Bolts

Bolts were the main form of currency in the Ratchet &amp; Clank universe, with which weapons, gadgets, items, and other things were purchased.

Location
Bolts were retrieved from numerous sources. The two most common ways bolts were acquired by were to destroy enemies and to smash crates. However, bolts were retrieved from any breakable items in the Ratchet & Clank worlds, such as lamps, vases, machinery, glass, and even unlikely things like plants. In Ratchet & Clank, a Metal Detector was acquired from The Plumber on planet Batalia, which allowed Ratchet to have detected and sucked up underground bolts. Bolts were also earned by completing challenges, such as winning a Hoverbike race or surviving an Annihilation Nation gauntlet.

Using his magnetic Gadgetron OmniWrench 8000, Ratchet picked up bolts from a limited distance. However, in Ratchet & Clank, he acquired a special Bolt Grabber, which allowed him to attract bolts from an improved range. In Up Your Arsenal, the Bolt Grabber was found in planet Zeldrin's Starport (an orbital Spaceport). In Going Commando, however, the Bolt Grabber was replaced with Megacorp's Armor Magnetizer.

Special bolts
In addition to standard bolts, rarer kinds of bolts, such as gold bolts, platinum bolts, and titanium bolts, were found and used to purchase gold weapons, weapon modifications, or skins.

Planets with high bolt revenues
These planets and missions were places at which large amounts of bolts were acquired in comparison to other levels.

Ratchet & Clank

 * Eudora - This breakable-heavy planet is a nice place to earn because you can use the Suck Cannon and wrench to take out all the enemies without even wasting a bolt on ammo. Don't miss the breakable machinery flying around! The red Axebots drop a lot of bolts because they're big. Excluding air units roughly 4000 bolts.
 * Hoven - As annoying as Hoven can be, there are a lot of boxes and little enemies that don't require a whole lot of effort here.
 * Kerwan - Not only are there a ton breakables here, but there's a pretty large horde of enemies, even in the second time around.
 * Novalis - Though the amounts are small compared to later in the game, you can earn a pretty nice amount just going through the three paths on this planet.
 * Pokitaru - This place is filled with little low-effort enemies that can be taken out with the Pyrocitor, Suck Cannon, or wrench. Not to mention a gold bolt path with more enemies and the underwater boxes.
 * Rilgar - Redoing the hoverboard race is a great way to gain bolts and perfect your skills with a board, but don't forget about the many enemies here that all can be easily defeated with the Pyrocitor.
 * Gemlik Base - in the area with all the Robosquawkers, equip the Morph-o-Ray and/or Suck Cannon, stand in the tight corner behind the boxes so that they can only attack you from one side, and go to town; it's hypothetically possible to gain an infinite number of bolts using this method, so long as at least one generator remains intact.

Going Commando

 * Oozla - Just repeating this planet over and over will get you enough to purchase some of the earlier weapons. Don't forget about the breakables either!
 * Barlow - Redoing the hoverbike race a few times and going around the two paths will get you an pretty nice amount.
 * Boldan - this is a great spot to earn up, second to Dobbo. There are plenty of breakables as well as many well-paying enemies.
 * Damosel - lots of breakables, lots of little enemies, and a few enemies that are hard enough to supply you with an adequate amount of bolts by the end.
 * Dobbo - This is probably the best spot in the game to earn quickly. The TONS of breakables, easy and well-paying enemies, and many crates make this planet the perfect bolt collector's planet.
 * Grelbin - Though the Yeti are tough, the Moonstones fetch a pretty penny with the New Age Mystic. Not only the moonstones, but the little bots and the crates hold a lot of bolts.
 * Maktar Nebula - The casino has too many breakables to count, and slot machines that, with luck, will give up to 300 bolts.
 * Tabora - Again, the crystal collecting earns you a lot. But, don't forget about the enemies guarding the crystals. Defeating the Dune Monsters with the Seeker Gun or Plasma Coil is another effective way to earn blots.
 * Notak - This place is breakable-heaven. Much like the Maktar Nebula, there are many lamposts and crates that can be destroyed.

Up Your Arsenal
the enemies earn you a ton, yes, but the breakables are the main bolt-earning medium here. Make sure you have the Bolt Grabber V2 from the Zeldrin Starport and start hyperstriking all over this place because this planet will have thousands flying at you all at once!
 * Annihilation Nation - Try going as far as you can in the battles and gauntlets. And destroy the cameras hovering around, they're breakable.
 * Aquatos - Collecting the sewer crystals for The Plumber will earn you a lot. It is best to use the Qwack-O-Ray or Qwack-O-Blitzer since it doesn't need ammo.
 * Aridia - Repeating the missions on Aridia will get you a lot of bolts, even if the amount does decrease.
 * Koros - If you haven't realized just how much you can earn on this planet, you haven't been there yet.
 * Marcadia - there are quite a few breakables on this planet, but what will earn you the most is repeating the missions at the Presidential Palace.
 * Metropolis - The increased strength of the robotic Tyrranoids will earn you a lot here, not to mention the breakables. Going through this level on challenge mode with the bolt multiplier on 20 can get you at least 500,000 bolts from start to the Hover Train.
 * Rilgar - once again, the missions here on Rilgar will earn you plenty.

