You officially unlock sulfur at Tier 7, but you can track it down and mine it earlier. And it’s worth doing, because this research line is the longest tree in the entire game, so you should start early to get the best unlocks. You’ll find not just new ammo, weapons, and fuel, but also more space for your inventory. Sulfur is indispensable, and even if it becomes crucial later, you should get familiar with it early on. We’ll show you where to find sulfur quickly and which research steps pay off the most.
Find sulfur in Satisfactory: Locations, resources, and mining tips
Sulfur isn’t that easy to spot: across the map you’ll mostly find single nodes, and pure nodes are rare. That makes efficient mining a challenge. Your two best options for reliable sulfur are the northern edge of the Spire Desert and the area west of Blue Crater. The latter is the better pick, since you have an impure, a normal, and a pure node clustered together.
It’s also worth building a factory at this crater, because lots of other valuable resources are nearby. That matters for sulfur research in particular. After Caterium research, you can generate power from a geothermal vent (Satisfactory Caterium Research: Zipline, Power Grid, Geothermal) , and you can also extract nitrogen, letting you produce several fuels right on site.
Satisfactory sulfur research in the MAM: Recipes, fuels, and weapons
We recommend working on sulfur before Tier 7, because this MAM tree offers many powerful unlocks that become extremely important later. That includes all kinds of explosive items as well as multiple alternative, much better fuel variants. Tier 7 focuses more on producing Batteries and Sulfuric Acid, which isn’t the focus here (Satisfactory Tier 7 Guide: Aluminum, Hover Pack, Sulfur) . You’ll also want to have a few Hard Drives on hand for the research.
Fuels in Satisfactory: Compacted Coal, Turbo- and Rocket Fuel
Let’s start with the right side of the research branch, which is all about the different fuels you can unlock thanks to sulfur. We already have a complete guide on this topic if you want to know which one is best (Satisfactory Fuel Guide: Biomass, Coal, Oil, and Nuclear Power) .
You’ll first unlock this branch with 10x Sulfur, then again with 25x Sulfur, 50x Modular Frames, and 100x Rotors. After that you’ll have access to the following recipes, which you can realistically reach by Tier 2.
- Compacted Coal: Use a Hard Drive along with Sulfur and Coal to unlock this improved coal. It’s great for alternate recipes and less for direct burning.
- Turbofuel: Next comes Turbofuel, worth 2000 MJ. You’ll need to wait until Tier 5 and Oil to pursue this branch. Its production relies entirely on alternate recipes you discover with Hard Drives.
- Rocket Fuel: At 3600 MJ, Rocket Fuel is a step up but harder to unlock. Considering time investment, it’s arguably the best fuel you can get.
- Ionized Fuel: Ionized Fuel provides 5000 MJ, but it’s much more complex to produce. You’ll also need Power Shards for this branch, so you must invest in researching Power Slugs.
Black Powder in Satisfactory: Nobelisk and an extra hand slot
Fuel is important, but it’ll take time to fully unlock it all. In the meantime, focus on the left branch that leads to explosive items. The foundation for everything here is Black Powder, crafted from Coal and Sulfur. That opens up all kinds of useful options. The three follow-up unlocks can be researched in any order; they don’t depend on each other.
- Black Powder: The basis for later grenades and the stepping stone to Smokeless Powder when combined with Heavy Oil Residue.
- Smokeless Powder: An improved variant of Black Powder with greater explosive power, crucial for section 3.
- Nobelisk: With Black Powder, Steel Pipes, and Cable you can unlock Nobelisks—think of them as remotely detonated grenades. Available from Tier 3, which we recommend doing early. Nobelisks are part of your core exploration arsenal.
- Hand Slot: More room in your hands is always welcome. Use Black Powder and Encased Industrial Beams for this research.
Explosive weapons in Satisfactory: Rifle, ammo, and Nobelisk
Once you’ve unlocked Smokeless Powder, the last major part of the sulfur research in the MAM becomes available. This section is all about explosive weapons, which are absolutely worth it sooner or later. If you want to defend yourself against creatures, put sulfur to work.
- Cluster Nobelisk: A cluster-style charge that explodes in the center, then triggers five smaller blasts.
- Nuke Nobelisk: Another Nobelisk type, unlocked only with Tier 8 and nuclear material. It has the highest damage output in the game.
- Explosive Rebar: Explosive ammo for your Rebar Gun—definitely worth it. It deals far more damage than regular rebar.
- Rifle: Unlock this weapon with Tier 5 and Rubber production to replace your Rebar Gun. It also supports several ammo types.
- Turbo Rifle Ammo: Includes Turbo ammo, which uses the corresponding fuel from section 1. It’s the best ammo for the Rifle, but requires Tier 7 to unlock.
- Inventory slots: Also available with Tier 7 and Computers. You get 6 new slots right away—absolutely worth it.
Conclusion: Sulfur research for explosive items and efficient fuels
The sulfur research is, alongside the MAM’s Alien Technology, the largest branch you’ll explore in your playthrough. It mainly revolves around explosions, since sulfur turns nicely into Black Powder. But you’ll also find several important fuel sources here that become extremely valuable in the late game. Sulfur is therefore essential not only for combat, but also for advanced factories.
Play together with your friends on one of our Satisfactory servers and explore the sulfur research in the MAM as a team. That lets you get started as early as Tier 2 and progress step by step until you eventually unlock even nuclear bombs.
