Started in the dune desert this time, and I've already built a train station in the swamp to move anything in it out! Just need to keep an Explorer close by incase I stumble into the wrong spot and have to face an army of spiders or the nuclear hogs.
Hi-jacking the top comment to post timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:50 Rocky Desert 3:04 Rocky Desert - Best Area 3:55 Grassy Fields 6:06 Grassy Fields - Best Area 6:46 Dune Desert 9:23 Dune Desert - Best Area 10:11 Northern Forest 11:20 Northern Forest - Best Area 1 11:53 Northern Forest - Best Area 2 12:12 Best Starting Area - Cointree Forest
Side note on the SAM and Quartz cave. You can go above the cave and put down a 4m foundation and it will reach through to the top of the cave below. Then put down a pass through for your belts and poof. No more need for long winding belts through the cave exit. Edit. Blueprint a foundation with as many pass throughs as you need. Then make another one at the top the same. Then link them with lifts. Then plop down the Blueprint above the cave area or climb up and plop it on the ceiling. Above the area is a mercer sphere and a bunch of those toxic things to blow up.
Just be vary of the pass throughs - they can (they dont always) bug out, and limit the capacity of the belts. I've had MK3 belts function as MK1 belts, because they went through one, for no apparent reason. Removing them and trying again, can sometimes fix this - but for now; I just avoid them.
Northwest of the 2nd quartz node (further into the cave if you enter from the East entrance), you can clip the belt right through the cave wall as the thickness there is much thinner. But be wary to keep the belt hologram (build gun) active until you reach the opposite side of the cave wall, which is somewhere near the droppod with a slope down with crab spawners.
I had a climatic showdown with the alpha spider in that grasslands SAM cave. I ended up building a tractor in its cave and smashing it against the wall until it died.
@@Riftrender Nope, it was in update 8, at least it was for Trucks. The number of dead spitters between Grassy Fields and Gold Coast on my old save can attest to that. I don't know if they were able to damage Alpha's in the Update 8 version though.
Honestly, the speedrunner spot is still super crazy. Honestly, the main nerf was getting rid of the super close quartz, but new quartz got added halfway to the dune desert. There is still enough sulfur to make it through the entire chain, 4 normal coal nodes very close by for early coal power, a ton of iron, super early pure limestone and 2 pure copper nodes to start out on. Not to mention the managable distance to the crater lakes for even more juicy coal and a lot of oil just across the canyon in the spire coast for an early foray into oil power without limitations.
@@novadea1643 yeah. As i said, the coal nerf doesn't really hurt when there are 4 more normal nodes just across the water, the impure sulfur node is more than enough for the research and some nobelisks, early game quartz is not thaaat important, and the fact that the nodes are just a few hundred meters further away changes literally nothing. So yeah, all in all still the best spot.
@@notneuro I believe they are talking about the Northern Forest starting point that Total mentions was nerfed by Coffee Stain - these folks are saying the nerfs were not enough to make it a "bad" starting point, just not as good as it used to be.
@@notneuro the very north western part of the northern forest. Yes, it was nerfed. But it still has literally every single resource in walking distance in crazy quantities. Only the terrain makes it challenging to build for beginners.
Another really good spot I've recently discovered (and surprisingly people aren't talking about it a lot) is on the shore between Grass Fields and western beach islands. There's 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 1 pure catherium, and 2 pure limestone nodes put tightly together, and a sulfur on a cliff above them, which would be more than enough to set up basic production. Mere 300 meters to the east, there's a lake with 4 normal coal nodes that can supply up to 32 coal generators with Mk2 miners. You can expand to the southeast to set up a steel factory on grass fields near 2 pure coal and dozen different iron nodes, and there's a lot of oil nodes in close proximity on the shore islands. The only downsides I can think of are - limited space with a lot of high cliffs around and lack of quartz and bauxite nodes
I've got like 800 hours and this is where I started in 1.0. I know the nodes aren't great, but it's beautiful. I also want to spend more time with expansion this time. Dune desert means I don't have to leave at all until oil, and even that's right around the corner.
Dune Desert is my absolute favorite starting biome, with my base set up near the natural crossroads where the mycelium-laden trees start. It's a bit of a trek to the coal, quartz, and caterium around the upper and eastern part of the map but with access to every researchable item with minimal explosives, if any, to take full advantage of and tons of bio material, it's the perfect starting biome for me.
Not to be contrary, but there’s literally 3 coal areas around the dune dessert. It’s really nice for early coal power and adding steal without needing to compete against each other.
I chose the first option just by random chance in my first ever Rocky Desert playthrough back in Update 8. It was already pretty good then, but the addition of those coal nodes has really cemented it as a god tier starting spot
i really appreciate you mentioning one non-standard starting location :) even as a seasoned player (started in update 1) i never build a factory there - but your arguments using it as a starting location are compelling
Looks like the nearby copper node in your favorite starting spot is actually NORMAL and not IMPURE. They must have upgraded it after you made note of it. Win win! Glad to start here and try this out! Thanks for the video! :D -Aaron
Glad to see the Eastern Rocky area of the Dune Desert getting some love here. I elected to start on the Gold Coast. Bit of a run from Grassy Fields, but lower risk than Coin Tree. Plenty of pure nodes, including a sulfur, access to lots of water, coal and oil, sandwiched between 2 Caterium and SAM nodes (one of which is pure).... It can be a touch challenging to get around, but with the taller power towers, zipline and a parachute its not bad.
I started in the grassy field then quickly branched out to your last 'best' starting location, including all the resource locations you pointed out (before seeing this video). It has worked out fairly well so far.
I started my 1.0 world at the Dune Desert, south of the northern oasis(356, -162), by the 3 normal Coal spots, with a fairly amount of pure Iron, Copper and Limestone, just perfectly spaced to get a factory running in between them. The biomass amount isn't bad at all, and if you make the Solid Biofuel one of your first objectives, a bag full of wood and leaves will last you long enough to get about a 1GW of Coal Generators running off the pure Coal node down the eastern coast(404, -116), only 3-4 long range towers from the base. You can also find plenty of Sulfur and Caterium nearby, and Quartz a ways to the north, but very fast to get by vehicle. There are also lots of easy to get Power Slugs to get in the area. I would just recommend to make the foundations about 8-12m high, so you can clear most of the rocky obstacles.
I found a perfect starting location for me. It has 3 pure iron nodes (one of them is invisible, idk why), 1 pure copper (and more copper spread a little bit away), 2 pure limestone, 1 pure caterium a little ways away, 1 pure sulfur on a hill really close, 4 normal coal nodes near, it’s right next to a western ocean, and has a ton of foliage. It’s in the very far west region of the grassy fields.
I think he called that location his previous best start. I use it often. Easy enough to get the same coal power crater as he mentioned for Grassy Fields. I even set up the power plant in the pool atop the falls leading to the crater. Worked great. And a simple build for a motor factory after you finish Phase 2 there. (I need to look again, Pure Sulfur? Must have missed that.)
@@yosemitedan7457 Yeah, it’s pretty annoying to get to and extract resources from in the early game, as it’s atop a mountain/hill. Just gotta build some ladders and you’re good though. The sulfur node and hill it is on is right next to the iron nodes (excluding height), just east of them.
I already have a problem with seeing a new potential area and then restarting because of it. Having said that, I like that coin tree forest location and i might have to restart because of it. Thanks for that.
The best starting location is the one that fits your play style, imho. For me, the Northern Forest remains my favorite area to build in. I usually set up my main base in that little dell with the big arch overhead that the sky manta flies over.
Crater lakes are not really rocky desert, though he did mention it, the SAM + Coal in the lakes accessible from the rocky desert. There are also 2 Impure Sulfur nodes a bit further East (quite reachable if you are already in the crater lakes)
Oil for grasslands start is kind of equal distance choice between Gold Coast and Blue Crater, but the advantage of the latter is all the sulfur and coal conveniently in the same area.
I chose the Rocky Desert in a place I'm calling Pride Rock. There are the 5 iron nodes, at least 2 copper and 2 limestone (though impure) nodes. I'm saving the plateau/ledge you note around 3:12 for my steelworks, which I'll be starting soon. I was doing a 1.0 prep stream in Update 8 (work up to, say, modular frames) at that ledge, but decided to start over due to the added dialogue from the start and whatnot.
