How to Get a Nano Structuring Chip in RimWorld
Mechanitor progression · Biotech
How to Get a Nano Structuring Chip in RimWorld
Kill a hostile Apocriton. It drops exactly one nano structuring chip. The reliable route is to finish High mechtech, build the square 2×2 mechband dish, and have a mechanitor choose Summon apocriton threat. Skip the comms console and the 2×1 mechband antenna; those call the earlier bosses.
PC · Unmodded · RimWorld 1.6.4871 rev590 · Updated September 23, 2026
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The exact route to the dish
Calling an earlier boss again does not promote you to the next one. Each commander has its own caller and its own chip drop.
Diabolus
Powered comms console
Drop: signal chip
Then: Standard mechtech, 1,000 research
War queen
Mechband antenna, 2×1
Drop: powerfocus chip
Then: High mechtech, 3,000 research
Apocriton
Mechband dish, 2×2
Drop: nano structuring chip
Then: Ultra mechtech or atomizer research
High mechtech must be finished first. That project needs Standard mechtech, Multi-analyzer research, a hi-tech research bench linked to a multi-analyzer, and an analyzed powerfocus chip. Still on Diabolus? Use the signal chip route, then come back.
Build the dish, not another antenna
Mix-ups usually come from the similar names. The antenna is long and narrow; the dish is square. Check the selected order before you commit.
| Caller | Cost | Order | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechband antenna, 2×1 | 50 steel, 4 components | Summon warqueen threat | Powerfocus chip |
| Mechband dish, 2×2 | 75 steel, 25 plasteel, 2 advanced components | Summon apocriton threat | Nano structuring chip |
Activation takes 900 ticks. After the order finishes, the dish burns out 120 ticks later and leaves 5 steel slag chunks. It needs no power, cannot be reused, and does not appear in trader stock. Build it when you are ready for the fight, not earlier.
Greyed-out order? All three mech commanders share a 120,000-tick, two-day cooldown. A new call is also blocked while another boss group is already incoming.
The first summon is a fixed chip run
The first Apocriton call is fixed: 1 Apocriton with a heavy shield, 6 militors, and 5 scythers. Colony wealth does not change that list. Later calls step through larger preset waves and can bring Diabolus or War queen escorts.
Break the shield first
EMP helps drop the heavy shield and can interrupt casts. After the shield is gone, high EMP resistance means ordinary EMP stuns will not last long.
Control the corpses
It can resurrect recently killed mechs. Focus fire so a pile of reusable bodies does not form around it.
Range and jumps
Toxic needle gun plus short jumps away from melee. Fight from cover; do not bank on a slow chase.
Pull your mechs before it dies
Death pulse: 30.9-cell mech-band shockwave and a fixed 1,200-tick stun on mechs. Pull controlled mechs back before the kill so they are not frozen while the chip lands.
The shockwave deals no health damage, so it will not destroy the chip that just dropped. Ordinary fire and damaging explosions still can. The chip has 100 hit points, 25% flammability, and normal outdoor deterioration.
If there is no chip on the ground
The chip appears only when an Apocriton that is hostile to the player dies. The killer need not be your colonist. Another faction or a wild animal still counts.
- Pause on the death tile and look for the small silver-and-cyan item beside the corpse.
- Check nearby allowed stockpiles and haulers. A colonist or lifter may have moved it immediately.
- Check whether a hellsphere, fire or another damaging blast hit the item after it appeared.
- Confirm the dead pawn was hostile to the player. A player-controlled or neutral dev-spawn does not satisfy the hostile drop condition.
Do not shred the corpse looking for the chip. The chip is a separate ground item created on death. Shredding the body only recovers ordinary mechanoid material.
Analyze first; the chip stays
Select a mechanitor, right-click the chip, and choose Analyze. Work happens at the item, not at a research bench. Base duration is 0.5 in-game hours at 100% Research Speed; actual ticks divide by that mechanitor’s Research Speed. Intellectual is the skill used for the job.
