Basecamp Upgrades
The Workshop in your basecamp is where you spend wrenches on permanent upgrades that carry across every run. You earn wrenches by clearing levels, collecting the 51 hidden Data-Logs, and killing enemies. Buy Starter Pack, Chef Paul, and Bazaar Bob first at 4 to 6 wrenches each, since the Level 1 tier is cheap and every purchase also counts toward opening the next tier.
The Workshop in your basecamp is where you spend wrenches to unlock permanent upgrades. These upgrades make future runs easier and open up new mechanics. There are 38 of them across seven tiers, three of which have a second rank you can buy, plus six more that unlock from Power Crystals and not wrenches.
How to Earn Wrenches
You earn wrenches by playing the game. Higher difficulties give better payouts.
- Clear Levels: You get wrenches at the end of each stage. Roboquest has eight difficulties: Discovery, Easy, Standard, Hard, and Guardian I through IV. Hard and Guardian I through III each pay 2 bonus wrenches per level, and Guardian IV pays 3.
- Find Data-Logs: Collecting any of the 51 hidden Data-Logs awards 3 wrenches each.
- Defeat Enemies: Enemies occasionally drop wrenches.
No NPC converts Powercells into wrenches. Bazaar Bob is a shop, not an exchange: he sells you items for Powercells, at 6, 8, or 12 depending on rarity. He does occasionally stock a small wrench crate as one of his slots, but that is a rare piece of stock and not a service you can rely on.
If you want a wrench sink and not a wrench source, that is Lottery Luke, the last and most expensive Workshop purchase at 99 wrenches. He then takes 6 wrenches per pull, rising by 2 each consecutive time, up to seven pulls per run, and returns something random.
Early Upgrade Priorities
When you first start, you have limited wrenches. The whole Level 1 tier costs 4 to 6 wrenches per upgrade, so buy all of it.
- Starter Pack (4): Gives you a choice between four weapons at the start of a run, which saves you from opening with the basic pistol.
- Chef Paul (6): Unlocks the vendor who raises weapon level during runs. He is the backbone of in-run scaling.
- Bazaar Bob (6) and Smithing Joe (6): The other two vendors. Smithing Joe is the only early source of Act 2 weapons.
Then take Powercell Bank at Level 2, which starts you with 4 Powercells, or 8 once you buy its second rank. Note it changes your starting stock, not a carrying limit. There is no documented cap on how many Powercells you can hold.
How the Tier System Gates You
The Workshop does not show you everything at once. Upgrades are grouped into tiers, and only the first tier is visible when you start the game. Each later tier unlocks once you have purchased a certain number of upgrades from the tiers before it.
This has a practical consequence people miss. Buying cheap upgrades you do not especially want is still progress, because the purchase count itself is what opens the next tier. If you are saving for one expensive upgrade three tiers down, you are not getting there until you have bought your way through the shallow end.
That tactic has a shelf life, though. Level 1 upgrades cost 4 to 6 wrenches, so filler purchases there are close to free. By Levels 5 through 7 the cheapest option on the row is 16 to 30 wrenches, and buying something you do not want is a real sacrifice and not a shortcut.
Upgrades Worth Knowing By Name
| Upgrade | Tier and Cost | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden Function I and II | L3, 10 W and L7, 16 W | Weapons have more chance to have a random alt-fire. |
| Max Arsenal I and II | L2, 12 W and L5, 16 W | Max's Chests contain 1 additional weapon. |
| Beefcake! I and II | L4, 20 W and L6, 22 W | Increases maximum health by 5 when leveling up. |
| Second Wind | L7, 30 W | Repairs all your scratch damage and restores 5% of maximum health when leveling up. |
| Gun Bakery | L4, 12 W | Lets Chef Paul reroll weapon affixes at all. |
| Max-imum Engineering I and II | L3, 16 W and L5, 22 W | Adds an extra perk choice at level up. |
Hidden Function and Max Arsenal are the two that quietly change every run. More alt-fire rolls and more chest options mean more chances at the weapon your build actually wants, and that compounds every single time you open a chest.
Beefcake! and Second Wind matter for the opposite reason. They scale with how long you survive, so they get stronger exactly when the run gets hard. Scratch damage is worth knowing as a term: it is the recoverable portion of damage on your health bar, and Second Wind, the Repair-o-Bot and several perks restore it. Burn eats it away, and that is what makes burn so much worse than its raw numbers suggest.
Gun Bakery deserves a mention it rarely gets. Without it, Chef Paul cannot reroll affixes at all, so half of what people assume he does is gated behind a 12-wrench purchase at Level 4.
The Spending Rule
Buy upgrades that improve your starting position, your resource flow, and your recovery before you buy anything narrow.
A permanent advantage that applies from the first room of every run pays out constantly. A situational upgrade tied to one biome or one weapon family only pays out when the run happens to hand you that situation. Early on, when wrenches are scarce, that difference is the whole game.
Unlocking New Features
Two different numbers rise as you buy upgrades, and the game uses both words. Workshop Level is the one that gates content, meaning which row of upgrades is available. Basecamp Level is cosmetic and improves the buildings, props, and accessories, and it only redraws once you reload the basecamp.
- Workshop Level 4: Unlocks the Engineer class, which means unlocking that fourth row.
- Endless Mode: Repair the broken portal in the Basecamp for 120 wrenches, or finish a run on Guardian I or higher, which unlocks it for free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you buy first in the Roboquest Workshop?
The whole Level 1 tier, since it costs only 4 to 6 wrenches per upgrade. Starter Pack gives you a choice between four weapons at run start, and Chef Paul, Bazaar Bob and Smithing Joe unlock the three in-run vendors. Then take Powercell Bank at Level 2.
How do you get wrenches fast in Roboquest?
Play on higher difficulties. Roboquest has eight: Discovery, Easy, Standard, Hard, and Guardian I through IV. Hard and Guardian I through III each pay 2 bonus wrenches per level, and Guardian IV pays 3. Each of the 51 hidden Data-Logs also awards 3 wrenches.
How do you unlock the Engineer class in Roboquest?
Keep buying Workshop upgrades until you unlock the fourth row, which is Workshop Level 4. Note that Basecamp Level is a separate, cosmetic number.
Who is Bazaar Bob in Roboquest?
A shop, not an exchange. He sells items for Powercells at 6, 8 or 12 depending on rarity, and he sometimes stocks the Brush for the Haven City sidequest. No NPC in Roboquest converts Powercells into wrenches.
How do you unlock Endless Mode from the Basecamp?
Repair the broken portal for 120 wrenches, or finish a run on Guardian I difficulty or higher and get it for free.
What to Read Next
- Classes and Abilities. Classes gated behind Workshop progress.
- Gadgets and Secrets. Gadget unlocks tied to the Basecamp.
- Getting Started. Run pacing that maximizes wrench income.
- Tips and Tricks. Where wrenches come from and which upgrades do less than they sound.