SnapJelly Posted Thursday at 12:45 PM Report Posted Thursday at 12:45 PM Hello friends! Let me know what your go-to material is for lanterns and why! Early game I usually end up going for whatever I have on hand so usually copper, but later in game I usually go for meteoric iron kind of as a flex and because I don't use it for much else What about you guys? 1
Rainbow Fresh Posted Thursday at 12:54 PM Report Posted Thursday at 12:54 PM Tin Bronze. Got tons of since iron replaced it all and looks well enough with most wood-based lamp post designs I have. 2
Mushroomancer Posted Thursday at 12:54 PM Report Posted Thursday at 12:54 PM Brass, personally, but bismuth bronze gets a close mention for second place. Meteoric Iron is a natural choice because as a limited resource, it's perfect for something like lanterns that don't have durability. Generally if I really feel like flexing, gold/Silver/Electrum is a way to go, considering you get to double down on their use for bright lanterns and show off how much money-element you have at your fingertips. 1
LadyWYT Posted Thursday at 01:04 PM Report Posted Thursday at 01:04 PM Bismuth. I really like the shimmery colors. That being said, most of my lanterns end up being made from brass or copper, because those are cheap materials that I frequently have on hand. 7
Sparticus247 Posted Thursday at 01:10 PM Report Posted Thursday at 01:10 PM As of the current version I use molybdochalkos, however you pronounce/spell it. My current world had plenty of lead near spawn, and I like the look of it when hanging off my structures, or up on posts. Once I find an area rich in copper. I switch over to straight copper lanterns for when I'm doing caving, and I want to keep an area lit long-term for return trips. 1
Demoncyborg Posted Thursday at 05:02 PM Report Posted Thursday at 05:02 PM i am on the bismuth crew, if it's my personal lantern, i want it to be shiny rainbow.
MobiusvanMars Posted Thursday at 05:56 PM Report Posted Thursday at 05:56 PM (edited) Bismuth, hands down. Magical texture, looks like copper with a rich patina which has been preserved with copious amounts of oil paint base.. Molybdo is a good second, for a weathered cast iron appearance. If there is not enough bismuth or lead, tin bronze or brass will do. Bismuth bronze is a hard pass, its appearance is deep in the uncanny valley of corrosion between bronze/brass on the "fresh" side and the heavy patina look of bismuth or molybdo. Edited Thursday at 06:01 PM by MobiusvanMars 1
Zaph42nd Posted Thursday at 06:58 PM Report Posted Thursday at 06:58 PM Hard to say, I find myself making more tin bronze than anything, but I really like the black bronze ones (even if they are pretty expensive). Also small lanterns I think look a lot prettier than regular lanterns, but that'a just my 2 cents
Jhoryn Posted Thursday at 07:48 PM Report Posted Thursday at 07:48 PM 6 hours ago, Sparticus247 said: As of the current version I use molybdochalkos, however you pronounce/spell it. My current world had plenty of lead near spawn, and I like the look of it when hanging off my structures, or up on posts. Once I find an area rich in copper. I switch over to straight copper lanterns for when I'm doing caving, and I want to keep an area lit long-term for return trips. Moly is my go-to (and I won't even attempt to spell it). I tend to end up with a plethora of it, and I think it gives the lanterns an old-world or aged look. I'd do black bronze for the same reason if it wasn't so expensive. I need the gold and silver for liners! 1
Maelstrom Posted Thursday at 11:36 PM Report Posted Thursday at 11:36 PM My first lantern is always molybdechalkos with a gold plate liner. After that copper. And I make a ton of them once I'm making iron/steel tools and armor. Since I make so many I'd rather only hit up one mine for resources than two or three. Why so many? I'll take a stack with me into caves instead of torches since they light up a larger area.
Vexxvididu Posted Friday at 01:12 AM Report Posted Friday at 01:12 AM molybdechalkos!!!! It by far makes the coolest look in my view. Honorable mention to bismuth.
Bruno Willis Posted Friday at 10:04 AM Report Posted Friday at 10:04 AM 20 hours ago, Sparticus247 said: As of the current version I use molybdochalkos, however you pronounce/spell it. My current world had plenty of lead near spawn, and I like the look of it when hanging off my structures, or up on posts. Ever since I discovered this unspellable metal, I can't get enough! To be fair though, I haven't needed to make a single lantern this play-through, because I pull 1-2 lanterns from each of the new dungeons I've explored, and I've been exploring a lot of them. I've found more lanterns than torch holders, easily.
