The Best Starting Locations for Satisfactory 1.0!

[@spectrumdad_]

Hope you enjoy the launch! Will you be restarting or continuing your play-through? Cheers

[@grimwart]

Restarting after 2000 hours. I'll be running to Blue Crater as it's the only area I haven't really built in before 😊

[@Warp9pnt9]

Yes. Restart AND then attempt to continue old saves.

[@Yorkville396]

I 0:12 0:13

[@Quackz86]

Northern Forest w/ its 6 Iron 1 Copper and 5 Limestone.. Morning fog is absolutely breathtaking. Custom Looking Factories options galore bc of Landscapes. Smooth Transitions throughout the playthrough. Just infrastructure is a pain which i don't mind.

[@Nodnarb518]

Will be playing for the first time ever lol

[@AugmentedGravity]

My heart has always been in the Grassy Fields ever since 2019

[@Nocturnal2010]

The Grassfields are for beginners that need to learn how to kill the different enemies and navigate the terrain. The Northern Forest has been my go-to ever since I learned how to play the game and it's still a centralized area where u have access to everything in the game within a reasonable distance.

[@blast.507]

Near the Northern Forest cliff (near the Oil Islands), there is a drop site with ~50 Reinforced Iron Plates and a SUPERCOMPUTER for 21 free tickets!

[@Shadowlief]

I'll never do grassy fields again. There are too many bad memories of when i needed to get coal abd having to run around for an hour to get to coal. I'm definitely starting at Rocky Desert as I've accidentally wound up there twice while searching for coal, and my progress sped up dramatically after getting there.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

Not sure why you had to run around for an hour to get coal. Coal is just a short distance to the North in the crater lake which is literally < 5 minutes away.

[@iicircuit9270]

@@MichaelPohoreski exaggeration..

[@MichaelPohoreski]

@@iicircuit9270 *Skill issue.* Just started a new game in _Grass Fields._ Ran North to the crater, jumped of the cliff into the water, crawled out of the beach, placed a HUB, and tagged coal in less then 3:30. *Map knowledge* is essential if you don't want to waste hours exploring.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

@@iicircuit9270 Just did another speedrun starting from Grass Fields, skip onboarding: *2min, 11 seconds* to tag the Coal at -987, 1381. 5 mins is easily doable.

[@ElewIV]

100% agree with you. Northern Forest is still by far the best. My only advice that is different is that instead of just starting where they drop you, run over to the cliff with the 4 pure iron and 2 pure copper and start your first factory there. You can literally just build a platform off the cliff to the west and build your coal powerplant below it and your steel using the coal and iron on the far shore of that lake.

[@daswort2]

This one is key! The 4 pure Iron nodes and the addition with Copper makes it a great starting point for a bigger base that can be expanded in literally any direction. Since you are on a big plateau you can easily build vertically up and down and you have nearly unlimited space. For my new world in the 1.0 release I am planning on building a mega Factory tower right there which can scale up and down. Depending on how fast you progress through the game you can add floors on top or below and since you a quite central its also a good spot for a logistics main hub.

[@daswort2]

In addition to that I like to mention that I am not trying to min max here but I am trying to think of a theme I want my world to follow. It might not be great for the later tiers but from early to late mid game its absolutely GOATED. Super easy access to oil and water as well and the canyon offers a beautiful natural railway path to the far east and western parts as well.

[@BrainGrey]

This is exactly what I was thinking, that is what I have been doing for years now and it has never failed me. Sad to see our Quartz has moved away but its not that much of a trip to the new location

[@Quackz86]

@@daswort2 personally i never go there except for the Mercer w/ 3 spider cave by the Copper Vein(upper) and the 2 hard drives. If you clear out the Foliage the buildable area is Massive in the Default Location. Morning Fog on your Factory is breathtaking. ---- in times past people have not like that area bc 1 'natural roads and the terrain (after doing some Research on the 'Terrain there are actually 4 natural roads from the Default location. North to Quarts, NW to Caterium/ alt starting location. (SE to Coal) S to Sulfur... Just embrace the madness of the Terrain.

