Resource is a type of item used in crafting. Resources are used by Traders and other characters to create items. Most items are crafted and then used by the crafter or sold to other characters for their use. The schematics used by crafters to make things specify the general or specific types of resources needed and their desired characteristics.
Resources[]
Resources are roughly categorized in the following tree. Within each category, there are many specific classes (e.g., ferrous and non-ferrous metals, copper and aluminum)
- Energy
- Organic
- Inorganic
- Space Resources, (Asteroidal) Also see Space mining and Asteroid.
As an example, the Lubricating Oil resource is a sub-class of Inert Petrochemical, which is a sub-class of Chemical, which is an Inorganic resource. A lubricating oil may be used in any schematic that lists it specifically or lists any of it's including categories.
Characteristics[]
Each specific type resource has one or more characteristics that determine how good it will work in a specific application. These affect a crafter's ability to experiment with the product in an effort to improve the result. If a product can be experimented on, there will be a list of the product properties and the resources' characteristics that affect each one. Not all characteristics are important but only those listed in the schematic.
A resource type may have one or more of the following characteristics and their common abbreviations:
- (CR) Cold Resistance
- (CD) Conductivity
- (DR) Decay Resistance
- (ER) Entangle Resistance
- (FL) Flavor
- (HR) Heat Resistance
- (MA) Malleability
- (OQ) Overall Quality
- (PE) Potential Energy
- (SR) Shock Resistance
- (UT) Unit Toughness
If a resource has a particular characteristic, it will be a value between 1 and 1000 (see Capped Stats). For a given schematic, the higher the value of the characteristics used for experimentation, the more valuable the resource to the crafter. For instance, the Lubricating Oil resource has the Overall Quality (as do most, if not all, resources) and Decay Resistance characteristics. Note that if a resources can be used in a slot and the slot calls for example Shock Resistance and the material being used like oil does not have it, it seems the crafting system assumes the shock resistance (SR) to be 1000.
Capped Stats[]
Some resources have caps, and these caps follow what is generally known about the elements. For example, copper has a higher conductivity than steel, and aluminum has a higher conductivity than iron. Some resources also have minimum values; polysteel copper will always have a high conductivity. Duralloy steel will always have a high unit toughness, etc. A complete guide to resource caps was compiled by Lunariel at SWG Craft.
NOTE: Late 2005 the "Conductivity Bug" was introduced with the Trials of Obi Wan expansion, but was fixed with chapter 5.
Sampling[]
Resources are located through the use of survey tools that allow the tool user to Survey Resource (Ability). A small sample can be obtained using the Sample Resource (Ability), also a survey tool function. Large amounts of resources require the use of harvesters, such as mineral harvesters, chemical harvesters, or solar collectors (a type of energy harvester).
Resources are gathered from the environment through either sampling (using a survey tool) or through harvesters. These include minerals, chemicals and gas extracted from the ground, flora materials gleaned from the surface, water collected from the air, various forms of energy, and Creature Resources harvested from creature carcasses left by combatant players.
Resources are automatically stored in resource containers. As of Ch. 5, each container can hold up to 1,000,000 units of a single named resource and takes up one inventory slot.
Shift[]
Resources shift irregularly and have a randomly long lifespan of 6 to 21 days. Common Inorganic resources usually have a shorter lifespan of 6 to 10 days, while Organic resources and JTL resources have a random lifespan of 6 to 21 days.
When a particular resource despawns it will never ever spawn again.
Names[]
At any time, each planet in the galaxy has a number of specific instances of a few resource types available for collection. Some resources, like Organic resources, always have their full sortiment available, while other resources only have a random selection available at any given time on a random selection of the planets. Kelsh Copper, for example, may or may not be found at a particular time, at none, one, or more planets.
Each instance has a Resource Type Name that uniquely identifies its characteristic values for all time; for instance, as I write this, Tatooine in the Kettemoor galaxy has two types of Lubricating Oil: Liogefif (DR=343, OQ=335) and Omniflodao (DR=682, OQ=527).
