SteamWorld Build – Items And Trading Guide

SteamWorld Build items will have you clamoring for more ways to boost your units and buildings. There are several that help you gather more resources, if not obtaining them outright. Here’s our guide on how to trade and buy items in SteamWorld Build.

How to trade and buy items in SteamWorld Build

You can trade and buy items in SteamWorld Build once you’ve repaired the Train Station. This requires you to have 120 Workers and 4 Boards (i.e. you must have a Forester and a Lumber Mill to manufacture this material). Once you’re done, you’ll notice that the train arrives every five minutes. Click on the Train Station to see additional functions.

Alternatively, you may also look for treasure chests in mines. These contain random items, including blueprints for unlockable infrastructure.

How to initiate item trades

You can trade items in SteamWorld Build by selecting the Train Station and clicking on the plus (+) sign in the Ongoing Trades tab. You can have up to five active trades at any given time. However, the trade will only occur once the next train has arrived (i.e. it’s not instantaneous).

Generally speaking, it’s not advisable to trade for goods using Money, since the cash you earn is often required for almost every construction project. Goods are also fairly costly due to the ratio (i.e. 1,000 Money for a single Board).

As such, we suggest “bartering” instead, where you exchange one type of good for another material. Naturally, the rate of exchange is different depending on the items you choose. For instance, to get one Board, you can either trade for 25 Sand, five Scrap, or two Ironium. You’ll also get a better tradeoff if an item is rarer, such as two Boards for one Robo Burger.

SteamWorld Build item list

You can purchase items in Steamworld Build via the item shop in the Train Station. The selection refreshes every five minutes, essentially whenever the train arrives. Also, take note that these cost Money and Rubies.

• Resource: Gold – Gain a certain number of Gold.
• Resource: Rubies – Gain a certain number of Rubies.
• Warehouse Item: Warehouse Deliveries – +1 simultaneous deliveries.
• Service Item: Service Income – Increases the tax bonus of a service item by 75 to 150%.
• Service Item: Service Inhabitants – Gains a +5 citizen bonus.
• Production Item: Production Chance – Increases the production bonus of an item by 25%; better variants also increase production speed by 80%.
• Production Item: Production Speed – Increases the production speed of a good.
• Miner Equipment: Gold Scavenging – Miners periodically find Gold.
• Miner Equipment: Digging Bonus – Increases the digging speed of Miners.
• Miner Equipment: Debris Bonus – Gains a bonus when clearing debris.
• Miner Equipment: Bonus Miners – Automatically recruits three Miners.
• Prospector Equipment: Tools Scavenging – Prospectors periodically find Tools.
• Prospector Equipment: Prospector Speed – Increases the movement speed of Prospectors.
• Prospector Equipment: Bonus Prospectors – Automatically recruits three Prospectors.
• Mechanic Equipment: Sheet Metal Scavenging – Mechanics periodically find Sheet Metal.
• Mechanic Equipment: Machine Reparation Bonus – Mechanics gain a bonus to machine repair.
• Mechanic Equipment: Bonus Mechanics – Automatically recruits three Mechanics.
• Guard Equipment: Flamethrower – Guards burn away creep.
• Guard Equipment: Shovel and Shield – Guards periodically taunt enemies.
• Guard Equipment: Revolver – Guards can deal decent ranged damage.
• Guard Equipment: Rifle – Guards can deal greater ranged damage.
• Guard Equipment: Bonus Guards – Automatically recruits three Guards.

How to equip items

You can equip items in SteamWorld Build by selecting a particular building (i.e. service, production, warehouse, residential, or quarters), and clicking on the Edit button. This allows you to choose a particular item that grants a buff.

Likewise, take note of the category so you’ll know which items work on certain buildings. For instance, you can only give the Production Chance item to a production-type building (i.e. Moonshiner, Lumber Mill, and others). As for equipment-type items, these can only be chosen for specific quarters (i.e. Digging Bonus for a Miners’ Quarter).

In any case, that does it for our guide on how to trade and buy items in SteamWorld Build. If you’re just starting out, you might want to check out our citizen satisfaction/needs guide and Workshop Extractors guide. We also discuss other topics related to further progression in the mines, such as accessing doors and mineshafts, as well as finding Old Tech Rocket Parts.