When I first jumped into Satisfactory, all I wanted to do was build, build, build. However, it didn’t take long before I started to notice things that I wished I knew about before I sunk hours into my factory.
So, here are a few tips that almost feel like using Satisfactory cheats.
Build yourself a home
When you first start in Satisfactory you will have little choice but to place your machines and storage containers on the ground. Although it’s perfectly fine to do this, before long you might find that your base turns into spaghetti.
Don’t get me wrong, spaghetti can be fun, but you wouldn’t eat it without a napkin would you? Tentacles of pure carbohydrate slapping your face, leaving tomato-flavored smears all over your chops. Not nice. In Satisfactory, spaghetti is a fast track to confusion. Where’s the storage container for Iron Plates again? Guess I better follow this conveyor belt to find out.
So make sure you have some Concrete and Iron Plate production going for foundations as soon as possible so you can build yourself a place you can call home and organize your storage in one tidy area. Spending some time to separate your production and storage into their own tidy places will save you much more time in the future.
Plan your build
When it comes to setting up and automating your production, it can be tempting to just plonk down a row of machines, feed them an input, and tell them to build the desired item. I strongly advise against doing this as it often leads to a slower output than you expected.
Instead, take the time to figure out how much of each item you need to produce the final item in your production line (you can do this by interacting with the machine and reading the information on the display).
Example: Reinforced Iron Plates require an input of 30 Iron Plates and 60 Screws per minute, in order to produce five Reinforced Iron Plates per minute, but a single Constructor only produces 20 Iron Plates or 40 Screw per minute. This means you will need one and a half Constructors to produce Screws and one and a half to produce Iron Plates in order to have enough to supply a single Assembler. This is where Splitters and Mergers become your best friends.
Splitters will share items on a conveyor belt evenly between two or three belts and Mergers will allow items coming in from up to three different belts to all connect to a single belt. Using Splitters and Mergers, you can build three Constructors for Iron Plates and three for Screws, which will be enough to fully supply two Assemblers producing reinforced Iron Plates.
So let say you build three Constructors producing Screws side by side (producing a total of 120 Screws per minute). Then, using conveyor belts, connect the first and third Constructors to their own designated Merger. Then connect the Mergers to their own designated Assembler set to produce Reinforced Iron Plates. Those Assemblers will then both be able to receive 40 of the 60 required Screws per minute.
Next you need to connect a Splitter to a conveyor belt coming from the output of the second Constructor. Connect that Splitter to an input on each of the Mergers by using separate conveyors from two different outputs on the Splitter. The second Constructor producing 40 Screws per minute will be able to evenly share its output to the first and third Constructor and bring the total input for each Assembler to 60 Screws per minute. Copying this process again for the Iron Plates, your Assemblers will now both be able to receive enough input so that their output can be maximized.
Green fingers
Throughout the world, you will find a variety of flora that you can harvest for leaves, wood, petals, and mycelia. It’s a good idea to make a habit of picking these up when you’re running from place to place.
At first, you can just put your petals and mycelia in storage to use later, but the wood and leaves are needed to produce Biofuel, which will be your main source of power in the beginning. You’ll also get access to a more efficient version when you unlock the chainsaw, called Solid Biofuel.
Set up a production line to automate your Biofuel as soon as possible. This allows you to drop any leaves or wood into a storage bin whenever you get back from whatever you were doing. This means you just need to take it out and place it into the generators when you get back to base, rather than having to cook up a batch.
You can also harvest berries, nuts, and mushrooms called bacon agaric. If you equip these in your hand slot, you can eat them to restore some lost health. You should collect these even if you think you already have a lot – just store them for later use. The plants the berries and nuts grow on will replenish, so do try not to chop them down with your chainsaw, eh? I know you’re excited about unlocking it, but chill out.
Stuff your pockets
Telling someone to put stuff in their inventory might seem a bit like telling someone to remember to breathe, but I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve gone out on a mission for some more resources and found myself having to run all the way back home to get that little bit extra because I ran out of items.
These days I try to make a habit of having everything I think I’ll need and then take an extra stack of each item just in case. There’s nothing more disheartening than the thought of having to run all the way back to base for a few Iron Rods when you’re so close to getting to the end of your goal.
Be brave
As you progress, you will notice that you need to use the same items that you previously set up a factory for to produce your more recently unlocked items. Don’t make the same mistake that I made by just adding a splitter at the end of your current production line to feed your new production line. You’re still going to need these resources as the game progresses. Take the time once again to check the input and output requirements and set up an entirely new production line instead.
If you don’t have the raw materials for that, it’s time to stand tall, tuck in your shirt and brave the unknown to find new resource nodes.
Don’t be worried about falling prey to a doggo – they’re cute, harmless (mostly) and can be your friends. It’s the hogs, spitters and flying crabs (I hate the flying crabs) that will get you, but don’t let that stop you.
Build a Personal Storage Box and put anything you consider valuable inside, then head out with your Xeno-Zapper, a handful of berries or nuts, and everything you will need to set up a new mine, making sure you have the required resources to build conveyor belts and power lines back to base.
Should you fall prey to the hazards this world has waiting for you, don’t panic – when you wake up back at the hub, you can simply run back to where you died and loot your bag. Just make sure you get payback, yeah?
Make time for your M.A.M
There’s plenty to do in Satisfactory to keep you busy, so forgetting things from time to time is to be expected. But the one thing I wished I focused on more was the M.A.M (Molecular Analysis Machine).