Solid options. Dune Desert is still the best, I think, especially with Uranium, that's new. The Blue Crater area is my second favorite. The rocky Desert & Gold Coast are my second favorite proper starting areas. A pro tip for water scarcity: all around the map are little caves with holes that let you walk under the surface. You can often find large areas of unobstructed water in which to place water extractors. Then you can pipe it up through the ground (painfully attach one end, run back to surface, mount the other end, repeat), but it's worth it.
cointree forest is where I started!!!!! glad to see it getting some acknowledgment from the community :) there’s several normal copper nodes in my main staging area, the basin to the west between the forest and the grassy fields, although some logistics are needed to get other materials there. it also (if i’m not mistaken) has the highest concentration of sulfur on the map! side note: said basin is imo almost tailor-made to house the space elevator, it’s like a big bullseye for the most important building on the map
In the dune desert there’s actually a secret Sam ore node in the mountain in front of the caterium ore spot. It’s hidden by vines and I found it cause I heard wind blowing out of it. But I believe it was impure
The only real downside with the blue crater early game is that you have to play a couple of rounds of dark souls. At least it's not gas stingers, though, the only ones I saw were high up on a pillar close to the titan forest. But that exact starting point you mentioned is where I'm building my first serious (TM) factory, heavy modular frames from concrete and iron. There's a night-time active alpha stinger on the way to the limestone in the south. Started out in grassy fields, ended up mostly hugging the south coast (you don't have to go vertically to the SAM node, btw, there's a cave entrance in the south and the gas pillars there can be bridged), coal power at the snaketree lake -- research big poles first, no biggie, and no back and forth trips either because mercer spheres. Distances around the crater like aren't exactly small -- but by the time you're there you probably have a jetpack and blade runners. There's *every* resource there (Bauxite and Uranium a bit north), but it's also not too small -- I'm eyeing building one giant rail roundabout around the biome, there should be plenty of space.
I started at the lake in Rocky desert. Right next to the 2 pure nodes. It's my favorite spot. They did add some alpha's on the way to quartz but overall a really good start.
Funny how i posted a comment on this spot on the pre-update patch video. So am just saying Thank You for bringing this area to the forefront. ---- Now on to the Dark Forest, (default) none speed runner... There is flat terrain everywhere. just have to see it. If you Take that place on Horizontal Plane, and put Layers of Rectangles on top of it, you have the Dark Forest. (You have to clear out the Lower Trees the Oaks.) the Brown Cedars stay put. :D After the Oaks are gone you can see the lay of the land Immensely better. There is Big Areas scattered everywhere in the Dark Forest. Other example is when you get a Christmas present or a present in general you can't see what's in the baggie because of the Fluffy stuff in the way. (Oaks - low bearing trees are VISION blockers in the Dark Forest.) I have personally started at this location on every playthrough, and I know the area by heart. -- the main challenge is the 'Roads' :D well make some trust me you will them here. But 'sky bases don't fly here' bc there are 2 moths at this location flying is Counterclockwise Rotations. This is just above the Tree Line. The max Height without MAX Clip Moth wrecking frames is the Spiral Shaft by the default location. --- What's cool about the visualizations of the moths, Northwest going to the S.A.M., Sulfur, and Coal deposits the mostly actually ripples in the Water above the waterfall. Buffs -- 1 the 2 impure Quartz nodes actually make 'Cheap Silica' finally viable. Bc semi directly above that cliff are 2 normal limestone nodes. 2 the caterium is actually more spread now. They moved the other node closer to the Default Standard Dark Forest start. 3 Coal is stupid easy to get 2 pretty much a cluster in every direction. 4. 8 out of the 16 geysers where placed close to the dark forest. 5. Mercers and Summer sloops are Closely next to each other. 6. Mycelia research is a Cakewalk 7. Early Bladerunners. 8. Uranium is behind the Default location in the pink forest. 9. Coast is Nearby for Turbo Area. 10. Because of the Middle of the Map ((Biggest Bonus)) logistics in any direction is easier. This being said 3 SAM ores nearby.
I actually started in the Dune Desert for 1.0. Second ever time playing lol. It's pretty amazing of a location. Honestly, I was expecting to have to move out of the biome for oil once I finished up my T2 parts factory, but nice to know that there's some oil nearby. Really gotta say though, there's _so_ many Alphas around there. I play on Retaliate, so I don't care, but there's so many Alphas and Nuclear Hogs around the Hard Drives and Artifacts. Also Uranium rocks everywhere at that one area near the node. Out of curiousity is 10K MW a lot of power? I'm curious how hard it'd be to reach nuclear with only the Augmenters and Geothermal. without bothering with Fuel.
Augmenters are more powerful than I think most people are giving them credit for. 19 augmenters is already enough to break the 10k barrier without any other power whatsoever, and there should be enough Somersloops on the map to pay for that. But you would have to spend a lot of time exploring. Even if you build all of the geothermals that are possible to build, you still need 9-10 augmenters on top of that, so exploring large swaths of the map is not really avoidable. The other issue is that plastic and rubber production necessarily produces byproducts, and the game really wants you to burn those byproducts for power. About the only reasonable option is to refine coke (or packaged fuel, once the packager is unlocked) and sink it.
Thanks for the video. It might not be the best, but I like the grass fields location with the 3 normal nodes to start. You can get enough silica for the blade runners and inventory expansion by cutting some stuff over by the impure sulfur next to the crash site. Then move to the lake with the 4 normal coal nodes, I was able to get 72 coal generators working there. Used to be 2 pure crystal nodes just over the hill from there, I have not been there yet, so I do not know if they have changed. Now to move west and up the coast to oil for plastic, rubber, and fuel.
Dune Desert is great. Build a straight line from the Caterium node on the cliffs, and it takes you straight to the iron, coal, copper and limestone cluster near the lake. At the end of that line is sulphur and coal on the coast, which is perfect for your first coal plants. Then you can start building closer to the oil nodes in the canyon, and get your starter factory items trucked/trained over and expand from there.
I've started in a spot in the southeast of the grassy fields (basically a little east of where you highlighted) that feels very fresh. It's definitely tougher in that you have to venture out to the Southern Forest and Blue Crater (I setup coal power in the Blue Crater), but imo that just incentivizes transport and a different play style that I haven't done before. Plus, with so much focus on Rocky Desert, Northern Forest, and the obvious Grassy Fields starts, I haven't ever really seen much of this part of the map at all since I started playing.
I like the grassfields the most, it looks so nice and green. The nodes are not the best but they are not too far away from each other. For me it's the biome that feels the most like "home". The spot in the north of the rocky desert you mention around 3:20 is also a great spot, I started 2 games there. It has plenty of space to build a big platform from the upper side of the cliff. In the dune desert I tend to build my later to endgame facilities like steelworks, nuclear power etc, but I never tried to start there. My latest game with 1.0 started in the very south of the rocky desert where the big ramp up to the crater lakes is located. There are two pure iron nodes, one limestone node not too far in the west and one copper node not too far in the east. You can get up to the crater lakes to get some sam, but when you start to need more iron and copper you have to walk quite far up north. Not the best place. At the recent point I have coal power, my first vehicle and soon I will have steel and be able to develop the dimensional depot, so from there I should be free to move around and not have to come back that often. I think that's the best thing with the dimensional depot, you can leave your facilities behind and be anywhere on the map but have access to the items they produce.
The last few games I started in the Northern Forest I simply built a giant ugly ramp up to the crater lakes and built my coal generators up there. I didn't even realize there was not one, but *two* natural ramps leading up there from the Rocky Desert until I started a new game in that region when the update came out. I still ended up building a big ugly ramp right near the coal nodes for ease of access.
I've started in the Grassy Fields and built a 1200MW coal plant in the Blue Crater. It took me about 2h to get ther because (1) I kept getting lost, and (2) I kept almost-dying from the various falls and alphas along the way. But I set up the plant and ran poles and wires all the way back home. I've now upgraded to platform towers and am very soon looking to expand the 1200MW to maybe double now that I have Mk.2 miners. This is a good spot. I'm now looking for a good spot to set up a mid-game base.
I do the Rocky desert one right now, pretty great, lots of iron, more than 1 copper node side by side, coal was extremely easy to get to (just need to follow the shoreline north), limestone is a little scarce but there´s 2 easy nodes to get to and since concrete is not a lot used early-game its pretty good, you will also have tier 2 miners and overclocking when the steel-concrete thing starts to ramp up so you´re also not going to lack it. Oil, I don´t know yet cuz i´ve only just automated coal, but I also expect it not to be horible since you also just need to follow the shoreline down or up. My first playthrought was a nightmare because I started on the grassy fields (were talking eras when pipeable liquids didn´t exist, crude oil used to be a barrel) and where I stabilished had it´s nearest coal deposit 2km away. It was a hassle
I started with the Rocky Desert, the spot in the southwest where there's a cluster of 6 normal Iron, 1 normal Limestone and 3 normal Coppper nodes is sustaining my entire early game tier 1 factory. Which makes 100 Steel Plates, 60 Iron Rods, 150 Cast Screws, 90 Wire, 75 Cable, 60 Copper Sheets, 8 Reinforced Plates, 8 Rotors, 10 Modular Frames, and 2 Smart Plating a minute. Or well, it will when I can get Tier two miners, or finish my coal plant enough that It can sustain overclocked T1 miners, until then it's stuck running at half it's full efficiency, but that's still plenty of resources for the early game.
