Abiotic Factor Tips for Beginners: 12 Things to Know Before You Start

These Abiotic Factor tips cover what new players most often wish they'd known on day one. Abiotic Factor is a survival crafting game for 1–6 players set in the GATE Cascade Research Facility, and it fully launched as version 1.0 on 22 July 2025. The early hours are tough: food and water are scarce, security robots guard the doors you need, and nothing you loot comes back. Here's how to get through it.

Abiotic Factor at a glance

1. Push through the Office Sector first

Items in Abiotic Factor generally don't respawn (unless you turn on Simple Respawns in the Sandbox Settings). The exception is Portal Worlds, which refill their loot on a regular schedule. The first big one, Flathill, sits near the end of the Office Sector and is full of staple resources, so reaching it early matters more than building a fancy base. Keep side projects small until you get there.

2. Grab every water cooler you see

Clean water is the first real survival problem. Water coolers can be picked up and carried back to base, and they're your best early liquid containers, so don't scrap them. Bathroom sinks hold 250ml of water but refill slowly (or not at all, depending on server settings), so fill a Water Bottle rather than drinking straight from the tap.

3. Boil Tainted Water for a steady supply

Almost any standing water counts as Tainted Water, and it never runs out. Boil a full pot of it on a stove to make clean water, but expect it to shrink: 1,000ml of Tainted Water becomes 250ml of Water. Soups need 1,000ml, so you'll boil four pots per soup. Keeping about five containers at base (four for tainted, one for clean) makes this painless.

4. Cook what you kill

Getting through the cafeteria gives you a Frying Pan. Any weapon that can butcher, like a kitchen knife or shiv, lets you harvest creature remains, and almost anything raw can go in the pan. You can also craft a Fishing Rod and fish in any liquid. Later, soups at the Chef's Counter give much better food buffs.

5. Use traps for the security robots

You'll need a Keypad Hacker to open locked doors, and making one means beating a Security Bot. A basic bot has about 180 HP, so trap it rather than fighting it head-on:

• Tripwire Mine: deals 150 damage, but needs a Box of Screws to re-arm.
• Shock Trap: needs no power, but recharges for 30 seconds; a bot takes about six shocks.
• Chopinator: heavy damage, but needs power, and enemies will attack it.

Bots come out at night, but you can wake one in its charging pod by hitting the pod enough, then lead it into your traps whenever suits you.

6. Learn both ways to repair gear

Gear wears out fast. You can repair with Duct Tape from the item's right-click menu, or build a Repair and Salvage Station (it needs an Anvil, and there are two in the Office Sector). The station repairs with cheap materials like Metal Scrap or Tech Scrap, so it's the sustainable option.

7. Watch the lights at night

When night falls, the facility's power cuts out. That makes some machines stop (including a fan that blocks a vent near the cafeteria, hiding a useful room), and powered traps won't run without a battery. Carry a light source and plan powered builds around outlets, extension cords or batteries.

8. Follow the room signs and paint

If you're stuck, look at the walls: named rooms are signposted, and coloured lights or odd splashes of paint often point the way to progress.

9. Check your Objectives list

The in-game objectives are the main thread through the story. When you don't know what to do next, they're the quickest way back on track.

10. Split jobs in co-op

With up to six players, divide the work: one person on water and food, one on crafting and repairs, the rest exploring and clearing robots. Everyone's character has its own skills that level up with use, so specialising pays off.

11. Build your base near water and power

A good first base has an outlet, a water source for boiling, and a defensible door. Moving everything later is a chore, so pick carefully once you've seen a bit of the Office Sector.

12. Keep an eye on new updates

Deep Field keeps adding content. The Year 2 roadmap promises official mod support, a Winter Update and the paid Entropic Break expansion in Q1 2027. See our Abiotic Factor roadmap article for the details.

Watch the Abiotic Factor Entropic Break trailer

More Abiotic Factor on iGame Magazine

• Abiotic Factor game hub – all our coverage in one place
• How to make soup in Abiotic Factor
• How to play Abiotic Factor

Abiotic Factor tips FAQ