If you’re just starting your journey through the voxel-packed universe of Cubic Odyssey, you’re in for a wild ride. Whether you’re terraforming planets, battling space pirates, or simply figuring out how to refill your battery, I’ve got your back with my complete beginner’s guide. I’ve had an absolute blast playing this game, and I’ve compiled everything you need to know to make money fast, upgrade your gear, build the coolest bases, and avoid the mistakes that many new players (including me!) fall into.
Ultimate Beginner’s Guide (Tips and Tricks)
Cubic Odyssey feels like what you’d get if Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, and Terraria had a baby, and that baby had a complex crafting system, rogue enemy pirates, orbital mechanics, and weirdly satisfying paint tools. You crash-land, you survive, you build, you loot, and eventually… you take off into space.
But it’s easy to get overwhelmed early. So let’s get into what matters most first.
Best Ways to Make Money in Cubic Odyssey
1. Start with Quests
Right off the bat, quests are your best bet for steady income. Head to the NPCs at your starting base and complete the tasks they assign. They usually pay between 2,400 and 8,000 coins, but you might stumble upon high-tier quests like turning in 50 cobalt ore for 12,000 coins.
Not the most thrilling way to earn cash, but it’s easy, repeatable, and profitable early on.
2. Sell Loot, But Smartly
Selling items at vendors is another option. As your Trading Skill levels up, you’ll unlock more saleable items and better rates. Still, it’s usually not as lucrative as quests or…
3. Darkness Farming
Clear darkness zones and rake in the loot! You’ll collect:
- Dark Fragments
- Dark Liquid
- Dark Plates
- Dark Rods
- Darkness Core Fragments (~2,500 each!)
Sell them to Weston at the Bardwell space station. I made a quick 17k profit doing just this.
Tip: Never sell Dark Dust, it’s crucial for crafting.
How to Get Free Ships (Yes, Really)
Don’t waste money on ships. Instead:
- While in space, press Q to scan for derelict ships.
- These often spawn in higher-tier systems.
- Ships need various repair materials (bring aluminum ingots, rubies, transistors, etc.).
That’s how I scored the Planet Bane, 100% free.
Manage Multiple Ships
At any space station or base with a ship mod terminal, you can:
- Store and switch between ships
- Transfer upgrades and cargo
- Manage up to 4+ ships
Build a Sky Base (and Let Villagers Do the Work)
This is one of the smartest plays early game, and it’s working like a charm for me. Here’s what to do:
- Build your base in the sky,seriously. Start your staircase or ramp from the village and go up at least 50 blocks.
- Go to Bardwell II, the second planet in your system. It’s packed with all tiers of ore, so it’s your main resource hub.
- Find a village with a merchant that buys low-tier weapons. Super important, you’ll be farming a ton of these.
Why this works:
- Villagers below will fight off waves of enemies.
- Your ship and base stay completely safe.
- Enemies get wrecked while you stay cozy up top.
- Loot drops straight down below, weapons, gear, horns, ready to collect and sell.
I’ve made thousands doing nothing but letting villagers tank pirate raids. It’s basically an AFK farm.
Essential Tools and Items
Planet Portal: Best Utility Item
Lets you instantly travel between planets and systems.
- Place one at your base, one at your outpost
- Instant teleportation magic
Energy Station: Absolute Game-Changer
- Recharge any battery
- Reusable (use your extractor to pick it back up)
Always have one on you!
Use House Stations (Not Your Own)
Don’t waste your rare parts on personal repair stations. If you find repair kiosks inside little houses, use those instead, they cost Qbits, not materials.
Same goes for gear battery charging. Super handy mid-exploration.
Fast Travel Tricks
- Click your ship’s name to teleport to it
- Click the speeder icon to summon it anywhere
Mining, Crafting & Resource Tips
Where to Find Ores
Use the System Map and hover over planets:
- Tier 1-2: Tin, Silicon, Titanium
- Tier 4-5: Ruby, Emerald, Diamond
Example: Bardwell 3 = Tier 4-5; Bardwell 1 = great for Tin
How to Get Water (Fast)
Forget the Water Collector. Instead:
- Throw explosive grenades into water
- Collect dropped water blocks
Warning: You’ll take damage if you’re too close, but it’s fast and efficient.
How to Make Clay
Use your Refinery:
- Fuel in bottom slot
- Dirt in top slot
- Clay output. Done.
Ore Scanning Tricks
Use the scanner (Q) to search by ore tier, not just a specific ore. You’ll get way more hits and often find clusters of rare materials you’d otherwise miss.
- Tier 1–2 ores: Bardwell 1
- Tier 3–5 ores: Bardwell 2 (go here ASAP!)
- Highest tier stuff (Rubies, Diamonds): Bardwell 3
Craft a Bed (And Why It Matters)
Beds skip night (and pirate attacks). Made at the Builder’s Bench.
- Craft planks from wood
- Use ancient materials like clay, iron, etc.
Combat & Exploration Hacks
Use Your Ship as a Sniper Platform
Land low, jump on top (or build a platform), and pick off enemies from safety.
Hit Higher-Level Systems Early
You don’t need to buy advanced weapons. Scan for derelicts in high-level, pirate-free systems and loot gear from them!
Ancient Mines & Pirate Dens
Great for ore and loot. Yes, there are pirates. Yes, it’s worth it.
Light Pills = Life Saver
Dark enemies apply a healing block debuff. Keep Light Pills on hand to cure it.
UI Tricks, QOL Settings & Console Warnings
Filter Cube Pickup
Avoid filling your inventory with junk:
- Toggle off dirt, leaves, sand, etc.
- Only collect valuable ores and materials
Customize with the Paint Gun
- Right-click: pick color
- Left-click: paint any item
- Use Super Paint Gun (3m radius) or Giant Paint Gun (9m!)
Warning for Console Players (PS5): Avoid the Paint Station, it can crash your game.
Bulk Painting with the Painting Bench
- Select a stack of blocks
- Apply color BEFORE placement
- Time saver and base beautifier!
Recycle > Coal
Drop excess junk into the Recycler to get Energy Capsules, a far better fuel than coal.
Safety Warnings
Deleting Items Has No Undo
Pressing C while hovering deletes items instantly.
- Enable deletion confirmation via Settings → Gameplay
Base Defense Tip
Build a sky base starting from a village with helpful NPCs. Make it:
- 50+ blocks up
- Defended by villagers (they attack enemies!)
- Loot fallen weapons (450 coins each!)
Robot Buddy: QB1
Press Tab to find QB1.
- Assign ore scans (later upgrades allow specific scans)
- Click his icon to manage him, equip tools, or toggle on/off
- Combine with Q scanner for bonus resource detection
Warning: Scanners drain energy, bring Fuel Cells!
Wrap-Up
If you’ve made it this far, congrats, you’re already miles ahead of where I was when I first crash-landed in Cubic Odyssey. I’ve spent more hours than I’d like to admit wandering around without a clue, running from pirates, getting wrecked in darkness zones, and asking, “Why is my ship on fire again?”
But once I figured out the right strategies, from sky bases and darkness farming to smart repairs and free ship scans, everything clicked. And honestly? This game is an absolute blast once you get the hang of it.
My goal with this guide was to save you time, frustration, and resources, so you can skip the trial-and-error phase and jump straight to the fun part: building awesome bases, exploring alien worlds, and making ridiculous amounts of space cash. So get out there, scan smart, build big, and let those villagers do the dirty work while you rake in the profits!
