown:

High Priority Unlocks:

• Titanium Sheet & Wolfram Plate recipes (foundation of everything)
• Water production systems (essential for sustainability)
• Core automation recipes

Medium Priority:

• Specialized resource processing (like Meteorite Heart materials)
• Advanced construction components
• Quality-of-life recipes

Low Priority (Early Game):

• Cosmetic items
• Niche specialty materials you won’t use immediately
• Endgame components you can’t even produce yet

Don’t blow all your Data Points unlocking random stuff that looks cool. Focus on recipes that directly enable the next step of your progression.

The “Donation” System for Food & Consumables

This mechanic is easy to miss, but it’s super useful. When you interact with the Recipe Station, you can donate raw materials—especially plants and organic resources—to unlock related crafting recipes.

How it works:

1. Gather various plants, crops, and organic materials
2. Open the Recipe Station interface
3. Look for the donation/research option (usually highlighted differently from standard unlocks)
4. Submit the required materials
5. Unlock the corresponding recipe

This is particularly valuable for:

• Healing items and buffs
• Food recipes that restore health/stamina
• Chemical compounds made from plant matter

It’s worth keeping a variety of plants in your storage specifically for this purpose. The recipes you unlock often give you sustainable alternatives to scavenging for consumables.

Common Recipe Unlock Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Unlocking Recipes You Can’t Use Yet Don’t waste Data Points on recipes that require materials you can’t produce. Check the full crafting chain before unlocking.

Mistake #2: Ignoring Basic Recipes Those “boring” sheet metal and basic component recipes are crucial. They gate access to everything else.

Mistake #3: Not Exploring Enough You’ll miss tons of free blueprints if you just stick around your base. Exploration pays off massively in StarRupture.

Mistake #4: Poor Data Point Management Spending Data Points randomly instead of following a logical progression path slows everything down. Have a plan.

Mistake #5: Skipping the Recipe Station Upgrade Path As you progress, the Recipe Station itself may have upgrade options. Don’t overlook these—they often unlock entire new recipe categories.

Recipe Station Strategy for Different Playstyles

For Combat-Focused Players: Prioritize weapon recipes, explosive components, and ammunition types. You’ll still need basic materials, but invest heavily in combat effectiveness early.

For Base-Builders: Focus on construction materials, power systems, and automation. Get your infrastructure solid before worrying about fancy weapons.

For Explorers: Unlock mobility items, survival consumables, and utility equipment. Having the right tools for long-range exploration runs makes discovering blueprints way easier.

For Balanced Play: Start with Titanium/Wolfram sheets, add basic automation, then branch into combat or construction based on immediate needs. This is the safest approach for beginners.

Advanced Recipe Unlocking Tips

• Chain your unlocks logically: Don’t unlock Recipe C if you haven’t unlocked Recipe A and B that it depends on
• Save blueprints for rare items: If you find a blueprint, you bypass the Data Point cost entirely
• Coordinate with corporate progression: Some recipes unlock automatically as reputation rewards
• Check all stations regularly: New recipes sometimes appear when you upgrade other infrastructure
• Don’t forget to destroy old buildings to recover materials for new recipe unlocks

Frequently Asked Questions

The recipe system in StarRupture is honestly one of the game’s best features once you understand it. Yeah, it’s confusing at first, but the progression from barely scraping by with basic materials to running a fully automated industrial complex is incredibly satisfying.

Focus on the essentials first, explore every corner of Arcadia-7 for blueprints, and don’t blow your Data Points on random stuff that looks cool but won’t help your immediate goals. Build that Recipe Station early, prioritize Titanium and Wolfram sheets, and you’ll be crafting advanced tech before you know it.

Now get out there and start unlocking some recipes. Those Vermin aren’t going to exterminate themselves, and you’ll need proper equipment to handle them.