[@CsubAzUrmedve]

My favorite spot used to be at coordinates -40,091 / -137,307. The Northern Forest cliff with a bunch of pure iron nodes, copper nodes and limestone nodes. There was a coal node close by if I recall correctly. I think so, because I was looking for it yesterday, and there was nothing. I think they removed it, unless my memory is faulty. Still, it's a great spot, if you don't mind a bit of walking and fighting a bunch of hogs.

[@KVPMD]

It was the best spot by far but coal and quartz were removed to 1.0 It's still good but no longer outstanding.

[@CarbonKnight9]

They added 2 more pure quartz nodes (at least, I think the are new) to a cave in the rocky desert accessible from the eastern shore which is right next to that spot, so while it's a bit harder you can still get the 2 pure quartz nodes close by that location. There's even 1 normal SAM node and 1 normal quartz node deeper in that you can use Edit: he talks about it later in the video, but the entrance is actually a bit further down than he thought, it's actually right next to all the normal coal nodes on the east coast of the rocky desert, and there's about 3 or 4 baby spiders between that entrance and the 2 pure quartz, and only 1 or 2 more if you want the SAM or normal quartz. The baby spiders are a joke with the basher, and as far as I can tell there aren't any big spiders in there but maybe i just got lucky, so it ain't bad. There's a lot of mycelium in there too, you might need a chainsaw to get all of it though, and you don't even need explosives to use the entrance by the coal nodes.

[@blast.507]

One thing I love about the Northern Forest cliff is the free supercomputer in a drop pod nearby, allowing for 21 FREE tickets!

[@KVPMD]

@@blast.507 That's an interesting point for sure. Generally, now that I searched for some discs, I feel like the northern forest makes them the easiest. There are multiple not so hard ones directly there or in the surrounding area like dune desert, rocky desert and crater lakes. Over all it felt a lot easier than in the grass lands. Just the foliage making fights harder sometimes. But overall: If you don't care about looks it's still maybe the best start.

[@Conta_Minated]

Can confirm that thing about biomass burners. Even before 1.0 released, I tried some mods and one of them came with better biomass burners. I started a new game in the northern forest, and it was great. Every time I needed to make some space for my ever expanding factory, I also ended up with a bunch of wood and leavers. That kept my factory running smoothly, and there was no power anxiety or urgency to get to coal power as there used to be.

[@subzer0nl939]

I've decided on the Grassy Fields. I only had my very first savegame there and with the addition of quartz closeby and the changes to Blue Crater Lake I think this is a great starter location, with easy way to expand outwards. My plan is to set up shop at the 'default' starter area, with the three normal iron nodes. The first concrete will be made from the pure limestone node slightly to the northwest of this area. This area has a TON of foolage, so one trip with a chainsaw will supply all the biomass I need. The first coal setup will be at Snaketree Forest, the lake north of the pure limestone. A little later on I will expand east towards the three (new) quartz nodes as well as Blue Crater Lake. At the lake I will make a new/secondary coal power plant running on compacted coal. This compacted coal can later be used in turbofuel

[@danem.9402]

this sounds like a great plan and I may just follow it aswell

[@Bogie-AGB]

Titan Forest via Northern Forest. Such a challenge, but worth it to have a base more centralized on the map.

[@xanthus8699]

For me that is really a B site. The nodes are amazing, but it takes a while to get all the unlocks that really take advantage of them. Also until you get your rhythm, building within the constraints can cost you time.

[@nostrum6410]

titan forest overlooking the swamp, close to every resource in the game

[@sandreid87]

Fun fact: Despite most nodes being impure, Grassy Fields is still the 2nd best starting location, in terms of resources / hour. It is in fact the best one when you also take the size of the starting locations into consideration, even beating out the Dune Desert! It's also super flat, has LOTS of foliage, and it will be my starting location. The only real downside to it, is the lack of nearby oil, raw quartz, and bauxite. But then again, you could argue those are more early mid-game resources anyways. If you ask me, the best starting locations in descending order would be (the same as it is in-game, coincidentally): Grassy Fields (1) > Rocky Desert (2) > Northern Forest (3) > Dune Desert (4).

