Satisfactory: Complete Factory-Building Guide

This guide covers your first hours through late game: controls, the HUB and MAM, power, logistics, alternate recipes, and how to plan factories that don't turn into spaghetti. It includes the new systems from Update 1.2.

Researched September 2026. Current as of Update 1.2 (patch v1.2.4.0). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Pick a starting area that fits your comfort level. Grass Fields is the gentlest. Rocky Desert and Northern Forest have more resources nearby but less flat ground. Dune Desert is the hardest start.
2. The HUB is your tech tree. Deliver parts to the HUB Terminal to finish Milestones in Tiers 0 to 9. Tiers open when you deliver Space Elevator phases.
3. Automate early. Your first real goal is a Miner Mk.1 feeding a Smelter and then a Constructor for Iron Plates and Iron Rods. Hand-crafting falls behind fast.
4. Research at the MAM. Once you build the Molecular Analysis Machine, feed it Caterium, Quartz, Sulfur, Mycelia, Hard Drives, and alien items. It unlocks key tech like Quickwire and Zipline (Caterium) and Black Powder, Nobelisks, and weapons (Sulfur).
5. Loot crash sites. The drop pods scattered around the map contain Hard Drives. Each one gives you a choice of alternate recipes, which are among the strongest upgrades in the game.
6. Collect Power Slugs and Somersloops. Slugs make Power Shards, which overclock machines. Somersloops amplify production or go into the Alien Power Augmenter. Mercer Spheres unlock dimensional storage research.
7. Sink everything you don't need. The AWESOME Sink turns surplus items into FICSIT Coupons, which you spend at the AWESOME Shop on cosmetics, building pieces, and useful parts.
8. Plan with ratios, not guesses. Each recipe has an input and output per minute. Match machine counts so nothing backs up or starves.
9. Leave room. Build on foundations with space for extra machines. Every factory eventually needs to double.

Controls (Keyboard and Mouse Defaults)

Update 1.2 made most controller bindings rebindable and added Dynamic Gamepad Swap, so you can switch between keyboard and controller without opening a menu.

Core Systems

The HUB, Milestones, and Tiers

• Tiers 0 to 2 teach the basics: iron, copper, concrete, and Biomass Burners.
• Tier 3 to 4 bring coal power (with Water Extractors and Mk.1 pipes), steel, the Tractor and Truck Stations, Miner Mk.2, and Blueprints.
• Tier 5 to 6 add oil, plastic, rubber, fuel power, the Truck, the Jetpack, trains, and Mk.2 pipes. This is where factories get serious.
• Tier 7 to 8 unlock bauxite and aluminum, Mk.5 conveyors, Drones, Miner Mk.3, and nuclear power.
• Tier 9 adds Mk.6 conveyors and the Converter, and is the final push toward Project Assembly.

The Space Elevator has five phases. Each phase needs larger deliveries of Project Parts (Smart Plating, Versatile Framework, Automated Wiring, Modular Engines, Adaptive Control Units, and later parts). Unlocking tiers is gated behind these phases, so automate each part rather than hand-feeding it.

Resources and Node Purity

Every node is Impure, Normal, or Pure. Purity multiplies miner output. A Pure node is worth twice a Normal one and four times an Impure one.

Overclocking with Power Shards raises output further, but conveyor speed quickly becomes the limit.

Logistics

• Splitters and Mergers balance flow. Smart and Programmable Splitters filter by item type.
• The 1.1 update added the Priority Merger and the Conveyor Throughput Monitor. Use the monitor to see where a line is actually short.
• Pipes (Mk.1 in Tier 3, Mk.2 in Tier 6) carry fluids. Mk.1 pipes carry 300 m3 per min and Mk.2 carry 600. Watch vertical height: pumps are needed to push fluids uphill.
• Trains are the endgame answer for long-distance bulk transport. Use block and path signals and buffer stops (added in 1.1) to prevent collisions and derailments.
• Trucks and Tractors are cheap early automation. Update 1.2 completely reworked vehicle paths. You now place paths from the build menu, like tracks, and put vehicles on them.
• Fluid Trucks and Fluid Truck Stations (1.2, unlocked with the Tier 5 Logistics Mk.4 milestone) move fluids over distance without long pipe runs.
• Drones handle small, high-value shipments between distant ports.

Power

Build Power Storage to buffer spikes, and put a Power Switch between sub-grids so one fault doesn't black out everything. Update 1.2 also allows power daisy-chaining between buildings.

Alternate Recipes

Hard Drives from crash sites unlock alternates. Some of the most valued ones among veteran players:

• Steel Screw / Cast Screw: removes the horrible early screw chain.
• Solid Steel Ingot: iron plus coal gives better steel yield.
• Pure Iron / Pure Copper / Pure Caterium Ingot: use water in a Refinery for much better ore efficiency.
• Stitched Iron Plate and Bolted Iron Plate: simpler Reinforced Iron Plate chains.
• Heavy Encased Frame and Recycled Plastic / Recycled Rubber: key mid- and late-game upgrades.
• Turbo Heavy Fuel / Diluted Fuel: big boosts for fuel power.

