Crafting

Introduction

In Stars Reach, the best gear is crafted, not dropped. Crafting weaves through every system — tools for gathering, weapons and armor for combat, medicines for survival, furniture for building, and starships for travel. This hub maps the crafting professions and disciplines, from toolcrafting and weaponsmithing to metallurgy, woodworking, medicine, cooking and shipbuilding. You will learn where to find ores, gems, gases and alien materials, how smelting and refining work, and why rare resources define the top end of the item market. Because items decay and need repair, crafting is also an ongoing economic role: skilled crafters are the backbone of any planet’s supply chain, and their unique, branded goods carry real prestige across the galaxy.

Crafting Discipline Overview

Crafting Career Paths

Core Mechanics

Crafting starts with gathering: ores from mining, wood from forestry, plants from herbalism and biological materials from wildlife. Raw materials feed refiners — smelters turn ore into bars, kilns fire ceramics, and chemical benches mix medicines. Finished components combine at profession workbenches into tools, weapons, furniture, food and ships. Items carry durability and decay over time, so players either repair their gear or buy replacements, creating constant demand for crafters. Professions also produce branded goods: an Artisan’s signature weapon or a Chef’s famous dish carries the maker’s name, turning craftsmanship into reputation and a market edge. Recipes are learned and unlocked through profession progression, so the deeper you invest in a discipline, the more premium items you can produce. Blueprint discovery, rarity tiers and branded goods add layers of specialisation that keep the crafting meta evolving with each weekly build.

Advantages

Crafting turns gathered resources into wealth, self-sufficiency and social standing. A crafter never depends on the market for core gear — you build better tools than most shops sell, and you can repair your own equipment. Crafting pairs naturally with gathering professions for a closed production loop, and unique branded goods let you stand out as a respected maker. On a player-run economy, skilled crafters control supply of essential items, giving them diplomatic leverage in communities and trade negotiations. Shipbuilding even lets you forge the vessels that define how you explore the galaxy. Crafting also introduces brand identity: when players recognize your signature weapon or your restaurant, you build a reputation that survives market fluctuations.

Challenges

Crafting demands serious time and material investment — every discipline needs tools, benches, fuel and a steady supply chain. Rare resources are scarce and fought over, so building top-tier gear can be expensive and slow. Items decay, which means you must constantly repair or replace your own gear, adding maintenance pressure. Diversity is costly too: mastering multiple disciplines splits your time, and in-practice skill limits mean you cannot be a master of everything at once. Pre-release recipe values and material locations are subject to change, so verify details after patch notes. Recipe and material data remain unconfirmed in some areas during Early Access, so players who commit to a specific recipe chain may need to adapt as build notes arrive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Tips