Crafting and Gear
The crafting loop runs gather, extract, craft, raid, and the whole system depends on surviving to an extraction point. Your Raider Den in Speranza holds eight stations: seven crafting stations that upgrade to Level 3 for higher-tier recipes, plus Scrappy the rooster with his own path to Level 5. Blueprints are permanent unlocks once you extract with one and learn it at the den.
Every successful raid in ARC Raiders feeds back into the crafting system. You bring materials home, refine them, build better gear, and take that gear into harder maps for better loot. Breaking this loop (by dying and losing your materials) is what makes the game tense. Understanding the crafting system is how you stay ahead of the curve.
The Crafting Loop
The loop has four steps:
- Gather. Pick up materials, components, and blueprints during a raid. Check every container, loot every ARC wreck, and search points of interest.
- Extract. Get to an extraction point alive. If you die, you lose everything you collected this raid (except safe pocket items).
- Craft. Back in Speranza, use your stations to build weapons, armor, consumables, and upgrades.
- Raid. Take your new gear topside and repeat.
The entire system revolves around successful extraction. Dying with a pack full of rare materials is the most punishing thing that can happen to your progression.
Blueprints
Blueprints are permanent unlocks. When you find a blueprint during a raid, extract with it, and learn it back at the den, the recipe is yours forever. You can then craft that item at the correct station whenever you have the materials.
Blueprints drop from:
- Loot containers (random chance, higher on harder maps)
- ARC machine wreckage (elite and boss kills have better drop rates)
- Specific points of interest (mission control in Spaceport, Seed Vault in Stella Montis)
- Quest rewards
Blueprints fit in your safe pocket. Slot a rare find there the moment you pick it up and it survives even if you die on the way out. If your pocket is already committed, head straight to extraction instead of pushing deeper into the map.
Raider Den Stations
Your crafting hub in Speranza has eight stations. The seven crafting stations, the basic Workbench included, upgrade to Level 3 and unlock higher-tier recipes at each level. Scrappy runs on his own separate path up to Level 5.
Workbench
Your starting station. Handles basic weapons, ammunition, and simple supplies, with upgrades unlocking better versions of its staples. Even late in progression it stays useful for crafting cheap ammo and throwaway weapons for free loadout supplements.
Gunsmith
The most important station for combat effectiveness.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Basic weapon recipes and the first upgrade steps |
| 2 | Mid-rarity recipes and upgrades, basic weapon mods (sights, grips) |
| 3 | Top recipes and the highest upgrade steps, advanced weapon mods (stocks, compensators) |
Weapon upgrades raise a weapon one rarity step at a time: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary. Each step improves base stats (damage, accuracy, handling) and changes the weapon's visual appearance, and your Gunsmith level gates how far up the ladder you can push.
Legendary weapons sit at the top of the rarity ladder and cannot be upgraded further. Since Patch 1.26.0, every weapon upgrade also repairs 25% of the weapon's maximum durability as part of the upgrade, a discount Legendaries can no longer benefit from.
Weapon mods are swappable attachments. You can add and remove mods freely without destroying them. Mod types include:
| Mod Type | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sights | Changes zoom level and reticle type |
| Grips | Reduces recoil and improves handling |
| Stocks | Improves stability during sustained fire |
| Compensators | Reduces muzzle climb on automatic weapons |
| Barrels | Changes damage falloff and bullet velocity |
Test mod combinations on the practice range before taking them into a raid. A grip that reduces horizontal recoil might increase vertical recoil, and vice versa. Find the configuration that works for your aim style.
Gear Bench
Handles armor, shields, and protective equipment.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Basic shields, light armor |
| 2 | Mid-tier shields (more health slots), medium armor |
| 3 | High-tier shields, heavy armor, augment crafting |
Shields are your primary survivability layer. Higher-tier shields give you more health buffer before your actual HP takes damage. Prioritize shield upgrades over weapon upgrades in early progression. Surviving an extra hit matters more than dealing slightly more damage.
Augments are passive or active modules that provide bonuses like increased inventory capacity, faster healing, or improved stamina regeneration. You unlock augment crafting at Gear Bench Level 3.