Good analysis of starting points. In your favorite one, the lack of copper is not really a problem with the alt recipes we have now, I only use copper for copper sheets, wire (and in extension cable) can be done from iron or caterium, so the real need get greatly reduced.
I always liked the second starting spot in the forest. It's where I originally started all the way back at the launch of Early Access, so I've gone back there for 1.0. It's a bit more challenging because of the terrain, but if I wanted to build a flat factory, I'd play Factorio. It's unfortunately not as pretty as it used to be, because they removed the foggy lighting and the beautiful silver willow trees that used to be there, but that just means I'm totally okay with chopping down all the trees.
Try unlocking the Rebar Gun before attempting the last location. You are not likely to make it there with just a Zeno Zapper. (I died sooo many times 😅)
I decided based on which biome I like the look of best when denuded of foliage, because I knew I would be raiding out a lot of it for biomass burners. That's the Grassy Plains, which still looks fresh and green even after I've taken a chainsaw to it. Rocky Desert would have been my choice based on access to water and nodes, but I like the look of the trees too much and wanted to leave them be. I totally agree about that Coin Tree start, as I just expanded to there by looking for iron and copper nearish the purple forest's quartz so I could set up crystal oscillators, and literally stumbled over the caterium node next to the copper, so I left room for expansion later (the crystal oscillators barely touch all of that iron, and there's still some copper left.) It was too steep and winding for a train to be practical so I'm doing an overland bus from the quartz in the purple forest, but it's a much better setup than my early access quartz -- in EA I parkoured from the Grassy Plains up to the nodes in the Eastern Dune Forest up the cliff, and ended up running a train through the long winding spider-infested tunnel with uranium in it between the Grassy Plains and Eastern Dune Forest in order to haul the quartz back to the Grassy Plains. Definitely brute force! But it was the closest quartz as the crow flew in early access; I was glad to find some a little more accessible in 1.0.
I accidentally stumbled upon the first option in this video when I started my playthrough, and was super excited when I see the coal rich coast! I just finished setting up my first coal power plant, can't wait to continue the journey (this is the first time I've got to this point since I only played for like 5 hours back in Update 4...)
This 1.0 playthrough I decided to start in Dune Desert. I really like it! Love to traverse around desert on buggy. Even use it instead of tractors for transport resources.
A few more great starting locations: In the south-east Rocky Desert by the waterfalls is 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, and 2 normal limestone. You're closer to the pure caterium and the Crater Lakes coal, now that they removed the gas pillars from the bridge. I used this for a Satisfactory Plus starting location, very nice. The west Rocky Desert has a great assortment of normal iron, copper, and limestone, comparable to the North mountains for those copper sheets for pipes and then expand to the north when you hit steel. This is my 1.0 location. Another unorthodox spot is in the South-west corner of the map, just south of the Gold Coast. 3 pure iron (one is STILL INVISIBLE apparently?), a pure copper, and 2 pure limestone. There's still a pure caterium on a small island nearby. There's not a lot of space, but like the speedrunner Northern Forest spot it's fine if you get foundations off the cliff. My favorite Grassy Fields start, as you're relatively close to the oil and coal lake.
Southeast corner has a lot of new coal, quartz, and sulfur, there’s even a caterium node somewhat close by. Only problem is you’ll need to walk a half hour from grassy fields just to get started. But the aesthetic is so worth it. I love having all my early game builds surrounding the misty lake with the geyser. The whole area feels the most like a strange psychedelic planet with all the giant mushrooms. I may need to migrate for stuff later in the game, but by then I will have locomotives unlocked.
I started in the green fields but decided to research everything I could in the MAM before moving to the next phase (taking it real slow). I managed to unlock my bladerunners without a quartz node; had enough quartz ore from traveling the green fields and got silica by cutting down the mycelia rods in the purple forest by the sulfur node.
With the dimensional depot and 1.0, I figure there's a shift in what makes a good starter base location. Previously, I would pick out either the Forest Cliff or Forest Clearing because of how many resources there are there, build a starter base right on the ground to get any material at all going, then eventually have to tear it down to build a "real" base on that spot, which because I need plates and rods and such in abundance to build, inevitably becomes the main iron mill that feeds project assembly with reinforced plates and mod frames. Eventually I build a tower to put the space elevator on, and this is also where the HUB and such "for me" live, so in previous runs I would build a more permanent building supply depot here, and I would build the train line out to a new site and then I could send my train back and forth for building supplies. With the new dimensional depot, that shifted. I built my starter base in a place I never use for anything to take advantage of a few otherwise inconveniently located nodes, I built a machine or two each for wire, cable, concrete, iron plates, rods and so forth and it's been sitting there emailing me parts throughout the whole game. Basically every location you mentioned in this video is somewhere I would have to tear down a starter base to put what's really going there.
I will say as someone who started in location 1 of the northern forest, getting to the quartz node in particular by ziplining over the chasm is a spectacular commute.
I started in Northern Forest (the bowl not the cliffs) and couldn't be happier. But I still want to move all operations to the Dune Desert... which will be nice thanks to Dimensional Depots! It's a real gamechanger.
As a new player I chose the grassy plains as my starting zone, to learn the controls and game flow, but definitely going to set up a new base in the desert for mid to end game!
There is a great area between the grassy fields and Gold Coast. It’s a little north of the pure caterium node, has three pure iron nodes, a pure copper, and two pure limestone. It’s a quick, direct path to the coal by the forest lake, with more pure iron and normal copper along that route. My favorite spot so far.
Best starter area in grassy fields is east just past the arches. All your early game needs inlyding pure coal an sulfer. Gives you a headstart in compacted coal and gunpowder for yor starting coal power grid. Eorks great to start there and spread to the rest of the Fields leaving a trail of small factories as you head center or east to the oil basin with everything you need for rocket fuel
Northern Forest is the best spot for advanced pionneers but the desert has this mystical thing called empty space that any pionneer can build fundations to infinity. Mountains are taking the back seat this time around.
Crater lake is incredible for coal power if you start in RD. It takes a while to get there, but there are 3 pure coal nodes, and plenty of water. So you can very easily scale up the coal power when you need to. On top of that, you can also mine up the sam ore that there.
Never started in the rocky desert before, until 1.0, and haven't regretted it. That pure iron and limestone really got me going quickly. Any enemies can't stand up to the might of my truck!
A much better start for green fields is to just go to the coast and follow it north. Up the waterfall, right on the transition from grass fields to gold coast will be 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 2 pure limestone. Pure suphur is above you on the cliffs for later. Caterium is a little ways south on the waterfall.Coal is a safe 2 minute walk to the east with both power (via the lake) or steel production (pure iron, normal limestone/2 pure limestones above the ravine to the east if you want to use the alt recipes) options. Oil is a short walk just north. You can build over the water or extend over the cliffs for completely flat, near endless space. The west cost is also flat so truck/train logistics are a breeze. There are several harddrives and most can be opened very easily. The only thing it lacks is quartz, but with logistics you can easily move that from a cave that has two pure nodes to wherever you want. The terrain isn't flat, but it slopes smoothly.
What is so crazy here is that I had already chosen that very spot, the NW platform of the rocky deser, for my first main base. All of these items you point out are correct and obvious. I chose the rocky desert this time because it was the only starting location I had never done. And I wanted this save to feel like a whole new game.
I started fresh in the dune desert, but ran west to the hoodoos near the coast. There's 6 iron deposits there, plus several copper & limestone nodes. Ain't much of a trek to get to the coal on the north-west corner of the map either, or hopefully get into the quartz cave if I can find a way in.
I like the cluster of pure nodes NW of the grassy fields. It has a pure just about everything and isn't far from coal or oil. You might need to build a lot of foundations to create your own flatness, but with two pure limestones that's not difficult.
Rocky Desert is by far the best starting spot in the game. The Noob grassy area has poor nodes and little water. The Top Right Desert has many pure nodes which you can't take full advantage of until end game anyway, but more important it has little water available. Anything on the far left of the map is much better both for starting and end game because there is so much water. Pros 1) Decent amount of every node relatively nearby 2) Several square miles of water to build across for level terrain 3) Huge Oil field and aluminum nearby. 4) THIS IS THE BIG ONE! Plenty of water to use in production. MANY of the best alternative recipes require loads of water. This is simply not possible to get in such great quantities without an ocean.
