Sandustry Guide and Wiki

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Sandustry Tier 5 Locked? Check the Anomaly and Patch First

This page answers the high-intent 'Tier 5 still locked' state without inventing a universal sequence. Official sources establish the patch repair and what Tier 5 contains; the anomaly confusion is labeled as a current community demand signal.

Early Access v0.5.6 · evidence boundary corrected 2026-09-05 · Checked 2026-09-05

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Read the blocked objective literally

Open the factory level or objective display and record every visible requirement exactly. Do not respond to a locked tier by producing arbitrary extra Gold or Florinol. Update 0.5.3 made special objectives clearer, and the later 0.5.4 repair targeted a specific post-anomaly softlock, so the displayed state matters.

Capture the current counts, objective wording, research already completed, and whether an anomaly objective is present or marked complete. This separates an unfinished milestone from a UI refresh problem or the repaired bug.

Check the anomaly investigation state

A current Reddit thread describes a player who had exceeded the visible production amount and completed available lower-tier research while Tier 5 remained locked. A reply pointed to anomaly investigation, and the original poster confirmed that was the missing step. This is valuable current demand evidence, not an official universal checklist.

Use the objective and map guidance visibly present in your current build to confirm whether an anomaly investigation remains active. Do not import the Demo guide's minimap behavior into Early Access or infer a route through hard terrain unless the current objective or current official documentation supports it.

Install v0.5.4 or a later build

The official August 16 update states that v0.5.4 fixed a softlock where Tier 5 stayed blocked even after anomaly investigation. It also states that affected saves should be repaired automatically. SteamDB records that update as build 24767486 and mirrors the same patch scope.

Exit the running game, allow Steam to update, launch the patched build, and load the affected save once. Record the version before and after. Automatic repair is the official first step; manual save editing is neither necessary nor supported by the sources used here.

Distinguish missing investigation from the fixed bug

If anomaly investigation is not complete, finish the objective indicated by your current game and recheck the tier. If it is already complete but the tier remains blocked on a pre-0.5.4 build, update first. If it remains blocked on a patched build after a clean reload, you have a narrower reportable state.

Do not call every locked Tier 5 save softlocked. The official bug description applies specifically after anomaly investigation. A visible incomplete production objective, an uninvestigated anomaly, or a pending objective is a progression state until evidence shows otherwise.

Verify the Tier 5 research screen

The official Research page currently lists Tier 5 items including Snowmaker, Florinol Battery, Drill, Smelter, Energy Siphon, Flux Emanator, Copper Mold, Void Rift, Energy Connector, Steam Turbine, Laser, Recall Shard, and Locator. Seeing that group provides a practical confirmation that the tier has opened.

Do not confuse unlocking Factory Tier 5 with purchasing every Tier 5 research item. Individual entries still have Gold costs and some documented dependencies. For example, the Research page lists dependencies for Drill and Copper Mold. Treat those as item-level gates after the factory tier becomes available.

Avoid unsupported unlock recipes

Search results and community pages may state exact resource totals, hidden sequences, routes through surrounding stone, or later energy objectives. This page includes only values that are visible in the player's own objective or documented on the current official Research page. It does not promote a copied numerical recipe as universal.

Early Access progression can change. A guide that merges demo footage, a private Discord answer, and a current save can sound precise while being wrong. Keep the build and source boundary beside every patch-sensitive claim.

Prepare a focused support report

If Tier 5 remains blocked on v0.5.4 or later after anomaly investigation is visibly complete and the save has been reloaded, record the platform, build, objective screen, factory counts, investigation state, save age, and exact load sequence. Note that the official automatic repair did not change the state.

Use official support or bug-report channels and share logs or a save only when requested through a trusted route. Remove personal paths or identifiers where possible and keep a backup. Do not repeatedly overwrite the only affected save while experimenting.

Continue after Tier 5 opens

Once the Tier 5 group appears, choose research based on the actual next constraint instead of buying everything in list order. Use the official Research descriptions to understand each unlock and the site's research-priority guide to frame reversible decisions. Recheck item dependencies before spending Gold.

If your original goal was artifact hunting, the official Research page says the Locator is a Tier 5 unlock that uses Voidjuice to scan for hidden alien artifacts. That establishes a documented later artifact-search tool without claiming that every earlier puzzle or room requires it.

Sources and evidence notes

Frequently Asked Questions