High-value material fixes: Stapler, Jailbroken CPU, and Enethiol

Quick answer

Treat each material as a different route problem. For Staplers, check the documented Office Sector and Flathill placements, break the listed crate types, or use Warren's one-for-one Raw Antefish Filet trade. For Jailbroken CPUs, plan for a Containment Bot fight; the current item page does not list ordinary Security Bots as a source. For Enethiol, check Office or ASO Wood Crates, Cupboards, and the documented placed locations in Cascade Laboratories and Reactors. Enethiol is itself a found item and chemistry input, not a mixture of sulfur and ethanol that the player produces.

Step-by-step route setup

1. Identify the bottleneck material before starting the route: Stapler, Jailbroken CPU, or Enethiol.
2. For Staplers, check the documented placed locations and Warren trade before spending a copy.
3. For Jailbroken CPUs, prepare specifically for a Containment Bot encounter and a safe return.
4. For Enethiol, check supported crate and cupboard sources plus the named Cascade and Reactors placements.
5. Return and deposit rare materials before starting optional side farming.

Material priority table

Source-backed route identity

These three items should not be farmed with the same mindset.

That split is the value of the guide. A generic "where to find materials" list does not tell the player when to stop, what risk to prepare for, or which storage rule prevents an accidental spend.

Why these materials feel worse than they are

These items are frustrating because they do not behave like common scrap. A player can search many containers and still feel unlucky, then waste the first copy on a craft that does not solve the real blocker. The fix is to decide the next recipe before the farming run starts. If the next craft does not immediately unlock a sector, a defensive upgrade, or a major science step, store the material and wait.

For Staplers, the mistake is treating them like flavor junk. Once a route or recipe needs one, use the current item page to select a placed pickup, eligible crate, or Warren trade rather than searching every desk indiscriminately. For Jailbroken CPUs, the mistake is confusing a Containment Bot with the earlier Security Bot and farming the wrong enemy. For Enethiol, the mistake is reacting late or assuming it must be synthesized. Check supported containers and placed locations, then reserve the item for the already-selected craft or chemistry operation.

Farming loop

1. Write down the exact craft that needs the material.
2. Check whether the route is container-based, enemy-based, trade-based, or chemistry-based.
3. Empty inventory before the run so a rare drop is not competing with low-value clutter.
4. Return after the target item drops instead of turning the run into a general loot sweep.
5. Update storage labels so the material is not spent accidentally later.

Storage rule

Create a "do not spend" crate for bottleneck materials. Put Staplers, CPUs, Enethiol, Optic Lenses, and similar blockers there until the recipe is chosen. This prevents the quiet failure where a rare part disappears into a low-impact craft and the real upgrade waits another hour.

If an item blocks several recipes, spend it only when the craft opens a route, improves survivability, or unlocks a repeatable farm. Convenience crafts can wait.

Inventory setup by material

The point is to reduce accidental mixed-purpose runs. A mixed run feels efficient at the start, but it usually ends with a full inventory, unclear priorities, and one rare item spent or misplaced.

Spending priority

Use this order before spending any bottleneck item:

1. Route unlocks and survival upgrades first.
2. Repeatable farming improvements second.
3. Co-op utility third.
4. Convenience crafts last.

This rule prevents the common problem where the first rare copy goes into a nice quality-of-life item and the next mandatory craft stalls.

When to stop farming

Stop as soon as the current blocker is solved plus one spare. Farming five extra rare parts feels efficient until it delays the route that would unlock a better source. For example, once you have the CPU, hose, or Enethiol needed for the next upgrade, bank it and progress. Return for stockpiling after the route is safer or the tram network is open.

The goal is not a beautiful storage room full of rare materials. The goal is a base that can craft the next meaningful upgrade on demand.

Common mistakes

• Farming generic junk piles when the bottleneck has a better targeted source.
• Using rare materials immediately, then discovering the next upgrade needed the same item.
• Fighting Containment Bots in open spaces when a controlled lane and safe return route would make the Jailbroken CPU attempt safer. Ordinary Security Bots do not drop this CPU.
• Starting chemistry output only after the upgrade chain is already blocked.