The Science Pack Ladder
The whole tech spine on one page. The six base-game packs, the Space Age planet packs, what each gates, and the order you climb them.
At a glance
| The spine | Research costs science packs. You cannot make a higher pack until you have built the chain for the one before it. |
| No boss key | Nothing on the map gates progress. The packs do. |
| The main path | Unlock the next pack tier, then branch into military or quality-of-life as you need it. |
Each new pack is deliberately harder to make than the last, forcing you to automate a new layer of complexity.
The base-game ladder
| Pack | Color | Gates | Key ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automation | Red | The first pack, hand-crafted to bootstrap | Copper plate, Iron gear wheel |
| Logistic | Green | Belts, inserters, most basic tech | Transport belt, Inserter |
| Military | Grey | Combat and defense | Piercing rounds magazine, Grenade, Wall |
| Chemical | Blue | Oil processing, plastic | Sulfur, Advanced circuit, Engine unit |
| Production | Purple | Trains, modules, electric smelting | Rail, Electric furnace, Productivity module |
| Utility | Yellow | Robots, blue circuits, rocketry | Processing unit, Flying robot frame, Low density structure |
| Space | White | Base game: infinite research only | Launch a Satellite from a Rocket silo |
The Space Age packs
Space Age reworks the space pack recipe and adds five planet packs, each craftable only at one location.
| Pack | Where | Building |
|---|---|---|
| Space (reworked) | Orbit | Assembling machine on a space platform |
| Metallurgic | Vulcanus | Foundry |
| Electromagnetic | Fulgora | Electromagnetic plant |
| Agricultural | Gleba | Biochamber |
| Cryogenic | Aquilo | Cryogenic plant |
| Promethium | Deep space | Cryogenic plant on a platform hub |
Do this in order
- Hand-craft red, then automate red and green together. That is the first milestone.
- Add military when biters pressure you.
- Unlock blue (chemical) and set up oil. It is the first big complexity jump.
- Automate purple and yellow.
- Launch a rocket. In the base game that yields space science for infinite research.
- In Space Age, build a space platform and fly to the planets. Vulcanus is the common first stop.
Quality, in one line
Higher-quality science packs effectively last longer in research: uncommon worth 2, rare 3, epic 4, legendary 6. Agricultural science gains a bonus, since higher quality also slows its spoilage.
Watch out for
- Trying to make a pack before its production chain exists. The ladder is strict.
- Delaying oil and stalling on blue science.
- Chasing flashy tech instead of unlocking your next pack tier.
Related: Space Age Planet Order and the deep Space Age Planets guide.