Medical Lab
Produces healing items and medical supplies.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Basic bandages, weak painkillers |
| 2 | Improved bandages (faster heal), adrenaline shots (stamina burst) |
| 3 | Advanced medkits (full heal), shield rechargers |
Do not underestimate healing items. A stack of improved bandages has saved more raids than any weapon upgrade. Always bring at least three healing items on a custom loadout run.
Explosives Station
Manufactures grenades, mines, and throwable devices.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Light Impact Grenades and Gas Grenades |
| 2 | Stronger throwables and the mine family (Explosive, Gas, Jolt, Pulse, and Surge Coil mines arrive across the upgrade path) |
| 3 | Wolfpack Grenades and Heavy Fuze Grenades |
The Wolfpack Grenade is one of the best anti-ARC tools in the game. The Epic-rarity throwable splits into 12 submunitions that home onto nearby ARC machines. The "Three Birds, One Stone" achievement requires killing 3 ARC enemies with a single Wolfpack.
The Lure Grenade is a Utility Station craft, not an explosive. It draws ARC attention to wherever it lands, and getting a drone destroyed by another drone with one unlocks the "Hook, Line, and Sinker" achievement.
Utility Station
Creates scanners, tactical tools, and exploration gear.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Starting utility tools |
| 2 | Binoculars, Lure Grenades, Raider Hatch Keys, Smoke Grenades, Ziplines |
| 3 | Photoelectric Cloak, Snap Hook, Tagging Grenades |
Raider Hatch Keys crafted here open Raider Hatches, the fast key-gated underground extraction points. Locked loot rooms on the surface work differently: they open with map-specific keys found as raid loot, so extract with any key you find and bring it back to the map it belongs to.
Smoke Grenades and Ziplines come from the Utility Station, not the Explosives Station. If your escape plan leans on smoke cover or a zipline shortcut, upgrade here first.
Refiner
Converts raw materials into advanced crafting components.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Basic refining (scrap → processed metal) |
| 2 | Intermediate refining (electronics → circuit boards) |
| 3 | Advanced refining (rare minerals → alloy composites) |
The Refiner is the backbone of your crafting economy. Upgrading it early means you can turn cheap, common materials into the components needed for high-tier recipes. Prioritize the Refiner alongside the Gunsmith.
Scrappy
Your companion rooster. Yes, a rooster. Scrappy sits in your den and passively generates materials over time while you are online or offline.
Upgrading Scrappy increases the quality and quantity of materials he produces, and his path runs all the way to Level 5. Early on, his output is modest (basic scrap and low-tier components). At higher levels, he generates mid-tier materials that save you entire farming runs.
Scrappy generates materials on a real-time timer. Check in on him between raids to collect what he has produced. Leaving materials uncollected does not stack them beyond his storage cap.
Durability
Every piece of equipment has a durability rating. Durability decreases with use: firing weapons, absorbing damage with shields, deploying consumables.
Durability is a countdown, not a performance slider. A weapon at 5% durability shoots, reloads, and handles exactly like a fresh one. The penalty arrives all at once: at zero, the item breaks and is unusable until you repair it.
Repair your gear between raids. Repair costs scale with the item's tier but are cheaper than crafting a replacement. Equipment is never permanently lost due to durability hitting zero. You can always repair it, no matter how broken it is.
Since Patch 1.26.0, looted weapons average 30 durability instead of the old 50. Budget for repair costs before taking found weapons into the next raid. A near-zero weapon still shoots fine, but one more firefight can break it in your hands.
The Repair on Upgrade Strategy
The Riven Tides patch (1.26.0) introduced a powerful workaround for weapon attrition. When you upgrade a weapon's rarity at the Gunsmith, it also restores 25% of the weapon's maximum durability.
The smart play: do not upgrade a weapon the moment you can. Instead, use the weapon until its durability drops close to zero, then upgrade it. You get the stat boost and the durability restore in one investment. This stretches each upgrade tier across more raids and saves you repair materials.
