Farming resources in Mass Effect: Andromeda is essential for maximizing your potential in crafting weapons, armor, and augmentations through the Research and Development (R&D) system. While the process may feel complex early on, this guide breaks down every major source of resources and research data, helping you gear up efficiently as you explore the Helius Cluster.

---

Why Resources Matter

Whether you’re building a customized shotgun or fine-tuning your armor setup, you’ll need two main things:

1. Blueprints – Gained via research or found in the world.
2. Resources – Gathered through various forms of exploration, combat, and scanning.

The better your resource pool, the more flexibility you’ll have in developing high-level, gear-tailored loadouts. This makes resource farming core to your character progression.

---

Step 1: Scan Points of Interest Early and Often

From the moment scanning is introduced, it becomes a foundational tool. The game signals scannable objects with visual cues and controller vibrations (or UI prompts). You’re looking for:

• Old artifacts
• Crashed ships
• Environmental oddities
• Technological objects

Every successful scan contributes research data to one of three categories:

• Milky Way – Technology from the previous galaxy
• Helius – Andromeda-native tech
• Remnant – Unlocked during story progression

Scanning isn’t overwhelming once you get used to recognizing scannable items. Unlike games like No Man’s Sky, you don’t need to scan everything—only items that stand out or ping your HUD.

---

Step 2: Go Everywhere, Do Everything

Your exploration and progression are tightly connected. Resources are spread throughout the galaxy, often gated behind planetary activities or locked until specific level thresholds (e.g., Level 10 required to craft higher-tier gear). Therefore, complete side quests, shoot enemies, and engage with environmental content to unlock access and rewards.

While exploring:

• Look for glowing or unusually shaped rocks – These are often rich in crafting materials.
• Eos and other planets hide these near Remnant Monoliths or under shrouded zones.
• Scan and loot containers, corpses, and random battlefield wreckage.

---

Step 3: Mine with the Nomad

The Nomad isn’t just for transportation—it’s also your mobile mining platform. When you’re in a resource-rich zone:

• Your scanner UI (top-left) will show a message if resources are nearby.
• When prompted, activate your mining HUD and drive slowly until resource bars peak.

Probe placement is critical:

• Move carefully to find the optimal location
• Once placed, a probe will extract materials from that specific zone
• You can only place one probe per section, so make it count

Think of this like Mass Effect 2’s planet probing system—but mobile and terrain-driven.

---

Step 4: Space Scanning from the Tempest

Your ship, the Tempest, allows you to scan celestial bodies for quick resource rewards. While not every planet yields results, some contain:

• Rare crafting materials
• Research data for any of the three tech trees
• Unique salvageable anomalies like satellites

How it works:

• Enter a solar system
• Scan individual planets
• If “anomaly detected” appears, follow it and place a probe

This is the easiest form of farming—low effort, moderate reward.

---

Step 5: Buy Resources from Vendors

You can also purchase resources if you’re short on specific items. While this isn’t the most cost-effective approach, it’s convenient in a pinch.

• Vendors sometimes rotate stock
• Sell scrap collected from enemies or loot boxes to fund purchases

That said, it’s best to save your credits for upgrades, mods, or consumables. Use vendor resources sparingly and only when you’re bottlenecked on a key material.

---

Bonus Tips for Efficiency

• Explore zones fully—most planets reward you for curiosity.
• Don’t skip scanning satellites in space—they can offer rare research data.
• Farm quests and combat zones to passively gain materials.
• Remember that certain gear tiers require minimum player levels (e.g., Level 10+).

---

In Summary: The Three Pillars of Resource Farming

1. Exploration – Cover every inch of terrain and space for nodes, monoliths, and loot
2. Scanning – Identify high-value targets and gain research points
3. Probing – Mine rich areas by carefully deploying Nomad-based probes

Add to that the occasional vendor purchase or space anomaly, and you’re set for consistent crafting progress. Stick with this rhythm and you’ll always be stocked with the materials needed for your ideal weapons, armor, and augmentations.

Keep scanning, keep probing, and keep building—your Pathfinder legacy is just getting started.