# Start locations

> Canonical source: [Start locations](https://satisfactorybase.com/wiki/world/start-locations)
> Language: en

The four starting areas offered on “New game” – Grass Fields, Rocky Desert, Northern Forest and Dune Desert – with their map position, nearby resources, and pros and cons.


When you start a new game you choose one of four starting areas. The landing point is picked at random from predefined positions inside that area; until you build a HUB you respawn there. With **Skip Onboarding** the HUB is already complete, Tier 1 is unlocked and the starting inventory contains among other things 4 Portable Miners, 129 Iron Plate, 58 Concrete, 60 Iron Rod, 48 Wire and 8 Reinforced Iron Plate.

## Overview

Ratings are the wiki's 1–5 stars from the “New game” screen.

| # | Start area | Suitability (wiki) | Flat terrain | Biomass | Resource amount | Resource variety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grass Fields | Ideal for beginners | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| 2 | Rocky Desert | Suitable for beginners; sea close by (water) | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| 3 | Northern Forest | For experienced players; large height differences | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| 4 | Dune Desert | For advanced players; biomass and water only in the oases | ★★★★☆ | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★☆☆☆ |

## Grass Fields

- **Map position:** grid cell X2Y0 – the southern centre of the land mass (biome rating: terrain 1, biomass 3, hostility 2 – see [Biomes](/wiki/world/biomes)).
- **Nearby resources:** Iron, Copper and Limestone close to the landing points, but many nodes are **impure**; Coal is a little further away. A Uranium cave with 2 entrances and a SAM node in the Stone Arch Ravine cave lie in this biome. The Grass Fields lakes sit at −7.3 m (upper) and −26.8 m (north).
- **Pros:** flattest start area in the game, few hazards, stone arches for orientation, the Giant Flying Manta circles overhead.
- **Cons:** frequent impure nodes mean lower [miner rates](/guides/resource-nodes) until you overclock or upgrade; many Hogs around nodes and slugs.

## Rocky Desert

- **Map position:** grid cells X0Y3–X1Y4 on the western edge; the sea is close by for water.
- **Nearby resources:** very node-rich – Iron, Copper, Limestone and Coal are all close. The Desert Cave contains 3 Raw Quartz and 1 SAM node (5 entrances). The highest point of the map (Z ≈ 470 m) carries a Uranium node.
- **Pros:** best resource layout for large factories, open and mostly flat ground, sea water for coal power, the longest cave of the map.
- **Cons:** little biomass for the Biomass Burner phase; Nuclear Hogs guard the Uranium; the Rocky Desert Lake is at −17.7 m, so water has to be pumped uphill.

## Northern Forest

- **Map position:** grid cells X2Y4–X4Y3 in the north, next to the Desert Canyons and Spire Coast.
- **Nearby resources:** many nodes, with **Caterium and Raw Quartz** close by – ideal for the MAM trees early on. Twin Falls Lake (130 m) and the Crater Lakes (154 m) are elevated water sources for gravity-fed pipelines.
- **Pros:** highest biomass and resource variety of the four; good mid-game location.
- **Cons:** hilly ground – building requires foundations from the start; the wiki rates it for experienced players.

## Dune Desert

- **Map position:** grid cells X5Y3–X6Y5 on the eastern edge; Abyss Cliffs and Spire Coast border it.
- **Nearby resources:** very many **pure** nodes; cave entrances under rocks. Water and biomass only in the tree oases (oasis lakes at 55.3 m, the Dune Desert Abyss Cliffs lake at 228 m; the north coast at −18.4 m).
- **Pros:** flat dunes, the best scaling later in the game thanks to pure nodes.
- **Cons:** the slowest start – little biomass and water at the beginning; Gas Pillars and Spore Flowers guard several crash sites.

## Which one?

- First playthrough: **Grass Fields** – nothing to fight, nothing to climb.
- Big factory from the start: **Rocky Desert** – most nodes per walking distance and water nearby.
- Early Caterium/Quartz research: **Northern Forest**.
- Late-game scaling with pure nodes: **Dune Desert**.

All four are marked on the [map](/map); use the resource layers and purity filters to compare them. When you have picked one, [Using SatisfactoryBase](/guides/using-satisfactorybase) explains how to link the nodes around your base to a factory in the planner.


- [Biomes](/wiki/world/biomes)

- [Resource nodes & miners](/guides/resource-nodes)

- [Crash sites](/wiki/collectibles/crash-sites)

- [Open the map](/map)