Nomadic Envoys
Patch 1.29.0 introduced a new vendor to Speranza: Ermal, a representative of the Nomadic Envoys trading network. Ermal is the most important endgame vendor in the game, but he does not accept coins.
How Ermal Works
- Unlock requirement: Raider Level 25.
- Location: A stall on the lobby floor of the Speranza hub.
- Currency: High-tier ARC components, rare weapons, and scavenged gear. No coins accepted.
- Inventory reset: Every Tuesday at 1 PM UTC.
What Ermal Sells
| Item Type | Examples | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon blueprints | Tempest, plus rotating recipes | Only source for some of these blueprints. |
| Raider Tokens | Cosmetic currency | Exclusive cosmetics not available elsewhere. |
| Stash Expansions | +12 stash slots each | Critical. Your default stash fills up fast, and Ermal is the way to expand it mid-cycle. Costs high-tier barter materials. |
| Expedition Vault slots | Up to 5 secure carry-over slots | Lets you preserve specific items across Expedition wipes. See the Expedition Projects guide. |
Ermal's inventory rotates weekly. If you see a blueprint or Stash Expansion you need, buy it immediately. There is no guarantee it will appear in the next rotation. Farm the materials in advance so you are ready when his stock refreshes.
Loadout Strategy
What to Bring
| Raid Goal | Loadout Approach |
|---|---|
| Learning a new map | Free loadout. Zero risk. |
| Material farming on easy maps | Free loadout or cheap custom gear. Not worth risking good stuff. |
| Quest completion | Match your loadout to the quest difficulty. Medium-tier gear for medium maps. |
| High-value loot run on hard maps | Best available gear. The loot justifies the risk. |
| Boss hunting | Top-tier weapons, max healing, Wolfpack grenades. Bring your squad. |
What to Always Carry
Regardless of loadout tier, always bring:
- At least three healing items. Bandages at minimum. Medkits if you have them.
- One grenade type. Frag for general use, EMP for ARC-heavy areas, smoke for emergency cover.
- A backup plan for extraction. Know two extraction points on every map. If one is camped, you need a fallback.
Key Materials to Hoard
Some materials appear in almost every crafting recipe. Keep a stockpile of these in your stash:
- Springs. Used in nearly every weapon recipe.
- Electronics. Required for mods, scanners, and Refiner recipes.
- Processed metal. The most common intermediate component. Burn through it fast.
- Circuit boards. Mid-tier component for Gear Bench and Utility Station recipes.
Do not sell these materials to vendors for quick cash. You will always need more of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many crafting stations are in ARC Raiders?
Eight. Seven crafting stations, the Workbench included, upgrade to Level 3 and unlock higher-tier recipes at each level, while Scrappy the rooster runs his own upgrade path to Level 5.
Which station should you upgrade first in ARC Raiders?
The Refiner, alongside the Gunsmith. The Refiner turns cheap, common materials into the components that high-tier recipes need, and the Gunsmith is the most important station for combat effectiveness.
Do you lose blueprints when you die in ARC Raiders?
Only unprotected ones. A blueprint fits in your safe pocket, which preserves it through death, so slot rare finds there immediately. Once you extract and learn a blueprint at the den, the recipe is permanent.
Can gear be permanently destroyed by durability in ARC Raiders?
No. An item at zero durability breaks and is unusable until repaired, but you can always repair it, and repairs cost less than crafting a replacement. Performance stays identical all the way down to the break point.
How do you unlock Ermal in ARC Raiders?
Reach Raider Level 25. Ermal keeps a stall on the lobby floor of the Speranza hub and trades for high-tier ARC components, rare weapons, and scavenged gear, never coins. His inventory resets every Tuesday at 1 PM UTC.
What to Read Next
- Expedition Projects. What crafted gear survives a wipe.
- Skill Tree and Progression. Nodes that cut crafting costs.
- ARC Machines. Matching gear to the machines you plan to fight.
- PvP Survival Tips. Loadout risk management before a raid.
- Tips and Tricks. Durability numbers, station mix-ups, and Ermal's rotation schedule.