Outbound Guide: How to Craft Hardened Metal
Mine Red Ore, Upgrade Your Tools, and Repair the Ferry Motor
Quick Answer: To get Hardened Metal, you need to mine Red Ore from the northeast corner of the canyons biome. Bring this ore back to your van and run it through your Metal Smelter. You absolutely need this resource to upgrade your tools, repair the broken ferry motor, and stop your engine from overheating.
As you push deeper into the canyons biome, Outbound throws another massive progression wall in front of you. Suddenly, your crafting menus demand Hardened Metal for crucial upgrades, but the game completely forgets to tell you where to find it.
You will not find Hardened Metal lying around in chests or dropping from standard rocks. You have to manufacture it yourself using a brand new raw material. Here is exactly how to stockpile this vital resource so you can keep your road trip moving.
Tracking Down Red Ore
The secret ingredient to crafting Hardened Metal is Red Ore. You cannot find this material in the starting zones or along the coast. You have to drive into the northeast section of the canyons map.
Park your van and walk along the extreme edges of the map, right up against the towering cliff faces. You are looking for very specific rock formations. Red Ore nodes feature a distinct flat top and a shiny silver and red color palette. Walk up to one with your pickaxe and start swinging.
Farming Stats and Respawns
- Yield: You receive exactly three pieces of Red Ore for every node you successfully mine.
- Respawn Timer: The nodes reappear in the exact same spots every 24 in-game hours.
- Best Strategy: Clear out the entire northeast cliff edge, go sleep in your van, and repeat the loop the next morning.
Before you dedicate hours to strip-mining the canyons, make sure you actually finished up your business in the previous zone! If you left anything behind on the beach, check out our coastal lighthouse guide to wrap up that puzzle before moving on.
Firing Up the Metal Smelter
Once your pockets are weighing you down with Red Ore, head back to your camper van. You cannot use this material in its raw state.
Walk over to your Metal Smelter. Open the interface and drop your stack of Red Ore into the machine. Flip the power switch located squarely between the two bottom grid sections. Wait for the progress arrow to fill up completely, and grab your shiny new Hardened Metal out of the finished slot.
Essential Hardened Metal Upgrades
Do not just craft a couple of bars and call it a day. You need a massive stockpile of this stuff to survive the canyons and reach the next phase of the game.
Here is exactly what you will be spending your new metal on:
| Upgrade / Objective | Why You Need It |
| Wrench II | Required to interact with advanced broken machinery in this biome. |
| Sickle III | Necessary for harvesting high-tier flora blocking your path or needed for crafting. |
| Ferry Motor Repair | You need the Wrench II plus two actual pieces of Hardened Metal to fix the ferry at the dry dock. |
| Engine Cooling Upgrade | Costs five Hardened Metal. Without this, your van will constantly overheat while navigating the steep canyon roads. |
Because practically every major objective in this biome demands this refined material, I highly recommend grinding out a massive batch of Red Ore immediately. It saves you from infuriating backtracking later when your engine boils over on a steep incline.
If you want to master every aspect of your campervan adventure, be sure to check out all of our other guides at Novus Vektra.
