Aetherium
Aetherium is Ascendant Technology's prestige metal line. You do not dig up finished ingots; you collect shards from rare ore, then push them through advanced machines until they become stable enough for top-tier crafting.
It is one of the clearest progression markers in the add-on: once you start making Aetherium consistently, your factory has moved well beyond basic smelting and into late-game industrial refinement.
At a glance
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Main mined form | Aetherium Shard |
| Main refined form | Aetherium Ingot |
| Natural sources | Rare deep Overworld ore and richer End ore |
| Main machines | Catalyst Weaver, Liquifier, Residue Processor, Cryo Chamber |
| Main roles | Premium gear, conveyors, advanced catalysts, fluid conversion |
How to obtain Aetherium
Mine Aetherium ore
Aetherium does not drop as a finished ingot. Its ore line drops Aetherium Shards, which are refined later.
- Deepslate Aetherium Ore appears extremely rarely in the deep Overworld.
- End Aetherium Ore appears in the End and becomes the stronger direct source once you can farm it safely.
- Silk Touch preserves the ore block. Without Silk Touch, you get shards instead, and Fortune improves the yield.
In short: Aetherium is a shard-first material line, not a smelt-first one.
Sieve for extra shards
Once you have a processing setup, Aetherium can also be recovered through sieving.
- Crushed Endstone can yield Aetherium Shards at 10% chance with tier 5 requirements.
- Crushed Cobbled Deepslate can also yield shards, but only at 0.5% chance and tier 7 requirements.
That makes Endstone the realistic automation route, while deepslate sieving works more like a long-shot bonus source.
Refine shards into ingots
The finished ingot is made in the Catalyst Weaver. Ascendant currently includes two native routes:
- a standard route built around Gold, multiple catalysts, and Lava
- a shortcut route that starts from Netherite, but still consumes shards and Lava
Aetherium is therefore something you assemble with advanced processing rather than simply smelt.
Reclaim it from Void Essence
The Residue Processor adds a recycling route for late-game factories.
- Void Essence → 2 Aetherium Shards
- 3 Void Essence → 1 Aetherium Ingot, with a bonus shard chance
If your automation line already produces Void Essence, that loop can feed Aetherium back into your material network.
What Aetherium is used for
Aetherium is the premium material line for high-value equipment and fast transport hardware.
- full Aetherium armor and tool progression
- advanced tools such as the Hammer, Paxel, and AIOT
- Aetherium Mesh and Aetherium Fishing Net
- Aetherium Conveyor variants for advanced factory transport
- conversion into Liquified Aetherium in the Liquifier
- higher-end Catalyst Weaver recipes through shard and fluid interactions
Aetherium tools can also be repaired with Aetherium Shards or Aetherium Ingots, which keeps shard production relevant even after ore hunting stops being your main source.
Forms and variants
- Aetherium Shard — the core ore drop and the material you refine most often.
- Refined Aetherium Shard — an upgraded shard used in advanced processing and cooling loops.
- Aetherium Ingot — the finished crafting metal for gear and transport parts.
- Aetherium Dust — part of the material family, though less central than shards and ingots in the current progression loop.
Practical notes
- If your goal is gear, prioritize turning shards into ingots as early as possible.
- If your goal is fluid, the Liquifier can turn 4 shards into a full bucket of Liquified Aetherium, which is usually the more efficient route than melting a finished ingot.
- Once you can operate in the End comfortably, End Aetherium Ore becomes the best direct shard source.