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May 08, 2023

Astroneer: How to Get a Hoverboard

Once unlocked, Astroneer's Hoverboard allows players the chance to move objects

Once unlocked, Astroneer's Hoverboard allows players the chance to move objects and resources around their world with great speed.

Astroneer features a number of different vehicles that players can use to get around the different planets in the game. While some of these may feel a bit clunky and can be quite large, there is one special vehicle that stands out: the Hoverboard. This personal mobility device is potentially one of the fastest modes of transportation in Astroneer.

Unfortunately, because of its usefulness, this item can be a challenging item to unlock and even requires investing in one of Astroneer's shuttles. For those looking to get their hands on a Hoverboard and learn how best to use it, this guide is here to help.

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While many items typically require players to simply invest the research currency in Astroneer, bytes, this is not the case for the Hoverboard. It is remains locked behind a group of missions that take players to Sylva's moon, Desolo. This begins with "To Parts Unknown," which tasks players with purchasing and printing a Small Shuttle, an Oxygenator to be placed within said shuttle, and a Solid-Fuel Thruster to be placed on the bottom of the Shuttle.

With this spacecraft now built, players can launch to one of the moons and planets in Astroneer known as Desolo. This wild landscape features the next piece of this journey towards acquiring a Hoverboard: tracking down a Vehicle Data Recorder. These unique EXO Caches need to be blown up in order to be opened but appears on the compass as a blue circle with a pointed bottom instead of a green circle. With this blown up and the EXO Chip retrieved, players will be directed to a nearby Material Analysis Transmitter (MAT).

With an EXO Chip attached to the MAT, players then will be asked to retrieve two of each of the following resources: Copper, Zinc, Plastic, and Aluminum Alloy. Fortunately, some of these items are easy to gather on the starting planet, Sylva. With these collected, players can activate the MAT and will be rewarded with a Hoverboard, its Schematic, and the power generation item QT-RTG.

The Hoverboard needs to be placed in the backpack, and is activated through double-tapping the jump button (Space on a PC, A on the Xbox, X on a Playstation, and A on the Switch). Once active, players can move as they do while walking, except at much greater speed. This personal mobility device drains one power per second and makes that QT-RTG an essential item for players to attach to their backpack. Otherwise, players will have to limit their use to their base in Astroneer and its generators.

The real advantage to having a Hoverboard is that it allows for the transportation of objects and important resources at full speed, regardless of size. Players can pick up objects with the Hoverboard active and transport them around with ease. Combining the use of this item with a Hydrazine Jet Pack or a Solid-Fuel Jump Jet allows players to limit and even prevent fall damage.

Astroneer is available on Windows PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

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Joseph has been working as a writer for Game Rant since March 2021 and has been a technical writer and journalist since 2019. Having written hundreds of articles over his career and played dozens of games, Joseph strives to keep himself immersed in the industry. He covers gaming news, writes guides, and dabbles in features as well.