Craftomation 101 Upgrade Path Priority

Craftomation 101 progression is an upgrade path through crafted parts, not a talent tree. You turn Base and Yellow resources into Blue alloys, Gray machines, and Green robotics until CraftoMates build the next generation of workers. This page ranks that ladder: Body, Head, CraftoMate, Cargo variants, Chip, Furnace, and the terraforming gear that follows. Cross-link the recipe list, automation priority, Feed robots, and terraforming as you climb.

Milestone map

Think in gates:

1. Charged Steelplate gate — Steel Plate + Magnet
2. Power & sense gate — Battery, Radiolamp, Heater, Storage
3. Motion gate — Wire, Rotor, Bonfire, Furnace
4. Robotics gate — Body, Head, CraftoMate
5. Logistics gate — Cargo Body/Head/Mate, Tank, Steam Battery
6. Planet gate — Heaters, Steam Bonfire, volcano wake via Steam Battery drop

Skip gates and you will craft Heads with no Batteries, or Cargo shells with no Steam Batteries to mount.

Gate 1 — Charged Steelplate

Steel (Iron + Fire) → Steel Plate (Steel + Steel). Magnet (Iron + Steel). Combine Plate + Magnet into Charged Steelplate. Rank this entire cluster S for mid-game entry. Without charged plates you cannot build Battery, Radiolamp, or Heater cleanly.

Tips:

• Keep Fire automated before mass smelting (Automate Fire).
• Budget Iron between Steel plates and Magnets; both spend Iron-derived parts.
• Store finished charged plates in Glass+Plate Storage so assemblers never starve.

Gate 2 — Battery, Radiolamp, Storage, Heater

From Charged Steelplate:

• Battery = Charged Steelplate + Water
• Radiolamp = Charged Steelplate + Glass
• Heater = Charged Steelplate + Sand
• Storage = Steel Plate + Glass (plate, not necessarily charged)

Rank Battery and Radiolamp as S because Body and Head need them. Storage is S for logistics. Heater is A until you commit to terraforming—then it becomes S for planet work.

Glass comes from Sand + Fire; Sand from Soil + Fire. Keep a Sand buffer if Heaters and Glass compete.

Gate 3 — Wire, Rotor, Bonfire, Furnace

• Copper = Copper Ore + Fire
• Wire = Copper + Copper
• Rotor = Magnet + Wire
• Bonfire = Clay Brick + Coal
• Furnace = Rotor + Bonfire

Furnace is an A/S machine upgrade: craft it when smelting volume justifies the Rotor cost. Bonfire alone is a stepping stone—do not stop there if Furnace is the goal. Clay Brick (Soil + Stone) and Coal Brick (Stone + Coal) should already be familiar from early recipes.

Chip (Wire + Radiolamp) sits beside this gate. Chips are A early mid-game and S when you scale advanced programming or denser electronics needs. Wire is the shared bottleneck between Rotor and Chip—automate Copper smelting before you promise both.

Gate 4 — Body, Head, CraftoMate

Core robotics:

• Body = Battery + Steel
• Head = Radiolamp + Steel
• CraftoMate = Body + Head

Rank assembling your first CraftoMate as S. Rank mass-producing mates as A until feeding is automated (Feed robots). A yard of unfed Bodies helps nobody.

Production tips:

• Build Bodies and Heads in parallel chests.
• Only combine into full mates when both parts and a feed plan exist.
• Assign new mates to Fire, haul, or feed jobs from the automation priority list—not to random wandering.

Gate 5 — Cargo Mate and Steam logistics

Cargo upgrades extend carry and support steam logistics:

• Tank = Copper + Steel Plate
• Steam Battery = Tank + Water
• Cargo Body = Body + Steam Battery
• Cargo Head = Head + Copper Ore
• Cargo Mate = Cargo Head + Cargo Body

Rank Tank → Steam Battery as A once standard mates work, then S when terraforming or long hauls demand them. Cargo Mate is the logistics crown for this gate—build a few excellent Cargo Mates rather than dozens of empty shells.

Remember the volcano wake rule from the facts sheet: drop a Steam Battery to wake the volcano. That single interaction makes Steam Battery crafting a planetary milestone, not a vanity item. Plan Water and Tank throughput before the big drop.

Gate 6 — Terraforming stack

• Heater (Charged Steelplate + Sand)
• Steam Bonfire (Heater + Tank)
• Supporting ales from Brewery lines as needed
• Steam Battery placement for volcano wake

Follow the dedicated terraforming guide for map-level strategy. From an upgrade-path view, do not buy Heaters with the last Charged Steelplates you need for Batteries and Radiolamps. Robotics first, planet tools second—unless you are specifically speedrunning heat goals.

Suggested craft sequence (compressed)

1. Fire online; Steel and Copper flowing.
2. Steel Plate + Magnet → Charged Steelplate stockpile.
3. Glass + Water online; craft Battery, Radiolamp, Storage.
4. Wire → Rotor; bricks → Bonfire; combine Furnace when ready.
5. Body + Head → first CraftoMates; automate feeds.
6. Chip line as Wire allows.
7. Tank → Steam Battery → Cargo parts → Cargo Mates.
8. Heaters / Steam Bonfire / volcano wake per terraforming plan.

Dependency diagram (text)

Fire → Steel → Steel Plate ─┐
Iron → Magnet ──────────────┴→ Charged Steelplate → Battery → Body ─┐
Sand → Glass ───────────────→ Radiolamp ────────────────────→ Head ─┴→ CraftoMate
Copper Ore → Copper → Wire → Rotor + Bonfire → Furnace
Wire + Radiolamp → Chip
Copper + Steel Plate → Tank → Steam Battery → Cargo Body → Cargo Mate

Print that mental diagram beside the recipes color rows when you feel lost.

Priority vs perfection

You do not need a perfect Furnace hall before the first CraftoMate. You do need charged plates, Battery, Radiolamp, and Steel. Conversely, spamming Cargo Mates before Steam Battery supply exists wastes Heads and Bodies. Let bottlenecks set the next craft—not completionism.

When a patch lands after the full release, re-check costs, then return here and adjust which gate you emphasize. The shape of the ladder—plates to power to robots to cargo to planet—has stayed the useful mental model for frozen-planet automation.

Related pages

• Priority Lists Hub
• Early recipes
• Automation priority
• Recipes
• Feed robots
• Terraforming
• Guides Hub