Description[]
While the 
Exotics prospectors found on Olympus and Styx were originally believed to be the only known variation, the UDA has made a remarkable discovery. This unstable variant is different and appears to have an impact on the local flora not seen before.
Prospectors must clean volatile raw exotics using a powered 
Organic Residue Cleanser to convert them to 
Stabilized Exotics. Only then can prospectors send them to orbit using an 
Orbital Exchange Interface, allowing prospectors to use their hard-earned exotics in the Workshop to research and craft Orbital Tech.
Gamemodes[]
Since volatile raw exotics are exclusive to Prometheus, they can only be found in Prometheus Missions/Open Worlds.
Missions[]
There is at least one volatile raw exotic deposit present in each Prometheus mission, with the location and number of deposits present varying per mission. All deposits will have a potential yield of 100-300. A chart detailing the number of potential exotic deposits and total yields per mission can be found here. Strange Plants have a 20% chance to spawn at each potential location across the map. The location of potential exotic deposits and strange plants can be viewed at IcarusIntel.com.
Harvested Strange Plants and depleted volatile raw exotic deposits will not replenish over time.
Open World[]
In open worlds, at least one deposit of volatile raw exotics is present, up to a total of three at a time. Each vein will have a potential yield of 100-300. Strange plants can also be found in open worlds.
If there are empty deposits with no harvesters attached, an exotics meteor event will occur, which clears previous radar scans, removes empty deposits, and creates new deposits elsewhere. The exotics meteor event occurs every 3 hours of prospect time (on the 3-hour mark since the start time of your 'Time on Prospect' ie 3, 6, 9, etc) if the above criteria are met. To view your "Time on Prospect," press 'I' and the time will be indicated below the list of detailed statistics on the right. Strange plants have a 10% chance of reappearing at each potential location every three hours, regardless of whether a meteor event occurs. Deposits that have not been emptied or still have a harvester attached will not be refreshed during the meteor event.
Obtaining[]
Currently, volatile raw exotics are found in two forms on Icarus: deposits and Strange Plants.
Deposits[]
Volatile raw exotic deposits can be found in the Volcanic regions in any Prometheus Mission/Open World. To find volatile raw exotic deposits, prospectors must use a radar; three types of radars can be used:
- Biofuel Radar - poor accuracy, runs directly off a
Biofuel Can/ MXC Fuel Canister. Accessible at Tier 3. - Electric Radar - good accuracy, runs off electricity; must be connected to an active power source. Accessible at Tier 4 but requires more complex materials to craft.
- IC-001 Radar - Available from the workshop, best accuracy, no power source needed.
Once found, a prospector must deploy an 
Exotic Harvester (a Tier 4 item requiring 
Composites), which will snap to the deposit and will begin extracting two volatile raw exotics per minute if adequately supplied with power.
Strange Plants[]
Strange Plants are special rare plants found across Prometheus, having the appearance of a frilly, pink/purple flower with volatile raw exotics nestled in the middle. By using Icarus Intel, you may track down these strange plants. Harvesting it will grant 2-5 volatile raw exotics and 2-3 Volatile Exotic Seeds.
These seeds may then be planted in any crop plot and will grow to produce more volatile raw exotics (using a Sickle will increase the amount received). These plants may be harvested about three times before they stop growing completely and will have to be removed. The plants grown from the crop plots will NOT produce extra seeds, preventing prospectors from creating a strange plant farm.
Cleaning[]
Prospectors will need to take their volatile raw exotics to a powered Organic Residue Cleanser. Each raw exotic takes one minute to process and will produce two Stabilized Exotics, which means you will get a hefty haul, but the processing will take quite a bit of time.
Tips[]
For soloing, an efficient strategy is to use the Biofuel Radar, carry a small base, electricity source, and Fabricator with materials to build Exotic Harvesters. This will allow using the Biofuel Radar in the G slot to hunt down the deposit, and then building and deploying the harvesters onsite if prospectors plan on extracting multiple deposits at once. Replacing the Biofuel Radar with the Workshop variant will allow the same procedure with much higher accuracy. Electric Radar is prohibitively expensive for material cost, and the process of setting up electricity for every scan is more annoying than just dropping in a fuel can. However, considering prospectors will need composites to craft Exotic Harvesters and Organic Residue Cleansers, crafting an Electric Radar won't be as difficult.
Keep in mind that these raw exotics are incredibly heavy, and most likely you will only be able to carry 50 of them on your person at a time, and volatile raw exotics deposits can give up to 300 raw exotics. To counter this, prospectors can use dropship recall beacons (Sinotai-made and prospector made) to haul a portion of the exotics harvested, as dropships will bring anything stored in their inventory with them when called using a recall beacon. With at least two recall beacons, you can call your dropship over to the exotics deposit, load it up with raw exotics, and then run back to your base and call it down by your base to move the raw exotics around. Alas, your dropship only has enough space for 150 raw exotics, so you may still have to bring some home by yourself or make another trip to the exotics deposit with more recall beacons. You may want to try and bring an Organic Residue Cleanser with you to be able to process the exotics on-site and negate the weight problems, but this requires prospectors to take a more active role during the cleaning process, as it takes one minute and forty seconds to clean one volatile raw exotic, meaning prospectors will need to regularly transfer exotics from the harvester to the cleanser to save time.