Across all milestones you’ll keep unlocking new ways to turn existing materials into different items. Automatic machines, which you unlock as you progress, do most of the heavy lifting. While they start out straightforward, later production lines become highly complex and consist of many moving parts. To help you stay on top of things and always know what each machine is for, we’ve put together a clear, general overview!
Satisfactory Smelter: Smelt ores and craft ingots
Freischalten: Tier 0 - HUB Upgrade 2
Herstellung: 5x Iron Rod, 8x Wire
Ores are among your most important production resources and are available from the very start. The Smelter turns mined deposits into usable materials with ease. It is small and compact and processes iron, copper and caterium. Later on it is partially or fully replaced by the Foundry.
Key items in production:
- Iron Ingot
- Copper Ingot
- Caterium Ingot
Satisfactory Foundry: Alloys and alternative ingot recipes
Freischalten: Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Herstellung: 10x Modular Frame, 10x Rotor, 20x Concrete
In the Foundry you can produce alloys from multiple ores, unlike the Smelter. Single-ore processing is no longer possible here, though later you’ll unlock alternative recipes for basic ingots. In fact, most Foundry recipes are alt recipes. Like the Smelter, the Foundry underpins many mid- and late‑game production chains.
Key items in production:
- Steel Ingot
- Aluminium Ingot
- other ingots (alternative recipes)
Satisfactory Constructor: Produce fundamental items
Freischalten: Tier 0 - HUB Upgrade 3
Herstellung: 2x Reinforced Iron Plate, 8x Cable
The Constructor is one of your most important machines because it converts one item into another. It is used in an enormous number of recipes and remains relevant right through to the end of the game. All basic items in Satisfactory are produced here.
Key items in production:
- Cable
- Wire
- Screws
- Biomass
- Iron Rods
- Concrete
- Iron Plates
Satisfactory Assembler: Two resources into components
Freischalten: Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Herstellung: 8x Reinforced Iron Plate, 4x Rotor, 10x Cable
From Tier 2 the Assembler lets you combine two items into a new one. This becomes increasingly important as you progress. It can’t make alloys, but it can handle almost all other fabrications. With over 60 recipes, it produces a wide variety of items, many of which are alternative recipes.
Key items in production:
- Nobelisk
- Modular Frames
- Reinforced Iron Plates
- Rotors, Motors, Stators
- Encased Industrial Beams
- AI Limiter
- Smart Plating
Satisfactory Manufacturer: Assemble 3 to 4 components
Freischalten: Tier 6 - Industrial Manufacturing
Herstellung: 10x Motor, 20x Modular Frame, 50x Plastic, 50x Cable
Around the mid‑game you unlock the Manufacturer, enabling you to assemble three or four previously produced items. This makes your setup more complex, but from Tier 6 onwards it’s standard. It becomes the focus of your late‑game work in Satisfactory, so take time to explore its alternative recipes as well.
Key items in production:
- Computer
- Supercomputer
- Crystal Oscillator
- Heavy Modular Frame
- Adaptive Control Unit
- Nuclear Fuel Rods
- Turbo Motor
- Radio Control Unit
Satisfactory Refinery: Oil, fuel and by-products
Freischalten: Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Herstellung: 10x Motor, 10x Encased Industrial Beam, 30x Steel Pipe, 20x Copper Sheet
Oil is a key resource you can extract from Tier 5. You’ll then process it in the Refinery. Many recipes generate Heavy Oil Residue and Polymer Resin as by‑products. The Refinery is also crucial for making Fuel and aluminium parts.
Key items in production:
- Plastic
- Rubber
- Fuel
- Sulfuric Acid
Satisfactory Packager: Package liquids and gases
Freischalten: Tier 5 - Fluid Packaging
Herstellung: 20x Steel Beam, 10x Rubber, 10x Plastic
Satisfactory involves fluids, but they’re not always easy to transport (Satisfactory: Transport liquids and gases efficiently) . The Packager lets you package them into Canisters or Tanks and then move them via conveyor belts. You can unpackage them again where you need to work with liquids.
Key items in production:
- Packaged Fuel
- Bottled gases
- Packaged Water
Satisfactory Blender: Mix solids, liquids and gases
Freischalten: Tier 7 - Control System Development
Herstellung: 10x Computer, 10x Heavy Modular Frame, 20x Motor, 50x Aluminium Casing
The Blender combines different solid, gaseous and liquid items. It produces several late‑game materials you’ll need to progress. A neat detail is the colour of the fluid inside the machine, which changes depending on what you’re making.
Key items in production:
- Rocket Fuel
- Cooling System
- Nitric Acid
- Encased Uranium Cell
- Battery
Satisfactory Particle Accelerator: Nuclear power and Dark Matter
Freischalten: Tier 8 - Particle Enrichment
Herstellung: 10x Turbo Motor, 10x Supercomputer, 25x Fused Modular Frame, 50x Cooling System, 500x Turbo Wire
We now come to the final three machines, which are significantly more complex than all the others. First up is the Particle Accelerator, which not only draws varying amounts of power but also looks suitably futuristic. Many of its recipes focus on nuclear power or Dark Matter, and a large portion are alt recipes.
Key items in production:
- Dark Matter Crystal
- Diamonds
- Nuclear Pasta
- Plutonium Pellet
- Ficsonium
Satisfactory Converter: Transmute ores with Reanimated SAM
Freischalten: Tier 9 - Matter Conversion
Herstellung: 10x Fused Modular Frame, 25x Cooling System, 50x Radio Control Unit, 100x SAM Fluctuator
This is where Reanimated SAM finally comes into play. Use it to convert various ores into other variants. It’s also the only way to produce the new Ficsite Ingots. Lastly, the Converter also generates Excited Photonic Matter.
Key items in production:
- Ore conversion
- Ficsite Ingots
- Excited Photonic Matter
- Dark Matter Residue
- Time Crystals
Satisfactory Quantum Encoder: Working with Excited Photonic Matter
Freischalten: Tier 9 - Quantum Encoding
Herstellung: 20x Turbo Motor, 20x Supercomputer, 50x Cooling System, 50x Time Crystal, 100x Ficsite Trigon
Finally, there’s the Quantum Encoder, which unlocks just six recipes. You’ll need previously produced Excited Photonic Matter to run it. It leaves behind Dark Matter Residue, which you then use in the Particle Accelerator. Like the Accelerator, the Encoder also draws varying amounts of power and fluctuates even more.
Key items in production:
- Superposition Oscillator
- Neural Quantum Processor
- AI Expansion Server
- Ficsonium Fuel Rod
- Alien Power Matrix
- Energy Fragment
Conclusion: Master Satisfactory machines and production chains
From simple ore smelting to quantum physics, Satisfactory spans a huge range of machinery. What starts out easy becomes a complex web of interlinked production lines that pushes far beyond familiar physical concepts. Use the Milestones and Space Elevator phases as waypoints to keep your progress on track.
So you can unlock and experience all of these machines, rent one of our Satisfactory servers and play together with your friends. Support each other and make the planet your domain!
