Helium-3 quietly sits in your inventory in the opening hours of StarRupture, but it becomes a major bottleneck once high-end recipes like glass come into play. Efficient Helium-3 farming is about two things: knowing where to look and unlocking the right extractor.
Early-game Helium: rocks and meteorites
Before any heavy automation, Helium comes from small objects scattered across Arcadia-7.
- Glowing purple rocks on the ground are the most consistent source. These small stones emit purple gas or smoke from the top and can be harvested directly with your mining tool or mining harvester.
- Small and medium meteorites are the other key source. These impact the surface, break apart when mined, and often drop Helium alongside other ores like Titanium and Wolfram.
Early on, these pickups are more than enough. Helium is not required for starter factory lines, so you can simply grab what you see while exploring and fighting Vermin, then stash it for later.
When Helium-3 becomes important
Helium-3 shifts from “nice to have” to essential once you start unlocking mid-game industry. One of the earliest pressure points is glass, which demands a large Helium-3 stockpile rather than a handful of meteorite scraps.
At that point, manually breaking meteorites for thousands of units becomes impractical. You need to transition to fixed Helium-3 deposits and permanent extractors, just as you do for Wolfram, Titanium, and Calcium.
How to unlock the Helium-3 Extractor (Selenian level 6)
Helium vents cannot use the generic Ore Excavator. They require a dedicated Helium-3 Extractor, tied to the Selenian Corporation tech tree.
Unlock condition: reach level 6 with the Selenian Corporation. Leveling comes from sending items via the Orbital Cargo Launcher and completing Selenian projects.
Selenian requests focus on metal bars, components, and electronics. Typical requirements include:
- Titanium Bars or Wolfram Bars
- Titanium Rods
- Tubes
- Stabilizers
- Electronics
You can also substitute project items with Data Points by feeding plants, crafted items, and other finds into the Analyzer to convert them into Selenian progress. This shortcut is useful if your factories are not yet producing every component in bulk.
Once Selenian reaches level 6, the Helium-3 Extractor blueprint becomes available, and you can start planning a dedicated Helium base.
What Helium-3 deposits look like
Helium-3 deposits are visually distinct from solid ore veins.
- They appear as large purple or pink geysers or vents, often with a strong glow.
- Each vent typically features a pair of bright rocks with purple smoke or gas rising from them.
- With the map upgrade, Helium-3 fields show up as pink or purple patches on the map, separate from metal or Calcium regions.
The visual effect is strong enough that you can usually spot a Helium vent from a distance once you know what you are looking for.
Best Helium-3 locations near the Orbital Lander
The world contains multiple Helium-3 fields, but several are conveniently clustered around the starting area.
Helium-3 vents east of the lander
The most accessible Helium-3 field sits almost directly east of the Orbital Lander.
- The vents are near crooked Grubbler trees at the base of the eastern mountain range.
- This spot contains two Helium-3 vents close together, ideal for a compact extraction base.
- The surrounding area also includes plants such as Serpent Root and Prism Herb, plus a nearby map beacon for additional visibility.
Enemies in this direction include aggressive Vermin, so bringing a pistol or rifle with plenty of ammo is strongly recommended.
Helium-3 vents north and far north of the lander
Further Helium-3 opportunities lie to the north.
- North of the lander, beyond the mountains, you can find additional Helium-3 geysers. These are somewhat further away than the eastern pair but still reachable from an expanded starter region.
- In the far north, beyond early-game routes, sits at least one Helium-3 triple geyser. It lies past a major Calcium field: move northeast from the lander until you encounter a large Calcium plateau, then continue north to reach the triple vent.
One Helium-3 site in the world is already occupied by an abandoned base, which blocks extractor placement at that exact spot. That location is best treated as a loot and exploration target rather than a long-term Helium farm.
How to safely reach Helium-3 fields
Helium-3 pockets sit in more dangerous biomes than the lander’s immediate surroundings. Expect stronger Vermin types, including Slashers, Spitters, biological variants, and Flingers.
For trips to Helium-3 fields:
- Unlock and carry at least a pistol or rifle, plus multiple ammo stacks.
- Bring basic materials to drop a temporary respawn point or habitat near the field if you are venturing far north.
- Carry a meteorite hotkey item or harvesting tools so you can still profit from meteor falls along the route.
Helium-3 itself is not tied to rupture windows like Quartz or Sulfur, so you can approach vents whenever you are prepared for the combat and terrain.
How to set up a Helium-3 extraction base
Once you have identified a field and unlocked the Helium-3 Extractor, the next step is to create a dedicated outpost.
Step 1: Place a Base Core within building range of the vents. This anchors your new outpost and gives you a safe space to expand.
Step 2: Build power generation nearby and ensure it is linked to the Base Core or platforms leading to the vents. Helium-3 Extractors, like Ore Excavators, need a reliable power feed.
Step 3: Place Helium-3 Extractors directly on each vent. Standard Ore Excavators will not work; only the specialized extractor will harvest gas from these geysers.
Step 4: Add storage and production around the extractors. Connect outputs to containers, furnaces, or processing lines so you can buffer large quantities of Helium-3 for recipes like glass.
Step 5: If you plan to ship Helium-3 elsewhere, integrate Orbital Cargo Launchers or your chosen logistics solution so you can move gas to your main manufacturing hub.
Players often mirror their Calcium setup here: a compact core with power, storage, and a few processing machines directly adjacent to the vents, then a logistics link to a larger central factory.
Helium-3, Calcium powder, and glass production
Helium-3’s first major use is typically glass, which consumes a substantial amount per recipe.
To reach reliable glass production, you need both Helium-3 and Calcium powder at the same location or within your logistics network.
- Calcium comes from teeth-like white plateaus with water pools, found north and northeast of the lander. It is still mined with Ore Excavators.
- Calcium ore is smelted into Calcium blocks, then refined into Calcium powder.
- Glass production combines Calcium powder with Helium-3 in furnaces. Exact ratios depend on your layout, but Helium-3 demand is high enough that a single vent quickly becomes a limiting factor.
This is why the eastern double vent and the northern triple vent are so valuable: they allow you to scale glass without endlessly chasing meteorites.
When to prioritize Helium-3 in your progression
Helium-3 should not be your first resource focus. The typical order is:
- Establish stable Wolfram and Titanium mining around the lander.
- Push out to Calcium plateaus and start Calcium powder production.
- Use your growing factory to level Selenian to 6 with bars, rods, tubes, stabilizers, electronics, and Data Points.
- Only then invest in the travel, combat, and infrastructure costs of a Helium-3 base.
This pacing keeps Helium-3 aligned with recipes that genuinely need it, rather than letting it sit as a dead resource while you are still solving basic power, food, and water.
Once Helium-3 extractors are online at a good vent cluster, Helium stops being a grind and becomes another dependable feedstock in your factory web. From there, advanced materials like glass, higher-tier construction parts, and more complex Selenian projects are limited by your creativity, not by meteorite luck.
