Start with a backup and the recovery for your quest
Back up your world, update the game and use the recovery that matches your blocked objective: check reward chests, ask Anna or Skinwalker for a missing key, or let the host handle quest interactions. If you collected the glitched Hopes and Dreams recording before the October 11 hotfix, your save may still be blocked; submit the save and logs if the objective still fails to register.
Protect your existing world before troubleshooting
Make a separate copy of your world before trying a recovery. Keep that backup apart from the file you continue playing. This gives you a copy to retain while you work through the appropriate quest workaround.
- Close Permafrost before copying its save file. The supported backup procedure begins with the game closed.
- Copy your world's .pfs save file to a separate folder. Keep the copy there as your backup while you troubleshoot the existing world.
- Restart Steam if the game has not updated automatically. This is the developer's advice when an available update has not downloaded.
- Choose the local files if Steam Cloud reports a conflict during save restoration. That choice follows the developer's advice for a restoration conflict.
Replace a missing key and use Anna's roof key correctly
Anna or Skinwalker can supply a replacement quest key when it is missing from both your inventory and the reward chest. This recovery helps with Breaking the Radio Silence, The Way Home and Rise Above the Cold. Check both places before going back for a replacement.
- Check your inventory for the missing quest key. Finding it there means it does not meet the replacement condition.
- Check the quest reward chest for the key. The replacement recovery applies only when the key is absent there as well.
- Talk to Anna or Skinwalker if the key is missing from both places. They can give you a replacement for the affected quests.
- For Anna's Church roof objective, take the key individually from her nearby box rather than using Take All. This follows the documented handling for that objective.
- Equip the key for Anna's Church roof objective. Equipping it is part of the documented recovery before using the door.
- Use the equipped key on the intended roof door. That completes the key-use sequence described for Anna's roof objective.
Find Anna and Skinwalker without relying on a marker
Use the host and dialogue workarounds for stuck rewards
In co-op, the developer advises having the host perform the main quest steps and Skinwalker quests. Letting the host open the reward box is also a documented recovery. If your group is stuck at a hand-in or reward interaction, apply the workaround that matches that point in the quest.
- Have the host carry out the main quest or Skinwalker quest step. This follows the developer's guidance for those co-op interactions.
- Skip Skinwalker's final dialogue with Space when applying that dialogue workaround. This is a documented recovery for a stuck quest interaction.
- Let the host open the quest reward box when applying the reward-box workaround. Use this recovery before treating the reward interaction as an unresolved blocker.
Hopes and Dreams can remain blocked on an older save
The October 11 hotfix fixed Hopes and Dreams completion for newly collected quest recordings. However, saves that had already collected the glitched recording before that patch may remain blocked. The developer said a further fix for those saves was being worked on, so the completion fix does not guarantee that an already affected world is repaired.
If that describes your world, keep your backup and report the save when the recording still does not register. Include whether you collected it before the hotfix. Send the save and logs through the developer's file-upload service so the affected state can be examined.
High Frequency can finish, but an early repair may not register
High Frequency can now be completed while Hopes and Dreams is still active. You do not need to finish Hopes and Dreams simply to clear that overlap. A tower repaired before the correct quest stage may still fail to register, and recordings collected out of sequence remain a documented risk.
Follow the objective at its intended quest stage when continuing your world. If you already repaired the tower early and the objective still does not register, submit the save and logs. Describe the early repair in your report rather than assuming the update repaired that existing quest state.
Separate a stale tracker from a missing custom map marker
The hotfix fixed the quest tracker failing to update after a language change. If that was your trigger, update the game before continuing troubleshooting. If the same behaviour persists afterward, include the language change and the objective text in your report.
Custom map markers can disappear after relaunching the game. Check whether the missing icon was a marker you placed yourself or whether the quest objective has also stopped advancing. When reporting the problem, describe the missing marker and the stalled objective separately.
Report objectives that still fail after the matching recovery
Previously collected recordings and prematurely repaired objectives that still fail to register need a report with the save and logs. Preserve your world while seeking help. The unstuck option can move you into walls or leave you stuck elsewhere, so avoid treating it as a quest-progression recovery.
- Write down the quest name, the stalled objective and the action that preceded the problem. This gives your report a clear description of what happened.
- Submit the affected save and logs through the developer's file-upload service. This is the supported next step for recordings or early repairs that still do not register.
- Check Quest Issues & Workarounds in the Steam discussions for the recovery matching your quest. The developer directs players with stuck quests to that dedicated post.