Satisfactory best starting location

✓ At a glance

The best starting locations in Satisfactory, especially for beginners, are:

• Grass fields
• Rocky desert
• Dune Desert
• Northern forest

While Satisfactory takes place on a single planet, there are four biomes to choose from as your starting location. Each one comes with different benefits while presenting a challenge in other areas. There is no right and wrong pick, but some of them are more beginner-friendly. Others can demand better long-term planning, leading to a rough start but better late-game. When looked at from a macro point of view, they present a clear picture on how some are better than others.

Best starting biome in Satisfactory

You can travel to any of the four biomes no matter which one you start with. However, you will want to set up your initial factory quickly to churn out resources that will fund further exploration. Thus, picking one starting location is an important choice. Here’s how we’ve ranked them:

Biome	Features
Grass fields	Good mix of early-game resources, generally open and flat, but falters in late-game.
Rocky desert	Rich with resources, mostly flat, but sparse with biofuel, hostile fauna.
Dune desert	Vast, open, and flat, but lacking in biofuel which makes the early game tough. King of late-game.
Northern forest	Lots of pure nodes, but very limited space, requiring planning and explosives.

1. Grass fields

Pros

• Beginner-friendly
• Good spread of early game resources
• Mostly flat and open

Cons

• Resources are often impure
• Falls off in late game

The grass fields are the most beginner-friendly starting location, though many veterans love it as well. That is due to the biome’s early-game accessibility, making it easy to start the initial factory. It has all the necessary resources to succeed, though later in the game other biomes prove to be more efficient. It’s easy to get good clusters of Iron, Copper, Limestone, and other initial resources. To get a good head start, grass fields are the perfect launching pad, letting you expand to other biomes later in incremental steps.

While there are some elevations in the form of outcrops and canyons, this biome is mostly flat and easy to build on. Coal will be the first hurdle, as these nodes are located further away from the central location. However, this biome is home to a big lake, which will provide all the water you need.

2. Rocky desert

Pros

• Rich in resources
• Mostly flat and open
• Good access to coal

Cons

• Sparse sources of biomass
• Plenty of hostile fauna

While not as beginner-friendly as grass fields, the rocky desert biome is another optimal choice to start with. It also features plenty of Iron, Copper, and Limestone nodes to kickstart your first factory. However, you’re going to struggle with gathering Biomass, with the location’s sparse flora presenting a challenge. A common strategy in this biome is to rush through the biomass power phase and get to Coal and eventually Oil as fast as possible. Fortunately, both can be found in the rocky desert. While not the easiest start, that makes this location the preferred location for players who know how to jump through factory tiers to achieve an optimal beginning of their run.

Look for a lake filling a crater – this will not only provide a source of water, but has plenty of coal around as well.

3. Dune desert

Pros

• Lots of pure resource nodes
• Easy access to coal and oil
• Very open and flat

Cons

• Almost no biomass
• Resources are spread apart

While dune desert is ranked as the hardest start, we would argue that it’s actually deceptively good. Like a mirage, you may be fooled by the lack of biomass in this region, but it’s entirely possible to start a factory here with patience and considerate planning. Long lauded as the best late-game region due to its high number of pure resource nodes, it is also very open and flat, making construction a breeze. There’s also plenty of Coal and Oil, so Tier skipping is recommended again to get to those power sources.

Once you’ve mastered the dune desert, you will be well-positioned to create a huge factory complex with less effort than in most other biomes. Of course, assuming you can navigate the early game to reach that point.

4. Northern forest

Pros

• Lots of pure resource nodes
• Abundance of biomass

Cons

• Very dense terrain that requires landscaping
• Hard to build organized factories

The northern forest is arguably the hardest starting biome in the game. However, it’s anything but impossible. For one, you have access to plenty of pure resource nodes, as well as a ton of Biomass, since you’re practically surrounded by it. This is offset by the terrain, which is dense with woods, rocks, and outcrops. Until you’re able to undertake vast landscaping projects, you’ll find it very difficult to build anything complex. 

At best, you’ll have your trusty chainsaw, which will help with clearing trees and gathering Biomass, but even then building is going to be a challenge. One popular route in this starting location is to use iron frames to build vertically, positioning your factory above the trees and rocks. However, bear in mind that it’s going to be costly and time-consuming.