Which tool breaks Crackstone?
The Rocket Launcher. Shovel and Gun do not.
Sandustry Tools
Sandustry tools guide: Shovel, Grabber, Flamethrower, Vacuum, Cryoblaster, Gun, and Rocket Launcher, plus Fluxite upgrades. Verified August 2026.
Flamethrower, scanner, and stacking Fluxite on one weapon.
~7 min read
At A Glance
This Sandustry tools page separates the confirmed Early Access factory loop from Demo-era numbers that may be stale after the 2026 simulation rewrite. Sandustry is a 2D falling-sand factory game from Lantto Games, published by Hooded Horse. Dig a destructible world, wet sand, shake gold, burn slag, pipe water, and unlock research while exploring ancient vaults. Use it beside the factory, not as a promise that every ratio still matches a 2025 wiki printout.
Gold buys research. Purple Fluxite buys tool, weapon, and drone upgrades. Energy exists as a later resource. When a ratio is uncertain, bank what you have and re-check the live panel.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platform | Steam PC · GOG · Game Pass |
| Mode | Single-player |
| Status | Early Access · Aug 13, 2026 |
| Topic | Tools |
| Starter | Shovel · Grabber |
| Heat / cold | Flamethrower · Cryoblaster |
| Break / fight | Gun · Rocket Launcher · Vacuum · Grappling Hook |
| Source boundary | Steam listing, official site, and current EA player footage; Demo ratios stay TBA until re-checked |
After you pick a tool
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.
Which Sandustry tools should I unlock first?
You already have a Shovel and a Grabber. The first researched tool that changes the factory is the Flamethrower — it burns slag and melts ice. The Rocket Launcher is the Crackstone answer, not the first purchase. Hover and Logistics still beat a gun if the Collector is empty.
The reliable foundation is the same on every seed: sand plus water becomes Wet Sand, a Shaker drops gold and slag, gold only counts in a Collector, and leftover water will flood a solids line unless you wall it with Blocks or belts. A basic Filter sorts one solid — it does not dam a lake. That is why tools advice should start with banking and containment, not with a supposed infinite trick.
- Do01Upgrade the Grabber scanner so tooltips show burn / wet interactions
- Do02Research Flamethrower when slag piles appear
- Do03Unlock the Rocket Launcher when Crackstone blocks a needed cave
- Do04Stack Fluxite on one weapon (EA clips prefer rapid-fire on the gun swarm)
- Do05Use Vacuum to clean a flooded or buried Collector instead of rebuilding the world
Treat the first factory as disposable
Early Access footage shows players throwing down a tiny Shaker just to bank the first research unlocks — Logistics 1 for belts and launchers — then deleting that stub once the washer can run. Hover is a Fluxite / movement upgrade, not a gold research node. A pretty first box is optional. A Collector that actually receives gold is not.
Copy (Shift-select, C) and delete (X-drag) are the hotkeys that keep this rebuild cheap. Press V while placing to read tile counts. Ctrl-place overwrites old pieces instead of stacking collisions.
Spend gold; do not hoard it
Holding thousands of gold in the first hour slows the factory more than it protects you. Unlock the next belt, Filter, or Flamethrower so the line can run while you scout. The Kinetic Slag Press is repeatedly called out in current EA clips as the early gold spike once slag can be burned.
With that baseline in place, the next question is not “can I scale?” but “what fails if water, slag, or Crackstone shows up on this line?”
What should I decide while working on Tools?
Match the tool to the pixel. If the pixel does not change, you have the wrong tool — not a “broken seed.”
Use the table as a decision aid, not a hidden-stat calculator. Sandustry worlds are procedural and Early Access numbers move. A conservative threshold — bank gold, contain water, burn slag before pressing — beats a copied Demo ratio that no longer matches the live panel.
| Situation | Action | Why it is safer |
|---|---|---|
| Need slag burned | Flamethrower or lava | Shovel only relocates the pile |
| Need Crackstone gone | Rocket Launcher | Gun and Shovel fail |
| Need water moved | Grabber, pipes, or Vacuum | Launchers do not throw lakes well |
| Need to cross your own base | Hover (W+Space) | Mining a door wastes belts |
Make the irreversible choice last
Deleting a running washer, dumping lava into a gold pit, or researching a vanity gun before Filters can remove options. Before doing any of those, confirm what the factory keeps if the attempt fails. If the answer is “the line floods,” choose the reversible option first: add a Filter, raise a wall, or pause the launchers.
That same habit makes progress steadier. One secure Collector cycle funds Logistics; a flooded pit repeats the first twenty minutes with no new research.
How should I spend Fluxite on tools?
Fluxite is the purple upgrade currency, not research gold. EA footage says max one weapon tree before starting another because the upgrades stack. Scanner and hover-related upgrades pay rent every minute you are in the factory.
Avoid turning one creator’s layout into a universal rule. A 44×28 washer works in that cave. Your sand pit may be shallower. Record the context: water on which side, how high the launchers sat, and whether leftover water reached the Shakers.
One tree, then the next
A half gun and a half launcher mine slower than one stacked gun in the same hour.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the wider factory: does it bank more gold, stop a flood, unlock a research door, or only look neat? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you off the Collector.
Scanner is information
Knowing slag burns and spores do not is worth more than a hidden damage percent.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the wider factory: does it bank more gold, stop a flood, unlock a research door, or only look neat? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you off the Collector.
What are Cryoblaster, Vacuum, and Grappling Hook for?
Cryoblaster freezes water to ice and lava to Scoria so you can move heat as a solid. Vacuum relocates piles. Grappling Hook is vertical travel for caves. None of them replace the Shaker. Unlock them when the map, not the tutorial, asks.
A conservative guide matters while EA and Demo wikis sit side by side. Steam confirms the pixel-physics factory, artifacts, and mod tools. It does not publish a complete density table. This site therefore marks unverified costs and chances as TBA instead of inventing a databook.
Scoria is portable lava
Community docs say it is how you transport lava. Confirm the melt-back with the Flamethrower in EA.
If the observed result matters to your next unlock, verify it on the live research panel or compare a short clip in the official Discord. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened in this EA seed” lasts longer than “always 20 percent.”
Drones are not hand tools
Digger and Hauler unlock on a later research node. They extend the same jobs; they do not skip Filters.
If the observed result matters to your next unlock, verify it on the live research panel or compare a short clip in the official Discord. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened in this EA seed” lasts longer than “always 20 percent.”
What should I verify before trusting Tools advice?
Check the current Early Access build before treating a gold chance, research cost, channel name, or “unlimited water” clip as settled. The official Steam page is the source for the game’s premise; sandustry.com is the source for the Discord invite. Demo tutorials can still teach hotkeys and washer shape — they cannot guarantee today’s numbers.
- Do01Confirm the claim is about Sandustry, not Mindustry or a sandwich guide
- Do02Check whether the clip is Early Access (August 2026+) or a 2025 Demo rewrite leftover
- Do03Separate a confirmed system (Shaker, Collector, Fluxite upgrades) from a personal layout
- Do04Keep a Collector and a water wall before testing a risky burn or rocket shot
- Do05Use Crackstone guide when the next decision leaves this page
- Do06Use the verified Steam listing or the official Discord for details marked TBA
Sandustry Tools FAQ
What should I upgrade first?
Grabber scanner, then stack Fluxite on the weapon you mine with.
Is every tools number confirmed?
No. This guide labels Demo-era ratios, full artifact lists, and unverified costs as TBA rather than guessing.
What should I read next?
Next: Crackstone guide. It continues the factory decision from this page.
Related pages
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.