u/midnightmonkey8

Hello all, I wanted to tackle one of my biggest annoyances about Starfield: how to properly build out full manufacturing outposts for all 30 manufacturable components. As a first step, I want to link to this post by IronDusk34 that really helped me change my approach.

So the main idea is this: when building an outpost, either for resource extraction or manufacturing, you always build one interstellar cargo link per specific resource. That way, no matter where you are, you can call on that specific resource to be delivered to your location. This helps a lot when taking delivery missions from mission boards, either at main settlements or POIs. Once you take on that mission you can simply walk to the shipping control panel, call in the resource, and in a few minutes the mission completes and you get paid.

So with that said, let's assume you've built all the resource outposts you need (here is a helpful guide) — the next question becomes: how do you build out your manufacturing outposts? One of the big challenges is figuring out how many resources are needed to manufacture different items. And what if you want to manufacture all of them — how many resources are needed, and from where? I started down this rabbit hole and quickly got stuck sending resources from one outpost to another, lots of back and forth. Add the annoyance of Starfield's cargo link bugs and it just doesn't stop.

So I wanted to find a way to build out outposts for manufacturing all 30 components in a way that's optimized to reduce cross-outpost traffic. I built out a few tools to help new players figure things out. Here are the tools:

https://starfield-outpost-planner.netlify.app

They are not mobile friendly

Here is what you will find:

• Manufacturing Chain — an interactive reference tree of every craftable item in Starfield's manufacturing system: all 30 manufactured components across 3 tiers, plus all 38 raw resources that feed them. Click any item to see its complete supply chain at a glance.
• Design 1 — Closed Outposts (9 outgoing) — a complete 4-outpost manufacturing network covering all 30 components, where every outpost uses all 9 cargo links for outgoing producer feeds. Zero incoming cargo links — instead, the player ferries exactly 4 unique intermediates between outposts (the proven minimum for this graph). Everything is laid out so the network is ready to build in-game.
• Design 2 — Hub Variant (8 outgoing + 1 incoming) — same coverage as Design 1, all 30 components across 4 outposts, but each outpost reserves 1 cargo link as incoming (so 8 outgoing + 1 incoming per outpost instead of 9 outgoing). Same minimum of 4 player-ferried intermediates, but the topology is laid out differently. Trades one outgoing slot per outpost for fewer player runs on certain key routes.

The idea is this: using either Design 1 or Design 2, you set how many 300-mass containers of a component you always want to have on hand, and the planner auto-calculates how many containers throughout the whole supply chain are needed to achieve your goal. It also tells you how much you need to extract at your resource outposts. The tool also lets you add additional containers for inorganic/organic resources if you want to have those on hand for mission board missions or your own use.

Finally — why did I call this semi-automatic manufacturing? Let me walk you through the process:

• You build out your resource outposts with all the containers needed to complete your manufacturing goal.
• You set up your manufacturing outpost in 4 parts: first, containers for each of your incoming resources (best to keep them separate so you always know what's running out quickly); second, your manufacturing machines; third, containers for your output; and finally, your outgoing cargo links.
• On the first run, you pick up all the resources using your ship and fill up your incoming resource containers. As manufacturing completes, you fill them up again.
• Next time you visit your base and grab some of item X, the system will start manufacturing to fill the gap.
• So in the future, all you have to do is top up on the resources you need.
• Hence semi-automatic.

One final note, if you want to have 3 output containers on standby, remember you should count your outgoing cargo link container as of the three. So you would have two normal containers and your third would be your cargo link.

I hope this helps. I know there's a lot I left out, but I can answer questions if needed.

P.S. if you need a cargo ship that can transport all resources here is a vanilla one that you can use Bristleback - Starfield Heavy Cargo Hauler