Crafting & Progression
TOOL & WEAPON PROGRESSION
Tools are the foundation of everything you do in Solarpunk. From chopping your first tree with a flint axe to setting up fully automated mining drills, your tool progression determines how fast you can gather resources, build your base, and explore new islands. This guide walks through every tool tier from early game to endgame automation.
Understanding Tool Tiers and When to Upgrade
Solarpunk's tool progression follows a classic tiers system, but with a unique twist: every tool tier is gated behind both material availability and crafting station upgrades. You can't just mine titanium with a copper pickaxe — the game simply won't let you. Each tool tier unlocks the ability to mine the next tier's materials, creating a natural progression path that guides you through the tech tree.
The general rule is: upgrade your tools as soon as you have the materials. The efficiency gain from each tier is significant enough that the resource investment pays for itself within an hour of gameplay. The jump from Wooden to Copper tools, for example, increases your mining speed by approximately 40% while more than doubling durability. That means fewer trips back to base to craft replacements, which adds up to serious time savings over a full play session.
One important note: tools in Solarpunk have durability. Every use degrades the tool slightly, and when durability hits zero, the tool breaks and disappears. Higher-tier tools have significantly higher durability, which means fewer replacements and less wasted resources. At the Titanium tier and above, a single tool can last an entire play session if you're not doing massive construction projects. Plan accordingly and always keep a spare tool in your inventory.
TOOL TIER PROGRESSION
All values are for the "standard" tool (axe/pickaxe/shovel). Swords and special tools may vary.
| Tier | Tool | Materials | Durability | Efficiency | Unlock Requirement |
|---|
| T1 | Flint Tools | 3 Flint + 2 Wood Stick | 30 uses | Very Slow | Starting / Beach rocks |
| T2 | Wooden Tools | 6 Wood Planks + 2 Vine | 50 uses | Slow | Crafting bench (tier 1) |
| T3 | Copper Tools | 4 Copper Bars + 2 Wood Stick | 120 uses | Medium | Smelter + Copper Ore |
| T4 | Bronze Tools | 4 Bronze Bars + 2 Wood Stick | 180 uses | Medium | Bronze Alloy (Copper + Tin) |
| T5 | Iron Tools | 4 Iron Bars + 2 Wood Stick | 300 uses | Fast | Iron Ore + Blast Furnace |
| T6 | Steel Tools | 4 Steel Bars + 2 Iron Stick | 500 uses | Fast | Steel Alloy (Iron + Coal) |
| T7 | Titanium Tools | 4 Titanium Bars + 2 Steel Stick | 800 uses | Very Fast | Titanium Ore (deep mining) |
| T8 | Solarsteel Tools | 4 Solarsteel Bars + 2 Titanium Stick | 1200 uses | Very Fast | Solar Furnace + Rare Alloys |
| T9 | Automated Tools | Varies by type | Infinite (needs power) | Instant (with power) | Advanced Crafting + Power Grid |
BEST TOOL BY RESOURCE TYPE
Using the right tool for the job can cut your gathering time by 50% or more.
| Resource | Best Tool | Early Alt | Reason | Speed |
|---|
| Wood (Trees) | Steel Axe / Automated Lumbermill | Iron Axe (early game) | Trees require high chop damage; steel+ is efficient | 2-3 sec/tree (steel), instant (auto) |
| Stone / Ore | Titanium Pickaxe / Automated Quarry | Iron Pickaxe | Hard materials need high-tier picks to mine efficiently | 3-5 sec/block (titanium), instant (auto) |
| Dirt / Sand | Copper Shovel / Automated Excavator | Wooden Shovel (early) | Shovels are specialized for soft materials only | 1 sec/block (copper+), instant (auto) |
| Plants / Crops | Bronze Sickle / Automated Harvester | Bare hands (very early) | Sickles harvest multiple crops at once | 0.5 sec/crop (sickle), instant (auto) |
| Fish / Water Resources | Copper Fishing Rod / Automated Fish Farm | Flint Spear (early) | Fishing rods have best catch rate and variety | 30-60 sec/cast (manual), continuous (auto) |
| Rare Minerals (Deep) | Solarsteel Pickaxe + Beacon | Titanium Pickaxe | Deep mining requires maximum tool power + light source | 5-8 sec/block (solarsteel) |
| Combat (Enemies) | Solarsteel Sword / Automated Turrets | Copper Sword (early) | High damage + durability for sustained combat | 2-4 hits/kill (scaling with enemy) |
DETAILED PROGRESSION WALKTHROUGH
Phase 1: Survival (Flint → Wooden → Copper)
Your first hour in Solarpunk is all about basic survival. You start with literally nothing — no tools, no weapons, no shelter. The very first thing you need to do is punch a tree to get wood (yes, the classic survival game opening), then use that wood to craft a Wooden Pickaxe. With your pickaxe, mine some stone and build a basic crafting bench. This unlocks Wooden Tools for everything else.
