You’re getting close to the end of Satisfactory’s current story, because Tier 9 completes the last milestone currently in the game (version 1.1). Here you unlock a host of useful things one more time, including improved conveyor belts, new transport options and some of the last machines you’ll need to produce late‑game items. Many sections build on each other again, so you should work through them from top to bottom. It’s certainly no easy task, but afterwards you’ll be able to build anything you want! We’ll look at how to finish Tier 9 and which practical items you unlock along the way.
Matter conversion in Satisfactory: unlock the Converter and use SAM efficiently
The materials for this first step are easy to obtain, as you already produce them for the Space Elevator. And the Converter you get in return is a genuinely brilliant machine for the game!
Complete with:
- 100x Fused Modular Frame
- 250x Radio Control Unit
- 500x Cooling System
The Converter is a very handy little machine you now get in Tier 9. With it you can convert any ore into another ore by adding Reanimated SAM. You may already know this from the M.A.M. research (Satisfactory Alien Tech: SAM, Somersloop, Mercer Sphere & Depot) and here it finally finds its real use. Two new metals are added as well: Ficsite Ingots and Ficsite Trigons. You’ll need these for the Biochemical Modeller, a component for Phase 5 of the Space Elevator.
On top of that, you now unlock the production of Diamonds. Normally you compress these from Coal in the Particle Accelerator, but there are many alternate recipes too. Diamonds are essential for Time Crystals and Dark Matter Crystals.
Quantum Encoder in Satisfactory: dark matter and new high‑end items
Unlock the matter conversion section first, as you’ll need some of those components for what follows. Now you’ll deal with quantum encoding and dark matter.
Complete with:
- 50x Time Crystal
- 100x Ficsite Trigon
- 200x Turbo Motor
- 400x Supercomputer
Satisfactory now dives into highly complex, physics‑heavy processes. In the Quantum Encoder you can craft many top‑tier items, but you’ll need Excited Photonic Matter to do so. You can produce this in the Converter without any input material. Processing then yields Dark Matter Residue.
This new machine brings four new items into the game: Dark Matter Crystal, Superposition Oscillator, Neural Quantum Processor and AI Expansion Server. The names alone are quite something, and many of these parts are required for the next sections and for Phase 5 of the Space Elevator. Most are processed in the Quantum Encoder, so dark matter residue is always produced as a by‑product. You’ll in turn need that for the crystals. The AI Expansion Server is probably the most complex item, as it depends on several of the others.
FICSIT Blueprints Mk. 3: bigger blueprint areas for efficient factory building
To make your life easier, you should unlock this as well. Blueprints let you build factories modularly, and you now unlock the largest template.
Complete with:
- 100x Neural Quantum Processor
- 250x Time Crystal
- 500x Ficsite Trigon
- 500x Fused Modular Frame
This Mk. 3 blueprint now allows dimensions of 48 metres in every direction. That lets you plan a lot and save important build templates to reuse again and again. You can of course use them in your single‑player world, but also share them online with others. There are plenty of places on the web where you can download and use blueprints.
Portals and spatial energy regulation: Singularity Cell and Warp Drive
Transport routes become ever more important, and you won’t want to run across the whole map all the time. Thanks to quantum mechanics you can now simply teleport via Portals.
Complete with:
- 100x Superposition Oscillator
- 250x Turbo Motor
- 500x Radio Control Unit
- 1,000x SAM Fluctuator
First you unlock the recipes for a Singularity Cell and a Ballistic Warp Drive, two of the toughest components in the entire game. You’ll use the Warp Drive for Phase 5 of the Space Elevator, and it currently has the longest production chain in Satisfactory.
You’ll also unlock Portals, which require the Singularity Cell. There’s an Entrance Portal and an Exit Portal, letting you teleport across the map. To maintain a persistent link you must feed in cells. One cell lasts only 30 seconds. At the same time it consumes a lot of power. With this you can connect far‑flung factories and move around the world much faster.
Mk. 6 conveyor belts and Ficsonium: peak efficiency in Satisfactory
Finally, as is tradition in Satisfactory, you can push efficiency further and round off your milestone journey with new conveyor belts and a new form of nuclear power. The requirements aren’t quite as high, but you’ll need to produce a lot of aluminium sheets and iron plates.
Complete with:
- 250x Time Crystal
- 250x Ficsite Trigon
- 5,000x Alclad Aluminium Sheet
- 10,000x Iron Plate
First you unlock the Mk. 6 variant of the conveyor belts. These glow, making them much more visible than the previous versions. Each belt requires a Ficsite Trigon and a Time Crystal to craft. They are 20x as effective as Mk. 1 belts and can transport up to 1,200 items/minute. You can run at 84 km/h standing and up to 135 km/h with Blade Runners on them. Their white glow can be recoloured, which makes for a nice contrast.
Lastly, you also unlock Ficsonium, a third form of nuclear power and a way to process all your nuclear waste. We already have a detailed guide on how to use nuclear power effectively (Satisfactory Nuclear Power Guide: Reactors, Fuel Rods & 0% Waste) .
Conclusion: finish Tier 9 in Satisfactory successfully
With Tier 9 you’ve now reached all milestones and obtained just about all the important machines, recipes and items. For some, that means the game is “finished”; for others, the real fun starts now as you expand your own factory empire. Either way, Tier 9 brings a host of complex innovations, from processing dark matter to quantum physics. But your work is also made easier, for example with Portals, Blueprints and Mk. 6 conveyor belts.
If you want to play Satisfactory from start to finish and reach Tier 9, why not rent your own Satisfactory server from us and set off on your adventure. There’s a lot to experience along the way, and you can be proud of yourself for completing every milestone. But one major challenge still awaits you: Phase 5 of the Space Elevator.
