Progression

There's no fixed path, but most players move through Enthalpy in four stages. Each one unlocks what the next needs.

1. Getting started#

Goal: power and more metal from every ore.

• Caloric Engine, burning coal or charcoal.
• Triturator and Resistive Kiln: four ingots per ore.
• Kerf Mill: more planks per log, and sawdust for the engine.
• Calibration Tablet, and your first Tempered tier kits.

Tutorial: Your first hour.

2. Water, crops and fish#

Goal: a farm that runs itself, and your first resource fish.

• Aquifer for endless water; Irrigation and Lumen modules for faster crops.
• Ecotone with cod and a crop; Fish Meal from the Triturator.
• Spawning Basin and your first mutations: Ferric Cod, Cupric Salmon, Volt Puffer.
• Voltaic Cell to store power, and Eddy Smelter for alloys.

Tutorials: Your first fish farm, Your first new species.

3. Fuel and salt#

Goal: fuels you make yourself, and the salt that grows crystals.

• Vortex Separator: oil from fish and seeds, gasoline from crude, steam from water.
• Distiller and Reaction Vat: ethanol, then biodiesel.
• Ignition Engine: the strongest engine, on the fuels you make.
• Slick Eel for crude oil, and Fortified or Luminous kits on your busiest machines.
• Salt Pan and Brine Accretor: your first crystals.

Guide: Fuel chains.

4. Rare fish and weapons#

Goal: the long breeding lines and the gear they pay for.

• Deep lines to Diamond Ray, Beryl Darter and Ancient Coelacanth; Prized parents and the Infusion Module for richer yields.
• Harmonic kits, and a Tesla module to power a whole base without cables.
• Haddock Howitzer and Kingfish Katana, with crystals for their elements and muzzle brakes from metal crystals.
• With other mods in your pack: their metals' fish lines (see Compatibility).

Plan a line: Breeding explorer.