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Satisfactory Tier Progression Guide

Last updated: June 2026 | Game version: 1.0+

What Are Tiers?

In Satisfactory, progression is driven by the HUB Terminal — the computer terminal inside your drop-pod base. Each Tier is a set of milestones that unlock new buildings, recipes, and mechanics. To advance, you must complete the previous Tier's milestones, research the next milestone via the HUB, and supply the required parts.

Progression follows a rough path: handcraft → automation → logistics → power scaling → complex supply chains → endgame. The game does not force a strict order within a Tier, but some milestones unlock critical enablers (e.g. Coal Power) that make later milestones far easier.

Below is a Tier-by-Tier breakdown with recommended milestone order, what each milestone unlocks, and practical efficiency tips.

Tier 0 — Basic Hub Upgrades

The very first thing you do after crashing on Massage-2(A-B)b. Tier 0 milestones are free and require no parts — just interact with the HUB.

Unlocks:

  • HUB Upgrade 1 — Unlocks the Craft Bench and the ability to craft Iron Plates, Iron Rods, Screws, and Wire by hand.
  • HUB Upgrade 2 — Unlocks the Portable Miner, the Equipment Workshop, and basic equipment (Xeno-Zapper, Parachute).
  • HUB Upgrade 3 — Unlocks storage containers, conveyor belt mk.1 (60 items/min), and the ability to build Foundations.

What to build first:

  1. Craft 4 Iron Plates, 4 Iron Rods, and 50 Wire by hand.
  2. Build a Portable Miner and place it on a pure iron node near your drop-pod.
  3. Place another Portable Miner on a copper node.
  4. Build Foundations — a flat platform makes everything easier.
  5. Set up a simple hand-fed production line: smelters → constructors making plates, rods, and screws.

Efficiency tips:

  • Scout for pure nodes nearby before placing your first miner — pure nodes give double the output.
  • Build everything on foundations from the start. It saves hours of rework later.
  • Unlock the chainsaw early (in the MAM under Mycelia) to clear vegetation quickly.

Tier 1-2 — Coal Power & Basic Logistics

This is where Satisfactory truly begins. Tier 1-2 contains seven milestones, but the recommended order below saves you from hand-feeding biofuel generators for too long.

Recommended milestone order:

  1. Tier 1: Field Research — Unlocks the MAM (Molecular Analysis Machine) for researching hard drives, slugs, and alien artifacts.
  2. Tier 1: Logistics — Unlocks conveyor belt mk.2 (120 items/min), conveyor splitter/merger, and storage containers. Build this ASAP — faster belts double your throughput.
  3. Tier 1: Obstacle Clearing — Unlocks the Chainsaw, allowing you to harvest wood/leaves for Solid Biofuel. Massive quality-of-life improvement.
  4. Tier 2: Part Assembly — Unlocks the Assembler and the ability to make Reinforced Iron Plates and Rotors. Your first multi-step production chain.
  5. Tier 2: Obstacle Clearing (continued) — Allows biomass burning in vehicles and unlocks liquid biofuel. Skip this unless you're driving early.
  6. Tier 2: Logistics mk.2 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.3 (270 items/min) and truck stations. Nice, but not urgent.
  7. Tier 2: Coal Power — The most important milestone in the early game. Unlocks the Coal Generator (75 MW) and the Water Extractor. This milestone requires 100 Steel Beams and 100 Steel Pipes — so you need steel automation first.

Steel (prerequisite for Coal Power):

  • You need the Steel Pipe and Steel Beam milestones in the MAM (requires Coal and Iron).
  • Find a location with coal and iron close together — the grassland south of the Rocky Desert has excellent coal/iron/water convergence.
  • Build 4-8 Coal Generators as your first power plant. One Water Extractor feeds about 3 Coal Generators (at 100% clock speed).