[@KVPMD]

Bad access to coal and a lot of extra work due to the low purity of nodes still is an issue. But grassy fields is still quite good if you know what to do (for example settle with the 3 normal iron mines instead like I did with the 4+2 impure. They have the same ressources but use twice the materials and energy consumption. But when you get to complete Tier 4 (which isn't too long) it starts to even out. Still I miss sulfur in the region for my explosives. It's far away in the south east and I have already Tier4 done but still can't make explosives

[@samueltrujillo2841]

Grassfields for nostalgia, I'm still learning so I want a fresh start on 1.0. Hope you stream or make more videos because they are really helpful!.

[@SystemOfFantasy]

On the cliff between forest and rocky desert always was the best start point, just start at forest then walk a while until you see the desert, its between 4 biomes and has access to everything, i wonder how the changes impact this spot

[@aljonmiel1039]

They messed with my spot ;-; Used to base northwest of northern forest where there is all that juicy pure iron copper and decent coal. they moved the quarts further which is fair bc it was an op spot imo. About to play rn, thanks for the updated map and vid

[@NormalNonsense]

The addition of the 4 coal in Rocky Desert has changed everything, and it's not very far south to get to all the oil you could want for power and plastic/rubber.

[@nostrum6410]

too little coal to be a game changer

[@johnwilshireheehaw]

@@nostrum6410 It's enough coal to last most the game. You don't need much for power and the rest can be used for steel. So yeah, its really good now. Probably best starting location now.

[@nictendonice2988]

I‘ll for sure start above the cliff in the northern forest. Even after the removal of the quarz it is still so central with a lot of resources nearby which makes progressing relatively easy

[@ElewIV]

100%. The only problem now is the pure coal node they removed south of that location. You have to use the ones across the lake instead (which I normally save for steel).

[@nostrum6410]

still one of the best spots in the game

[@noreluss]

I’m going to the northern forest at release because I love the look of it. Also because it has a central position. I was initially playing on the grass field and I felt that I was very far from everything.

[@Quackz86]

Very good start the Initial area is huge after getting rid of all the Foliage Think 100 by 300 meters.

[@NicholasClooneyTheCurator]

Great guide! Thank you very much! Very insightful on some resources near Rocky Deserts being underground. As a beginner looking into maps, that info wasn't obvious to me.

[@h3m1v33]

i like the dune desert the most. the oasis has insane amounts of biomass, especially wood from roots. its like focusing all the biomass from grasslands into one spot and freeing everything else up for a ton of buildspace. oasis gives you tons of water for coal power plants and you got coal, iron, copper and limestone for days for your entire early game. when you expand you just go west and you hit all the other stuff you need especially the oil at the northern coast.

[@SkaiaMechanic]

I'll probably be doing the Rocky Desert. It's the only one I haven't done (minus a brief stint in Satisfactory Plus by the waterfalls). I was planning on using the new coal nodes for a power plant with the access to water, but with how close iron nodes are I'll probably use them for steel and build up to the Crater Lakes for the coal power. With the new sulfur node we can enter the mines to the west allowing ((easier)) access to the quartz nodes and SAM. You can even scale into mid to late game with the oil down south, bauxite up on the cliff, nitrogen gas up north, and even an impure uranium.

[@spectrumdad_]

@@SkaiaMechanic my plan exactly 👍

[@JourneyofOne971]

id add that unlocking some of the early alt recipes (cast screws) really, really helps if your pool for them is small.

[@simonpugh3731]

Usually I like the dune desert but I actually thing the grassy fields is best so that when you eventually move into the later game you have all your production on the low purity nodes in the bottom of the map, and with the dimensional depot you dont need to make storage trips all the time and later on in the game you have all the pure nodes in the dune desert left to be used and the rocky desert left to be turned into what I am planning as a massive nuclear plant.

[@ICE-nr1ti]

My first factory ever was in the blue crater, that was a fun place to work with.

[@AndrewKeifer]

I'll be building off of the north coast of the rocky desert in the giant open space over the water. I'll be utilizing the oil nodes to the north of the northern forest, the new set of coal nodes, plus the original set of coal nodes between the rocky desert and the northern forest. There's a new quartz node, sulfur node, and caterium node nearby as well as nitrogen and even uranium. By all accounts, this seems like the one place that has quick access to everything.

[@JourneyofOne971]

building over a water "basement" is super smart! there are enough systems that need it to make its availability really key. especially after you get explosives, then that area could be amazing.

