Arc Raiders Workshop Upgrade Guide: Every Material You Need

If you are grinding workbench upgrades in Arc Raiders you know the pain. You finally have enough Metal Parts and then realize you still need Wasp Drivers. Or you upgrade one bench and realize you burned through materials you needed for another.

I put this reference together so you can plan ahead. Every workbench, every level, every material listed out. Bookmark this one.

How Workshop Upgrades Work

Your Workshop has seven stations total. The base Workbench where you craft ammo and basic supplies cannot be upgraded. The other six benches each max out at Level 3. Each level unlocks better blueprints and crafting options.

The pattern is the same across all benches. Level 1 costs basic gathering materials like Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic, and Chemicals. Level 2 introduces mechanical and electrical components plus ARC enemy drops. Level 3 requires rare drops from tougher enemies like Sentinels, Bastions, and Surveyors.

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Gunsmith (Weapons and Mods)

The Gunsmith handles all weapon crafting and modification. Upgrading unlocks better firearms and advanced attachments.

Level	Materials
1	20 Metal Parts, 30 Rubber Parts
2	3 Rusted Tools, 5 Mechanical Components, 8 Wasp Drivers
3	3 Rusted Gears, 5 Advanced Mechanical Components, 4 Sentinel Firing Cores

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Gear Bench (Armor and Augments)

The Gear Bench is where you craft armor pieces and augments. This is the bench that unlocks Heavy Shield and the higher tier augments.

Level	Materials
1	25 Plastic Parts, 30 Fabric
2	3 Power Cables, 5 Electrical Components, 5 Hornet Drivers
3	3 Industrial Batteries, 5 Advanced Electrical Components, 6 Bastion Cells

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Medical Lab

The Medical Lab unlocks better healing items and medical supplies. If you run a support or survival build like I do this is a priority.

Level	Materials
1	50 Fabric, 6 ARC Alloy
2	2 Cracked Bioscanners, 5 Durable Cloth, 8 Tick Pods
3	3 Rusted Shut Medical Kits, 8 Antiseptic, 5 Surveyor Vaults

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Explosives Station

Explosives Station gives you access to grenades, mines, and other boom. Even as a pacifist these can be useful for ARC fights.

Level	Materials
1	50 Chemicals, 6 ARC Alloy
2	3 Synthesized Fuel, 5 Crude Explosives, 5 Pop Triggers
3	3 Laboratory Reagents, 5 Explosive Compound, 3 Rocketeer Drivers

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Utility Station

The Utility Station covers tools, gadgets, and traversal gear. Ziplines, scanners, and utility items come from here.

Level	Materials
1	50 Plastic Parts, 6 ARC Alloy
2	2 Damaged Heat Sinks, 5 Electrical Components, 6 Snitch Scanners
3	3 Fried Motherboards, 5 Advanced Electrical Components, 4 Leaper Pulse Units

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Refiner

The Refiner lets you process raw materials into advanced components. This is the bench that feeds all the others so upgrading it early saves you a lot of time.

Level	Materials
1	60 Metal Parts, 5 ARC Powercells
2	3 Toasters, 5 ARC Motion Cores, 8 Fireball Burners
3	3 Motors, 10 ARC Circuitry, 6 Bombardier Cells

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Priority Order

If you are wondering what to upgrade first, here is my take based on 130+ hours of play.

Refiner first. It feeds everything else. Getting access to advanced material processing early means you can craft the components other benches need instead of farming them as drops.

Medical Lab second. Better heals keep you alive longer which means more successful extractions which means more materials per run. If you are a solo player this is especially important.

Gear Bench third. Better armor and augments give you the survivability to take on harder content and maps where the best materials drop.

After that it depends on your playstyle. Gunsmith if you want better weapons, Utility if you want better gadgets, Explosives if you like things that go boom.

Tips for Farming Materials

Basic materials like Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic, Chemicals, and Rubber are everywhere. Loot everything. Scrappy also generates these passively over time so make sure you are collecting from Scrappy between runs.

ARC enemy drops like Wasp Drivers, Hornet Drivers, Tick Pods, and Snitch Scanners come from killing the corresponding ARC types. Wasps drop Wasp Drivers, Hornets drop Hornet Drivers, and so on. These are common drops so you will accumulate them naturally.

Rare drops like Sentinel Firing Cores, Bastion Cells, Surveyor Vaults, Leaper Pulse Units, and Bombardier Cells come from tougher ARC enemies. These take more effort to farm. Events like Harvester encounters and ARC base assaults are good opportunities to get these.

Scrap items like Rusted Tools, Rusted Gears, Power Cables, Toasters, Cracked Bioscanners, and Damaged Heat Sinks are found as loot in the world. Check containers, shelves, and cache spots. Dam Battlegrounds and Spaceport have plenty of loot spots for these.

Good luck out there, Raiders.