What to build first (Tier 1-2):

  1. A dedicated Reinforced Iron Plate factory (2-3 assemblers).
  2. A Rotor factory next to it.
  3. A steel foundry near coal+iron: 2-4 Foundries making Steel Ingots.
  4. Your first Coal Power plant — aim for at least 4 generators. This frees you from biofuel forever.

Efficiency tips:

  • Overclock your Coal Generators with Power Shards only if you're short on space — they scale linearly but consume more water.
  • Build a Solid Biofuel Generator setup as a backup — one constructor making Solid Biofuel from biomass feeds 2-3 biofuel generators and can be automated with an Awesome Sink to burn overflow.
  • Unlock Conveyor Belt mk.3 as soon as possible — 270 items/min belts handle steel production comfortably.

Tier 3-4 — Steel, Vehicles & Oil

Tier 3-4 introduces your first fluid logistics and vehicle transportation.

Recommended milestone order:

  1. Tier 3: Basic Steel Production — Unlocks the Foundry. This should already be done from Tier 2 prep. Also unlocks the Mk.3 belt upgrade.
  2. Tier 3: Logistics mk.3 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.4 (480 items/min), Tractor, and Truck. Start automating vehicles if your factory is spread out.
  3. Tier 3: Coal Power (Advanced) — Unlocks the Compact Coal Generator alternate recipe (powered by Compacted Coal). Situationally useful.
  4. Tier 4: Advanced Steel Production — Unlocks Encased Industrial Beams, Stators, Motors.
  5. Tier 4: Oil Processing — Unlocks the Oil Extractor, Refinery, and basic oil recipes: Plastic, Rubber, Fuel (for vehicles), and Petroleum Coke.
  6. Tier 4: Logistics mk.4 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.5 (780 items/min), Programmable Splitter, and Fluid Packaging.

What to build first (Tier 3-4):

  1. Steel Factory expansion — add Encased Industrial Beam production (steel beams + concrete). You'll need these for mk.3-4 belts and oil infrastructure.
  2. Motor factory — Motors are the signature part of Tier 3-4. Each Motor requires 2 Rotors + 2 Stators. Plan for 5-10 Motors/min.
  3. Oil processing plant — Find a pure oil node (600 m³/min). Build:
  4. 1 Oil Extractor → 2-3 Refineries making Plastic + heavy oil residue.
  5. 1-2 Refineries converting heavy oil residue to Petroleum Coke or Fuel.
  6. Package the Fuel for vehicle use, or burn it in Fuel Generators.
  7. Vehicle depot — If your oil field is far from base (it usually is), set up a truck route or conveyor highway.

Efficiency tips:

  • Oil nodes cannot be overclocked beyond 250% and the base extraction is 120 m³/min on normal, 600 m³/min on pure. Build your oil plant on a pure node.
  • Use the Residual Rubber and Residual Plastic alternate recipes (from hard drives) to increase your oil yield by up to 40%.
  • Recycled Rubber/Plastic loops (alternate recipes) are the most resource-efficient way to produce both — research hard drives in Tier 3-4 aggressively.
  • Build a train line before tackling Tier 5-6 if your oil and steel locations are far apart. Tracks are expensive in steel but pay off enormously.

Tier 5-6 — Advanced Manufacturing, Aluminum

Tier 5-6 introduces Aluminum — the first true logistical challenge requiring a complex production chain with byproducts.

Recommended milestone order:

  1. Tier 5: Logistics mk.5 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.6 (900 items/min), Lift mk.3, and signs. Signs alone are worth rushing — they help you label everything.
  2. Tier 5: Industrial Manufacturing — Unlocks the Manufacturer (4-input machine), Supercomputer, Radio Control Units, Turbo Motors, and Thermal Propulsion Rockets.
  3. Tier 6: Aluminum Production — Unlocks the Bauxite Refinery chain: Bauxite → Alumina Solution → Aluminum Scrap + Silica → Aluminum Ingots.
  4. Tier 6: Logistics mk.6 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.7 (???), Pipeline mk.2 (600 m³/min). (Note: belt speeds may vary by patch — check current game values.)
  5. Tier 6: Expanded Industrial Manufacturing — Unlocks Pressure Conversion Cube, Fused Modular Frames, Assembly Director System, Magnetic Field Generators.