[@jeromy5694]

Northern Forrest has 7 Geysers for early extra power since they are making it easier to get Geyser power plants now that they took away super computers required to make them.

[@grunzythepotato]

I started my U8 save in northern forest and it’s been my absolute favorite by FAR

[@adrianwilliams6577]

After 800 hours the grass fields is awesome, I've done lots of travelling to direct resources to the grass fields and my factory is huge (messy and functional). The majority of the pesky grass fields creatures are slaughtered so it's mostly peaceful, the expansive area gives a newbie a huge amount of space to think, learn and build. Don't be mislead though, I've been playing Satisfactory since the beginning of early access, I'm on tier 8, I recently unlocked an achievement for building 5 kilometres of conveyer belts.

[@Riftrender]

Grasslands for nostalgia

[@Zephyr99880]

hoping you continute the UBG, love that series and its helping me to better understand how to play the game, keep up the good work

[@jordank1813]

Ive started in the grassy feild a few times and the forest once. I think in honor of 1.0 I'll be attempting to start in the sand dunes

[@rav2561]

Hello, i have seen a lot of videos about starter base location but i have never seen anyone mention which area is better to transition better into the mid and late game. I had a person tell me that rocky desert for example is not that great because its a bit difficult to set up a good logistics network whereas grassy fields has a lot easier time with that. I wanted to know your opinion and what area do you think is better between those 2 for going into the mid to late game (oil and onwards)

[@vanadyan1674]

Does this map have the nodes updated for what they are going to be in 1.0? I think the node changes are going to be very meaningful.

[@Synthwave_Ash]

Rocky Desert was my favorite start out of all my update 8 saves! I am probably going to go Grass Hills as 1) the only start I haven't done. and 2) redoing entire factories for the pure node I started with Mk. 1 miners is not something I like. For context, my Rocky Desert start was me starting up north to all the pure nodes west of the coal. Also hoping the earlier access to trains lessens the pain points from having to travel a bit, or a lot, for some resources.

[@spectrumdad_]

@@Synthwave_Ash ah yes, that rocky desert spot is good. I’m shocked you haven’t done that starter location yet, enjoy 😊

[@Synthwave_Ash]

Future me here. I tried Grasslands for all of 5 minutes, then I went back to the Northern section of the Dune Desert. Them pure nodes are hard to quit lol. Though after I get my copper annex set up, I am going to go on a collectibles run in the Grasslands and just enjoy the scenery

[@Ulysses37]

Fantastic info. Cheers

[@Sotyka94]

You can move wherever you want to, right? You don't have to settle at the point where the game put you. With this in mind, what are the best spot(s) to build a base?

[@spectrumdad_]

Depends on what you are building at the time. If we are talking about starter bases, then an open area near where you land is perfectly fine for it. If you are talking about a mega factory, most probably the Dune Desert because of the size.

[@samedcibi3390]

For starting out grass fields is the best location, not for factory but for the start.

[@grasshopper9235]

That's northern forest spot is OP . That's where I usually set up

[@TriuraniumOctoxide]

Daam - All the info we need and I still can't decide, lol.

[@merc7105]

Looking forward to the play through

[@samuraidriver4x4]

Grassfields is going to be my starting area. The reason? Nostalgia

[@elijahmceachin2820]

I purely pick grassy hills because it looks the best imo. but maybe i should try somewhere else.

[@PowerHausMusic]

I actually think the northern forest is even more beautiful!

[@_macrophage]

Where can I get this map, this is great stuff

[@SubaruAlba]

Wait do i get that right? ... No matter what i choose at the start, i always get the same Map and just choose the point where to get dropped off? ... i always thought, i choose between completely different maps

[@Xolition]

Hahahaha. Same map.

[@spectrumdad_]

@@SubaruAlba yep the same map, just different locations.

[@SubaruAlba]

​@@spectrumdad_ Well Thanks for that piece of Information ... gonna make my decision tomorrow WAAAAYYYY less of a struggle. I played back then on Update 3 and suddently got the urge to play again. Since 1.0 is near, i decided to wait those few days. Tomorrow its time for sleepless nights again, finally!

