Silver armor is tier 1 - and only about 3/4 through. Gold armor is ending tier 1. To clarify, tiers don't mean here what they did in Terraria. In terraria, tier basically meant "material". Here, it means a bracket of 10 levels (this will change with the next patch). So Tier 1 encompasses everything level 1-10.
The last ore of a tier is always found rarely, or deep underground (which requires a deep planet).
As for rare objects, be reminded that coordinate sharing was made possible by design - you can google plenty of coordinates, or just ask friends. Additionally, for uncommon, kill npcs. For rare/legendary, its only found in chests. Fastest way is to stick to level 10 moons/deserts, and race along grabbing chests, trying to avoid combat. Once you some movement tech *cough*butterflyboost*cough* this becomes a trivial task, and you'll be able to clear planets in a minute or two.
Deserts/Moons will often have level 11-12 mobs on a level 10 planet. They drop level 11-12 loot. If you find a miniboss, they *always* drop rare or better weapons. Kill it at night and the weapon will be one level higher.
Also, find a tool spawner- place it on your ship, leave and beam back up and you'll have a tool vendor. He sells bombs. Buy 8, throw them at UFO. Instant win. (You can also find bombs in NPC villages or travelling merchants or chests.)
You can also lead the ufo into a large cave. He can break blocks, but isn't neccessarily good at it. (if he hits blocks during Phase 3 (retreat) his AI will completely stop.)
Don't fight the UFO *directly* at spawn. Make it just off to the side. A couple of those rocket guys at your landing point will ruin your day (spawncamping)
For minibosses - remember you can slash through walls. Box him in, or even easier, tunnel under him. Doing this on a lvl 10 "hard" planet (so you get level 11-12 mobs) could easily net you a level 12 legendary in just a couple tries.
The last ore of a tier is always found rarely, or deep underground (which requires a deep planet).
As for rare objects, be reminded that coordinate sharing was made possible by design - you can google plenty of coordinates, or just ask friends. Additionally, for uncommon, kill npcs. For rare/legendary, its only found in chests. Fastest way is to stick to level 10 moons/deserts, and race along grabbing chests, trying to avoid combat. Once you some movement tech *cough*butterflyboost*cough* this becomes a trivial task, and you'll be able to clear planets in a minute or two.
Deserts/Moons will often have level 11-12 mobs on a level 10 planet. They drop level 11-12 loot. If you find a miniboss, they *always* drop rare or better weapons. Kill it at night and the weapon will be one level higher.
Also, find a tool spawner- place it on your ship, leave and beam back up and you'll have a tool vendor. He sells bombs. Buy 8, throw them at UFO. Instant win. (You can also find bombs in NPC villages or travelling merchants or chests.)
You can also lead the ufo into a large cave. He can break blocks, but isn't neccessarily good at it. (if he hits blocks during Phase 3 (retreat) his AI will completely stop.)
Don't fight the UFO *directly* at spawn. Make it just off to the side. A couple of those rocket guys at your landing point will ruin your day (spawncamping)
For minibosses - remember you can slash through walls. Box him in, or even easier, tunnel under him. Doing this on a lvl 10 "hard" planet (so you get level 11-12 mobs) could easily net you a level 12 legendary in just a couple tries.
