Most important and scarce resource in the game, can only be obtained by harvesting and transporting, with builders or dozers, the alien mineral "pandore" present on map-specific spots ("ore spots" or craters), or through ore makers (highly energy-draining). You can find the ore spots in the map easily by hitting F4 in-game
Pandore self-replicates, faster or slower depending on its density around each spot, in a process called 'sprawling'
Although totally draining the ore around a spot (called "getting greedy") is ill-advised, it's possible to boost its sprawling by building sprawler structures on top of the spot/crater. Those structures can be morphed up according to your tech tier
Tier 1 sprawlers produce small chunks, but reduce the decay of the sprawling rate by 50%
Tier 3 sprawlers (“Large”) produce chunks with 50% more ore (morph-only, requires a T3 tech center)
Tier 4 sprawlers ("Mohos") produce chunks with about 2x more ore than a large chunk
Tier 5 sprawlers ("Mantle") produce about 3x as much as mohos (morph-only, requires a T5 tech center)
Ore Makers
Can be built anywhere, T2 version produces +1 metal / 200 energy
ie.: 4 solar collectors worth of energy production to run
A Moho Ore Maker (MOM) requires up to two fusion generators to provide full output (~ +10 ore)
Energy
Solars, WindGens and Fusions
Wind Generators are usually only cost effective when wind speed > 9
Advanced Solars becomes available with a T1 tech center (morph-only)
Advanced Wind Generators and Fusion Generators are available on Tier 3
Advanced Fusion (AFUS) is available on Tier 6, produces ~3k energy
Geothermals ("Geos")
Neutral, abandoned Geothermals are pre-built on top of all map thermal vents
Each basic Geothermal provides +100 energy
Geothermals can be morphed into T4, T5 & T6 versions, providing progressively more energy
Geos can be captured by Avatars - or builders
Geos wreckage can’t be reclaimed or destroyed, only resurrected
You can search for thermal vents on the map by hitting F4, they show up as yellow columns of light
Reclaiming
To obtain extra resources, you can reclaim map features and destroyed units wreckage with most construction-enabled units. Reclaiming is progressive, meaning the feature or wreckage can be harvested partially.
Mouse-hover on the wreckage or feature to learn how much it provides.
Metal
Unit wreckage gives off 50% of the original unit ore cost
In some maps, rocks and abandoned structure features provide metal
Energy
In some maps, trees, plants and other vegetation features provide energy when reclaimed