I started in dune desert in 0.7 or something and now that 1.0 came out i wanted a change in scenery and away from that color pallet so i started in grasslands at the exact spot you said would be best lol. Ive also built my coal power in the lake and have been exploring into the rocky desert so far. I did find the Sam ore under the arch which was helpful in getting mercer and somber MAM tecnology super early
Funny, I restarted my 1.0 save to go from Rocky Desert to that exact spot. But it's true, you better know how to deal with the mobs if you want to start there.
I like to start in Northern Forest. Up to tiers 4-6 I consider my base temporary. I don't care that I have little space... it's going to be jank anyway. THEN, when I start building a big base, I still need the starter base to keep making items. I don't want to have to delete it from the places where I actually want to build. I find space only important in mid/late game.
Rocky desert has been great! Just got passed phase 3 last night. However, I am now expanding elsewhere for aluminum, oil, and steel production. I need a good heavy modular frame factory, only got 4p/m right now.
You may know this already but currently there is a Caterium Node missing from the Grassy fields that might increase the appeal slightly for that starting area. at 6:14 the location of where it's supposed to be is actually near where you think is the best area to start in that zone. If I remember correctly, it's next to a Limestone Node in one of the sandy patches that you can see on the map. (just outside of the northeastern part of the red circle.) It's already been reported on the Satisfactory Q&A site. Not sure if someone commented on it here already, but I thought I'd mention it.
There is another very good location the rocky desert. In the south east just south of the lake and west of the double waterfall from the crater lakes. There you have 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper and 4 normal limestone very close. Additionally 1 pure caterium is just a bit north, the crater lakes with the 3 pure coal with plenty of water and 1 impure SAM are super close and quartz is just through the tunnel to the south. Space is a bit tighter but you can expand over the lake or vertically along the cliff. The only thing missing is sulfur. I prefer this one because the iron is more than enough to get you up and running and the copper supply is much better than the north west corner and everything is super close together.
I started in Western Rocky Desert cuz I never have before and had early resources available close enough. I almost started in Grass Fields for nostalgia from 1st play through at EA launch before buying again on Steam.
My favorite start is still the west coast of grassy fields. 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 1 pure caterium, and 2 pure concrete in close proximity. The main downside is that you'll want to build a highway/beltway for steel
Hello, I started in the rocky desert, coordinates -1765, -1030, north of 2 islands, where I found plenty of iron, copper, concrete, quartz in the cave and coal on the west coast. I will move towards north west, to the north "coral reef" to get oil, plastic and rubber.
You overlooked a big value add for the Rocky Desert: the *pure* Caterium node roughly in the middle of the biome. Between that and a little bit of out of the way Sulfur, you can advance your MAM research very quickly in the early game. Amusingly, I was scouting that area by the Blue Cater just last night, and came to a similar conclusion. 😁
Grass fields, far west, near paradise island. Pure iron x2, pure copper, pure limestone x2, pure caterium, pure sulfur, doggy cave nearby, HDDs close, plenty of water, quartz and coal right nearby. Only thing you need to travel for a little bit is SAM, and once you've got it you don't need to travel for it.
I just finished setting up a turbo fuel plant in the blue crater last night. I'm about to build out everything I need from the sulfur tech tree as well.
I picked the rocky desert and honestly I regret it. I started near the cluster of 5 normal iron nodes and have had a tough time getting started. Thankfully there are great spots (relatively) nearby for steel/EIBs, coal/oil power, and a turbo fuel setup that I love building. My last 2 play throughs I have played in the Dune Desert and wanted a change in scenery. I might migrate my base over there soon
The location you show at 12:00 tends to be where I usually have my main base even if I start anywhere else. previously I really liked the alien forest vibes, but when the area was updated it lost some of it's flair. However for my current 1.0 play through I went there again, aaand it's better than ever. 6 pure iron, one pure copper, one pure limestone and 2 normal limestone was always there, but there have been added a normal caterium and two impure quartz a few hundred meters north, not enough for large builds, but plenty until unlocking trains. There's also still a decent amount of oil at the swampy area to the south. Only real issue is coal, but I usually do my coal power at the crater lake as those nodes are quite far away from anything else and the coal you pointed out at the oasis can quite easily be transported, or use the iron in the same area and setup a specialized steel factory. SAM is some distance away though...
The local quartz nerf wasn't that big a deal, the new quartz location is very close to the other perfect start location in the Northern Forest. But there's oil right down the cliff, there's coal and iron and copper and water just across a river down there further north, caterium nearby, sulfur nearby(yeah, just one now), but above the oil nodes there's a sam ore and a couple more iron. Nothing is really far away in this game from any true starting location, of which there are many. Would be really neat that if you select a general location in the new game start it would plop you down in one of the random starting locations in that biome. Nothing more visceral than getting out of your drop pod to face off with an alpha!
The grassy area has a lot of room if you build foundations all over the abyss 👍 Which also bridges the gap to gain more water from stop the waterfall 😎
I went with the northern forest start. The place with 4 pure iron, 2 pure copper, 1 pure lime. Theres the place down a bit ways west with 4 normal coal and 1 pure iron and normal copper for a starting steel factory. Gotta go down a slight bit south tho for the 3 pure coal where i made my 1.8GW starting coal power. Well the caterium and quartz a bit ways off too but you dont really need much of them early game anyways. Also one of the only pure sam nodes from that location to the north east, the other 2 are south.
I like to start at grass fields and expand to Cointree forest for my oil production. Eventually I take every node in the game, so the starting location matters little in terms of logistics.
I can't seem to find that big crater lake with the SAM in the middle, or the spot you suggest. I've gotten to the normal and pure quartz nodes in the area. But from there, if I head in the direction of the lake, I get to huge cliffs or a death drop. I wish there was a short vid that shows how to find the right path from the Grassy Fields start. Thanks for all your vids.
i keep hearing people using the phrase "let that sink in", yet I am not expecting any sinks at my doorstep, and if I were to see one, the last thing I'd want to do is let it in
Grassy fields also has access to Uranium, though it's a bit of a trek to get it. It's in the big cave at the south eastern end of the biome, just off that little circular area with the bottomless pit. Though, it's not really worth it unless you're planning to use trains to take it somewhere else in my opinion.
2 floors of 16 smelters each in the vertical space of the 4 miners feeding them, then constructors go on top. There's enough space at ground level in my forest cliff top base to do donuts in the explorer.
actually gonna give the cointree a try as an starting location, been playing abit before but never got beyond an oil plant, but i feel like this is gonna be an great starting location
Best starting spot is the first option. Perfect for starting a new 1.0, relive the memories
Nah, start in the swamp. Giant spiders are your best friends 😁
Started in the dune desert this time, and I've already built a train station in the swamp to move anything in it out! Just need to keep an Explorer close by incase I stumble into the wrong spot and have to face an army of spiders or the nuclear hogs.
when i first played this game i feared all the caves due to the spiders crawling there
@@Antonder2te I still fear them
Me too a bit but I know that I am a lot more powerful than them
Might I suggest having chapters for this style video?
Fact
Hi-jacking the top comment to post timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:50 Rocky Desert
3:04 Rocky Desert - Best Area
3:55 Grassy Fields
6:06 Grassy Fields - Best Area
6:46 Dune Desert
9:23 Dune Desert - Best Area
10:11 Northern Forest
11:20 Northern Forest - Best Area 1
11:53 Northern Forest - Best Area 2
12:12 Best Starting Area - Cointree Forest
Side note on the SAM and Quartz cave. You can go above the cave and put down a 4m foundation and it will reach through to the top of the cave below. Then put down a pass through for your belts and poof. No more need for long winding belts through the cave exit.
Edit. Blueprint a foundation with as many pass throughs as you need. Then make another one at the top the same. Then link them with lifts. Then plop down the Blueprint above the cave area or climb up and plop it on the ceiling. Above the area is a mercer sphere and a bunch of those toxic things to blow up.
@@gscurd75 what? Where? How? I need to know
Just be vary of the pass throughs - they can (they dont always) bug out, and limit the capacity of the belts.
I've had MK3 belts function as MK1 belts, because they went through one, for no apparent reason.
Removing them and trying again, can sometimes fix this - but for now; I just avoid them.
HOLY that's nice, I based nearby, thanks for the tip !
Northwest of the 2nd quartz node (further into the cave if you enter from the East entrance), you can clip the belt right through the cave wall as the thickness there is much thinner. But be wary to keep the belt hologram (build gun) active until you reach the opposite side of the cave wall, which is somewhere near the droppod with a slope down with crab spawners.
