Sandustry Artifacts guide

Prepare for an Artifact expedition

Leave the factory running only if its inputs, outputs, heat, and fluid buffers can remain stable without manual clearing. Otherwise stop the vulnerable feed before traveling. Charge the tools needed for ordinary digging and bring any Flamethrower, Rocket Launcher, or other researched tool indicated by rooms you previously had to leave.

If the Artifact Locator is unlocked, fill it with Void Juice at the factory before departure. The locator consumes its charge while scanning, and the footage shows long routes through dense material. Bring enough energy to reach the room, solve it, and reopen the return path rather than spending the full reserve on a straight tunnel.

• Stabilize or stop the factory.
• Fill the Locator with Void Juice.
• Charge digging and puzzle tools.
• Start from a known Map location.

Find rooms through exploration and environmental arrows

During normal exploration, follow repeated environmental arrows toward unusual enclosed structures. The entrance may be on the far side of an indestructible boundary, so clear enough surrounding terrain to understand the room shape before forcing a route.

Use save-specific landmarks when returning to a room that requires a later tool. Sandustry worlds are procedurally generated, which makes another player's depth or compass direction unreliable. The reusable information is the room's visible clue and mechanism, not its coordinate in a video.

Scan with the Artifact Locator

Equip the filled Locator in a reachable mine area and activate it long enough to read the directional indication. The observed locator sends a point from its ring toward the general direction of an Artifact. It does not draw an exact route or guarantee that the target is immediately behind the nearest wall.

Compare the indication with open space on the Map, then dig toward it in short stages. Without the upgrade, scan again after a large detour or when indestructible terrain blocks the direct line. Triangulation Lens enables exact guidance but does not create a safe route through indestructible obstacles.

• Scan from a known position.
• Note the general direction.
• Advance through removable terrain.
• Rescan after detours or major depth changes.

Inspect the room before opening its reward path

Once the boundary is visible, locate the entrance, closed door, Artifact chamber, buttons, reset icon, buildable yellow squares, fluid sources, portals, and tool symbols. Keep the return tunnel open and create a standing area outside the active mechanism.

Solve the local interaction shown by those clues. Observed rooms include Foundation channels that route Water to receivers, Lava directed toward Ice, fire sequences, frozen paths, and barriers marked for a particular weapon. The Puzzles guide covers the decision process; the key rule is to test one controlled change and watch the result before adding another.

Claim the Artifact and choose an Augment

Complete the room until the reward path opens, then interact with the Artifact and review the available Augment choice. Observed rewards include movement and tool-related options, but there is no single best choice for every build or game version.

Choose for the activity that currently limits progress. Movement and charge recovery can reduce travel time during repeated searches, while a frequently used mining or combat tool benefits more from its relevant upgrade than an item that remains in storage. Confirm the choice registered before leaving the room.

Track sockets and the remaining collection

The current Early Access route uses five Artifacts to produce one socket for improving tools. Check the current upgrade interface for the supported target and selected effect before spending the set, because balancing and available Augments can change.

Use the in-game Artifact progress display to track what remains. Do not assume a video contains every room in the same order as your world. Refill the Locator, begin from a different explored branch, and repeat the search until the current collection screen confirms completion.

• Verify the collected count.
• Review the socket target before committing.
• Record the chosen Augment.
• Refill Void Juice before the next search.

Recover from a failed search

If the Locator charge runs out without revealing a reachable room, return for Void Juice rather than continuing an unverified straight line. If energy becomes low, retreat through the known shaft before opening more terrain.

When a puzzle attempt traps the player, use its reset control first. Keep the pause-menu unstuck command as the recovery option documented by the official Beginner's Guide. After returning, reopen the approach and solve the specific material or timing failure instead of widening every wall around the room.