Lightyear Frontier Upgrades: Mech, Tools and Depot

Upgrades in Lightyear Frontier run through the Mech Depot, and 1.0 rebuilt how they work. Tools, body parts and transform modes now have separate upgrade paths, tools no longer consume Power, and mod slots are fewer but individually stronger. This page explains the system and the order that actually saves time.

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What is the Mech Depot?

The Mech Depot is the station that crafts and upgrades mech tools, parts and modes. Build it early; without it you are limited to the starting tool set, and every upgrade in the game flows through its menu.

The depot does three jobs:

1. Crafts new tools as you unlock them.
2. Upgrades existing tools and parts along their tracks.
3. Manages mods, which are the special modifiers slotted into tools and modes.

In 1.0, upgrading a tool increases its base stats even without mods. That is the biggest change from Early Access, where a tool's power came mostly from crafted tiers.

How do the 1.0 upgrade tracks work?

Each track has its own material costs. Red Crystal Dust and Steel Parts appear in several tracks, which is why those two materials feel scarce at the same time.

Power costs are gone. Tools, parts and modes no longer drain Power, so you can leave the Spike Saw equipped without watching a meter. The trade-off is that mod slots are fewer; each slot matters more.

Which upgrades should you buy first?

Priority order for a new 1.0 save:

Do not buy every tool before upgrading one. A high-tier Seed Shooter changes your session more than four low-tier tools sitting in the depot.

What do the tool secondaries do?

1.0 gives each tool a secondary ability that unlocks through its upgrade path:

• Spike Saw: hitting a weak point deals 25 percent bonus damage.
• Seed Shooter: Seed Minigun mod and Seed Stacking for multi-seed mounds.
• Sprout Cannon: Sprout Volley, a charged shot that plants several sprouts at once.
• Irrigation Hose: Hydro Blast for a wider water burst.
• Resource Vacuum: Harvest Vortex to pull in a wider area.

These are the upgrades that change how a tool feels. A tool without its secondary is only half upgraded.

What is the upgrade depot priority for a base?

Base upgrades are separate from the mech. They come from milestones and construct tiers, not from the Mech Depot:

• Storage Shed II and Silo III increase capacity.
• Furnace III, Grinder III and Oil Presser III raise processing throughput.
• Drone Station III extends automation range.
• Crafting Construct tiers unlock the recipes that use steel and electronics.

Upgrade the construct you are actually bottlenecked on. A Furnace III with no ore is worse than a Furnace II with a full input shed. The automation guide → covers throughput.

How do mods work in 1.0?

Mods are slotted effects. The 1.0 build reduced the number of slots and increased the strength of each mod, so the choice is more about which tool gets the slot than about collecting every mod.

Rules of thumb:

• Put the best mod on the tool you hold most.
• Do not spread mods across tools you rarely equip.
• Re-check the slot after every upgrade; a new tier may open a better combination.

Seed Minigun is the standout farming mod: it turns the Seed Shooter into a rapid-fire planter. Skyblazer is a transform mode, not a mod, and it is the biggest traversal upgrade in the game.

FAQ

Do tools still use Power?

No. The 1.0 update removed Power costs from tools, parts and modes. Energy is now used for crafting and automation instead.

Can you equip multiple copies of the same tool?

No. The 1.0 rework removed duplicate tool equip. One tool per arm slot, upgraded along its track.

Is Skyblazer worth it?

Yes, if you explore or haul across regions. It is a large fuel sink, so use it for scouting and long trips rather than every delivery.

What is the best first mod?

A movement or harvesting mod on your most-used tool. Seed Minigun is the best farming mod once the Seed Shooter is upgraded enough to use it.

Sources

Upgrade tracks, secondary abilities and the Power removal are from the official 1.0 patch notes (November 4, 2026). Costs are not listed because the 1.0 milestone rebalance changed several tiers.

Official source: Steam store ↗, official site ↗, community wiki ↗.