The Satisfactory map is a diverse, varied landscape made up of many different biomes. And you won’t always find the best resources and raw materials for your factories right where you start. That’s why it’s important to explore and scout out locations better suited for producing specific items. How to move those resources over long distances is something we covered in another post (Satisfactory Transport Guide: Conveyor Belts, Vehicles, Trains, and Hypertubes) . Especially later in the game, you’ll still need to transport certain components, since not all sources are found in one place.
Satisfactory map: Best resource locations for production lines
Ore nodes are your first vital source of materials to build factories and craft your early items. Later, you’ll combine them to produce better products like steel or aluminum. So it’s key to find the best spots early and scale up production. For this list, we focus primarily on the pure ore nodes, as they offer the highest output for your production lines.
Satisfactory Northern Desert: Find iron, copper, and limestone
- Iron: Iron appears in a ring around much of the map, but the best nodes are in the north. The west side of the Northern Forest is a solid early-game spot, but an even better cluster lies southeast, near the canyons.
- Copper: Like iron, copper tends to sit toward the edges of the map. The Northern Forest and the desert are strong options again, but there are also three pure nodes in the Titan Forest. That area is quite hostile, so it’s more of a late-game choice.
- Limestone: The third early-game resource also forms a rough ring around the map. You’ll find most pure nodes in the Rocky Desert in the northwest, with more scattered along the east coast of the large desert.
Overall, we recommend moving your larger-scale production to the Northern Desert sooner or later. You’ll find most critical resources there and have plenty of space to expand. It’s also excellent for the late game, thanks to several other important materials nearby.
Titan Forest and Blue Crater: Coal, Caterium, sulfur, and nitrogen gas
- Coal: Pure coal is fairly rare. Your best bets are far north in the desert, in the canyon near the Titan Forest, or in the southern Rocky Desert near Crater Lake.
- Caterium: Caterium becomes important later and is quite scarce. A good area is the northern Titan Forest, which has two normal nodes and one pure node. Otherwise, nodes are mostly isolated.
- Sulfur: For sulfur, either make a run to the north of the desert, near the Spire Coast, or head to the stronger option: a cluster of three nodes on the edge of the Southern Forest and the Blue Crater.
- Nitrogen Gas: Nitrogen becomes key in tiers 8 and 9, especially for fuel production. Deposits are highly concentrated, and you’ll often find multiple sources together. The area around the Blue Crater has three such spots, making it great for rocket fuel.
For these resources, the desert—especially the northern edge of the map—tends to be best. You’ll find coal, Caterium, and sulfur there. The Titan Forest is a viable alternative, as is the Blue Crater, which also offers impure coal. The latter becomes particularly relevant later, since you can produce rocket fuel there.
Swamp biome: Efficiently mining bauxite, quartz, and uranium
- Bauxite: Needed for aluminum, bauxite stretches like a horizontal band across the middle of the map, making it tricky to extract and process efficiently. The west coast of the Red Jungle is a solid spot, but many players choose the Swamp in the east.
- Raw Quartz: Pure quartz nodes are also limited, but there are a few good areas. The Rocky Desert works well, though the Southern Forest—not far from the Grass Fields and the Blue Crater—may be even better. You’ll also find three nodes on the border between the Titan Forest and the Swamp.
- Uranium: Radioactive uranium is rare and dangerous. There are only five nodes total, and the best location is again the Swamp, especially the cave behind the waterfall.
For these three late-game resources, the Swamp is an excellent choice. Be careful, though: the area is filled with hostile creatures and poisonous gas. Stay alert, but otherwise the terrain is relatively flat and easy to build on.
Spire Coast: Oil production and Power Slugs
- Crude Oil: Crude oil becomes essential mid-game for many processes. You’ll need it for plastic, rubber, and especially fuel. The single best spot is the Spire Coast at the north of the map, where you’ll find not only abundant oil nodes but also more than enough water. Alternatively, the Blue Crater in the south is worth it as well, since you’ll find all remaining ingredients for rocket fuel, the best power source in the game (Satisfactory Fuel Guide: Biomass, Coal, Oil, and Nuclear Power) .
- Power Slugs: These slugs are required for various recipes, and by far the most are found along the Spire Coast. You can turn them into Power Shards. We recommend a jetpack to traverse the jagged coastline more easily.
While the Spire Coast can be trickier for massive factories, it’s the best location for oil extraction. There are plenty of impure and pure sources to tap. We suggest building your production out over the water, where you’ll have much more space than on land.
Conclusion: Best Satisfactory resource locations for your factories
The right location can make a huge difference in Satisfactory. Since resources aren’t available everywhere, you’ll need to plan strategically and pick the best area for each production chain. Thanks to several concentrated resource clusters, some regions are better than others. You’ll still need to transport materials at times, but with this guide, you can hopefully keep that to a minimum.
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