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Raritanium Nexus

Raritanium, also known as raritanium ore, is a rare and elusive mineral in the Ratchet & Clank series. It is a very strong and durable substance, used for armaments such as the Terraflux armor. It is also extremely valuable, traded by Ratchet and Clank with many characters for rare items, such as starship upgrades, and weapon upgrades from certain vendors. The substance can be mined on various planets throughout the galaxy, and is found in asteroids in space.

Appearances[]

Ratchet & Clank[]

Hey, what are you doing here? 2

Clank holding some raritanium.

In the original Ratchet & Clank, raritanium is used to obtain the Persuader from Fred. Ratchet and Clank met him in the sewers of the Jowai Resort on Pokitaru, after the mission "Navigate the sewers". Fred was there searching for raritanium, as Pokitaru's oceans were a great source of the material, until the blarg waste disposal tankers dumped toxic waste in the water, obscuring all traces of it.[1] Ratchet and Clank later met the Miner on Hoven during "Explore the Icy Wastes". He gave them raritanium after Ratchet fixed his drill. When Ratchet and Clank returned to Pokitaru, they gave Fred the raritanium in exchange for the Persuader.

Re-imagined[]

The 2016 re-imagined game is primarily an unreliable retelling of events by Qwark.
The re-imagined game primarily describes Captain Qwark's account of events. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, and contradictory events are in-universe fiction (though those which correspond still apply). Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.
Raritanium from R&C (2016)

Raritanium on Novalis.

In the 2016 re-imagined game and the movie, raritanium has a minor role in the story, as the armor for the warbots sent by Drek Industries was made of raritanium alloy. Using the Mag Booster that Ratchet installed on Mr. Micron's ship, he was able to vacuum up warbots and propel them towards the Class G Dreadship, destroying it in the invasion. This occurs in both the movie, and during the mission "Take down the Warship" in the game. In the game, the hydroharvesters also used raritanium hulls, and Al mentioned that the Teslablast weapons kit rockets he installed to the class-g Star Jumper could pierce through them.

In the game, raritanium has a larger gameplay role than in the original. Raritanium is found throughout several planets, and can be used in Gadgetron vendors to purchase certain weapon upgrades. After upgrading weapons and obtaining holocards, raritanium is also dropped by some enemies. Most upgrades provide improvements to aspects of the weapons, but some are unique upgrades when all upgrades in surrounding tiles are unlocked. More upgrades become available for a weapon, depending on its level.

Going Commando[]

Raritanium from GC render

Raritanium, as seen in Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

In Going Commando, raritanium is used in Slim Cognito Ship Shack to purchase upgrades for Ratchet's ship, the Star Explorer. It can be obtained during space battles (in the Wupash Nebula, Feltzin System, Deep Space Disposal Facility and on Gorn) by destroying enemy ships, drones, and turrets. Breakable objects such as asteroids, large crystals, and space debris also sometimes contain raritanium. Lastly it can be mined up using a mining vehicle on planets Tabora and Grelbin, in respectively the local desert in the mining area, and the Y.E.T.I.-infested Tundor Wastes.

Said mining vehicles are small one-man hovercraft with a large cockpit and an olive-green paintjob. Two large thrust fans are located near the rear on each side. On the cockpit is a small dish with which the vehicle can detect underground raritanium, and with the use of the large drill which is mounted on the back, dig it up.

Mining vehicle gameplay

Ratchet using the mining vehicle to harvest Raritanium.

Each mining vehicle in each region is located on top of a tall stone pillar, safe from any harmful local species, as it is only accessible through traversing a grav-ramp with the Gravity Boots. The one on Tabora is located near the east end of the desert, close to a mountain, while the Grelbin vehicle is located near the facility and landing pad on the southern side. They are remarkably fast when traveling (using X) across the local terrain, but also rather fragile. The position of nearby raritanium is shown on both a minimap and through the use of a large orange arrow in the HUD. When positioned on top of raritanium press Square to dig it up, which takes a few seconds.

Up Your Arsenal[]

Raritanium is mentioned in Up Your Arsenal, but does not have a role in gameplay. The Director of Clank's Secret Agent Clank series described a holo-vid as "raritanium quality".

Deadlocked[]

In Deadlocked, one of the challenge courses is the raritanium factory on planet Orxon, with the challenge requiring contestants to destroy it. Additionally, many of the upgrades for the OmniWrench use raritanium.

Tools of Destruction[]

Tools of Destruction is the first game to use raritanium for unique weapon upgrades. Weapons vendors sell weapon upgrades for raritanium, as each weapon has an upgrade grid. Purchasing an upgrade unlocks adjacent upgrades on the grid. Each weapon has one special upgrade, which is available for purchase after unlocking all surrounding upgrades to it.

Raritanium is found in crystals throughout planets, in satellites in space battles with Aphelion, and dropped from certain enemies, such as drophyd cyclocannons or basilisk leviathans. Weapon upgrades also allow certain weapons, such as the Mag-Net Launcher, to cause normal enemies to also drop raritanium.

In challenge mode, the bolt multiplier also multiplies raritanium earned. 2,000,000 raritanium can be spent to purchase the Golden Groovitron.

In "Search the Mine", Clank and the Zoni explore a ruined lombax raritanium mine on Fastoon.[2] Natural raritanium crystals are also present on the Nundac Asteroid Ring. The Imperial Army and the cragmites also made use of raritanium, as the obsidian enforcer was galvanized with raritanium,[3] and the Terraflux armor, a cragmite armor, used triple-stitched Werthog scales plated with raritanium.[4]

A Crack in Time[]

In A Crack in Time, raritanium is not used for weapon upgrades, but is mentioned in the story. Alister Azimuth mentioned that Lumos was home to the raritanium mine, and it is mentioned that both the Great Clock and IRIS Supercomputer's sisterboards used a raritanium vector shell. Additionally, the second tournament at the Agorian Battleplex is named the "Raritanium Cup".

Comic series[]

During Issue 5: Multiple Organisms, Ratchet and Clank hid from one of Zogg's warbots beneath a hatch made of pure raritanium. When warbots began drilling through the hatch, Clank mentioned that it would last a few minutes against the drill.

Before the Nexus[]

Raritanium can be obtained in Before the Nexus, and transferred over to an Into the Nexus save file.

Into the Nexus[]

Raritanium in Into the Nexus is used to purchase weapon upgrades, similarly to Tools of Destruction. In the same way, it provides several improvements to the weapons, and unique upgrades if surrounding upgrades are unlocked. More upgrades become available for a weapon depending on its level. Raritanium from Before the Nexus can also be carried over.

In the Intergalactic Museum of History on Igliak, it was mentioned a Raritanium Wing would be included, but the museum lacked funding.

Rift Apart[]

Mostly used for weapon upgrades/modifications. Once again, Similarly to tools of destruction.

Behind the scenes[]

Unused Going Commando audio files refer to raritanium as "ore".[5] Remnants of this are present in old builds, with a different model and icon used when mining raritanium.[6]

Citations[]

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