If you’re looking to dabble in anything like Outpost building, spacesuit upgrades, or weapon crafting, you’ll need to do some mining. Iron, for example, is used in a lot of different recipes for weapons and Outpost building, so you’ll need to get a lot of it. One such resource that can be useful is Helium-3, though how you mine it can be confusing. Here’s how to mine Helium-3 in Starfield.
How to Extract Helium-3 in Starfield
If you’re looking to get some Helium-3, you’ll first need to find a planet that has a Helium-3 deposit and get an Outpost set up there. If you’ve landed on a planet at least once, you can see its resources listed on the planet’s description through the Starmap.
For our example, we’re using Kurtz, the moon of Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system. Once you find a planet with Helium-3, you’ll want to see the planet in Resource view by pressing either R on your keyboard or LB on your controller while looking at the planet. Keep in mind that if the planet is listed as an Extreme Environment, then you can’t make an Outpost on it unless you have enough points in the Planetary Habitation skill.
Once you find an area with Helium-3, you’ll want to land there. From here, you have two options. The first is to grab some Helium-3 from any smaller vents in the area by walking into the gas and interacting with it.
However, this will hurt you and may inflict the Lung Damage debuff, which can cause you to cough, reducing your oxygen supply. Speaking from experience, this is both inefficient and dangerous, so we suggest the alternative.
How to Build a Helium-3 Extractor in Starfield
For the best and safest results, we suggest you mine Helium-3 by building a Helium-3 extractor. First use your scanner to locate a large patch of green, indicating a Helium-3 ground deposit. There, you’ll want to place an Outpost Beacon near the deposit. Then, enter the Build Menu of the outpost by walking up to the beacon and pressing A on your controller (E on keyboard), tab over to Extractors using LB/RB (Tab on keyboard), and plant down a Helium-3 Extractor over the ground deposit. This will cost the following materials:
- 4x Nickel.
- 5x Aluminum.
- 3x Copper.
If you’re lacking in resources, you can find all three materials for purchase at the UC Distribution Center.
You’ll also need to build a power source from the Build Menu’s Power tab. Shortly after, you should begin extracting Helium-3 from the ground. You can check your current supply by walking up to the extractor.
What Planets Have Helium-3 Deposits?
There are nearly 500 planets and moons where you can find a supply of Helium-3 to extract. For the sake of brevity, we’ll list just a few of them for you here:
- Ananke in Olympus.
- Antherum in Cheyenne.
- Aranae I in Aranae.
- Cantra in Valo.
- Chthonia in Wolf.
- Curbeam in Alpha Centauri.
- Curie in Delta Pavonis.
- Eridani III-a in Eridani.
- Guniibuu I-a in Guniibuu.
- Jaffa I-a in Jaffa.
- Kreet in Narion.
- Kurtz in Alpha Centauri.
- Luna in Sol.
- Maheo II in Maheo.
- Mercury in Sol.
- Nox in Kryx.
- Piazzi V in Piazzi.
- Tau Ceti I in Tau Ceti.
- Vesta Lunaris in Lunara.
- Volii Tau in Volii.
The resource seems to be most prevalent on moons, so we recommend checking there first in each star system. Also be sure to check bodies and storage units for the lucky chance to find Helium-3 randomly while you’re wandering around.
What is Helium-3 Used For in Starfield?
Helium-3’s most useful application comes with the Fueled Generator, one of the best sources of power for an outpost in the game. It’ll provide you with 20 Power at base, making it incredibly effective. However, that Power bump comes with the catch of an operating cost of one Helium-3, taken every once in a while. It’s a trade-off, sure, but nothing too extreme, provided you keep your resources in check.
Where to Buy Helium-3 in Starfield
If you’d rather fork over the credits to obtain Helium-3 less laboriously, you can buy the resource from plenty of vendors in Starfield. Most random vendors have a chance of selling you a supply of Helium-3, but we recommend checking the following places first:
- UC Distribution Center in New Atlantis.
- Jemison Mercantile in New Atlantis.
- Mining League in Neon.
We especially recommend buying from Wen Tseng at the UC Distribution Center. She has most every resource you could need, and she should have around 20 Helium-3s she can hand over for five credits each. Rest somewhere nearby to restock her shop and purchase even more.
If you’re on the hunt for some resources in Starfield other than Helium-3, check out our guide on where to buy resources in Starfield.
