FastPipes Inserter and Extractor Attachment Tiers Explained
FastPipes inserter and extractor attachment tiers progress from basic to ultimate through a clear crafting chain. Each attachment type comes in a series of tiers, and every tier is built by upgrading the tier below it with a more valuable material. Understanding this progression helps you plan which resources to gather and how far to push a pipe network.
The Two Attachment Types
FastPipes uses two kinds of attachments on its pipes: inserters and extractors. An inserter attachment handles moving items into a destination, while an extractor attachment handles pulling items out of a source. Both types follow the same tier structure, so the upgrade path for one mirrors the other.
Basic Tier
The basic tier is where every attachment line begins. These are the entry-level versions of both attachment types.
Basic Inserter Attachment — crafted from five 
Iron Ingot plus one 
Hopper
Basic Extractor Attachment — crafted from five Iron Ingot plus one 
Piston
Both basic attachments use iron as their main material, which makes them the cheapest tier to produce. The difference between them comes down to the extra component: a hopper for the inserter and a piston for the extractor.
Improved Tier
The improved tier is the first upgrade step. Instead of starting from raw materials, you build each improved attachment directly from its basic counterpart.
Improved Inserter Attachment — crafted from five 
Gold Ingot plus one Basic Inserter Attachment
Improved Extractor Attachment — crafted from five Gold Ingot plus one Basic Extractor Attachment
Because the basic attachment is consumed in the recipe, upgrading means sacrificing the lower tier item to gain the higher one. Gold replaces iron as the primary material at this stage, so you will need a supply of gold before you can move past the basic tier.
Advanced Tier
The advanced tier follows the same pattern one step further. Each advanced attachment is made by combining its improved version with a more valuable material.
Advanced Inserter Attachment — crafted from five 
Diamond plus one Improved Inserter Attachment
Advanced Extractor Attachment — crafted from five Diamond plus one Improved Extractor Attachment
Diamond is the material for this tier, making advanced attachments the most expensive of the tiers covered here. As with the previous step, the improved attachment is used up in the craft.
How the Progression Works
The tier system is strictly linear. You cannot skip from basic to advanced in a single craft, because each recipe requires the attachment from the tier directly below it. To reach an advanced attachment, you must first craft a basic attachment, upgrade it to improved, and then upgrade that improved version to advanced.
This means the total cost of an advanced attachment includes everything spent along the way: the iron and the hopper or piston for the basic tier, the gold for the improved tier, and the diamonds for the advanced tier. Planning for a full upgrade means accounting for all three material types.
Choosing a Tier
Since both attachment types share identical tier names and upgrade materials, the choice between inserter and extractor depends on the job rather than the tier. You pick an inserter when items need to go into a block, and an extractor when items need to come out.
The tier you choose determines how much material investment you are making. Basic attachments are the least demanding to craft, improved attachments sit in the middle, and advanced attachments require the most valuable inputs. If you are expanding a pipe setup gradually, starting with basic attachments and upgrading as your resource supply grows keeps the cost manageable at each stage.
Keeping the Chain in Mind
Every upgrade consumes the attachment you already made, so there is no way to reclaim a lower tier once it has been used in a recipe. Because of this, it is worth deciding early whether a given pipe connection needs only a basic attachment or whether you intend to push it all the way to advanced. Building with the final tier in mind avoids wasting materials on intermediate attachments you did not need to craft in the first place.
Covers the mod’s in-game guide topics: Basic Inserter Attachment Basic Extractor Attachment Improved Inserter Attachment Improved Extractor Attachment Advanced Inserter Attachment Advanced Extractor Attachment