@@Koh-Wei-Jian huh, indeed. Works through the roof and through the wall in several spots. I will definitely rember that tip
I had a climatic showdown with the alpha spider in that grasslands SAM cave. I ended up building a tractor in its cave and smashing it against the wall until it died.
@@Riftrender didnt even know that was possible lol
@@mspotato138 Vehicle damage is new.
@@Riftrender One of the boss battles of all time. I usually roll over an alpha, hop out of the vehicle and just start bashing.
@@Riftrender Nope, it was in update 8, at least it was for Trucks. The number of dead spitters between Grassy Fields and Gold Coast on my old save can attest to that. I don't know if they were able to damage Alpha's in the Update 8 version though.
@@mspotato138 there is even an achievement for running over enemies
Honestly, the speedrunner spot is still super crazy. Honestly, the main nerf was getting rid of the super close quartz, but new quartz got added halfway to the dune desert. There is still enough sulfur to make it through the entire chain, 4 normal coal nodes very close by for early coal power, a ton of iron, super early pure limestone and 2 pure copper nodes to start out on. Not to mention the managable distance to the crater lakes for even more juicy coal and a lot of oil just across the canyon in the spire coast for an early foray into oil power without limitations.
Yeah coffee stain nerfed it but it's still by an far the best starting point you can pick out.
@@novadea1643 yeah. As i said, the coal nerf doesn't really hurt when there are 4 more normal nodes just across the water, the impure sulfur node is more than enough for the research and some nobelisks, early game quartz is not thaaat important, and the fact that the nodes are just a few hundred meters further away changes literally nothing. So yeah, all in all still the best spot.
where is that at btw?
@@notneuro I believe they are talking about the Northern Forest starting point that Total mentions was nerfed by Coffee Stain - these folks are saying the nerfs were not enough to make it a "bad" starting point, just not as good as it used to be.
@@notneuro the very north western part of the northern forest. Yes, it was nerfed. But it still has literally every single resource in walking distance in crazy quantities. Only the terrain makes it challenging to build for beginners.
Another really good spot I've recently discovered (and surprisingly people aren't talking about it a lot) is on the shore between Grass Fields and western beach islands. There's 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 1 pure catherium, and 2 pure limestone nodes put tightly together, and a sulfur on a cliff above them, which would be more than enough to set up basic production. Mere 300 meters to the east, there's a lake with 4 normal coal nodes that can supply up to 32 coal generators with Mk2 miners. You can expand to the southeast to set up a steel factory on grass fields near 2 pure coal and dozen different iron nodes, and there's a lot of oil nodes in close proximity on the shore islands. The only downsides I can think of are - limited space with a lot of high cliffs around and lack of quartz and bauxite nodes
That was my perfect spot for my last lets play series!
The two pure quartz nodes in the cave behind the waterfall aren't too far away from the coal - about the same as using the cave up north, I'd say :)
Still relatively new to the game and don’t know the map well. Where would this be in relation to the starting point he used for the rocky dessert?
@@hunterwillis5401 You can take the western beach all the way south.
Grass Fields is like that bell curve meme where the newest players and the most seasoned expert players agree that it's a great starting location.
I've got like 800 hours and this is where I started in 1.0. I know the nodes aren't great, but it's beautiful.
I also want to spend more time with expansion this time. Dune desert means I don't have to leave at all until oil, and even that's right around the corner.
Dune Desert is my absolute favorite starting biome, with my base set up near the natural crossroads where the mycelium-laden trees start. It's a bit of a trek to the coal, quartz, and caterium around the upper and eastern part of the map but with access to every researchable item with minimal explosives, if any, to take full advantage of and tons of bio material, it's the perfect starting biome for me.
Not to be contrary, but there’s literally 3 coal areas around the dune dessert. It’s really nice for early coal power and adding steal without needing to compete against each other.
I chose the first option just by random chance in my first ever Rocky Desert playthrough back in Update 8. It was already pretty good then, but the addition of those coal nodes has really cemented it as a god tier starting spot
i really appreciate you mentioning one non-standard starting location :) even as a seasoned player (started in update 1) i never build a factory there - but your arguments using it as a starting location are compelling
Looks like the nearby copper node in your favorite starting spot is actually NORMAL and not IMPURE. They must have upgraded it after you made note of it. Win win! Glad to start here and try this out! Thanks for the video! :D -Aaron
I'm so glad you mentioned the area by the blue crater, it is one of my favorite spots.
Glad to see the Eastern Rocky area of the Dune Desert getting some love here. I elected to start on the Gold Coast. Bit of a run from Grassy Fields, but lower risk than Coin Tree. Plenty of pure nodes, including a sulfur, access to lots of water, coal and oil, sandwiched between 2 Caterium and SAM nodes (one of which is pure).... It can be a touch challenging to get around, but with the taller power towers, zipline and a parachute its not bad.
Last area you said --- a bit more north --- RADIOACTIVE HOGS VERY F DANGEROUS.
Green means go!
I started in the grassy field then quickly branched out to your last 'best' starting location, including all the resource locations you pointed out (before seeing this video). It has worked out fairly well so far.
My friends and i love to start northern forest, because we like to have versatility and verticality. Hope every one playing is have a lot of fun
I started my 1.0 world at the Dune Desert, south of the northern oasis(356, -162), by the 3 normal Coal spots, with a fairly amount of pure Iron, Copper and Limestone, just perfectly spaced to get a factory running in between them. The biomass amount isn't bad at all, and if you make the Solid Biofuel one of your first objectives, a bag full of wood and leaves will last you long enough to get about a 1GW of Coal Generators running off the pure Coal node down the eastern coast(404, -116), only 3-4 long range towers from the base. You can also find plenty of Sulfur and Caterium nearby, and Quartz a ways to the north, but very fast to get by vehicle. There are also lots of easy to get Power Slugs to get in the area.
I would just recommend to make the foundations about 8-12m high, so you can clear most of the rocky obstacles.
The quartz nerf in the Northern Forest is a non-issue because they have 2 pure nodes in the giant cave next to the SAM ore there.
I found a perfect starting location for me. It has 3 pure iron nodes (one of them is invisible, idk why), 1 pure copper (and more copper spread a little bit away), 2 pure limestone, 1 pure caterium a little ways away, 1 pure sulfur on a hill really close, 4 normal coal nodes near, it’s right next to a western ocean, and has a ton of foliage.
It’s in the very far west region of the grassy fields.
I think he called that location his previous best start. I use it often. Easy enough to get the same coal power crater as he mentioned for Grassy Fields. I even set up the power plant in the pool atop the falls leading to the crater. Worked great. And a simple build for a motor factory after you finish Phase 2 there. (I need to look again, Pure Sulfur? Must have missed that.)
@@yosemitedan7457 Yeah, it’s pretty annoying to get to and extract resources from in the early game, as it’s atop a mountain/hill. Just gotta build some ladders and you’re good though. The sulfur node and hill it is on is right next to the iron nodes (excluding height), just east of them.
@@spongSyt I'll go have a look in a minute. I just stack containers until I build somewhere permanently. Easier than ladders or ramps.
I already have a problem with seeing a new potential area and then restarting because of it. Having said that, I like that coin tree forest location and i might have to restart because of it. Thanks for that.
The best starting location is the one that fits your play style, imho. For me, the Northern Forest remains my favorite area to build in. I usually set up my main base in that little dell with the big arch overhead that the sky manta flies over.
Rocky Desert has a second SAM location at crator lake
Crater lakes are not really rocky desert, though he did mention it, the SAM + Coal in the lakes accessible from the rocky desert. There are also 2 Impure Sulfur nodes a bit further East (quite reachable if you are already in the crater lakes)
Oil for grasslands start is kind of equal distance choice between Gold Coast and Blue Crater, but the advantage of the latter is all the sulfur and coal conveniently in the same area.
My fav is rocky desert, it feels like a good mix of everything
I chose the Rocky Desert in a place I'm calling Pride Rock. There are the 5 iron nodes, at least 2 copper and 2 limestone (though impure) nodes. I'm saving the plateau/ledge you note around 3:12 for my steelworks, which I'll be starting soon. I was doing a 1.0 prep stream in Update 8 (work up to, say, modular frames) at that ledge, but decided to start over due to the added dialogue from the start and whatnot.
Solid options. Dune Desert is still the best, I think, especially with Uranium, that's new. The Blue Crater area is my second favorite. The rocky Desert & Gold Coast are my second favorite proper starting areas. A pro tip for water scarcity: all around the map are little caves with holes that let you walk under the surface. You can often find large areas of unobstructed water in which to place water extractors. Then you can pipe it up through the ground (painfully attach one end, run back to surface, mount the other end, repeat), but it's worth it.
