Satisfactory has already thrown some hefty challenges your way, but Tier 8 steps things up yet again! You’ll need to combine everything you’ve learned from earlier milestones and ideally have several key factories and production lines running to make life easier. Take it slow and don’t rush anything. Check the MAM for alternate recipes or research paths that can simplify certain aspects. From now on, things come thick and fast, with big goals and even bigger systems to unlock. From nuclear power to the Particle Accelerator, this is where Satisfactory really turns up the heat!
Satisfactory drone transport: moving goods by air with drone ports
The Tier 8 milestone starts out comparatively gently, as you’ll likely already be producing many of the required items. This is where the last section of Tier 7 comes in, to produce components like the Radio Control Unit.
Complete with:
- 50x Radio Control Unit
- 100x Alclad Aluminium Sheet
- 200x Aluminium Casing
- 300x Motor
This unlocks drones, another way in Satisfactory to transport your goods. They work similarly to the Truck or Tractor, only in the air. Assign them to different Drone Ports so they can fly from A to B. They run on Fuel, can reach up to 252 km/h, and are the fastest logistics method in the game. They’re a great alternative to trains or conveyor belts.
Satisfactory nuclear power guide: Nuclear Power Plant, fuel rods and waste
Let’s move from the easiest to the hardest part of Tier 8. With this you can finally step into the nuclear age — at a steep price!
Complete with:
- 50x Supercomputer
- 200x Heavy Modular Frame
- 1,000x Cable
- 2,000x Concrete
In Tier 7 you unlocked your hazmat suit, and now it’s time to use it. You can start prospecting for Uranium and kick off power generation with nuclear energy. But it’s not straightforward — the entire process is extremely complex and requires a lot of forethought.
The foundation is the Nuclear Power Plant, a new machine in your arsenal. As in real life, you must cool fuel rods with water and deal with waste products that remain radioactive. We’ll cover nuclear power separately to explain it in detail. It’s arguably the best power source in the game, but it carries major risks. We recommend you continue relying on Turbofuel or Rocket Fuel for now — more on that in another article (Satisfactory Sulfur research: locations, Nobelisks, fuel and weapons) .
At the same time, you also unlock a new part for the upcoming Space Elevator delivery. You’ll need 200x Magnetic Field Generators, so start producing them now.
Satisfactory aluminium guide: Resource Well Pressurizer, nitrogen gas and fluid logistics
Further aluminium recipes are now unlocked and are essential to enable some of the later recipes. You’ll also gain access to other resources that may look familiar.
Complete with:
- 50x Radio Control Unit
- 200x Aluminium Casing
- 400x Alclad Aluminium Sheet
- 3,000x Wire
This section touches several production lines. For example, you unlock tanks for gases if you haven’t already done so in Sulphur research. You’ll also get components for the nuclear chain, including the Cooling System and Fused Modular Frames for some upcoming recipes.
Another key point is that you can now scan for Water, Crude Oil and Nitrogen Gas. Yes, you already know these resources, but with the Resource Well Pressurizer you can extract them more efficiently and tap resource wells (geysers), which should boost your throughput. Nitrogen Gas is particularly important here to craft several other components. We recommend setting up a dedicated factory at Blue Crater, as you’ll find nitrogen and many other key resources there.
Satisfactory Miner Mk.3: maximum ore extraction and Turbo Motors
Another focus is expanding your ore extraction even further to squeeze the maximum out of your production lines.
Complete with:
- 50x Fused Modular Frame
- 100x Supercomputer
- 1,000x Steel Pipe
The new Miner Mk.3 can extract up to 480 items per minute on a pure node. Use that to upgrade iron, coal or copper outposts to increase throughput. Miner Mk.3 units are pricey, though, so place them where they matter. You’ll need not only Fused Modular Frames but also Turbo Motors, which you also unlock here.
You’ll also unlock the Thermal Propulsion Rocket, another part for the Space Elevator. You’ll need 250 of these to reach Tier 9.
Satisfactory Particle Accelerator: particle enrichment, uranium and plutonium
The final Tier 8 section is a big one: besides the Particle Accelerator, it unlocks some of the most important late-game recipes. You’ll also need everything you’ve built so far to proceed.
Complete with:
- 50x Turbo Motor
- 100x Fused Modular Frame
- 200x Cooling System
- 2,500x Turbo Wire
The Particle Accelerator is one of the coolest machines, but also tricky to manage. Its recipes draw varying amounts of power, which can be confusing at first. It’s necessary, though, if you plan to work further with nuclear power. Here you unlock many recipes for processing Uranium and Plutonium so you can make effective use of your nuclear waste. More recipes arrive in Tier 9 to close the loop.
You also unlock Nuclear Pasta here, the final Space Elevator part you’re missing. So you’ll need to get to grips with the accelerator at least in part. For this you’ll need Copper Powder and Pressure Conversion Cubes, two new recipes in this section.
Lastly, you unlock Nitric Acid production, crafted from Nitrogen Gas, Water and Iron Plates. You’ll need it for Uranium processing and Rocket Fuel as well. If you’ve already researched Sulphur, this won’t be new — but Nitric Acid is also required in many alternate recipes.
Conclusion on Satisfactory Tier 8: challenges, drones and nuclear power
Difficulty in Satisfactory ramps up significantly with Tier 8, as you’ll now be dealing with nuclear materials. While it’s the best source for power generation, it’s also hard to grasp and demands patience. Some things — like transport via drones or the Miner Mk.3 — make life a bit easier. You’ll also unlock key parts for the next Space Elevator phase so you can move on to Tier 9.
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