Programming, what a cool hobby, right? Huh? What do you say? It can also be a job? Of course! And figure that, it can also actually be a game. That’s how Factorio operates, with its sequence of rules and orders, it definitely resembles the way coding works. So it can be daunting to start out with no guidance, and that’s why we wanted to offer some Factorio tips for beginners.
The game has been in an alpha version for several years, almost nine to be exact, and it came out only in August of 2020. It works on both automation and building and running your very own factory, so it can definitely get complicated at the start to get everything under control.
But fret not, to aid all of the players that are looking to get into Factorio, or maybe just starting out, we definitely have some Factorio tips for beginners.
Factorio tips for beginners
Factorio can be a complicated game to work out when you first install it, so our Factorio tips for beginners are:
- Set Peaceful Mode on
- Underground Pipes
- Mind your Defenses
- Learn Ratios
- Use Blueprints
- Mind Pollution Levels
- Be careful of Biters
- Use Construction Bots
- Build stock of resources
- Don’t forget about mods
Tip 1 – Set Peaceful Mode On
While it’s all fun and games to attack and retaliate, at the start it’s better to avoid being too busy with defending our factory so better to keep a bit of peace of mind, especially from the pesky Biters. You can definitely think about setting it back to normal once things have started running smoothly.
Tip 2 – Underground Pipes
While at the start it is not very useful to start planning to build everything underground, we’d say pipes are a pretty big exception since, if built on the surface, they can be an obstacles and also be easily destroyed by Biters. It’s a good investment.
Tip 3 – Mind Your Defenses
Factorio offers several ways to defend your territory, for example, gun turrets are definitely useful, but remember to upgrade to lasers as soon as possible. Defense should not be your priority at all times, but once you have a good settlement then it’s an investment you’d want to make.
Tip 4 – Learn Ratios
We hope you don’t have anything against math because it’s good to remember to learn about the ratios of materials needed to construct buildings and also power up our factory so that you never go overboard with materials you won’t use or find yourself with not enough power.
Tip 5 – Use Blueprints
One great feature of Factorio is, indeed, blueprints, which are something rarely found even in similar strategy games. You can store and save layouts for anything you want to build so that it is very easy to recall them, a great feature that you should not forget about.
Tip 6 – Mind Pollution Levels
While you don’t, personally, have any kind of repercussion even if your factory is polluting the air all around, there’s enemies to think about. Pressing ALT on the map shows the level of pollution from your factory, so you can check if you are intruding on enemy nests and plan accordingly: too much pollution and they’ll attack! On that note…
Tip 7 – Careful of Biters
Those creatures may seem generally not that big of a threat at first, but they will evolve together with your factory and soon they’ll be very strong, especially because attacking in packs is their specialty. Always keep an eye out on them and try to keep the nests under control.
Tip 8 – Use Construction Bots
These bots follow the player around and gather automatically resources, along with saving blueprints. They are definitely worth the investment as they’ll automate many of those boring tasks and free up time to expand.
Tip 9 – Build a Stock of Resources
While it might be obvious, try to always keep a stack of resources in your possession. This is especially important at the start when you don’t want to be constantly slowed down by being without steam or other important materials. Gather as much as possible and save for a rainy day.
Tip 10 – Don’t Forget About Mods
We’ve talked about the quality of life improvements, and there are definitely mods that will further do that. Like keeping under control the evolution of Biters or keeping an eye out for problems in your factory at a glance. There are definitely many that are worth exploring, also for longtime players that want something new.
Those are all our Factorio tips for beginners. We hope these tips for starting out were useful for your experience in Factorio. If you want to take a break from all that automation and pollution, we recommend our Stardew Valley guides and, why not, some Forza Horizon 5 while you’re at it.