You get a choice from a few options per drive, so skipped alternates can appear again later. Check the wiki before committing a big factory to one recipe.

Exploration and Threats

• Hostile creatures include Fluffy-tailed Hogs, Stingers, Spitters, and Stinger Elites near some Somersloops.
• Gas pits need the Gas Mask (and filters), and radioactive zones need the Hazmat Suit.
• Hypertubes and the Jetpack or Hover Pack make travel much faster. Blade Runners let you jump higher and sprint faster.

Update 1.2 Highlights

The 1.2 update is the current major version. It hit the Experimental branch on March 17, 2026 and went live on June 2, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S at the same time. Fix patches followed (v1.2.3.0 on June 11, v1.2.3.1 on June 24, v1.2.4.0 on August 11, 2026).

• Weather: rain is back with wind, fog variants, and thunder. You can set frequency and intensity in world settings.
• Unreal Engine 5.6.1: performance improvements across the board.
• Vehicle path overhaul, plus Fluid Trucks.
• Creative Mode (the old Advanced Game Settings) and Game Modes with cost multipliers and world randomization that don't disable achievements.
• Real pause in single-player.
• New pieces like the Pipeline T-Junction, Cross Beam, and the SPWN spawn-point building.
• Photo Mode additions, including a selfie camera.

Earlier, 1.1 added the Personnel Elevator, the Conveyor Wall Hole, hypertube junctions, and a Photo Mode overhaul.

Factory Planning Rules of Thumb

• Build per product, not per machine. One "Reinforced Iron Plate" factory takes ore in and outputs the product. That's easier to debug than one giant smelter hall.
• Manifold vs. balanced load. A manifold (a belt passing a row of splitters) is fast to build and fills up eventually. That's fine for most lines.
• Main bus vs. trains. A central bus works early. By oil and aluminum, move raw materials by train into dedicated factories.
• Underclock instead of overbuilding. If you need 7.5 machines, build 8 and set clock speeds to match.
• Use blueprints. The Blueprint Designer lets you save modules like "8 smelters plus 8 constructors" and paste them anywhere.
• Label things. Signs and color swatches save you hours when you return to an old factory.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Building on the ground without foundations. Uneven terrain makes expansion painful. Lay foundations first.
• Sinking coupons into cosmetics too early. Early coupons are better spent on useful AWESOME Shop items.
• Ignoring the MAM. Caterium research unlocks Power Poles Mk.2, Zipline, and the path to Quickwire. Sulfur unlocks explosives and Black Powder.
• Overfeeding a single conveyor. A Mk.2 belt caps at 120/min no matter how many miners you attach.
• Letting fuel byproducts back up. In oil setups, a full Heavy Oil Residue or Polymer Resin tank stops the whole refinery. Always route byproducts somewhere, even a sink.
• Nuclear without a waste plan. Nuclear Waste can't be sunk directly. Plan storage or Plutonium processing before you scale up.
• Skipping Hard Drives. Alternates often halve your raw-resource needs.

Advanced Tips

• Somersloop production amplification doubles a machine's output without extra input. It is very powerful for expensive end products.
• Clock speed and power are not linear. Overclocking raises power use more than output, so overclock miners (limited nodes) and underclock factories (unlimited space).
• Check resource totals in the map or on the wiki before choosing a megabase site. Keep pure nodes clustered.
• Use the Priority Merger to feed recycled items back into a line first before new material.
• Take the train early. A simple two-station loop in Tier 6 removes most long-conveyor headaches.
• Game Modes (1.2) can raise or lower build costs and randomize the world while keeping achievements. That's good for a second playthrough.

FAQ

Is Satisfactory finished? Yes. It left Early Access with 1.0 on September 10, 2024. Coffee Stain has kept shipping free updates since: 1.1 in 2025 and 1.2 (live June 2, 2026).

Does it have multiplayer? Yes. It has co-op through sessions or dedicated servers. The 1.2 update is on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Which starting area is best? Grass Fields for new players. Northern Forest or Rocky Desert if you want better nodes nearby and don't mind uneven terrain.

Where do I find Hard Drives? In crash sites (drop pods) around the map. Some need power, parts, or a Nobelisk to open.

Do Game Modes disable achievements? The new 1.2 Game Modes don't. Creative Mode options may. The game warns you before you change anything that affects achievements.

How do I fix low FPS in big factories? Update 1.2's engine upgrade helps. Also cut the number of visible belts and lights, use trains instead of dozens of parallel belts, and lower shadow and foliage settings.

Sources

• Satisfactory Wiki: Patch 1.2.0.0
• Satisfactory Wiki: Patch 1.1.0.0
• Satisfactory Wiki: Patches
• Satisfactory Wiki: Milestones
• Satisfactory news on Steam