Analysis sets the research unlock and leaves the chip intact. After that flag is set, the same physical chip can go into a bill without unlocking the projects again.
| Project | Research | Required setup | What analysis does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra mechtech | 5,000 industrial start 10,000 tribal start | High mechtech, Fabrication, mechanitor present, multi-analyzer | Allows the project to start; points are still required |
| Wastepack atomizer | 8,000 industrial start 16,000 tribal start | Advanced fabrication, hi-tech bench, multi-analyzer | Allows the project to start; points are still required |
Schematic exception: a generated schematic can carry the Wastepack atomizer project and add research without chip analysis. Ultra mechtech is explicitly excluded from schematic generation in this build. The atomizer building still costs a physical chip either way.
What each extra chip can buy
Analyze the first chip before you spend it. After that, pick by bottleneck: pollution control, bandwidth, a War queen, or faster repairs.
| Product | Nano chips | Other cost | Decision point |
|---|---|---|---|
 Wastepack atomizer | 1 | 200 steel, 50 plasteel | Deconstruct returns the full cost list, including the chip. Destruction does not guarantee it. |
 Mechlord helmet | 2 | 120 plasteel, 6 advanced components | +12 bandwidth; −5 shooting accuracy and −0.5 melee hit chance. |
 Mechlord suit | 2, plus 1 powerfocus chip | 120 plasteel, 8 advanced components | +12 bandwidth with the same combat offsets. No uranium is required in 1.6.4871. |
 War queen gestation | 1 | 600 steel, 300 plasteel, 3 advanced components, 1 high subcore | 12 gestation cycles; 5 bandwidth when controlled. |
 Repair probe | 1 each | 2 advanced components | Up to 6 installs; each level adds 33 percentage points of mech repair speed. |
Helmet plus suit costs 4 nano structuring chips and 1 powerfocus chip for +24 bandwidth. For pollution control, check the wastepack and atomizer planner before sinking chips into gear.
Find your next step and total the bills
Progress checker
Chip and resource budget
Only count atomizers you want standing at the same time. A safely deconstructed atomizer returns its chip.
Natural raids, space and the Mechhive
Natural raids
Ordinary raid groups keep Apocriton reserved until you defeat one once, or until the playthrough hits 21,600,000 ticks (six RimWorld years). After that, high-points raids can include one. A hostile death still drops a chip.
Mech clusters
On PC 1.6.4871, Apocritons are excluded from standard mech-cluster generation. Do not plan around a cluster drop.
Orbit
Update 1.6.4566 let mechanitors summon mechanoid bosses in space. A gravship or orbital map does not block the dish on current 1.6.
Cerebrex core
Destroy the Odyssey cerebrex core and the hostile mechanoid faction shuts down, so the dish refuses further calls. Scavenge instead for the cerebrex node; the faction stays active and boss summons still work.
FAQ
Can I gestate an Apocriton for a chip?
No. Vanilla has no Apocriton gestation recipe. Gestating a War queen spends a nano structuring chip; it does not create one.
Does the chip disappear when analyzed?
No. The chip stays after analysis. At 100% Research Speed the base work is 0.5 in-game hours; higher or lower Research Speed changes the real duration.
Can I sell the chip?
Market value is 1,500. The research unlock and late bills usually beat early silver. Analyze at least one before you sell.
Do later Apocriton waves drop more nano chips?
Each hostile Apocriton drops one. Later preset waves still center on one Apocriton; some also add hostile Diabolus or War queen escorts that can drop their earlier chips.
Will mods change this route?
Yes. Chip-crafting, boss, research, and trader mods can add sources or change costs. Numbers here are for unmodded PC 1.6.4871 with Biotech.
Related routes and source pages
- Become a mechanitor before starting the commander ladder.
- Get the signal chip from the earlier Diabolus step.
- Get plasteel and advanced components for the dish and later bills.
- RimWorld Wiki: nano structuring chip and Apocriton.
- Ludeon: Biotech commander progression and 1.6.4566 space-summon update.
Game artwork © Ludeon Studios. Values on this page use the PC Steam 1.6.4871 rev590 Biotech and Odyssey definitions.