The Molecular Analysis Machine or MAM is a special building that acts like the HUB by unlocking blueprints. Instead of completing milestones, you will be researching materials in a tech tree. Each branch will have requirements corresponding to the item that is going to get unlocked. Learning how to research using the MAM is easy but it can get confusing once the tech tree gets complicated and there are multiple choices you have to choose from.
This Satisfactory MAM guide aims to ease you in your decisions by explaining the details involving the MAM and which are the most important tech trees to prioritize.
What Is the MAM Used For?
The MAM is used for researching materials to unlock blueprints for structures, equipment and inventory slots. There are requirements for researching tech trees and the rewards are mostly based on the item you are researching.
The MAM also unlocks alternate recipes to make production more efficient. This process is unlocked through gathering and researching Hard Drive scattered across the entire map. The locations for these are all fixed and are not randomly generated.
How to Unlock the MAM?
The MAM can be unlocked as early as Tier 1 through finishing the Field Research milestone. The milestone requires 300 Wire, 300 Screw and 100 Iron Plate. It will cost 5 Reinforced Iron Plate, 15 Cable and 45 Wire to construct and you can construct as many as you wish.
MAM Research – What to Prioritize
There are a considerable amount of blueprints to unlock and it can be confusing to decide which one to research first, since you will be constantly needing materials to start each of them. There are 8 tech trees available in the MAM. These are Alien Organisms, Caterium, Flower Petals, Mycelia, Nutrients, Power Slugs, Quartz and Sulfur.
Researching Hard Drive will always be the priority when you have it available in your inventory. It takes 10 minutes to finish and unlocks alternate recipes which can drastically change your production layouts.
Alien Organisms is important early in the game. They can be your main source in feeding your Biomass Burner for power. This is a renewable source unlike leaves and wood that fuel your power for the early game.
You will have to defeat a few Hogs and Spitters to get enough Alien Carapace and Alien Organs to research. It will take 11 Alien Carapace and 4 Alien Organs to research the blueprint to turn them into Biomass.
Caterium and Quartz can be acquired early even without the scanner. You can find them by searching through the web for an interactive map like Satisfactory-Calculator. Once you find the nodes, you can farm enough of each for research in the MAM. It unlocks Quickwire and Quartz Crystal that will be used in later tiers.
You can choose to automate a production line early in the game and sink them in an Awesome Sink for easy FICSIT Coupons.
There are a few tech tree branches from Caterium that can significantly improve the quality of life in the game. These are Power Poles Mk.2 that adds 3 more additional connections to a single power pole and the Blade Runner which greatly increases mobility through faster movements and higher jumps.
For Quartz, you can prioritize getting Frequency Mapping to unlock a map for easier navigation especially when exploring. The map that will be unlocked will be permanent throughout your playthrough and reloading the game will not reset the exploration progress in the map.
Power Slugs are important but are hard to find on the map. They are used to unlock Overclock Production which lets you manually increase the production rate of your builds. Power Slugs are hard to get and are scattered across the map with 3 different tiers based on their color.
Power Slugs are used to create Power Shards which are used at buildings to increase its maximum clockspeed by 50% for each shard. This can be useful when trying to increase your production rate of a certain material.
You will also see tech branches called Expanded Toolbelt and Inflatable Pocket Dimensions scattered across the tech trees. The Expanded Toolbelt increases your hand inventory slot by 1 while the latter increases your general inventory space.
The Sulfur tech tree will help you with combat by unlocking the Rifle and also unlocks the Nobelisk that can clearing out obstacles. It is not that high in the priority list as combat should be easy with proper mechanics.
The tech trees of Mycelia, Nutrients, Flower Petals are not that important and should only be researched if you have no available materials to currently research.
MAM Tips and Tricks
Research your Hard Drive once you get them
Hard Drive can be hard to get as Drop Pods have specific requirements when trying to open them. Once you have the Hard Drive, you can easily build a MAM and start the research. You can delete the MAM and the research will still progress while you look for another Drop Pod.
Only start researching blueprints for materials when they are ready to be used
The requirements for some of the tech tree branches are difficult and it is best to research them when they are needed. For example, the Supercomputer research will need 50 AI Limiter, 50 High-Speed Connector and 50 Computer.
Supercomputer will primarily be used for creating a Nuclear Power Plant and Geothermal Generator. These are all built towards the end but can be researched earlier. It can be a waste to use such a valuable component early like the Computer which is used for Miner Mk.3 and Fuel Generators.
Conclusion
The MAM acts like a mini HUB for your progression in the game. Not everything in the tech tree is important to progressing in the game but they substantially help quality of life while playing. It is up to you on which research you would want to prioritize and this guide serves as a mere example of one way of playing the game.
You can prioritize the research of the Explorer, Rifle and Nobelisk and have some fun exploring the desert Mad Max-style.