Worth mentioning to new players, you can turn off aggressive mobs. Makes it more present when exploring new areas.
nahhh, running away in scream from radioactive hog is SO much fun
cointree forest is where I started!!!!! glad to see it getting some acknowledgment from the community :) there’s several normal copper nodes in my main staging area, the basin to the west between the forest and the grassy fields, although some logistics are needed to get other materials there. it also (if i’m not mistaken) has the highest concentration of sulfur on the map!
side note: said basin is imo almost tailor-made to house the space elevator, it’s like a big bullseye for the most important building on the map
In the dune desert there’s actually a secret Sam ore node in the mountain in front of the caterium ore spot. It’s hidden by vines and I found it cause I heard wind blowing out of it. But I believe it was impure
The only real downside with the blue crater early game is that you have to play a couple of rounds of dark souls. At least it's not gas stingers, though, the only ones I saw were high up on a pillar close to the titan forest.
But that exact starting point you mentioned is where I'm building my first serious (TM) factory, heavy modular frames from concrete and iron. There's a night-time active alpha stinger on the way to the limestone in the south. Started out in grassy fields, ended up mostly hugging the south coast (you don't have to go vertically to the SAM node, btw, there's a cave entrance in the south and the gas pillars there can be bridged), coal power at the snaketree lake -- research big poles first, no biggie, and no back and forth trips either because mercer spheres.
Distances around the crater like aren't exactly small -- but by the time you're there you probably have a jetpack and blade runners. There's *every* resource there (Bauxite and Uranium a bit north), but it's also not too small -- I'm eyeing building one giant rail roundabout around the biome, there should be plenty of space.
i jumped off my chair when you mentioned your favourite starting place is what i just yesterday discovered and settled on :D
what a coinsidence
Dunes is the best because it has the best music. The dessert nighttime looks amazing, especially with fog off.
I started at the lake in Rocky desert. Right next to the 2 pure nodes. It's my favorite spot. They did add some alpha's on the way to quartz but overall a really good start.
Funny how i posted a comment on this spot on the pre-update patch video. So am just saying Thank You for bringing this area to the forefront. ----
Now on to the Dark Forest, (default) none speed runner... There is flat terrain everywhere. just have to see it. If you Take that place on Horizontal Plane, and put Layers of Rectangles on top of it, you have the Dark Forest. (You have to clear out the Lower Trees the Oaks.) the Brown Cedars stay put. :D After the Oaks are gone you can see the lay of the land Immensely better. There is Big Areas scattered everywhere in the Dark Forest. Other example is when you get a Christmas present or a present in general you can't see what's in the baggie because of the Fluffy stuff in the way. (Oaks - low bearing trees are VISION blockers in the Dark Forest.) I have personally started at this location on every playthrough, and I know the area by heart. -- the main challenge is the 'Roads' :D well make some trust me you will them here. But 'sky bases don't fly here' bc there are 2 moths at this location flying is Counterclockwise Rotations. This is just above the Tree Line. The max Height without MAX Clip Moth wrecking frames is the Spiral Shaft by the default location. --- What's cool about the visualizations of the moths, Northwest going to the S.A.M., Sulfur, and Coal deposits the mostly actually ripples in the Water above the waterfall.
Buffs --
1 the 2 impure Quartz nodes actually make 'Cheap Silica' finally viable. Bc semi directly above that cliff are 2 normal limestone nodes.
2 the caterium is actually more spread now. They moved the other node closer to the Default Standard Dark Forest start.
3 Coal is stupid easy to get 2 pretty much a cluster in every direction.
4. 8 out of the 16 geysers where placed close to the dark forest.
5. Mercers and Summer sloops are Closely next to each other.
6. Mycelia research is a Cakewalk
7. Early Bladerunners.
8. Uranium is behind the Default location in the pink forest.
9. Coast is Nearby for Turbo Area.
10. Because of the Middle of the Map ((Biggest Bonus)) logistics in any direction is easier. This being said 3 SAM ores nearby.
I actually started in the Dune Desert for 1.0. Second ever time playing lol. It's pretty amazing of a location. Honestly, I was expecting to have to move out of the biome for oil once I finished up my T2 parts factory, but nice to know that there's some oil nearby.
Really gotta say though, there's _so_ many Alphas around there. I play on Retaliate, so I don't care, but there's so many Alphas and Nuclear Hogs around the Hard Drives and Artifacts. Also Uranium rocks everywhere at that one area near the node.
Out of curiousity is 10K MW a lot of power? I'm curious how hard it'd be to reach nuclear with only the Augmenters and Geothermal. without bothering with Fuel.
You CAN, but it will take you ages upon ages. I don't see why on earth you would do that.
@@kjetilknyttnev3702 it'd be funny, I think.
Augmenters are more powerful than I think most people are giving them credit for. 19 augmenters is already enough to break the 10k barrier without any other power whatsoever, and there should be enough Somersloops on the map to pay for that. But you would have to spend a lot of time exploring. Even if you build all of the geothermals that are possible to build, you still need 9-10 augmenters on top of that, so exploring large swaths of the map is not really avoidable.
The other issue is that plastic and rubber production necessarily produces byproducts, and the game really wants you to burn those byproducts for power. About the only reasonable option is to refine coke (or packaged fuel, once the packager is unlocked) and sink it.
@@NYKevin100you can only build 10, iirc there are 104 sommerslobs on the map.
"Don't build factories in the caves!" - Satisfactory devs.
"Don't put resource nodes in them" - Everybody screaming at the devs.
Thanks for the video. It might not be the best, but I like the grass fields location with the 3 normal nodes to start. You can get enough silica for the blade runners and inventory expansion by cutting some stuff over by the impure sulfur next to the crash site. Then move to the lake with the 4 normal coal nodes, I was able to get 72 coal generators working there. Used to be 2 pure crystal nodes just over the hill from there, I have not been there yet, so I do not know if they have changed. Now to move west and up the coast to oil for plastic, rubber, and fuel.
Dune Desert is great. Build a straight line from the Caterium node on the cliffs, and it takes you straight to the iron, coal, copper and limestone cluster near the lake. At the end of that line is sulphur and coal on the coast, which is perfect for your first coal plants. Then you can start building closer to the oil nodes in the canyon, and get your starter factory items trucked/trained over and expand from there.
I've started in a spot in the southeast of the grassy fields (basically a little east of where you highlighted) that feels very fresh. It's definitely tougher in that you have to venture out to the Southern Forest and Blue Crater (I setup coal power in the Blue Crater), but imo that just incentivizes transport and a different play style that I haven't done before. Plus, with so much focus on Rocky Desert, Northern Forest, and the obvious Grassy Fields starts, I haven't ever really seen much of this part of the map at all since I started playing.
I like the grassfields the most, it looks so nice and green.
The nodes are not the best but they are not too far away from each other. For me it's the biome that feels the most like "home".
The spot in the north of the rocky desert you mention around 3:20 is also a great spot, I started 2 games there. It has plenty of space to build a big platform from the upper side of the cliff.
In the dune desert I tend to build my later to endgame facilities like steelworks, nuclear power etc, but I never tried to start there.
My latest game with 1.0 started in the very south of the rocky desert where the big ramp up to the crater lakes is located.
There are two pure iron nodes, one limestone node not too far in the west and one copper node not too far in the east.
You can get up to the crater lakes to get some sam, but when you start to need more iron and copper you have to walk quite far up north. Not the best place.
At the recent point I have coal power, my first vehicle and soon I will have steel and be able to develop the dimensional depot, so from there I should be free to move around and not have to come back that often.
I think that's the best thing with the dimensional depot, you can leave your facilities behind and be anywhere on the map but have access to the items they produce.
The last few games I started in the Northern Forest I simply built a giant ugly ramp up to the crater lakes and built my coal generators up there. I didn't even realize there was not one, but *two* natural ramps leading up there from the Rocky Desert until I started a new game in that region when the update came out.
I still ended up building a big ugly ramp right near the coal nodes for ease of access.
The first spot you talked about is literally where I started my 1.0 save.Glad I picked a good spot without thinking about it
I've started in the Grassy Fields and built a 1200MW coal plant in the Blue Crater. It took me about 2h to get ther because (1) I kept getting lost, and (2) I kept almost-dying from the various falls and alphas along the way.
But I set up the plant and ran poles and wires all the way back home. I've now upgraded to platform towers and am very soon looking to expand the 1200MW to maybe double now that I have Mk.2 miners.
This is a good spot.
I'm now looking for a good spot to set up a mid-game base.