What to build first (Tier 5-6):

  1. Aluminum processing plant — Find bauxite, coal (for petroleum coke), silica, and water in one area. The Spire Coast and Red Jungle have good bauxite deposits. Build:
  2. Refineries: Bauxite + Water → Alumina Solution → Aluminum Scrap + Silica.
  3. Refineries: Aluminum Scrap (byproduct water recycled) → Aluminum Ingots.
  4. Sink the excess Silica or use it for Aluminum Casings.
  5. Manufacturer complex — Set up at least 2 Manufacturers for Radio Control Units (needed in huge quantities) and Supercomputers.
  6. Nuclear prerequisite factories — Start producing Quickwire (alternate from Caterium research), High-Speed Connectors, and Crystal Oscillators. You'll need hundreds of these later.

Efficiency tips:

  • The Aluminum Scrap recipe produces water as a byproduct. This water must be managed — either recycled back into fresh bauxite processing or sunk via the Wet Concrete alternate. If you don't manage it, your aluminum line deadlocks. Use a VIP (valve + pump) or pipe manifold with a priority junction.
  • The Sloppy Alumina alternate (from hard drives) simplifies the chain and increases output. Prioritize finding this hard drive.
  • Use Mk.5 belts minimum for aluminum production — the throughput is high.
  • Build overclocked Refineries with Power Shards for aluminum — the chain is long enough that compacting it saves headaches.

Tier 7-8 — Bauxite, Nuclear & Turbo Power

Tier 7-8 is the mid-to-late game power spike. You'll face byproduct-heavy production chains and the complexity of nuclear power.

Recommended milestone order:

  1. Tier 7: Bauxite Refinement — Unlocks Aluminum production improvements and the Blender (a 4-fluid/2-solid machine). Critical for nuclear and turbo fuel.
  2. Tier 7: Advanced Logistics — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.7 (??? items/min), Drone Port, Programmable Splitter upgrades.
  3. Tier 7: Nuclear Power — Unlocks the Nuclear Power Plant (2500 MW, 625 MW with waste), Uranium Fuel Rod production, and Nuclear Waste handling.
  4. Tier 8: Particle Enrichment — Unlocks the Particle Accelerator (500-1000 MW draw), Plutonium Fuel Rods, Ficsonium, and Non-Fissile Uranium recipes.
  5. Tier 8: Power Storage — Unlocks Power Storage batteries and Geothermal Generators. Build power storage to handle particle accelerator spikes.
  6. Tier 8: Advanced Logistics mk.2 — Unlocks Conveyor Belt mk.8 (??? items/min) and Trains mk.2.

What to build first (Tier 7-8):

  1. Turbo Fuel power plant (before nuclear) — Turbo Fuel (Fuel + Compacted Coal) burns much more efficiently than regular Fuel. A 10-generator Turbo Fuel plant produces 1500-2500 MW easily.
  2. Uranium mining & processing — Set up uranium mining with full radiation protection (lead-lined containers, remote processing). Build at least 2-4 Nuclear Power Plants.
  3. Nuclear waste handling — Build a massive storage facility (or recycle into Plutonium Fuel Rods). Unprocessed nuclear waste never disappears.
  4. Particle Accelerator setup — This machine draws 500-1000 MW. Pair it with Power Storage to avoid tripping your grid.

Efficiency tips:

  • Do not build nuclear power without a waste plan. Each Nuclear Power Plant produces 50 kg/min of Uranium Waste. One hour of runtime on four plants = 12,000 kg of waste. The container maps tell you where you can store it — but the real answer is to process it into Plutonium Fuel Rods and then Ficsonium.
  • The Alt: Uranium Fuel Rod recipe (from hard drives) uses less Uranium and produces more rods. Prioritize this.
  • Blenders are your best friend for Tier 7-8. They handle the complex 4-fluid recipes needed for Nuclear and Turbo Fuel.
  • Drones are expensive (batteries) but invaluable for delivering small quantities of high-tier parts (radio control units, supercomputers, crystal oscillators) across long distances without building belts or trains.

