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How to get wood, softwood, and hardwood in Lightyear Frontier

Be it wood, softwood, or hardwood, knowing where to find these valuable Lightyear Frontier resources will make or break your farm out in (star)fields.

A Lightyear Frontier character harvesting wood.

Where can you find Wood and Softwood in Lightyear Frontier? Though they may look similar, these similar-sounding materials are used for several opposing crafts in the new cosy space farming game. Before you go chopping down every tree in sight, turning the lush planet into a recreation of the one you left behind, learn which trees drop each type of wood. It’ll save you time and save the planet.

Assuming you’re early into your space-faring adventure, you might want to first learn how to restore Pine Heights in Lightyear Frontier. It’s typically the second zone you’ll happen upon; one which plays host to the basic materials you’ll need when getting started. Likewise, knowing how to build the Merchant Landing can save you a lot of time in the long run, too.

How to get wood in Lightyear Frontier

The easiest way to get wood in Lightyear Frontier is to harvest Green Trees and Yellow Trees. Both turn into regular wood when chopped and are typically found in bountiful groups.

Until you upgrade your mech tools, the fastest way to harvest wood can differ. When cutting down single trees away from any other, it’s faster to use the spike function of the Spike Saw tool. It’s also a great way to avoid chopping down any other nearby growth.

If multiple Green or Yellow Trees are grouped, lining up a good swing of the saw will save you a lot of time.

The location of Hardwood and Wood circled on the Lightyear Frontier map.

Where to find Green and Yellow Trees in Lightyear Frontier

If you need a lot of wood fast, the best place to visit is the Yellow Forest.

You’ll need some upgraded tools to restore the area to reveal it on the map, but you can get around and harvest the bountiful groves at any point with your standard Spike Saw mech attachment.

How to get softwood in Lightyear Frontier

Soft Wood comes from various other types of trees in Lightyear Frontier, with Pine being a great example. It’s a readily available type of tree that’s common in the first few areas you’re likely to set up camp and extract simple materials around.

The location of Pine trees circled on the Lightyear Frontier map.

Where to find Pine Trees in Lightyear Frontier

You can find Pine in great quantities over in Pine Heights early on.

Give the groves a couple of days to replenish after each harvest and you’ll have a sustainable source of softwood right on your doorstep until you decide to up sticks for areas with rarer materials.

How to get hardwood

Harvesting Hardwood typically requires an upgraded Spike Saw attachment for your mech. With it, you break down Large Yellow Trees and Large Green Trees.

Instead of awarding more wood when cut down, these larger varieties instead drop hardwood, unlocking loads of new crafts in the process; like the Birdhouse, Barrel, Hardwood Fence, and the Color Mixer.

The location of Hardwood circled on the Lightyear Frontier map.

Where to find hardwood in Lightyear Frontier

Because it’s extracted from larger varieties of early-game trees, you’ll find a lot of sources of hardwood in areas where you’d typically find regular wood. Yellow Forest is a great example.

How to get more Wood and Soft Wood in Lightyear Frontier

With traversal and travel being a little slow in Lightyear Frontier, especially with its weight and encumbrance inventory system, finding sustainable ways to farm wood and Softwood can go a long way.

The best method for keeping both materials coming into your coffers is to plant seeds.

Cutting down a tree will often drop a weightless sapling in your inventory. Plant these close to home with the Sprout Cannon, water them once, and leave them for a few days to automagically create a grove of trees you can quickly harvest without making a day trip out to the woods.

Looking for more cosy busywork games to while away the hours? Check out our list of the best relaxing games to play. Think this one needs more NPC interaction? You might want to try the best games like Animal Crossing instead. And if you’ve exhausted the classic indie farming game, you might be interested in this base game Stardew Valley mod that might as well be an unofficial DLC expansion.