I do the Rocky desert one right now, pretty great, lots of iron, more than 1 copper node side by side, coal was extremely easy to get to (just need to follow the shoreline north), limestone is a little scarce but there´s 2 easy nodes to get to and since concrete is not a lot used early-game its pretty good, you will also have tier 2 miners and overclocking when the steel-concrete thing starts to ramp up so you´re also not going to lack it. Oil, I don´t know yet cuz i´ve only just automated coal, but I also expect it not to be horible since you also just need to follow the shoreline down or up.
My first playthrought was a nightmare because I started on the grassy fields (were talking eras when pipeable liquids didn´t exist, crude oil used to be a barrel) and where I stabilished had it´s nearest coal deposit 2km away. It was a hassle
I started with the Rocky Desert, the spot in the southwest where there's a cluster of 6 normal Iron, 1 normal Limestone and 3 normal Coppper nodes is sustaining my entire early game tier 1 factory. Which makes 100 Steel Plates, 60 Iron Rods, 150 Cast Screws, 90 Wire, 75 Cable, 60 Copper Sheets, 8 Reinforced Plates, 8 Rotors, 10 Modular Frames, and 2 Smart Plating a minute. Or well, it will when I can get Tier two miners, or finish my coal plant enough that It can sustain overclocked T1 miners, until then it's stuck running at half it's full efficiency, but that's still plenty of resources for the early game.
Good analysis of starting points. In your favorite one, the lack of copper is not really a problem with the alt recipes we have now, I only use copper for copper sheets, wire (and in extension cable) can be done from iron or caterium, so the real need get greatly reduced.
I always liked the second starting spot in the forest. It's where I originally started all the way back at the launch of Early Access, so I've gone back there for 1.0. It's a bit more challenging because of the terrain, but if I wanted to build a flat factory, I'd play Factorio. It's unfortunately not as pretty as it used to be, because they removed the foggy lighting and the beautiful silver willow trees that used to be there, but that just means I'm totally okay with chopping down all the trees.
Try unlocking the Rebar Gun before attempting the last location. You are not likely to make it there with just a Zeno Zapper. (I died sooo many times 😅)
I decided based on which biome I like the look of best when denuded of foliage, because I knew I would be raiding out a lot of it for biomass burners. That's the Grassy Plains, which still looks fresh and green even after I've taken a chainsaw to it. Rocky Desert would have been my choice based on access to water and nodes, but I like the look of the trees too much and wanted to leave them be.
I totally agree about that Coin Tree start, as I just expanded to there by looking for iron and copper nearish the purple forest's quartz so I could set up crystal oscillators, and literally stumbled over the caterium node next to the copper, so I left room for expansion later (the crystal oscillators barely touch all of that iron, and there's still some copper left.) It was too steep and winding for a train to be practical so I'm doing an overland bus from the quartz in the purple forest, but it's a much better setup than my early access quartz -- in EA I parkoured from the Grassy Plains up to the nodes in the Eastern Dune Forest up the cliff, and ended up running a train through the long winding spider-infested tunnel with uranium in it between the Grassy Plains and Eastern Dune Forest in order to haul the quartz back to the Grassy Plains. Definitely brute force! But it was the closest quartz as the crow flew in early access; I was glad to find some a little more accessible in 1.0.
Dune desert seems so good for late game factories. Makes me want to put my early/mid game stuff somewhere else.
A series of Best Location for *whatever* Factory is something I would find both useful and interesting.
I accidentally stumbled upon the first option in this video when I started my playthrough, and was super excited when I see the coal rich coast!
I just finished setting up my first coal power plant, can't wait to continue the journey (this is the first time I've got to this point since I only played for like 5 hours back in Update 4...)
This 1.0 playthrough I decided to start in Dune Desert. I really like it!
Love to traverse around desert on buggy. Even use it instead of tractors for transport resources.
A few more great starting locations:
In the south-east Rocky Desert by the waterfalls is 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, and 2 normal limestone. You're closer to the pure caterium and the Crater Lakes coal, now that they removed the gas pillars from the bridge. I used this for a Satisfactory Plus starting location, very nice.
The west Rocky Desert has a great assortment of normal iron, copper, and limestone, comparable to the North mountains for those copper sheets for pipes and then expand to the north when you hit steel. This is my 1.0 location.
Another unorthodox spot is in the South-west corner of the map, just south of the Gold Coast. 3 pure iron (one is STILL INVISIBLE apparently?), a pure copper, and 2 pure limestone. There's still a pure caterium on a small island nearby. There's not a lot of space, but like the speedrunner Northern Forest spot it's fine if you get foundations off the cliff. My favorite Grassy Fields start, as you're relatively close to the oil and coal lake.
Southeast corner has a lot of new coal, quartz, and sulfur, there’s even a caterium node somewhat close by. Only problem is you’ll need to walk a half hour from grassy fields just to get started. But the aesthetic is so worth it. I love having all my early game builds surrounding the misty lake with the geyser. The whole area feels the most like a strange psychedelic planet with all the giant mushrooms. I may need to migrate for stuff later in the game, but by then I will have locomotives unlocked.
I started in the green fields but decided to research everything I could in the MAM before moving to the next phase (taking it real slow). I managed to unlock my bladerunners without a quartz node; had enough quartz ore from traveling the green fields and got silica by cutting down the mycelia rods in the purple forest by the sulfur node.
With the dimensional depot and 1.0, I figure there's a shift in what makes a good starter base location.
Previously, I would pick out either the Forest Cliff or Forest Clearing because of how many resources there are there, build a starter base right on the ground to get any material at all going, then eventually have to tear it down to build a "real" base on that spot, which because I need plates and rods and such in abundance to build, inevitably becomes the main iron mill that feeds project assembly with reinforced plates and mod frames.
Eventually I build a tower to put the space elevator on, and this is also where the HUB and such "for me" live, so in previous runs I would build a more permanent building supply depot here, and I would build the train line out to a new site and then I could send my train back and forth for building supplies. With the new dimensional depot, that shifted. I built my starter base in a place I never use for anything to take advantage of a few otherwise inconveniently located nodes, I built a machine or two each for wire, cable, concrete, iron plates, rods and so forth and it's been sitting there emailing me parts throughout the whole game.
Basically every location you mentioned in this video is somewhere I would have to tear down a starter base to put what's really going there.
I will say as someone who started in location 1 of the northern forest, getting to the quartz node in particular by ziplining over the chasm is a spectacular commute.
I started in Northern Forest (the bowl not the cliffs) and couldn't be happier. But I still want to move all operations to the Dune Desert... which will be nice thanks to Dimensional Depots! It's a real gamechanger.
As a new player I chose the grassy plains as my starting zone, to learn the controls and game flow, but definitely going to set up a new base in the desert for mid to end game!
There is a great area between the grassy fields and Gold Coast. It’s a little north of the pure caterium node, has three pure iron nodes, a pure copper, and two pure limestone. It’s a quick, direct path to the coal by the forest lake, with more pure iron and normal copper along that route. My favorite spot so far.
Best starter area in grassy fields is east just past the arches. All your early game needs inlyding pure coal an sulfer. Gives you a headstart in compacted coal and gunpowder for yor starting coal power grid. Eorks great to start there and spread to the rest of the Fields leaving a trail of small factories as you head center or east to the oil basin with everything you need for rocket fuel
Northern Forest is the best spot for advanced pionneers but the desert has this mystical thing called empty space that any pionneer can build fundations to infinity. Mountains are taking the back seat this time around.
If you wana hate yourself, you should start in 266,845 / 3,968
Crater lake is incredible for coal power if you start in RD. It takes a while to get there, but there are 3 pure coal nodes, and plenty of water. So you can very easily scale up the coal power when you need to. On top of that, you can also mine up the sam ore that there.
As an experienced pioneer, my favorite start is the Northern Forest. It's the most beautiful place on the map for me!
Never started in the rocky desert before, until 1.0, and haven't regretted it. That pure iron and limestone really got me going quickly. Any enemies can't stand up to the might of my truck!
A much better start for green fields is to just go to the coast and follow it north. Up the waterfall, right on the transition from grass fields to gold coast will be 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 2 pure limestone. Pure suphur is above you on the cliffs for later. Caterium is a little ways south on the waterfall.Coal is a safe 2 minute walk to the east with both power (via the lake) or steel production (pure iron, normal limestone/2 pure limestones above the ravine to the east if you want to use the alt recipes) options. Oil is a short walk just north.
You can build over the water or extend over the cliffs for completely flat, near endless space. The west cost is also flat so truck/train logistics are a breeze. There are several harddrives and most can be opened very easily.
The only thing it lacks is quartz, but with logistics you can easily move that from a cave that has two pure nodes to wherever you want. The terrain isn't flat, but it slopes smoothly.
