Crackling Depths is the final mineshaft floor you’ll be delving into inSteamworld Build, and it’s going to be the most fearsome. This mechanical landscape is full of deep canyons crawling with machines, and its valuable resources are often surrounded by enemies waiting to break free and destroy your Steambots.

You’ll have to utilize everything you’ve learned on the other mineshaft floors, amass Guard Steambots and continue watching out for hidden dangers like The Creep in the Crackling Depths. We’ll show you how to handle every threat in the Crackling Depths so you may find the last Rocket Parts and help your city.

Aerial view of the unrepaired Abandoned Mineshaft that leads to the Crackling Depths in Marshy Ruins in Steamworld Build.

How To Unlock The Crackling Depths

To get to the Crackling Depths, you’ll need to progress through the mines enough to reach thesecond mineshaft layer, Marshy Ruins, and torepair the third Abandoned Mineshaft,located on the far side of the level past adoor locked by three levers.

You’ll need2,500 Money,25 Sheet Metal,40 Boards, andat least ten Scientist Steambotsavailable in your city to repair this Abandoned Mineshaft.

Aerial view of a section of the Crackling Depths, showing Gold Nugget, Ruby, Scrap, and Vectron Scrap Veins on sides of a canyon in the Crackling Depths in Steamworld Build.

What Resources Can You Expect In The Crackling Depths?

Crackling Depths featurestwo new resourcesfor you to find,Vectron ScrapandJetshrooms. Vectron Scrap is unique in that itappears asboth a single-extractionand a permanent resource vein.

Besides Vectron Scrap, you’ll continue to findstaple single and permanent extraction resourceslike Gold Nuggets,Ironium Veins, Scrap Veins, Dirty Water, Gas, andCrude Oil.

Several cubes of mechanical Vectron Scrap with red wires and blue metal next to Enemy Tiles and metal Bedrock tiles in the Crackling Depths in Steamworld Build.

Single-Extraction Vectron Scrap Veins

Unlike other resources such as Scrap Veins and Jetshrooms, thefirst typeof Vectron Scrapvein you’ll encounter is thesingle-extraction variation, and theseprovide Vectron Scrap.

Vectron Scrap needs to beprocessed into Vectron Partsin aRetrofit Labbefore it can beused to recruit more Scientist Steambotsor as fuel for buildings.

View of an Extractor machine harvesting Vectron Scrap from a Vectron Scrap Vein that looks like a blue mechanical cube with red wires and lights in Steamworld Build.

Theyare extractedby Miners Steambotsand dug through like normal rock tiles, anddon’t require Prospectorsor an extraction machine to harvest.

These veins also come inlarge clusters, andalmost always surroundone or moreVectron Enemy Tiles, so you’ll need to have a set ofGuard quarters built as soon as you arrivein Crackling Depths.

A large plot of red-orange Jetshrooms growing next to bright pink Plastishrooms on Fertile Soil near Workshop quarters in the Crackling Depths in Steamworld Build

Permanent Extraction Vectron Scrap Veins

The other variation of Vectron Scrap comes in the form of apermanent resource vein, and israrerthan the single extraction type, as it’s found only onceyou expand further outinto the Crackling Depths.

You’ll need touse Prospectorsto harvest the Vectron Scrap from them initially, andonce you have at least 120 Scientistsin your city, you’ll be able to use the Workshop toconstruct a Vectron Scrap Extractorto harvest them automatically.

Large clumps of mechanical Creep flowers with glowing lights on them and lighted mechanical flowers growing and filling up a room in the Crackling Depths in Steamworld Build.

Jetshrooms

Jetshroomsare a permanent resource, like Plastishrooms, and they need to have their respective Jetshroomfarm built on top of Fertile Soilin order toproduce Jetshrooms.

Each Jetshroom Farm isplaced like Steambot quarters, and they need to beat least a three-by-three tile sectionin order to function and produce Jetshrooms.

Several Guard Steambots fighting off an Undead Bot while Miner Steambots are digging up Vectron Scrap tiles in Steamworld Build.

Jetshrooms are anend-game resource, and both they and their farmonly become availableto build once you’verecruited at least 240 Scientistsor more in your city, andat least oneof them isrequired to beat the game.

What Hazards Will You Find In The Crackling Depths?

Crackling Depths introduces you toone new enemy tilethat can spawnone of four different Vectron enemy variants, and you’ll also still be dealing withWormsandThe Creepas well.

Instabilityalso poses aslightly greater dangerthis time around: there’s a chance that a large mechanicalCreep flower will drop instead of a rockif a cave-in starts to happen.

Several Guard bots engaging a Hive attack while three floating glowing Necromancer Bots trying to revive enemies in Steamworld Build

Vectron

Vectron-type enemies are foundprimarily in mechanical Enemy Tilesand these appear as squareclusters of wires with an Undead Bot trappedinside.

These Enemy Tiles can spawnone of four enemy variants, and an additionalfifth enemy varianthas achance to spawn each timeany of theother four are defeated.

A Gunner Bot and Creeping Hulk climbing up a wall onto land as several Undead Bots attack a Flame Turret and Guards in Steamworld Build.

Like Beetles, Vectron hordes willattack and hunt down Steambots, as well asany structuresnearby, such as Defensive Turrets, Pillars, and Extractors.

Thefifth enemyvariation is theNecromancer Bot, and it appears as afloating, glowing skull. These enemieshave a chance to spawnwhenever anotherVectron enemy is destroyed, and cannot be encountered any other way.

Light blue blueprint showing the design of a Teleporter from a chest in the Crackling Depths in Steamworld Build.

These Necromancer Bots willfly into recently destroyed enemies and revive them,but thisrevival can be preventedif they’redispatched quicklyby Guards or Turrets.

Dispatching a Necromancer Bot will causeanyrevived enemies to diealongside it.

The Hive

The Hive functions the same in the Crackling Depths as it does in the Marshy Ruin. They willperiodically launch ambush attacksat severalpre-determined locationson the floor, and these locations are atopen pits with edges lined with tiles of Fertile Soil.

You’restill able to makeboth Plastishroom or Jetshroom farms on aFertile Soil patchmeant for farming,even if it overlaps with an attack location.

There are a total offour potential attack locations, butonly twoof them can beunder attack at one timeunless you begin to dig up a Rocket Part.

Hive ambushes canoccur in Crackling Depths and Marshy Ruins simultaneously, so ensure all locations are well defended, even if you’ve totally explored the floor.

What Blueprints Can You Find In The Crackling Depths?

In Crackling Depths, you can find theTeleporter Blueprint. Like before, you’ll find it inone of the randomly placed cheststhroughout the floor, but it’sguaranteed to be in oneof them.

Teleporters areplaced two at a time: one ateach destinationyou want to belinked together, and thebuilding costcounts only for thefirst Teleport placed.There’s alimit of two setsof Teleporters placedper mineshaft floor.

These incredibly useful machines can be used in a variety of ways, such astransferring Guardsbetween two areaswhere The Hive launches attacksfor better defense orspeeding up Mechanicsgetting to machines across the map.

How To Find The Crackling Depth’s Rocket Parts

Crackling Depths holds thefinal two Rocket Partsyou’ll need to find, and you can eitheruse a Radar Systemto locate them, orfind them naturallyas you explore.

You’ll findboth of themhiddenbehind Vectron Scrap tiles and Enemy Tiles, and they’llcommonly be covered in The Creepwhen you break through to them. Each one will needten Miners to excavatethis time, so you’ll need to manage your Steambot count carefully.