Crafting Guide
Permafrost Crafting Guide: Every Tool, Weapon & Workstation
Crafting is the engine of progression in Permafrost. Every meaningful step forward — better tools, warmer clothing, stronger weapons, a heated base — flows through the crafting system. This Permafrost crafting guide lays out how crafting works, the resources you'll depend on, and a tier-by-tier path from your first stone axe to advanced gear. If you haven't survived a full day yet, pair this with our Permafrost beginner's guide and survival tips.
How Crafting Works
In Permafrost, crafting generally follows a familiar survival-sandbox loop: gather raw materials, unlock or access a recipe, and build the item at a hand-craft menu or a dedicated workstation. Basic items — simple tools, a campfire, crude bindings — can usually be made on the spot from your inventory. More advanced items require a workstation, such as a crafting bench, forge or cooking station, which unlocks higher-tier recipes and lets you refine raw materials into processed components.
Progression is layered: early tools let you gather better materials, which unlock better workstations, which in turn enable stronger gear. Understanding this dependency chain is the key to crafting efficiently — you rarely want to rush a top-tier item before you've built the stations and gathered the refined materials it depends on.
Every advanced craft is the top of a chain: raw material → tool → workstation → refined component → final item. Build the chain in order and you'll never be stuck missing a step.
Core Crafting Resources
Nearly everything you make traces back to a handful of foundational resources. Knowing where each comes from lets you plan gathering trips around what you actually need to craft next.
| Resource | Gathered From | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Wood | Trees, branches | Handles, fuel, structures, tools |
| Stone | Rocks, outcrops | Tool heads, firepits, early weapons |
| Fiber / Rope | Bushes, plants | Bindings, cloth, crafting glue |
| Hide & Fur | Hunted animals | Warm clothing, bags, bedding |
| Metal / Scrap | Ruins, ore deposits | Advanced tools, weapons, fittings |
| Bone / Sinew | Animal carcasses | Tools, bow strings, reinforcement |
Tools & Their Tiers
Tools are your first and most important crafts because they gate how quickly you gather everything else. The typical progression moves from crude, hand-made implements to refined metal versions that are faster, more durable and yield more per use.
Tier 1 — Stone Tools
Your starting toolkit: a stone axe for chopping wood, a stone pickaxe for mining stone and ore, and a crude knife for skinning and gathering. Cheap to make, essential from minute one, but they wear out quickly — always keep spare materials to replace them.
Tier 2 — Reinforced Tools
By combining wood, stone, fiber and early metal or bone, you craft sturdier tools that gather faster and last longer. This tier is the workhorse of the mid game and where most of your day-to-day gathering happens.
Tier 3 — Metal Tools
Once you've secured metal and built the workstations to process it, metal tools offer the best efficiency and durability, dramatically cutting the time you spend exposed while gathering — which, in a game defined by cold, is a survival advantage as much as a convenience.
Weapons for Hunting & Defense
Weapons serve two purposes in Permafrost: hunting for food and hide, and defending yourself and your dog against dangerous wildlife. Early on, a simple spear is versatile and cheap, effective for both hunting and self-defense. A bow opens up ranged hunting, letting you take down prey from a safe distance before it can flee or fight back — invaluable when paired with your dog's tracking. As you progress, reinforced and metal-tipped weapons hit harder and last longer, making larger and more aggressive animals viable targets.
Match your weapon to your target. Ranged tools excel for skittish prey and keeping distance from danger; sturdier melee weapons matter when something closes on your camp. Keeping at least one reliable weapon repaired and ready at all times is simply good survival hygiene.
A bow for ranged kills plus a spear for defense covers almost every situation. Craft both early and keep them repaired — see our hunting tips for how to use them with your dog.
Clothing & Warmth Gear
If tools gate your gathering, clothing gates your survival. In a world of endless cold, warm garments are among the highest-value crafts available, because every layer of insulation buys you more time outside before the cold becomes dangerous. Early cloth garments made from fiber help a little; the real breakthrough comes with fur and hide clothing, which slows heat loss dramatically.
Prioritise hunting animals for hide and fur specifically so you can craft and upgrade your cold-weather kit. Well-insulated clothing effectively extends every expedition, every hunt and every build session, making it one of the best returns on crafting investment in the entire game. Combine warm clothing with fire and shelter — the three pillars covered in our temperature guide — for maximum survivability.
Workstations & Upgrades
Workstations are the backbone of any serious base and unlock the recipes that carry you into the mid and late game. Expect to build and rely on stations like these:
- Campfire / Firepit — cooking, melting snow for water, and warmth. Your first and most essential station.
- Crafting Bench — unlocks reinforced tools, gear and components beyond hand-crafting.
- Cooking Station — turns raw meat into nourishing, safe meals and preserves food.
- Forge / Metalworking — processes metal and ore into advanced tools, weapons and fittings.
- Storage — organises materials so you always know what you have to craft with.
Place your workstations together in a warm, central part of your base so you can craft without stepping into the cold. Our Permafrost base building guide covers efficient crafting-room layouts that keep your stations, storage and heat source in one convenient hub.
Building every workstation immediately drains resources you need for warmth and food. Prioritise the campfire and crafting bench first, then expand into cooking and metalworking as your material base grows.
Crafting Priority Order
When you're staring at a full recipe list wondering what to make first, follow this rough order for a smooth early-to-mid game:
- Stone axe & pickaxe — unlock efficient gathering.
- Campfire — warmth, cooking and water.
- Basic weapon (spear) — hunting and defense.
- Warm clothing — extend every outdoor minute.
- Crafting bench — open up reinforced recipes.
- Cooking station & storage — stabilise food and organisation.
- Metal tools & forge — step into the mid game.
Efficiency & Repair Tips
- Repair before you break. Maintaining a tool costs less than crafting a new one from scratch.
- Batch your gathering. Collect enough for several crafts per trip to minimise cold exposure.
- Keep a component buffer. Stock rope, handles and processed materials so you can craft on demand.
- Craft near heat. Position stations by a fire so crafting never costs you warmth.
- Upgrade clothing first when in doubt. Warmth is the best multiplier on everything else you do.
Master these crafting fundamentals and you'll always have the right tool, weapon and garment for the moment. Next, turn your gathered materials into a proper home with our Permafrost base building guide, or coordinate crafting roles with friends using our Permafrost co-op guide.