What is so crazy here is that I had already chosen that very spot, the NW platform of the rocky deser, for my first main base. All of these items you point out are correct and obvious.
I chose the rocky desert this time because it was the only starting location I had never done. And I wanted this save to feel like a whole new game.
I started fresh in the dune desert, but ran west to the hoodoos near the coast. There's 6 iron deposits there, plus several copper & limestone nodes. Ain't much of a trek to get to the coal on the north-west corner of the map either, or hopefully get into the quartz cave if I can find a way in.
I like the cluster of pure nodes NW of the grassy fields. It has a pure just about everything and isn't far from coal or oil. You might need to build a lot of foundations to create your own flatness, but with two pure limestones that's not difficult.
Rocky Desert is by far the best starting spot in the game. The Noob grassy area has poor nodes and little water. The Top Right Desert has many pure nodes which you can't take full advantage of until end game anyway, but more important it has little water available. Anything on the far left of the map is much better both for starting and end game because there is so much water. Pros
1) Decent amount of every node relatively nearby
2) Several square miles of water to build across for level terrain
3) Huge Oil field and aluminum nearby.
4) THIS IS THE BIG ONE! Plenty of water to use in production. MANY of the best alternative recipes require loads of water. This is simply not possible to get in such great quantities without an ocean.
I started in dune desert in 0.7 or something and now that 1.0 came out i wanted a change in scenery and away from that color pallet so i started in grasslands at the exact spot you said would be best lol. Ive also built my coal power in the lake and have been exploring into the rocky desert so far.
I did find the Sam ore under the arch which was helpful in getting mercer and somber MAM tecnology super early
*Minor feedback:* Might want to *share coordinates* so (new) people not familiar with the map can find it easier.
Funny, I restarted my 1.0 save to go from Rocky Desert to that exact spot. But it's true, you better know how to deal with the mobs if you want to start there.
I like to start in Northern Forest. Up to tiers 4-6 I consider my base temporary. I don't care that I have little space... it's going to be jank anyway. THEN, when I start building a big base, I still need the starter base to keep making items. I don't want to have to delete it from the places where I actually want to build. I find space only important in mid/late game.
Rocky desert has been great! Just got passed phase 3 last night. However, I am now expanding elsewhere for aluminum, oil, and steel production. I need a good heavy modular frame factory, only got 4p/m right now.
You may know this already but currently there is a Caterium Node missing from the Grassy fields that might increase the appeal slightly for that starting area. at 6:14 the location of where it's supposed to be is actually near where you think is the best area to start in that zone. If I remember correctly, it's next to a Limestone Node in one of the sandy patches that you can see on the map. (just outside of the northeastern part of the red circle.)
It's already been reported on the Satisfactory Q&A site. Not sure if someone commented on it here already, but I thought I'd mention it.
There is another very good location the rocky desert. In the south east just south of the lake and west of the double waterfall from the crater lakes. There you have 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper and 4 normal limestone very close. Additionally 1 pure caterium is just a bit north, the crater lakes with the 3 pure coal with plenty of water and 1 impure SAM are super close and quartz is just through the tunnel to the south. Space is a bit tighter but you can expand over the lake or vertically along the cliff. The only thing missing is sulfur. I prefer this one because the iron is more than enough to get you up and running and the copper supply is much better than the north west corner and everything is super close together.
I started in Western Rocky Desert cuz I never have before and had early resources available close enough.
I almost started in Grass Fields for nostalgia from 1st play through at EA launch before buying again on Steam.
My favorite start is still the west coast of grassy fields. 3 pure iron, 1 pure copper, 1 pure caterium, and 2 pure concrete in close proximity. The main downside is that you'll want to build a highway/beltway for steel
Hello, I started in the rocky desert, coordinates -1765, -1030, north of 2 islands, where I found plenty of iron, copper, concrete, quartz in the cave and coal on the west coast. I will move towards north west, to the north "coral reef" to get oil, plastic and rubber.
You overlooked a big value add for the Rocky Desert: the *pure* Caterium node roughly in the middle of the biome. Between that and a little bit of out of the way Sulfur, you can advance your MAM research very quickly in the early game.
Amusingly, I was scouting that area by the Blue Cater just last night, and came to a similar conclusion. 😁
Isn't that Caterium node up on a plateau?
@@ParkerTyler Yes, but it's not that high. I was able to get up there using some ramps.
Grass fields, far west, near paradise island. Pure iron x2, pure copper, pure limestone x2, pure caterium, pure sulfur, doggy cave nearby, HDDs close, plenty of water, quartz and coal right nearby. Only thing you need to travel for a little bit is SAM, and once you've got it you don't need to travel for it.
I just finished setting up a turbo fuel plant in the blue crater last night. I'm about to build out everything I need from the sulfur tech tree as well.
I picked the rocky desert and honestly I regret it. I started near the cluster of 5 normal iron nodes and have had a tough time getting started. Thankfully there are great spots (relatively) nearby for steel/EIBs, coal/oil power, and a turbo fuel setup that I love building.
My last 2 play throughs I have played in the Dune Desert and wanted a change in scenery. I might migrate my base over there soon
The location you show at 12:00 tends to be where I usually have my main base even if I start anywhere else. previously I really liked the alien forest vibes, but when the area was updated it lost some of it's flair. However for my current 1.0 play through I went there again, aaand it's better than ever. 6 pure iron, one pure copper, one pure limestone and 2 normal limestone was always there, but there have been added a normal caterium and two impure quartz a few hundred meters north, not enough for large builds, but plenty until unlocking trains. There's also still a decent amount of oil at the swampy area to the south. Only real issue is coal, but I usually do my coal power at the crater lake as those nodes are quite far away from anything else and the coal you pointed out at the oasis can quite easily be transported, or use the iron in the same area and setup a specialized steel factory. SAM is some distance away though...
I like starting on top of the plateau overlooking the Dune Desert because of the way water pumps and head lift work 🤣
The local quartz nerf wasn't that big a deal, the new quartz location is very close to the other perfect start location in the Northern Forest. But there's oil right down the cliff, there's coal and iron and copper and water just across a river down there further north, caterium nearby, sulfur nearby(yeah, just one now), but above the oil nodes there's a sam ore and a couple more iron. Nothing is really far away in this game from any true starting location, of which there are many.
Would be really neat that if you select a general location in the new game start it would plop you down in one of the random starting locations in that biome. Nothing more visceral than getting out of your drop pod to face off with an alpha!
The dune desert is a big challenge, but I wanted to utilize vehicles more and it allows incorporation of them at a very early stage.
The grassy area has a lot of room if you build foundations all over the abyss 👍
Which also bridges the gap to gain more water from stop the waterfall 😎
I started in the Dune Desert biome to catch up to where I left off last playthrough. It’s become my go to starting location ever since Update III.
I went with the northern forest start.
The place with 4 pure iron, 2 pure copper, 1 pure lime.
Theres the place down a bit ways west with 4 normal coal and 1 pure iron and normal copper for a starting steel factory.
Gotta go down a slight bit south tho for the 3 pure coal where i made my 1.8GW starting coal power.
Well the caterium and quartz a bit ways off too but you dont really need much of them early game anyways.
Also one of the only pure sam nodes from that location to the north east, the other 2 are south.
We started our 1.0 run in the blue crater lake. Interesting start for sure
I like to start at grass fields and expand to Cointree forest for my oil production.
Eventually I take every node in the game, so the starting location matters little in terms of logistics.
I can't seem to find that big crater lake with the SAM in the middle, or the spot you suggest. I've gotten to the normal and pure quartz nodes in the area. But from there, if I head in the direction of the lake, I get to huge cliffs or a death drop. I wish there was a short vid that shows how to find the right path from the Grassy Fields start. Thanks for all your vids.
3:36 - not to mention the whole of the ocean to build into as you strip-mine the entire area xD
i keep hearing people using the phrase "let that sink in", yet I am not expecting any sinks at my doorstep, and if I were to see one, the last thing I'd want to do is let it in
Grassy fields also has access to Uranium, though it's a bit of a trek to get it. It's in the big cave at the south eastern end of the biome, just off that little circular area with the bottomless pit. Though, it's not really worth it unless you're planning to use trains to take it somewhere else in my opinion.
"Not much space to build...." Ficsit suggested to build more verticality structures.
Just go up!!! 😆
2 floors of 16 smelters each in the vertical space of the 4 miners feeding them, then constructors go on top. There's enough space at ground level in my forest cliff top base to do donuts in the explorer.
actually gonna give the cointree a try as an starting location, been playing abit before but never got beyond an oil plant, but i feel like this is gonna be an great starting location