Don't stay on Wooden Tools for long. As soon as you have a smelter (unlocked at crafting bench tier 2), start mining Copper Ore. You need 4 Copper Bars to make a full set of Copper Tools. The efficiency jump is immediate and noticeable. This is also when you should build your first shelter — sleeping in a bed sets your respawn point, which is critical before exploring dangerous areas.
Phase 2: Expansion (Bronze → Iron → Steel)
Once you have Copper Tools, the game opens up significantly. You can now mine Tin Ore (usually found near Copper) to make Bronze Alloy at the smelter. Bronze Tools are a modest upgrade from Copper, but they're cheaper to make in bulk, which matters when you're equipping multiple toolbars or setting up a base with friends in multiplayer.
Iron is where tools start to feel "good." Iron Ore requires a Blast Furnace (crafting bench tier 3), which is a significant milestone. Once you have Iron Tools, you can mine efficiently enough to start large-scale projects like walls, towers, and automated crafting setups. Steel is the next step after Iron — combine Iron Bars with Coal in the Blast Furnace to make Steel. The durability jump from Iron to Steel is massive (300 → 500 uses), making Steel Tools the last "manual" tool tier most players use before transitioning to automation.
Phase 3: Endgame (Titanium → Solarsteel → Automation)
Titanium Ore only spawns deep underground or on remote floating islands. You'll need a good airship and a stack of healing items to reach Titanium mining sites safely. Titanium Tools have 800 durability and "Very Fast" efficiency — they're genuinely a joy to use after the slower lower tiers. This is also when you should start planning your automation setup, because the next tier (Solarsteel) requires a Solar Furnace that needs significant power infrastructure.
Solarsteel is the pinnacle of hand tools. With 1200 durability and the highest damage/efficiency in the game, a single Solarsteel tool can last through an entire endgame playthrough. But by the time you can make Solarsteel, you should already be working on Automated Tools — machines that don't use durability at all and can operate continuously as long as they have power. The Automated Lumbermill, Automated Quarry, and Automated Harvester are the endgame goals for any serious Solarpunk player. Setting up a fully automated resource gathering system is a rite of passage that transforms the game from "survival crafting" to "automation tycoon."
FAQ
Q: Should I enchant my tools? Is it worth it?
A: Yes, absolutely. Once you reach the Iron tier, you unlock the Enchanting Table (requires Obsidian and Rare Crystals). Useful enchantments include "Durability" (+50% durability), "Efficiency" (+20% speed), and "Fortune" (chance for extra drops). A Steel Pickaxe with Durability III and Efficiency II is better than a Titanium Pickaxe without enchantments. Prioritize enchanting your "main" tools (the ones you use most often) before upgrading to the next tier.
Q: How do I set up automated tools? What's the power requirement?
A: Automated tools require a power grid with at least 50 kW continuous output for basic setups, and 200+ kW for full automation. You'll need Solar Panels (or Wind Turbines for consistent night power), Battery Banks for storage, and Power Lines to connect everything. The Automated Quarry alone draws 30 kW when active. Plan your power infrastructure before committing to automation — running out of power mid-mining is frustrating and can leave machines stalled.
Q: Can I skip tiers, or do I need to craft every tier?
A: You can skip tiers if you have the materials and crafting stations. For example, if you get lucky and find Iron Ore early (some surface boulders contain iron), you can go straight to Iron Tools without making Bronze. However, you still need the appropriate crafting station — Iron Tools require a Blast Furnace, which requires you to have progressed far enough to unlock it. In practice, most players naturally progress through each tier because the material gathering for each tier teaches you the mechanics you'll need for the next one.
Tested across 3 full playthroughs. Updated June 2026. Unofficial fan guide.
