"Planet Crafter": How to Find Rainbow Caves & All Quartz Types
Learn how to find the Rainbow Caves in "Planet Crafter." It's absolutely worth it!
Where Are the Rainbow Caves in Planet Crafter?
The Rainbow Caves in Planet Crafter can be found along a river in the northwest portion of the map. There are multiple entrances as well as multiple caverns and interconnected tunnels. I'd estimate there are roughly 8–10 notable caverns, with quite a lot of high-value loot scattered around them as well. Overall, it's a bit confusing to navigate, but if you get to the right area, you're bound to stumble into the caves.
Rainbow Caves Location Coordinates
Here are the coordinates to a couple of entrances to the Rainbow Caves:
- 1970:10:1926
- 2148:21:1663
Coordinates for Specific Quartz Caverns
Here are the coordinates for some of the specific quartz caves:
- Quasar Quartz: 2107:14:1816
- Blazar Quartz: 2101:8:1950
- Solar Quartz: 2194:34:1879
- Pulsar Quartz: 2209:28:1709
- Magnetar Quartz: 2059:13:2067
The best way to get to the location is to use the northwest uranium deposit, take the exit from that area towards the river, and turn left. Straight down the river will be a Pulsar Quartz cavern, one of the areas of the Rainbow Caves. From there you can explore and find more caverns.
Refer to the images or video below for more details.
The Rainbow Caves are near the northwestern uranium deposit close to the edge of the map.
Why Are the Rainbow Caves and Quartz Important?
In addition to looking cool and having a small rainbow effect in some areas, the Rainbow Caves are an essential source of quartz. Quartz is an endgame resource, and there are five different types of quartz in the game:
- Pulsar (pink)
- Magnetar (purple)
- Quasar (green)
- Blazar (blue)
- Solar (yellow)
These quartz are used in essential endgame blueprints, such as:
- Fusion Energy Cells
- Drone Stations
- Nuclear Fusion Generators
- Portal Generators
- Teleporters
- Extraction Platforms
- T6 Backpacks
- T4 Jetpacks
- Warden Key Detector
- Genetic Synthesizer
- Genetic Extractor
- Light Box (a glowing cube?)
The Warden Key Detector is essential for one of the three endings to the game. And Solar Quartz is used in another ending.
Nearly all of the items above are highly valuable for something. Nuclear Fusion Generators are by far the highest power-generating items in Planet Crafter. Drone Stations enable automation and allow you to create giant industrial setups. Teleports finally let you easily travel throughout the map. Quartz is even part of reaching the mammal stage via Genetic Synthesizers and Extractors. The Extraction Platform is how you trigger endings to the game.
Overall, quartz enables the biggest unlocks you can get.
Where Else Can You Get Quartz?
While you can get all five types of quartz in the caves, you cannot use extractors in the caves. This means you cannot mine them infinitely! However, Pulsar Quartz is craftable at 175,000 GTi, and Solar Quartz is craftable if you find the blueprint in a distant wreck accessed via the Portal Generator.
How to Craft Pulsar Quartz
To craft a Pulsar Quartz, you will need:
- 1 Osmium
- 1 Zeolite
- 1 Iridium
- 1 Uranium
- 1 Methane Cartridge
How to Craft Solar Quartz
To craft a Solar Quartz, you will need:
- 1 Nitrogen Cartridge
- 1 Sulfur
- 1 Obsidian
Beyond that, the only other source to find quartz is chests, mostly in wrecks accessed via the Portal Generator. On top of that, opening portals requires quartz as well, so you'll want to be cautious about how you spend them and how thoroughly you are exploring wrecks.
Note: Every wreck in a portal has some lockers that look like vaults and have the best loot. If you haven't found one yet, keep looking!
That makes these resources very rare and quite valuable, so they should be prioritized whenever you see them. There is enough quartz in the Rainbow Caves to get you started, but you'll inevitably be doing portal runs to get more.
It can cost quite a few quartz in order to open a portal to a distant wreck.
While it's costly, you can get amazing loot in these distant wrecks! I normally return with a full inventory and usually one to two rows of quartz. The terra tokens and fuses tend to be great.
A Bonus Steam Achievement
The Rainbow Caves unlock the endgame experience in Planet Crafter, and I personally found that area of the game to be the most exciting. Not only is the tech and resulting gameplay super fun, but the caves are also one of the most beautiful areas of the game. And if you care about such things, visiting the Rainbow Caves also triggers a Steam achievement called "Rainbow Caves."
You definitely need to visit them as soon as possible!
"Planet Crafter" Rainbow Caves Guide