Deadlocked
There really isn't a best place to earn bolts, save for the battle below, but the best method is not to skip many enemies. They give out a lot of bolts in DreadZone, so take advantage of it! Complete most of the missions, and win as many battles as you can.


 * Endzone (DreadZone Station) - This battle is fun, easy with the right weapons, and gives an extremely high ratio of bolts to effort, especially in challenge mode. Simply equip the Shock Mod to your Scorpion/Leviathan flail and whack when the group of swarmers comes. When a larger enemy crashes in, just whack them with the flail and the smaller enemies will get destroyed by the shocks. When you can afford to, keep attaching jackpot mods to the flail and you can earn millions at a time. However, an even better weapon to use was the Vulcan Cannon while strafing left and right across the endzone; especially when the weapon is at v99. By attaching nothing but Jackpot, ammo, range, and Shock mods, your bolt count would total in the millions in the first play, and ten million in challenge mode (as your bolt multiplier didn't even have to reach its maximum).
 * Alien soil (Sarathos) there is a glitch here. Where if you go to the hacker ray part, hack one orb, then quickly regroup them. Millions of swarmers will not stop coming. Install the shock mod and a jackpot mod to ANY weapon, and watch the bolts FLY! be careful though, if you don't shoot enough swarmers fast enough, the screen freezes. great for upgrading weapons, too! it is also good to redo "king of the leviathans" and "where the leviathans roam"

Size Matters

 * Metalis - Once you have the Polariser you can access a hidden area where you'll find a Titanium Bolt, and after that has been completed a teleporter can take you to your ship and back. When you come back at the hidden area, there's a ring of boxes. With 12x Bolt Multiplier and Box Breaker, this can earn you a lot. Enter the secret area, save game, load, and repeat. There are also the Clank Challenges that'll earn you a little.
 * Quodrona - There are so many boxes to break making earning bolts an easy task. When you break everything possible, fly to another planet, come back, and once again break everything.
 * Dayni Moon - At the starting area there are a good amount of bolts here. You should try going to Metalis, then here, then back to Metalis etc. with 12x Multiplier. There are also the Clank Challenges.

Tools of Destruction

 * Mukow - The fight festival gives you thousands of bolts and it is very easy to do if you have reasonably good armor, weapons, health, and a tendency to kill everything around you. Lacking these four things, it still seems to be an easy challenge.
 * Ardolis - Hence it is a planet full of Pirates, there are a huge amount of crates to be found.

A Crack in Time

 * Agorian Battleplex - This easily accessed space arena has four sets of challenges, one of which is required to complete the story mode of the game. The challenges include the required Bronze Cup, and the extra Silver Cup, Gold Cup, and Raritanium Cup. Along with winning thousands of bolts, Zoni, Holoplans for the RYNO V, and extra weapons can be obtained by completing challenges.
 * Great Clock - The many sectors of the clock contain many time puzzles and gold bolts. Upon completion of any time puzzle, bolts are earned according to the difficulty of the puzzle. If a player is good at completing these puzzles, they can easily gather bolts with no real effort. This does not give as many bolts as the Agorian Battleplex, but it offers a peaceful alternative to the violence-centered arena challenges.
 * Nefarious Space Station - The space station is great for raking in hundreds and thousands of bolts. Hide behind barriers when possible, and be sure to bring Buzz Blades, the Negotiator, the Constructo Pistol, Tesla Spikes, and the Groovitron Glove to help defeat the plentiful enemies found there.

Trivia

 * Between Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando, the value of bolts seems to decrease significantly. For example, the price of the R.Y.N.O. in the first game - 150,000 bolts - was an exorbitant amount difficult to reach. However, the price of the second version of that weapon in Going Commando, the RYNO II, shot up to a million bolts. Nonetheless, this may be explained by the increased easiness with which bolts may be acquired in the games following Ratchet & Clank. Also another reason is that a real, literal bolt is worth 1 bolt in the first game, but in the following games it is worth multiple amount such as 10 or 20.
 * In all Ratchet and Clank games beyond Going Commando in challenge mode, bolts may be acquired in higher amounts depending on how many enemies Ratchet destroys without being hit.
 * In the transverse of all the games the bolts seem to have slight color variations. E.G: In the first game of the series the bolts have a gray, rusty color. Then in Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked the bolts are a faint, gold color (with gold bolts as titanium bolts). Size Matters has the addition of more springs - even though they first appear in the third installment, they are uncommon, and a darker color to bolts. In the last few installments to the series, the color of bolts are varied between gray and gold, and have a faint blue shine.
 * In later Ratchet & Clank games, the bolts shows some orange, green & pink goo covered over it, such as Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank & Tools of Destruction. Earlier Ratchet & Clank games don't show any color covered in the bolts.
 * In Ratchet Deadlocked, there were no special bolts, only stars, which you were awarded for completing challenges on different difficulties.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile
 * Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
 * Secret Agent Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One