# MATERIALS

Materials, also known as ingredients, are items that can be collected all over Arcadia. They can be either mechanical or indigenous. The former corresponds to objects which most of the time come from units that were damaged/destroyed when they explored the caves. Those items are man-made and correspond for instance to pieces of metal, engines, or screws. The latter corresponds to indigenous items that normally grow or live on Arcadia. This category contains for instance mushrooms, insects, inert substances such as water and more.

<figure><img src="https://2684424931-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FrquzxdBSgIxWQUoWlCwN%2Fuploads%2Fbjy7fbRy7LZFIYVfzSXk%2FM26_Piston%20part.png?alt=media&#x26;token=2f4818ff-6eb0-487f-8554-9e2579e81e6c" alt=""><figcaption><p>Overview of a mechanical material (piston, left) and indigenous material (moss, right).</p></figcaption></figure>

**Overall, materials obey the following rules:**

* Materials can be either Solid, Liquid, or Essence.
* Each material belongs to one of five rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, or Ultimate. Ultimate materials are harder to find than Common ones.
* Materials can be collected by: [Playing Shadow Depths](materials/collecting-materials-in-shadow-depths),  [Mining NFTs on Arcadian Lands](materials/collecting-materials-on-arcadian-lands), [Mining on Aperta](materials/collecting-materials-on-terragrid), bought on the Arcadian Market or acquired during [special events.](materials/special-events)
* If a player manages to find a material by themselves, the material is considered **discovered** and owned. If a player buys a material on the Market, the material is considered owned but **not discovered**.

The next subsections of the Wiki will describe each way to gather materials.
