Is there any reason to combine modules or should I just be dismantling all my duplicates? I feel like I need Kuiper way more than some purple module I could run a mission for, or is there some system that I'm missing like modules that only come from combining? Also where the heck am I supposed to go to farm external components that actually have core slots and passives on them?

Sorry for asking for spoonfeeding, looking up info on this game is a pain since it seems like most of the game got reworked over the past year.