Space Engineers: How To Use Every Tool (2024)

Space Engineers, released in 2019 by Keen Software House, is a space sandbox for both amateurs and long-time gamers, where you can make spaceships, vehicles, space stations, and bases galore. In order to succeed in this tricky survival title, you'll need to fend off a variety of enemies (there are some frightening foes in space, as Dead Space makes clear) while building your impressive creations.

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There are four basic tools in Space Engineers that help you accomplish your goals: the Automatic Rifle, the Grinder, the Hand Drill, and the Welder. It's vital that you learn how to use every available tool in-game, as well as how to craft them using ores found in veins on the asteroids around you (as well as below the planet's surface).

5 Automatic Rifle: A Standard-Issue Combat Essential

The Automatic Rifle is the tool used most often, to fight off the various alien enemies in the game. When you spawn in your first survival world, it's arguably one of the most helpful tools available, since fighting those ever-intriguing aliens is no easy task. To use it, you need to click the left mouse button to fire a short burst, or the right mouse button to switch between firing modes. While floating in space, you can use the short burst to push you in the opposite direction. To craft the basic rifle, you need three Iron and one Nickel. However, if you want an even better weapon, you can upgrade it three different ways:

• The Precise Rifle fires more accurately and hits harder, but only fires half as fast as the basic rifle. To craft it, you need three Iron, one Nickel, and five Cobalt.
• The Rapid-fire Rifle does just that, but at the cost of worse damage, accuracy, and ammo consumption. To craft it, you need three Iron and eight Nickel.
• The Elite Rifle is perhaps the best in the game, but it's highly expensive, requiring three Iron, one Nickel, six Silver, and four Platinum.

4 Grinder: Invaluable For Causing All Manner Of Destruction

The Grinder is the tool used to disassemble various blocks that make up the space ships and stations you can build. Even the most advanced players can easily misclick during a build, so having a tool like the Grinder is vital. To craft it, you need three Iron, one Nickle, one Cobalt, and one Silicon. The Grinder can also be used as a weapon, having a higher damage output than the basic rifle, while also using no ammunition. Some players, sadly, use it as a griefing tool during PvP, taking apart essential blocks and stealing the components for themselves (some of the worst fellow community members you can meet in a base-building title like this one). This tool can also be upgraded into three unique grinders.

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• The Enhanced Grinder, with a speed of 16 seconds and 4.6 percent energy usage, costs three Iron, one Nickel, two Cobalt, and six Silicon.
• The Proficient Grinder, with a speed of 12 seconds and 2.8 percent energy usage, costs three Iron, one Nickel, one Cobalt, two Silicon, and two Silver.
• The Elite Grinder, with a speed of five seconds and two percent energy usage, costs three Iron, one Nickel, one Cobalt, two Silicon, and two Platinum.

3 Hand Drill: A Beginner Miner's Best Friend

The Hand Drill is a tool that can be used to mine stone and ores from asteroids, and can also destroy blocks. It can be used to create large holes without dropping ore, which can be helpful for quickly digging tunnels. While not as effective as vehicular Drills, in the early game, it is essential to success in your builds. The built-in Ore Detector is helpful for detecting nearby veins as well. To craft it, you need 20 Iron, three Nickel, and three Silicon. Like the other main tools, it also has three upgradable versions:

• The Enhanced Hand Drill, which costs 20 Iron, three Nickel, and five Silicon.
• The Proficient Hand Drill, which costs 20 Iron, three Nickel, three Silicon, and two Silver.
• The Elite Hand Drill, which costs 20 Iron, three Nickel, three SIlicon, and two Platinum.

2 Welder: You Can't Build Without It

The Welder is the tool you use to actually build things. With it, you can construct ships, stations, bases, vehicles, and more. If your favorite thing is to build, then you'll love using this tool to construct the perfect place to call home. You can take inspiration from some of the most iconic spaceships in gaming or make your own unique creations. Right-clicking with the Welder on an unfinished block will add necessary components to the construction stockpile, and Left-clicking adds progress to the build while draining energy from your suit. To craft the base Welder, you need five Iron, one Nickle, and 0.2 Cobalt. Again, this tool has three upgraded versions to choose from.

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• The Enhanced Welder has a speed of 24 seconds and uses 6.6 percent suit energy. It costs five Iron, one Nickle, 0.2 Cobalt, and two Silicon.
• The Proficient Welder has a speed of 16 seconds annd uses 4.6 percent suit energy. It costs five Iron, one Nickle, 0.2 Cobalt, and two Silver.
• The Elite Welder has a speed of five seconds and only uses two perent suit energy. It costs five Iron, one Nickle, 0.2 Cobalt, and two Platinum.

There are several types of ammunition that you can both find and craft to supply various weapons. Each type of ammo is considered a different tool within the game, but for simplicity's sake, they are all grouped here. If you have "Cargo Ships" enabled in your survival game, each of these can be found in the cargo holds of Military ships.

• 5.56x45mm NATO Magazine: This ammunition can be used for both the Automatic Rifle and Interior Turrets. They can be crafted from 0.8 Iron, 0.2 Nickle, and 0.15 Magnesium.
• 25x184mm NATO Ammo Container: This ammunition is used in Gatling Turrets. It costs 40 Iron, five Nickle, and three Magnesium.
• 200mm Missile Container: Missile Containers are used to supply Rocket Launchers. By far the most expensive ammunition in the game, the firepower these provide is well worth the cost in many players' eyes. It costs 55 Iron, seven Nickle, 0.2 Silicon, 0.1 Uranium, 0.04 Platinum, and 1.2 Magnesium to craft.

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