Walkthrough#

Satisfactory has no traditional “chapters” or “boss fights”; progression is driven entirely by HUB milestones (the Tier ladder): each Tier unlocks a batch of new buildings and recipes, which in turn demands that you expand production lines and upgrade power. This guide breaks the whole main line into executable stages, with goals, production checkpoints, and common sticking points for each. The specific milestone materials for each Tier are not catalogued on this site — defer to the in-game panel; verified figures are credited to their sources.

Overview of the Route#

To judge which stage you’re in, don’t look at playtime — look at what materials the next HUB milestone needs.

Stage 1: From Landing to the First Automated Line (Tier 0–1)#

The first thing to do after landing is not building a factory but walking the ground to find ore nodes: hand-gather starting materials, craft your first basic parts, then place a Portable Miner on a node and let the machine pull ore for you (the “Rock and stone!” achievement).

Then light up Tier 1 to unlock the Smelter and Constructor, upgrading “hammering iron by hand” into the first automated line of “conveyors feed machines.” Production checkpoint: ore leaving the miner rides a conveyor, and the smelter’s output no longer needs hand-carrying.

For melee defense, basic weapons like the Xeno-Zapper serve; how each piece of equipment unlocks is not catalogued on this site — defer to the actual game.

Stage 2: Assembly and Research Begins (Tier 2–3)#

The two big events of this stage: the Assembler comes online (two-input intermediate parts arrive), and Tier 3’s Pipeline Mk.1 (300 m³/min) — the start of the fluid system.

Power takes its first leap: the Coal Generator (75 MW, 15 coal per minute + 45 m³/min water). It frees you forever from “picking leaves for the biomass burners.” Siting rule: build where coal and water appear together, or you’ll lay very long water pipes and fight head lift.

Checkpoint: when you no longer hand-collect biomass and power is nearly fully automated, this stage is complete.

Stage 3: Steel and Blueprints (Tier 4)#

Tier 4 unlocks the Blueprint Designer — introduced in Update 7, the Mk.1 has a footprint of 4×4 foundations × 8 walls high. From this point, “laying ten identical production lines” compresses into a few clicks.

When feeding one conveyor from several miners in parallel, always use Splitters to control ratios, or one branch starves while another clogs.

Stage 4: Oil and Fuel Power (Tier 5–6)#

Crude oil processing is the first “you go nowhere without it” wall in the flowchart: plastics, rubber, and many part ingredients all come from the oil line. Power upgrades in step — the Fuel-Powered Generator puts out 250 MW per unit (raised from 150 MW in 1.0), burning 20 m³/min of fuel each. Stating the verified fact once more: switching to turbofuel, rocket fuel, or ionized fuel does not raise per-unit output — all are 250 MW baseline, just with lower consumption.

Tier 6 also unlocks Pipeline Mk.2 (600 m³/min); high-volume water and oil routes both rely on it.

Stage 5: The Particle Accelerator and Nuclear Prep (Tier 7–8)#

The Particle Accelerator belongs to Tier 8 – Particle Enrichment (added in Update 4) and produces endgame materials. Note: its power draw fluctuates with the recipe (on the order of 250–1500 MW, higher still at 250% overclock); the old guides’ “fixed 450 MW” is wrong. Confirm spare generation before putting it on the grid.

Nuclear power comes into view in this stage: the Nuclear Power Plant puts out 2500 MW per unit, consuming uranium fuel rods at 0.2 per minute plus 240 m³/min water — but nuclear waste cannot be destroyed, so reserve storage space. Nuclear isn’t mandatory immediately, but the uranium mining line is enormous; lay it out early.

Stage 6: Endgame Project Assembly (Tier 9)#

Tier 9 is the 1.0 endpoint, unlocking quantum encoding and the rest of the endgame. The endgame goal is Project Assembly: sending parts up the Space Elevator stage by stage. The related achievement chain:

The specific parts and quantities for each phase are not catalogued on this site — defer to the actual in-game requirements. The other endgame line is SAM and the Dimensional Depot: Mercer Spheres (298 on the map) build the Dimensional Depot uploader and power MAM alien-tech research upgrades; Somersloops (106 on the map) give terminal machines output amplification (double output at full slots, 4× power draw).

At this point the standard is no longer “can I produce a part” but “can my grid survive several endgame lines running at full load simultaneously.” If breakers keep tripping, expand generation first (Nuclear Power Plant 2500 MW, Alien Power Augmenter +500 MW), then talk speed.

Five Checks That Apply All Game#

At any Tier, run this checklist before expanding:

1. Can miner output feed the input end — piling ore means insufficient mining.
2. Does conveyor speed cover peak flow — insufficient bandwidth means parallel runs or upgrades.
3. Is there enough power headroom for the new machines — a full amplification slot means 4× power; don’t forget it.
4. Does each recipe output match downstream demand — don’t build a mountain of unused intermediates.
5. Do byproducts have a destination — nuclear waste and surplus liquids both need somewhere to go.

Common Sticking Points and Fixes#

A Low-Stress Save Habit#

The deeper you go, the more expensive a rollback gets:

• Before every major expansion, save the current stable main lines as a separate save.
• After collecting a Hard Drive from a crash site, review whether your existing lines are worth converting to the alternate recipe.
• Once the Space Elevator is up, don’t stop — it’s the start of Project Assembly, not a credits screen.

For the detailed numbers behind each stage, see Power Systems, Production Line Planning, and Tech Unlocks.