Outbound: How to Get the Axe, Pickaxe, and Sickle

Here's how to get the Axe, Pickaxe, and Sickle in Outbound.

All three starting tools in Outbound follow the same basic process. Find the blueprint at a Signal Tower, spend a Download Voucher to unlock it, then head back to the workbench to craft it.

Which tool shows up at which tower seems to be random, so it's worth checking the downloads list at every tower encountered rather than assuming a specific one will always have what's needed.

Getting a Download Voucher

Every blueprint download requires a voucher, made using the Recycler. Dropping litter into it and turning it on produces a voucher automatically after a short wait, so keeping an eye out for scattered trash while exploring pays off later in Outbound.

Once a voucher is in hand, approaching any signal tower's terminal and checking its downloads list shows what's currently available to unlock.

The Axe

The Axe costs two wood and one scrap metal to craft once downloaded, making it one of the more affordable early tools. Crafting it uses the same short minigame as any other item at the workbench.

Once equipped, approaching a fallen log or tree and pressing E chops it apart into usable wood.

This is the main way to gather wood in bulk rather than relying on scraps found lying around. It's worth keeping an eye on inventory space while chopping, since it fills up quickly and requires depositing items back at the vehicle before continuing to collect more.

The Pickaxe

The Pickaxe requires two rocks and one wood, making it the cheapest of the three tools to put together. Once crafted, it appears in the tools tab and is ready to use immediately on the right kind of terrain.

Stone nodes found scattered across rocky areas of the map are the main target for this tool. Approaching one and interacting with it automatically swings the pickaxe, yielding five rocks per node instead of the single rock gained from picking up loose pebbles by hand.

Other resource types are likely tied to different nodes further into Outbound, though stone is the primary use early on.

The Sickle

The Sickle takes a small amount of fiber along with one scrap metal to craft. According to its own in-game description, it's designed for sweeping through large bushes and wheat with ease, though the smaller wheat plants are the more commonly available target in the early biomes.

Approaching a patch of grain and pressing E harvests it instantly using the sickle. Grain becomes far more available once progressing from the starting forest biome into the wheat field areas, where clusters of grain can be seen peeking up from the ground in clusters ready to gather.

The larger bushes mentioned in the tool's description likely appear in biomes further along the map, past the initial wheat fields and farmland.

Putting Them to Use

Each tool unlocks a different core resource in Outbound - wood from the axe, stone from the pickaxe, and grain or fiber from the sickle. Getting all three unlocked and crafted early sets up a steady flow of the basic materials needed for most early crafting recipes and workstation builds going forward.

Also, check out our other guides below :

• Outbound: How to Complete the Windmill Puzzle
• Outbound Beginner's Guide: Tips and Tricks for an Easy Start
• Outbound: How to Power the Vehicle Elevator
• Outbound: How to Farm and Use Crop Plots
• Outbound: How to Upgrade Your Vehicle
• Outbound: How to Get and Use the Baking Oven
• Outbound: How to Get a Dog Companion
• Outbound: How to Build a Base on Your Vehicle
• Outbound: How to Upgrade Tools