There are many weird and wonderful resources in Stellaris. Some are as mundane food for your population. Others are stranger in nature. One of these strange resources is Living Metal.
Living Metal is a special resource, and its rarity has a lot of players wondering how to get it. With a little bit of luck and a keen eye, you will soon have a vast Living Metal supply for your empire to utilize.
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This guide will cover everything you need to know about how to get Living Metal in Stellaris, what to use it for, and a bit of background into how special resources work in the game.
You can get Living Metal in Stellaris by buying it from caravaneers, the sentinels archaeology dig site, finding them as deposits, and destroying the Contingency Sterilization Hubs.
Table of Contents
What Is Living Metal?
Stellaris has 16 different resources to manage, and they are split into two distinct categories.
They can be material, as in they are something you can touch. And there are abstract resources, which are more of a concept but are still valuable nonetheless.
Living Metal is one of the material resources. There are four different categories of material resources: basic, advanced, strategic, and special resources.
Along with Dark matter, Nanites, and Zro, Living Metal is one of the special resources. What this means is that no standard empire can ever manufacture these resources. Fallen Empires can, but we still can’t play as them yet.
So, the only way to obtain these resources is to find sources of them out in the galaxy. You have probably also guessed that this is much easier said than done.
Special resources are rare, and there isn’t a lot you can do to mitigate that. You will have to get lucky.
It is possible to play several separate games and never see any Living Metal. However, there are patterns and routes that will always lead to Living Metal if you know what to look for.
In terms of in-game lore, the resources itself is very cool. Living Metal is a metal that appears to be alive yet non-sentient in nature. Think of it like a plant but made of metal.
In the game, engineers can stabilize it into a specific shape, like a piece of a ship’s hull for example. If something were to damage that shape, the living metal will “grow” back into its original state.
So, if a Living Metal hull has a hole blown into it, the metal will begin restoring itself over time. It is a shame that this in-game description doesn’t match what it does in-game anymore.
What Can You Use Living Metal for?
In previous editions of Stellaris, Living Metal did provide a healing effect to your ships. This was cool because it was a powerful effect, and it matched the in-game lore.
Now, Living Metal is currency for one of two things. One is an edict. The other is a high-tier ship component.
The edict’s name is Living Metal Mega-Construction. For as long as you have this edict enacted, all your megastructure construction speed will increase by 50%. In other words, you can win the game faster.
The second ship component you can spend your Living Metal on is the Living Reactive Armor. Fitting this to your ships will give your ships a nice 25% armor hardening bonus.
Armor hardening is a counter to weapons that ignore specific defenses. So if a weapon would bypass armor, but has 25% armor hardening, the armor would absorb 25% of the damage, rather than it all go through.
Both these bonuses are great, and if you are lucky enough to obtain Living Metal, at least the enacting of the edict should be high on your priority list.
How to Get Living Metal in Stellaris
If those bonuses sound like something your empire needs, then it is time to learn how your empire can get its hands, or whatever appendage they may have, on this special resource.
As discussed previously, Living Metal is a very rare resource and thus is difficult to come by. At the time of writing, there are only four ways in the game to get Living Metal. These are:
- Buy From Caravaneers. Every galaxy you play in will contain caravan fleets, which travel around the galaxy peddling their wares. Provided your empire isn’t genocidal, you may get the chance to buy some Living Metal from one of these fleets.
- The Sentinels Archaeological Dig Site. If you are lucky enough to gain the Sentinels dig site on one of your inhabited planets, you could be in for a healthy amount of Living Metal. No spoilers for the quest will be here, but if you want to learn more, check the wiki. Succeeding in this quest rewards you Living Metal.
- Defeating Contingency Hubs. If you spawn the Contingency as your end-game crisis, and you are in a position to defeat them, you can guarantee a living metal source. The sterilization hubs that spawn with the Contingency will leave Living Metal deposits when destroyed.
- Anomaly Deposits. While your science ships are out scanning the galaxy, they will stumble across anomalies. These are like skill checks for your scientists to complete that lead to nice rewards or grave consequences. Some of these anomalies can reveal Living Metal deposits that you can exploit with mining stations.
As a special resource, it can only ever be found, never produced. If another empire has Living Metal, it will become a tradable resource on the galactic market. So be sure to keep checking the market now and then.
Selling your excess on the market is a very valid economic strategy.
This is everything you need to know about how to get Living Metal in Stellaris.
If you have any questions or suggestions for this guide, please let us know in the comments section below. As always, have fun getting hold of that ever-elusive Living Metal in Stellaris.