Tier 9 — Endgame Content

Tier 9 is the final tier added in Update 8 / 1.0, focusing on tier 8-9 expansion and the ultimate project: the Space Elevator Phase 5.

Unlocks:

  • Tier 9: Extended Manufacturing — Unlocks Project Assembly items: Assembly Director System, Magnetic Field Generator, Thermal Propulsion Rocket, Biochemical Sculptor, AI Expansion Server.
  • Tier 9: Logistics mk.9 — Unlocks the final conveyor belt speeds and Hyper Tube Cannons improvements.
  • Tier 9: Power Augmentation — Unlocks the Nitrogen-Infused Fuel Rod, Ficsonium Fuel Rod (zero-waste nuclear), and Alien Power Matrix.

What to build first (Tier 9):

  1. Automate the 5 Space Elevator Phase 5 parts (Assembly Director Systems, Magnetic Field Generators, Thermal Propulsion Rockets, Biochemical Sculptors, AI Expansion Servers). Each requires a dedicated factory with 3-5 Manufacturers or Blenders.
  2. Convert all nuclear waste to Ficsonium — this is the true endgame goal. It requires a complex chain: Uranium Waste → Plutonium Waste → Ficsonium Waste (which can be sunk in the Awesome Sink).
  3. Build a train/mega-bus network spanning your entire factory — you'll be transporting dozens of different parts across the map.

Efficiency tips:

  • Alt: Silicon High-Speed Connectors and Alt: Caterium Circuit Boards drastically reduce oil dependency for late-game electronics.
  • Use Blueprints (unlocked in the Awesome Shop) to stamp out modular factory sections — a 4x4 blueprint of smelters, a 2x2 blueprint of refineries, etc.
  • Build a dedicated power plant just for your Particle Accelerators — a separate grid with its own Power Storage prevents brownouts from cascading through your main factory.
  • The Awesome Sink is not optional at this stage — sink all overflow to earn tickets for the following game-changing purchases: Mk.3 Miner, Double-Ramp Wall, Conveyor Wall Hole, and Ladder.

Final Tier Progression Quick-Reference

Tier Key Milestones Signature Parts Power Source
0 Hub Upgrades Iron Plates, Rods Biomass Burner
1-2 Logistics, Coal Power Reinforced Iron Plates, Rotors Coal Generator
3-4 Steel, Oil Processing Motors, Encased Industrial Beams, Plastic/Rubber Fuel Generator
5-6 Aluminum, Manufacturers Aluminum Ingots, Radio Control Units, Supercomputers Turbo Fuel
7-8 Nuclear, Particle Accelerators Uranium Fuel Rods, Plutonium Fuel Rods Nuclear / Turbofuel
9 Endgame Assembly Ficsonium, Assembly Director Systems, Thermal Propulsion Rockets Ficsonium / Alien Power Matrix

Golden Rules of Satisfactory Progression

  1. Automate everything. If you're hand-crafting something more than once, build a factory for it.
  2. Build on foundations from Day 1. Terrain alignment is a nightmare to fix later.
  3. Leave room to expand. Double your initial factory footprint — you'll need it.
  4. Unlock Caterium research (in the MAM) as early as Tier 2 — Quickwire makes early electronics vastly easier.
  5. Use the Awesome Sink from Tier 3 onward to earn coupons for building materials, vehicle paints, and quality-of-life unlocks.
  6. Overclock miners only — machines that consume raw resources benefit most from overclocking. Production buildings are better left at 100% and simply built more of.
  7. Hard drives are the most valuable resource in the game. Explore and unlock alternate recipes relentlessly.

Ready to start automating? Pick up Satisfactory on Steam: Satisfactory on Steam

Happy building, FICSIT pioneer!