RationallyParanoid Posted Saturday at 07:54 AM Report Posted Saturday at 07:54 AM On 9/10/2026 at 10:34 PM, LadyWYT said: Bismuth. I really like the shimmery colors. That being said, most of my lanterns end up being made from brass or copper, because those are cheap materials that I frequently have on hand. Seconding with the Bismuth - it adds a delightful pop of colour. I really like it for interior builds. I also like Molybdochalkos or Black Bronze, especially for exterior and industrial builds.
Dilan Rona Posted Saturday at 04:53 PM Report Posted Saturday at 04:53 PM My go to for lanterns is actually paper lanterns. But that of course requires a mod to give it a recipe.
ArgentLuna Posted Sunday at 07:03 AM Report Posted Sunday at 07:03 AM Molybdochalkos. It looks good and is used for nothing else and its core components are common/ past a point under used for anything else
Juwan Alexander Posted Sunday at 05:18 PM Report Posted Sunday at 05:18 PM (edited) Pretty sure common consensus is copper because it is impossible to run out of the stuff. For aesthetics? That would honestly depend on if I can get my hands on enough pretty metal to use for that purpose. Primitive survival does add wooden lanterns, though. I think they look better than the metal ones and make a tad bit more sense. Edited Sunday at 05:19 PM by Juwan Alexander
Teh Pizza Lady Posted yesterday at 01:42 AM Report Posted yesterday at 01:42 AM copper because it's cheap and I'm cheap. 1
KishiWolf Posted yesterday at 02:41 AM Report Posted yesterday at 02:41 AM Black bronze. It's for the very simple reason of it being my first lantern. So I like to try and make one for every playthrough as homage to that. It's also a pretty lantern colour. Hard to hate black as a colour. Though it might have be a secondary or third option now considering the changes to the og lanterns' recipe. For a first time lantern, I'm probably gonna go for whatever metal is available or whatever lantern I find in ruins until I can craft my preferred lantern. 1
Juwan Alexander Posted yesterday at 04:36 AM Report Posted yesterday at 04:36 AM I must be doing something wrong because I've yet to find the ore I need to make black bronze in the 300 hours I've spent on this game in the last month lol.
DeanF Posted 21 hours ago Report Posted 21 hours ago (edited) Molybdochalkos is the way to go in the very early game, when you may not have tons of copper sitting around. You at least get to save a little, and lead is common. In the later game I tend to like brass, because by then I have lots of copper and I tend to also have a lot of zinc laying around once I get iron. So why not use the two things that I have in abundance- copper and zinc? Tin for tin bronze is often (appropriately) hard to find, and bismuth bronze takes fair effort since it has more ingredients to be hunted down. Edited 21 hours ago by DeanF
Zaph42nd Posted 21 hours ago Report Posted 21 hours ago Related question for y'all, anyone ever make a steel lantern? I always forget that technically they exist and honestly always seemed more like a flex than a practical choice for lantern metals....
Kreeate Posted 20 hours ago Report Posted 20 hours ago 58 minutes ago, Zaph42nd said: Related question for y'all, anyone ever make a steel lantern? I always forget that technically they exist and honestly always seemed more like a flex than a practical choice for lantern metals.... Probably not a fair answer considering I use 999x mods. But yeah, I make steel lanterns. Might want to narrow this down to vanilla gameplay. Anyone on vanilla VS making steel lanterns?
SnapJelly Posted 17 hours ago Author Report Posted 17 hours ago 3 hours ago, Zaph42nd said: Related question for y'all, anyone ever make a steel lantern? I always forget that technically they exist and honestly always seemed more like a flex than a practical choice for lantern metals.... Well I never have but I wouldn't say I'd find that too great of an investment personally, when I get steel going I can easily make loads so I usually do
MirthOfManus Posted 17 hours ago Report Posted 17 hours ago Haha I find myself seesawing between ease of production or drip. For ease of production? Copper by a mile since it's quite easy to obtain. For drip? Whatever materials I have the least of! I could make a bismuth bronze lantern for me and my friends but now it's common so maybe I'll make a silver lantern. On and on it goes for essentially every metal you can make a lantern out of. This seems to be pretty consistent for a lot of players lol.
Michael Gates Posted 17 hours ago Report Posted 17 hours ago On 9/10/2026 at 6:04 AM, LadyWYT said: Bismuth. I really like the shimmery colors. That being said, most of my lanterns end up being made from brass or copper, because those are cheap materials that I frequently have on hand. I just realized, my current world has huge bismuth readings all over, and no sphalerite...
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