Catalysts

Catalysts push your ship beyond its blueprint specs. They are modules that slot into your crafted gear and grant bonuses, ranging from raw combat stats to quality of life perks across the galaxy.

What are catalysts?

Catalysts are modules that you install into the slots of crafted items. Each catalyst belongs to one of three categories and grants a specific stat bonus. Equip them on your ship and the bonus applies as long as the item is equipped.

The actual value a catalyst grants depends on three things:

• Base value of the stat (fixed per stat, see table below)
• Rarity multiplier (normal x1, uncommon x1.5, rare x2, unique x2.5, epic x3, legendary x4)
• Quality (1-100, rolled when the catalyst is generated)

The final value is base * rarityMultiplier * (quality / 100). A higher quality means a stronger catalyst.

Base values, max single, and caps

The "Max stacked" column assumes the maximum legal stack (up to 2 same-stat catalysts per item, the weaker one halved at 50%, across two compatible items = single × 3). When that exceeds the cap, the cap clamps the final value.

Battling

Boost (no caps)

Utility

Going past the cap is wasted potential. Once the cap is reached, additional same-stat catalysts add nothing. Plan your build around the cap, not above it.

How do I get them?

Catalysts can drop at any rarity, but higher rarities are extremely rare. The primary way to obtain higher rarity catalysts is through merging.

There are four sources:

• Battling: 2% base chance per kill, boosted by global drop boost and the catalyst_drop_chance utility catalyst stat
• Exploring: 4% chance when you discover a new system manually, boosted by the catalyst_drop_chance utility catalyst stat
• Voyager expeditions: 8% chance every time you discover a new system during a Voyager run, boosted by the catalyst_drop_chance utility catalyst stat
• Solo dungeons: 10% chance per loot roll inside a solo dungeon

Categories and stats

There are three categories of catalysts. Each one focuses on a different aspect of the game.

Battling

Boost

Utility

Merging

You can fuse 5 catalysts of the same stat and same rarity into a single catalyst of the next rarity. Legendary catalysts cannot be merged any further.

Merging normal catalysts is free and always succeeds. From uncommon on, merging costs Quantum Cores and has a chance of failure that depends on the rarity. On failure, the Quantum Cores are spent but the catalysts stay in your inventory.

Your Crafting level adds extra merge chance: each level adds 0.1% to the base success chance.

You can also protect the merge with extra Quantum Cores (50/100/200/500 depending on rarity, on top of the merge cost) and the merge is guaranteed to succeed. Normal merges never need protection.

The new merged catalyst inherits the average range of the 5 inputs, plus a +5 bonus and an extra +1 per 10 Crafting levels (capped at the maximum range of 100).

Installing catalysts on items

Catalysts can only be installed into crafted items. Each item has up to 4 slots. You can install at most 2 catalysts of the same stat on the same item, and the weaker of the two is halved (50% effectiveness). The game always applies the penalty to the weaker one, so the order you install them in does not matter.

Installing costs one specific resource mapped 1:1 to the catalyst's stat. The amount scales exponentially with the item's level and is multiplied by the catalyst's rarity and the item tier:

• cost = base × 1.03^itemLevel × catalystRarityMultiplier × itemTypeMultiplier
• base: 10000 for most stats (battling, utility, XP). Uses common resources (e.g. defense → gold)
• base: 100 for the four rare boost stats (cosmic_dust_bonus, gathering_yield, crafting_scrap, battling_credits). These use rare resources (e.g. gathering yield → silicon)
• itemTypeMultiplier: regular crafted = ×1, enhanced (PvP) = ×5, anomalous = ×20

Each install also grants 50 Crafting XP.

Extracting catalysts

Extracting a catalyst removes it from an item and returns it to your inventory, ready to be installed again.

Scrapping items with catalysts equipped

When you scrap a crafted item that has catalysts installed, half of them are recovered and returned unequipped to your inventory. The other half are destroyed.

Scrapping catalysts

Scrap catalysts from the inventory tab to get Catalyst Parts, an account-bound currency. The amount depends mostly on rarity, with a small bonus from quality:

Plus +1 part per 5 quality. So rarity is what matters: a quality 1 legendary beats a quality 100 rare.

Crafting catalysts from parts

Spend Catalyst Parts at the merge interface to craft a normal-rarity catalyst with the stat you choose at a guaranteed quality between 5 and 50. Cost is 4 parts per quality point. A safety net for unlucky streaks.

Locking catalysts

To prevent accidentally scrapping or wiring catalysts you care about, you can lock them. Locked catalysts cannot be scrapped, mass scrapped, or wired until you unlock them.

You can also use mass lock / unlock / scrap buttons that appear when you filter the catalyst inventory, just like with regular items.

Trading catalysts

Catalysts are tradeable! You can:

• Wire a catalyst directly to another player from your inventory (the receiver must be in an inhabited system or have permanent market access)
• Sell or buy catalysts on the Market, filtering by stat, rarity and minimum range

TL;DR:

• Hunt enemies, run solo dungeons and Voyager expeditions to collect catalysts
• Merge them up to higher rarities (and protect the important ones with Quantum Cores)
• Install them in your best crafted gear
• Lock the good ones so you don't lose them by accident
• Trade duplicates with other players or on the market