Magnetic Materials Guide

If your early factory keeps stalling because coils, motors, or other magnetic parts are starving for input, the fix is usually to clean up your Iron Ore and Magnet chain first. Start by stabilizing your ore supply, then turn that ore into Magnets close to the source, and feed those Magnets straight into Magnetic Coil production before you try to branch out. That keeps the line short, reduces backups, and gets your most important early intermediates flowing.

Secure enough Iron Ore before you try to scale magnetic parts

Treat Iron Ore as the first thing to stabilize if you want magnetic production to stay alive. It is one of the core basic natural resources, found commonly on rocky planets across the galaxy, and it is mined with the Mining Machine from Iron veins. A single vein can support multiple miners, so dense deposits are especially valuable for early expansion and for any line that needs steady input later.

Iron Ore is smelted into Iron Ingots and Magnets, which means the same ore field often has to feed more than one branch of your factory. That is why iron supply becomes the first bottleneck so often: if mining or smelting is too thin, everything downstream starts waiting. Make sure you have plenty of ore on hand before you scale up magnetic parts, and keep an eye on your field as demand rises.

Veins Utilization is worth unlocking early if you plan to lean on iron heavily. Each level increases mining rate by a flat 10% and reduces vein consumption by a compounding 6%. In practice, that means your iron fields last longer and output more without needing immediate expansion. If you are choosing between pushing a fancy new chain and keeping your foundation healthy, take the upgrade and protect your long-term throughput.

Decide when to make Magnets instead of stockpiling raw ore

Magnets are made by smelting Iron Ore in a Smelter, or directly by Icarus in the Replicator. For normal factory flow, you should usually favor the smelter line and reserve Replicator crafting for small, immediate needs. The key point is not to let raw Magnets sit around without a plan. They are a Tier 2 material, but they are only useful in a few direct places, so their value comes from what they unlock next, not from being stored in bulk.

Here is the key production reference to build around:

The reason this matters is simple: Magnet crafting is slower than the usual smelting pace. Because each Magnet takes 1.5 seconds, equal output needs 50% more Smelters than a standard 1-second recipe. If you do not account for that, your ore line will look healthy while your Magnet output quietly lags behind.

Also, Magnets do have competing uses. They are needed for Magnetic Coils, and they also go into Super-Magnetic Rings and Plasma Capsules. That means every Magnet you store instead of using is a Magnet not feeding your next progression step. Build your Magnet line with a destination in mind, and keep it moving forward.

Build Magnetic Coil production right after your first Magnet line

Once your Magnet line is running, connect it directly into Magnetic Coil production instead of shipping Magnets around the base. Magnets are used almost exclusively to make Magnetic Coils, and Magnetic Coils are a core intermediate for Electromagnetic Matrix and Electric motor. That makes coils one of the earliest materials you should be feeding continuously.

The best approach is to dedicate an ore line to Magnet output, then split that output into Magnetic Coil production as soon as you can support it. Keep the chain short. Every extra buffer, detour, or storage stop is another place for the line to clog. If you can turn Magnets into Magnetic Coils immediately, do it. You will get more useful output from the same iron, and you will reach the materials that actually drive progression much faster.

This is also why you should avoid overbuilding a Magnet warehouse early. Magnets are not something you want to admire in storage; they are something you want consumed on the way to coils. If your choice is between another chest of raw Magnets and a cleaner Coil feed, take the Coil feed every time.

Match your smelter count and belts to Magnet throughput

When you expand Magnet production, scale the Smelter block and belt tier together. If your belt is too weak for the Smelter count, the line backs up. If your Smelters are too few, your ore stream is underused and the field is doing more work than your factory can process. Build around the belt capacity you actually have, not the capacity you wish you had later.

Use the belt tier as your planning anchor. A Conveyor Belt Mk.I can support 9 Smelters for Magnet production, Conveyor Belt Mk.II can support 18, and Conveyor Belt Mk.III can support 45. That makes it easy to size the block before you start placing machines. If you are still on early transport, keep the Magnet line compact and disciplined. If you upgrade belts, expand the block in step with them instead of leaving half the line starved.

A good habit is to look at the ore line first, then the Smelters, then the belt. That order keeps you from building a production block that looks impressive but cannot actually move its output. Magnet production is especially sensitive to this because of the slower craft time; a mismatch shows up quickly as either a pileup or a shortage.

Use Super-Magnetic Ring as a later sink, not your first focus

Super-Magnetic Ring is part of the magnetic materials chain, but it should not be your first destination for Magnets. Magnets are a direct ingredient for Super-Magnetic Ring, and they are also needed for Magnetic Coils, so the two recipes compete for the same material. Since Magnetic Coils feed more of your early factory’s next steps, they usually deserve priority.

That means your rule should be simple: keep Magnets flowing into Magnetic Coils first, and only divert to Super-Magnetic Ring once your coil supply is already stable. If you start splitting too early, you will feel it everywhere else in the factory. Coil shortages slow down progression, while a mature coil line can afford to support extra magnetic demand.

Use Super-Magnetic Ring as the later sink you open after the foundation is secure. By then, your Iron Ore mining should be stable, your Magnet smelting should be sized correctly, and your coil line should already be feeding the recipes that matter most. At that point, the ring line is an expansion, not a rescue operation.

If you keep the chain tight, build the Magnet block around your belt tier, and push Magnets into Magnetic Coils quickly, magnetic materials stop being a problem and start becoming a reliable backbone for the rest of your factory.