The M.A.M is basically a research bench, but it’s not like the milestones at your HUB – I see the unlocks here more as quality-of-life upgrades.
The M.A.M can unlock extra inventory space, teach you to use those nuts, berries, and even animal carcasses to make medical inhalers that heal your health to full, or even unlock blade runners, which allow you run faster, jump higher and fall with less risk or injury.
There’s plenty more to learn from the M.A.M, but why spoil the surprise when you can discover them for yourself. Just run over or build a new one at your feet, check what items are needed, make sure you have those items in your pocket and return.
Then it’s as simple as clicking the Begin Research button, waiting for it to complete, and building your new toys.
Clocking
If you were awesome enough to follow the last tip and made sure you M.A.M has everything she needs, you should notice a tab for something called Power Slug. You can find these fantastic creatures all over the world, and you will often find them relaxing on cliff edges or on top of tall rocks just waiting for some poor soul to fall when trying to reach them. The risk, thankfully, is definitely worth the reward.
When you take these to your M.A.M, you’ll be able to learn how to use them to overclock and underclock your machines by turning them into Power Shards. This is perfect for when you need that little bit extra output from one of your machines, since one Power Shard lets you increase your machine’s power by 50% (you don’t need Power Shard to underclock), and you are able to use up to three in one machine. Yes, this means you can increase a machine’s productivity by up to 250%, and it’s as simple as placing your Power Shard inside and moving the bar to the desired percentage.
Be careful though, as this also increases the power requirements. When you under/overclock a machine, it will of course require more input. Thankfully, FICSIT already thought of that so the display will update and tell you the new required power input and output in brackets right next to the original numbers.
Traversing the world
Satisfactory has an absolutely massive map for you to explore, to the point where even the different start locations are just locations on the same handcrafted map. So when you’re out exploring or trying to reach that much-needed resource node, you will likely bump into a few natural obstacles that can add minutes to your journey.
But fear not, FICSIT provides you with a building tool that can be used anywhere and for more than just building factories and making your home look pretty.
So when you go away from base for whatever reason, pack a few extra stacks of concrete and iron plates. This way, when you bump into a cliff wall or an edge that leads to certain death, whip out your build tool with a foundation or ramp selected and build your own path.
If, like me, you try to make as little of a mess in your world as possible, you can always just dismantle it after you’ve finished. Just remember: the range of your tool is nice but it’s not unlimited.
Sink and shop
Do you wish there were more types of walls or foundations? You want to build something that looks nice but is still functional? Well, this is where the AWESOME Sink – a buildable item you can unlock early on – comes into play. The Sink can take almost any item and turn them into FICSIT coupons that you can spend at the AWESOME Shop.
All you need to do to get coupons is power your Sink and feed a belt into it that is connected to storage, production machine, or even directly to a Miner.
Each item has its own point value and after so many points you will earn a coupon that you can collect from the Sink. After each coupon you earn, the amount of points needed for the next is increased so it’s a good idea to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. Before you know it you will have enough to buy the things you want from the shop. The shop has many things for you to buy – cups, vehicles, lights, different foundation shapes, and more – so do some window shopping whilst you wait for your coupons to build up.
Direct vertical snapping
It’s a good idea to build vertically and conveyor lifts do an amazing job of helping keep your conveyor belts neat and tidy. However, before long, a lot of conveyor lifts can also look untidy and maybe even a little confusing when you have rows of them hanging on the edge of your building.
If you’re looking for another way to move your items up and down that looks even better and is easier to do, then going to the Shop and spending your coupons on floor holes is probably your best option.
These wonderful things let you snap your conveyor lifts directly through your floors and ceilings. What makes these even better is that you are able to build them close enough to your machines (both input and output) and snap your conveyor lift directly from your machine to your hole, meaning you don’t have to build conveyor belts to connect them. Not only does this look better, but it also saves on space.
I like to use this method to make what I like to call a ‘spaghetti floor’ where I have a two high floor with factories above and below, and I dedicate that floor to conveyor belts only, sending items up or down to wherever they are needed.
Satisfactory Smokeless Powder
It never hurts to have a goal, and this is my favorite. This is more of a mid to late game thing, but knowing what pleasure Smokeless Powder (not to be confused with Black Powder) can bring, I couldn’t justify leaving it out.
When you get towards the end of the sulfur tree in your M.A.M you’ll be able to unlock Satisfactory Smokeless Powder. You will need to have at least some basic oil production going to make it, but when you do, you’ll be able to make yourself some of the best toys in the game.
Of course, you’ll have to unlock these toys too, but having the ability to impale your target with a rebar is best when that rebar explodes. Better yet, having the power of a hand held nuclear device (nuke nobelisk) that you can toss at a nest of flying crabs and blow them to oblivion before the pesky things even know what’s coming is surely worth the effort.
You can make Smokeless Powder in the refinery at a cost of 20 Black Powder and 10 Heavy Oil Residue per minute.
When you produce Plastic at a refinery, you get 10 Heavy Oil Residue per minute as a byproduct. Although it’s not a permanent solution, making Smokeless Powder can also be a productive way to get rid of some of that Heavy Oil Residue in the early stages of your oil processing.
Bonus – Satisfactory is an amazing game that can offer many hours of entertainment, but the one thing that I wish I knew most of all when I first played Satisfactory is how much more fun I would have when I played it with friends, so get your buddies together and enjoy.
Written by Darren Kisby on behalf of GLHF.
