Beyond These Stars Toolsmith Guide: How to Unlock It and Fix the 10-Iron Softlock

The Beyond These Stars Toolsmith is the building that turns raw iron into finished tools—the refined resource that carries your civilization from hand-to-mouth survival into genuine expansion across the back of Kewa, the colossal space whale your colony calls home. On paper, the Beyond These Stars Toolsmith unlock couldn't be simpler: research the card, stockpile 10 iron, and start producing. In practice, a wave of new players has hit a frustrating wall where the "Unlock Toolsmith" card refuses to complete, even with iron visibly piling up beside the home spaceship. This guide explains what the building does, walks through the intended unlock sequence, and breaks down the iron-counting softlock that has tripped up colonies since the game's Early Access debut—drawing on community reports and an official developer response on Beyond These Stars on Steam.

What the Beyond These Stars Toolsmith Actually Does

Tools sit at the top of your early production chain. Raw ore gets smelted into iron, and iron gets worked into tools—goods that later research cards and construction projects depend on. According to community reports, the home spaceship can produce a small trickle of tools on its own, but it's slow, and Steam forum posts complain when even that trickle stops. The Beyond These Stars Toolsmith exists to close that gap: it's the dedicated production building that converts your smelted iron stockpile into a dependable tool supply.

The catch is the unlock gate. The research card demands 10 iron, and—crucially—that iron has to come from the right place. That distinction is exactly where the softlock begins.

How to Unlock the Toolsmith, Step by Step

The unlock sequence looks linear on the research screen, but the order you build things in matters more than the game lets on. Here's the sequence that works, with the pitfalls flagged at each stage:

That third step is the easiest to skip. According to one player who reproduced the problem in both the tutorial and a fresh save, workers were unable to unload production from buildings when no storage existed, effectively softlocking the entire run. The same player noted that storage only became available after reaching 20 inhabitants—so population growth is quietly part of your Toolsmith checklist, even though the research card never mentions it.

Stuck at "Unlock Toolsmith"? Why Your Iron Isn't Counting

Now for the bug itself. Shortly after launch, a player posted on the game's Steam forum describing the exact scenario: the research card's prerequisites showed only Iron unticked, the card demanded 10 iron, and the resource bar showed 29 iron sitting right next to Home. Nothing they tried would complete the card.

A second player reported the same experience, and a developer—responding officially in the thread—offered the key insight: check whether the 10 iron was actually produced by the ore smelter, or whether it's simply the iron that arrived with your home spaceship. In other words, the research requirement appears to track smelted iron, not total iron on hand. Your starting stock shows up on the counter, but it doesn't tick the box.

The developer also suggested a workaround for stalled production: demolish and rebuild the burner, which expunges its accumulated soot into a resource cache and lets iron production resume. If the card still won't complete after that, they asked affected players to submit a bug ticket from inside the game using F11.

Iron Sources: What Counts Toward the Unlock

The home-ship-versus-smelter distinction feels pedantic right up until it costs you twenty minutes of staring at a research card that won't budge. Here's the breakdown:

The safest habit is simple: before touching the research card, open your production view and confirm the ore smelter itself has output at least 10 iron. If the smelter's lifetime production is below 10, the Beyond These Stars Toolsmith card doesn't care how impressive your global counter looks. This is also a useful mental model for later research cards—early-access colony builders frequently track produced resources rather than held resources, so assume the stricter interpretation unless proven otherwise.

Keep Production Flowing: Soot, Storage, and Idle Workers

The Toolsmith softlock is really three smaller problems wearing one trench coat: soot, storage, and worker behavior. Here's how to stay ahead of each.

Soot. The burner accumulates soot as it runs, and a full burner stops the smelting chain dead. Until a cleaner in-game solution arrives, the community-endorsed fix is the demolish-and-rebuild loop described above. Pollution more broadly is an active talking point—one Steam thread titled "Confusion about pollution" drew multiple replies—so expect this system to keep evolving during Early Access under developer Balancing Monkey Games.

Storage. Treat storage as a hard prerequisite for any production building, not an optional upgrade. Community reports put the storage unlock at around 20 inhabitants, so pushing population growth early pays off twice: more workers on the smelter and a functioning logistics loop that actually moves goods.

Idle inhabitants. Another launch-window report described 16 inhabitants doing nothing at all—three loitering at the spaceship while the rest stayed in bed—leaving the player unable to even generate electricity. If your colonists go dormant, check job assignments first, then power: a colony without electricity can't run the buildings it has already placed. Frequent building breakdowns are another recurring forum complaint, so glance at building condition whenever output mysteriously drops.

Quick habits that prevent most stalls:

• Build and staff the ore smelter before opening the research screen
• Check the burner whenever smelter output flatlines
• Push toward 20 inhabitants early to unlock storage
• Verify smelter lifetime production, not the global counter, before researching
• Use F11 the moment something looks genuinely broken—the devs are actively collecting tickets

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't Unlock Toolsmith complete even though I have more than 10 iron?

Because the card almost certainly isn't counting the iron you think it is. Per the developer's response on Steam, the requirement tracks iron produced by the ore smelter, not the starting stock that came with your home spaceship. Smelt 10 fresh iron and the prerequisite should tick.

How much iron does the Beyond These Stars Toolsmith need?

The research card requires 10 iron, and it must be iron your colony actually smelted. Community reports from launch suggest that home-ship stock—no matter how large—won't satisfy the prerequisite, so don't be fooled by a healthy-looking resource counter.

How do I fix a burner that's full of soot?

The developer-suggested workaround is to demolish the burner and rebuild it. This expunges the accumulated soot into a resource cache and restarts production. If problems persist after rebuilding, submit a bug ticket with F11 from inside the game so the team can investigate your save.

Do I need storage before the Toolsmith will unlock?

Indirectly, yes—based on player experience. Without storage, workers reportedly can't unload production from buildings, which stalls iron output entirely. Storage reportedly unlocks around 20 inhabitants, so growing your population early is the most reliable path to a smooth Toolsmith unlock and a healthier colony overall.