Icarus splits progression across two tracks that behave completely differently, and misunderstanding the split is why people bounce off it.
Everything you craft on the surface is temporary. It stays on the planet when the drop ship leaves, or it is lost entirely if you die. Everything bought in the orbital workshop is permanent and comes with you on every prospect afterwards.
So the question every time you drop is: what do I need to bring, and what can I build down there?
Exotics are the only currency that matters long term
Ren buys workshop items you rent for a single prospect. Exotics buy them permanently.
Exotics come from mining exotic deposits on the surface, which means a prospect that harvests exotics is more valuable than one that completes its objectives quickly. Many experienced players treat objectives as optional and exotic seams as the actual goal.
Buy permanently rather than renting once you can afford it. Renting the same item across five prospects costs more than owning it.
The talent trees are wide and your points are not
Talents split between solo survival, hunting, farming, building and combat lines, plus a separate tree for your character's core abilities.
Take carry weight and stamina first. Not damage. The thing limiting you on a prospect is almost never how hard you hit; it is how much you can move and how long you can work before exhaustion.
After that, specialise by what you actually do. A player who mines takes mining and endurance talents. A player who hunts takes tracking and butchery. Spreading evenly gives you a character mildly better at everything and noticeably better at nothing.
Oxygen is a resource with a clock
Caves have no breathable air. Neither do certain storms and biomes.
Oxygen bladders and the oxidizer are what get you through, and running out underground is one of the most common deaths in the game. The bladder capacity talents are worth taking before you start caving seriously.
Deep caves are also where the best ore sits, so this is not a system you can avoid. Plan a cave trip like an expedition: oxygen, food, a light source, and a route back.
Weather will kill you more often than wildlife
Temperature is tracked and the biomes swing hard. A night in the arctic without shelter and a fire is fatal. Heat in the desert is the same problem inverted.
Shelter needs to be sealed to hold temperature, which means walls, a roof, a door and a heat source. A half-built shack does nothing.
Storms arrive with warning. Take the warning seriously and be inside.
Death has real consequences and that is the point
Die on a prospect and you lose everything you were carrying. Fail the prospect entirely and you lose the time.
That structure is what makes Icarus tense in a way most survival games are not, and it is also why the permanent workshop track exists. Your progress is measured in what you brought home, not in what you built.
Play carefully, extract on time, and treat an unfinished objective as far cheaper than a death.
The Icarus beginner's guide covers the first prospects and workshop priorities.