[@aneonfoxtribute]

I thought the same thing too. I was slightly disappointed when I learned that, but it's fine

[@Warp9pnt9]

One world. Starting points don't matter much. You can land in Rocky Desert, run over to Swamp, and start there.

[@ProtectingTheTimmys]

Do we gotta start over or old saves be alright?

[@nostrum6410]

you get much more wood in the dune desert, making fuel actually easer to get there

[@Ambient5oul]

Rocky Desert for the win!

[@Nodnarb518]

Is this always The same map layout or is there procedural generation?

[@SpectrumWolf-hd7kf]

Do i have to start over or can i continue my current save that just unlocked Aluminum refinement?

[@Warp9pnt9]

I forget, but some nodes changed, miners might break, or some ground may have been raised making old buildings inside rock, etc.

[@SpectrumWolf-hd7kf]

@@Warp9pnt9 should be fine then.

[@aluuminite]

Please make a computer factory 🙏👍

[@NuancedSkeptic]

Is this map updated for 1.0?

[@Risu1177]

Rocky desert was one of my favorite starts and I also think it will be the best with changes they have said to nodes and locations.

[@spectrumdad_]

@@Risu1177 it’s a really strong starter most definitely.

[@Lyzerglick]

What website are you using to load the map with new resource nodes and starting area circles?

[@spectrumdad_]

That was Satisfactory Calculator

[@Warp9pnt9]

AKA SCIM

[@adrianfritz8166]

@@spectrumdad_ That's what I thought, but when i checked it doesn't have some of the nodes seen in this video, even if i select "Stable (not yet released)" - why is that?

[@spectrumdad_]

@@adrianfritz8166 there are filters you have to set for the different node types.

[@jamescmathis]

@@adrianfritz8166 up in the corner you have to select the stable branch. The default says early access.

[@adrianfritz8166]

What's the map used here?

[@danielskrivan6921]

0:30 The distribution probably has more to do with the recommendations for new players than your guide.

[@CherylBaiady]

I'm planning on Rocky Desert, I learned to play there with your ultimate guide. I'm intrigued now with Northern Forest,so will try a save there at some point.

[@bentleymahakij1]

I still think Dune Desert is the best, especially since we're going to be playing on a multiplayer server

[@spectrumdad_]

@@bentleymahakij1 yea the extra space will work good on multiplayer

[@Wellllllllalalala]

Don't worry Dunes, I'll still choose you

[@dawbra]

Grass field is annoying if comes about water for coal plants and stuff.. that ponds can be to small..

[@Velanteg]

Dune desert is best. Resources is what most important and lot of pure nodes here. Space is second what most important and forest have too little space for building.

[@rbruch98]

spectrumdad_ "Stick around 'till the end when I tell you what my start location will be!" spectrumdad_ *Doesn't*

[@PappyPappy-jz8he]

ty for the tips

[@brucee6524]

Did you forget the 2 new caterium nodes in western side of grassy fields?

[@Mono-dj4lo]

What interactive map are you using?

[@thugdragonz]

LoL the map you are showing is it even right? Didn't think a update one was out.

[@spectrumdad_]

The creator of that map updated the nodes to reflect the info we had at the time, which for the most part was accurate.

[@Warp9pnt9]

I strongly dislike Rocky Desert now, because of Quartz and spiders and long cave trek. Rocky used to be my 2nd favorite, now 3rd. Dune Desert all day long, still my favorite. Blue Crater though not a drop-pod location, still my 2nd favorite. Swamp my 3rd favorite. Yes, spiders, BUT, once you make foundation paths and put extractors on nodes with power, spiders don't respawn much. Yes, swamp before rocky desert. But of the options, 1) Dune Desert, 2) Nothern Forest 3) Grassy Fields 4) Rocky Desert. That is for ease of use as well as access to materials and power.

[@johnwilshireheehaw]

Rocky Desert is the 1st or 2nd best spot in the game with the 1.0 update. It has everything. Quartz and spiders? Long cave? That's nothing.

[@nostrum6410]

swamp or blue crater are better starting locations

[@tristanridley1601]

Here just to see if you correctly identify my choice as the best starting location.

[@tristanridley1601]

Glad you got it right. ;)

[@spectrumdad_]

:)

[@tenhouradaygamer1009]

I'm always Northern Forest!