Factorio: Space Age continues from where the base game of Factorio had begun, launching your rockets into space. After a similar beginning to the base game, Factorio, the bulk of the DLC content will appear afterwards in trying to expand one's base. One has to put up with the annoying Biters and Spitters while doing so, and some of them may even prevent you from getting important early resources because of where they are located. This guide shows you a few pointers that could help with setting up your defenses early to help deal with the Biters and Spitters in Factorio 2.0.
Place the Gun Turrets on the four corners of your foundation, closest to the spawners of the Biters and Spitters, to strengthen your early defenses. You can build walls with gun turrets behind them and two grids away from them with a conveyor or transport belt if your base is surrounded by many spawners. That way, you can keep your gun turrets stocked with ammo by filling the entire belt with firearm magazines.
The base defense system is based on a firearm magazine production line encircling the base, to which you can attach inserters to automatically fill up each turret near the walls. No small effort, let alone the fact that you have to tweak them for each expansion, but it's definitely worth the hassle in the end.
You must understand your risks, before you put energy into your defence plan. So, please tell me, why do the Spitters and Biters attack your base. The attacks are not random, but depend on your level of pollution and proximity to spawners.
If your production buildings pollute the ground next to spawners, your base will be constantly attacked. The spawners will instantly respawn Biters the moment you kill one, so taking them out may be quite problematic using basic weaponry like pistols or SMGs. Protecting the base from Biters should be your top priority when in solo play until you get powerful armors.
Also, switch between weapons when having more than one for specific situations: use shotguns against swarming enemies, submachine guns against spawners.
You can counter the spawners early on with some Gun Turrets as an attacking move. Without nearby spawners, your base won't be attacked anymore, so it would be the most straightforward way to deal with the attacks. until you grow, of course.
You can simply use the automated Firearm Magazines to supply the Gun Turrets to other production lines, such as the Military Science Pack recipe, and one always wants to have a good structure of defence in place, just in case.
Now that you know the Best Early Defense Setup in Factorio, you can apply it and get the most out of the game.