One of the common questions I’ve seen in the SteamWorld Build community is how to get Vectron Parts. The confusion around this is due to how early the game introduces this new resource when you’re unable to gather it. Which can make this feel like a bug or wall where you can’t progress. In most cases, you’ll be able to get Vectron Parts a little later, but there is one unfortunate situation where you’re stuck.
Just a quick note that I have almost 40 hours in SteamWorld Build between completing a few different runs and testing stuff for guides. So I have a good understanding of how the many different systems work.
How to Get Vectron Parts in SteamWorld Build
Once you reach Milestone 14 after getting 240 Aristobots, you’ll unlock the Scientist Residential and the game gives you 10 Vectron Parts. You can use six of these to upgrade one Aristobot Residential to a Scientist one. At most, you’ll get eight Scientists if you haven’t built a University or used any items to get more.
This will push you from Milestone 14 to 15 where you’ll unlock the Retrofit Shop. Chances are likely you’ll get to this point but not have reached the third underground floor yet, the Crackling Depths. If this is the case, you won’t be able to produce Vectron Parts to build more Scientist Residentials yet. You’ll need to first build a University to increase the number of Scientists you get from the first Scientist Residential.
Once you have at least 10 Scientists from your first Scientist Residential, you can then unlock the Crackling Depths. At this point, you can start mining Vectron Scrap wall blocks. Afterward, you can convert the Vectron Scrap to Vectron Parts at a Retrofit Shop. Another option is to trade at the train station for Vectron Scrap but it can be expensive.
Upon reaching Milestone 17 at 100 Scientists, you’ll unlock the Vectron Scrap Extractor. Similar to the Scrap and Ironium Extractor, you can place it on a Vectron Scrap Vein. This will produce a consistent source of Vectron Scrap for making Vectron Parts.
The Bugged Situation For Those on Difficult, Difficulty
Every difficulty except the hardest one of Difficult will refund you all resources when deleting a building. Unfortunately, the hardest difficulty doesn’t refund you any resources when deleting a building. This means it’s possible to place your first Scientist Residential, delete it, and then be stuck. The problem here is that you can’t get to the Crackling Depths without having 10 Scientists.
And if you don’t have any Scientists, you won’t have employees to work in the Retrofit Shop. This leads to a situation where even if you purchase Vectron Scrap from the train, you won’t be able to refine it into Vectron Parts. I’m sure the developer will come up with a workaround once they realize this issue. I’ve posted about it on the Steam Discussions so it’s only a matter of time until they realize the issue.
As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a trick to get around it but I could be wrong. If you figure out something that I may have missed, feel free to comment below and I’ll update this guide. Otherwise, I hope the majority of you aren’t stuck in this bugged situation and can continue playing SteamWorld Build as normal.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.