If a crafter buys containers containing for example Omniflodao from several people, the samples are always identical and can be used interchangeably (and combined into one container). This is important when using factories, since the factory instructions are created by the crafter from the schematic for a specific set of named resources, the Type Names must match.
There are also a couple of loot drop only schematics that allow a trader to create Chemical, Creature, Flora, Metal, and Ore recycling tools. These will allow you to combine multiple subtypes of resources into a single resource stack. The result won't be as good a quality as harvested resources, but for crafting that doesn't require quality resources, for some factory batches, for bulk resources, or using up "scraps", recyclers are useful.
Jump to Lightspeed (JTL)[]
Jump to Lightspeed introduced several different ground resources. These are: Crystalized Bicorbantium Steel, Hardened Arveshium Steel, Perovskitic Aluminum, Conductive Borcarbitic Copper, Gravitonic Fiberplast, Unstable Organometallic Reactive Gas, Fermionic Siliclastic Ore, and High Grade Polymetric Radioactive.
Unlike other resources, JTL resources have no lower or upper caps. Most of these are used in starship crafting, and after the Combat Upgrade (CU, in the spring of 2005) some were also incorporated into Armorsmith (much to the dismay of old school smiths). These resources have a longer lifespan, so 21-day spawns are not uncommon. Additionally, Fermionic Siliclastic Ore can spawn in significantly high concentrations, making this the ideal ore to harvest for bulk quantity uses.
These resources spawn only on one random core planet at a time, and there is always one of them spawned at any given time. So, if you're having trouble finding a spawn of JTL steel, it may have despawned to make room for some new Perovskitic Aluminum or Gravitonic Fiberplast, etc.
Trials of Obi-Wan[]
With the Trials of Obi Wan Expansion (ToOW) new Mustafarian resources were introduced.
Mustafarian resources are all generic resources; there are no specific ores, irons, etc. Mustafar resources usually are high in SR, UT, HR, CR, PE, while OQ is usually above 500.
No harvesters can be placed on Mustafar and only hand sampling is possible. Nevertheless, Mustafarian Radioactive has found a niche market in the construction of ultra fast starship engines. Some crafters also gain access to these resources through the procurement of a crate of free resources.
New Game Enhancement (NGE)[]
The New Game Enhancement (NGE) initially changed how Creature resources were harvested (as small amounts of random loot). Since only small amounts of creature resources could be looted, the developers decreased the amount of hides used by Armorsmiths—but they did not do so for Tailors or Architects and there was actually a shortage of hide for a while. However, the old system of creature harvesting was put fully back into place and creature harvesting works now like it did before the NGE.
Another change includes Organic resource usage. Pre-NGE there existed a market for almost every type of harvestable resource. However, because of changes to foods and the removal of Bio-Engineer from the game, many previously necessary high-quality organic resources were no longer in demand (Insect Meat and Milk are examples of two exceptions).
Chapter 5 further changed this. The chef BE tissues were reintroduced. Many flora and creature resources are again in demand. Additionally, with the introduction of Beast Master with Chapter 6, a number of new stat combos on both organic and inorganic resources has been added to the game.
Database[]
Here, a user-updated web site for resources information for all servers in Star Wars Galaxies(SWG), is SWGCraft Project This site is a must for finding current resources are spawnng on the various planets, and what their stats are. It's a real time saver from going to planet to planet do surveys or hunting hides on all planets, e.g. stat information on hides, bone, etc.
Of course, being user-updated, one can't expect to get the most current and accurate information if that information isn't verified and updated on a regular basis. So, if you use it regularly, be sure to also update it regularly, if you have the extra time and the means to do so.
SWG Assistant (Firefox addon)[]
A good tool to use to keep yourself up-to-date with every new update on the resources is the SWG Assistant. You may view, sort and filter current resources available on your server, and use it to find the best resources out there. This is a project made from the SWGCraft community.