Permafrost Tool & Weapon Progression: Stone → Flint → Scrap → Copper → Iron → Moon Rock

Permafrost's tools come in four shapes — axe, pickaxe, sledgehammer and shiv — and twelve tiers, from a Stone Axe that does 10 damage to a Refined Moonrock Sledgehammer that does 40. Each tier is gated by a material you must mine with the previous tier's pickaxe and smelt at a specific station. This guide lays the whole ladder out with the game's numbers so you know when a new pickaxe actually unlocks a new ore.

Pickaxes: what each tier can mine

The full damage ladder (axes, hammers, shivs)

Two things stand out. The Scrap tier (8 Scrap + 15 Processed Plastic for the axe) sits between Copper and Iron in damage but has the best durability of any tier below Moonrock — 310 on the axe and 350 on the sledgehammer — and needs no furnace at all, which is why House Camp Flipper hands you the Scrap set as soon as you reach Anna. And every tool uses the same 2× power-attack multiplier and 15 stamina per swing (hammers excepted), so damage and durability are the only stats that change between tiers. Browse each tool on the tools page or compare two with the compare tool.

Ore to ingot: the smelting chain

1. 1
   Build a Stone Furnace (40 Stone, 2 points)

   Make Coal first: 5 Wood → 2 Coal. Coal Ore nodes also give 5–8. Every ingot burns Coal.

2. 2
   Copper Ingot — 3 Copper + 5 Coal

   Copper Ore nodes give 3–6 Copper. Two Copper Ingots + 4 Wood make a Copper Axe; 1 Copper Ingot also makes Wire at the Crafting Bench, and the Tailoring Bench itself needs 3 Copper Ingots.

3. 3
   Iron Ingot — 3 Iron + 3 Coal

   Iron Ore nodes give 8–12 Iron and need at least a Copper or Scrap Pickaxe. Iron Ingots build the Weapon Bench (10), the Professional Smelter (5) and the Iron tool set.

4. 4
   Quality Metal — Makeshift Smelter (5 Scrap)

   5 Iron + 5 Scrap → 1 Quality Metal; 'it gets the job done, but wastes a lot in the process'. The Professional Smelter does it for 2 Iron Ingot + 2 Scrap. Quality Metal is in Armored walls, Military clothing, the Enhanced Barrel Brazier and 7.62 ammunition.

5. 5
   Moonrock Ingot — Professional Smelter only (5 Iron Ingot)

   3 Moon Rock + 5 Coal → 1 Moonrock Ingot. Moonrock Ore nodes give 2–4 and need an Iron Pickaxe or better. The Permafrost Armor Set and the Moon Rock tool set both run on these ingots.

6. 6
   Gold Ingot — 3 Gold + 5 Coal

   Gold Ore (1–3 per node, Refined Copper Pickaxe or better) has a trade value of 80 Bucks raw — the preview data lists no recipe that consumes Gold Ingots, so sell the ore.

1. Hour 1
   Stone

   Stone Axe, Stone Pickaxe and Stone Shiv by hand. Unlock the Stone Tools Set (2 points) and gather Flint.

2. Village
   Flint

   Workbench (10 Wood) → Flint Axe, Pickaxe and Shiv (2 Flint + 4 Wood). New Home requires all three.

3. House Camp
   Scrap, then Copper

   House Camp Flipper unlocks the Scrap set; disassemble Metal Junk for Scrap. Build the Stone Furnace and smelt Copper Ingots for the Copper set and the Tailoring Bench.

4. Solar Fields
   Iron and Quality Metal

   The Solars milestone kit hands over Iron tools. Iron Ingots open the Weapon Bench and the Professional Smelter; a Makeshift Smelter turns Iron + Scrap into Quality Metal.

5. Technocrats / Urban District
   Quality and Moon Rock

   Quality Axe, Pickaxe and Knife cost 2 blueprint points each; the Moon Rock Tools Set (tier 11) needs Moonrock Ingots from the Professional Smelter.

When to switch tiers