Gaming Guide

Permafrost: How to Get Moon Cult Armor and Recipes from the Watchtower Crates

The finished jacket, gloves and helmet sit in crates on two ladderless towers, with the jacket and pants recipes unlocking elsewhere.

The finished jacket, gloves and helmet sit in crates on two ladderless towers, with the jacket and pants recipes unlocking elsewhere.

The Moon Cult set in Permafrost is scattered across the frozen stretch of road that links Bunker Checkpoint to Hunter’s Glade. Finished pieces are loot, not drops, and the recipes for making your own come from two separate spots. Because the game is still in early access, the numbers, costs, and loot positions below can shift with updates.

Quick answer: The jacket, gloves, and helmet are in crates on top of two log watchtowers by the road. Neither tower has a ladder, so build a Wooden Foundation and stairs next to it and jump in through the window opening.


Moon Cult armor stats and value

Only the jacket and gloves show clear numbers in play. Both carry a cold rating of 29, and a spare jacket is worth 76 Bucks if you sell it to a trader. The helmet’s numbers are not readable.

PieceValueArmorCold Res.
Moon Cult Jacket76429
Moon Cult Gloves32229
Moon Cult Helmetnot readablenot readablenot readable

The jacket’s tooltip reads, “Part of the set that’s as disturbing as its original makers.” When you hover clothing you are not wearing, the game shows the difference in brackets against what you currently have on, for example “ARMOR 4 (+3)”.

As a baseline, every slot on the starting Survivor’s outfit shows [-26°C]. Equipping the Moon Cult jacket and gloves brings those slots to [-29°C], while the overall cold rating changes from [-26°C] to [-27°C]. The combined rating accounts for all five slots, so a complete set has more impact than any one piece.


Where the finished pieces are

Both watchtowers stand beside the road past Bunker Checkpoint, on the way toward Hunter’s Glade during “The Outpost”. Follow the quest marker and watch for a Damaged Van near the first one.

  • Tower one contains an Insulated Crate holding Moon Cult Jacket and Moon Cult Gloves.
  • Within the log-barricade outpost, the second tower has a crate containing Moon Cult Helmet and another Moon Cult Jacket.

Getting into the first watchtower

The tower has no ladder, so you make your own route up with cheap wooden parts. Carry about 10 Wood before you start. A Wooden Foundation costs 5 Wood, Wooden Stairs cost 2 Wood, and a Wooden Floor / Roof piece costs 3 Wood.

Hold the Building Tool (B) and open its menu, then switch to the Structures tab. Equipping the tool and opening the menu are two separate actions.
Place a Wooden Foundation on level ground against the tower’s base. On a slope the ghost stays red with “CAN’T BUILD IN AIR” or “AREA OBSTRUCTED”, so shuffle it around until the preview turns green.
Add Wooden Stairs on top of the foundation. They need a foundation under them, or you get “FOUNDATION REQUIRED!”. Climb the stairs and jump through the tower’s window opening.
Building a foundation and stairs
The stair placement preview beside a finished wooden platform at the tower base; keep adjusting until the stairs snap to the foundation and turn green. Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays
Take the Moon Cult Jacket and Moon Cult Gloves from the Insulated Crate. In your inventory, right-click each item and select EQUIP.
Put the Building Tool in deconstruction mode, then remove the foundation and stairs. Part of the Wood you used will be returned.

You know it worked when the crate’s contents land in your inventory and the equipped pieces show on your character with their cold and armor values in the clothing slots.


The second watchtower

A little further along the road, a camp ringed with log barricades holds the second tower. Near it you will also find a Wooden Crate on the ground and two Frozen bodies with a few arrows on them. The Wooden Crate is a different container from the one you want.

Use the same foundation-and-stairs trick to climb up. A bare foundation can fall short here, so place a Wooden Floor / Roof piece on top of the foundation to gain the extra height before you jump in. The crate in the tower room holds a Moon Cult Helmet and a Moon Cult Jacket.


Moon Cult recipes and where to unlock them

Two of the recipes come from fixed spots rather than the towers. Picking them up adds them to your blueprints so you can craft the pieces yourself.

  • Moon Cult Jacket: Look beside a wooden pole at Nomad Camp, the ruined site in the Cold Zone close to your first base, for a Copper Ingot on the ground. Collecting it displays “RECIPE UNLOCKED – MOON CULT JACKET” and marks the “Smelt Copper Ingot” step of “New Home” complete.
  • Moon Cult Pants: Check the upstairs office at Bunker Checkpoint; a “Recipe” sheet is on the desk beside a Recording.

Clothing recipes are crafted at a Tailoring Bench. Its own recipe is a quest reward from Skinwalker at Hunter’s Glade, and the crafting costs for the Moon Cult pieces are not shown this early in the game.

You cannot build inside a “No Build Zone” such as settlements or the Hunter’s Glade tower, but the roadside watchtowers sit outside those zones, so the climb trick works there.


Common questions about the Moon Cult set

  • Are there Moon Cult Boots? No Moon Cult Boots have been found at this stage of the game.
  • Is there a set bonus? No set bonus is shown on the tooltips.
  • Who are the Moon Cult? Journal entries blame this faction for attacking the camp that Horizon’s survivors came from. You don’t fight the Moon Cult here.

With the jacket and gloves equipped and both recipes unlocked, you have the readable, warmest parts of the set in hand, and the means to replace them at a Tailoring Bench once you reach Hunter’s Glade. Keep spare jackets if you prefer the Bucks, since each one sells for a solid price.