ARC Raiders Workshop Ladder: Station Levels, Scarce Parts, and Blueprint Gates

The Workshop in ARC Raiders is the craft spine of Speranza. Each specialist station has a level gate, each level burns a fixed material bill, and many recipes also need a learned blueprint before the craft button appears.

Station Roster and What Each Bench Covers

Seven specialist stations sit beside the free Workbench. The Workbench arrives after the first round and stays at a single tier for basic weapons, ammo, and entry healing. The six classic specialists max at Level 3. Frozen Trail adds the Research Station in the Outpost (max Level 4) and extends Gunsmith to Level 4 once the Outpost reaches four rooms.

Station level and blueprint ownership are separate gates. A Level 3 Gunsmith still cannot craft a Tempest if that blueprint has not been learned after a successful extract.

Level 1 Builds: Basics and ARC Alloy

Level 1 costs are mostly common topside basics. Three stations also ask for ARC Alloy from destroyed machines.

Scrappy returns Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, Rubber Parts, and Assorted Seeds after rounds, but only if the nest is emptied before it fills. Metal Parts and Rubber Parts also come from industrial and mechanical loot and from recycling at home in Speranza. ARC Alloy and ARC Powercells come from looted ARC carcasses.

Level 2 Ladder: Processed Components and Drone Drivers

Level 2 mixes salvaged junk, Refiner outputs, and common ARC drivers. The Refiner Level 1 line produces Mechanical Components, Electrical Components, Durable Cloth, and Crude Explosives for several of these bills; those stacks sit among other ARC Raiders Materials needed before the Level 2 upgrade panels clear.

Wasp Drivers and Hornet Drivers drop from Wasps and Hornets on drone-heavy routes such as Dam Battlegrounds Hydroponic Dome Complex and Blue Gate Ancient Fort. Tick Pods concentrate in indoor complexes such as Dam Testing Annex, Buried City attics, and Stella Montis Seed Vault. Pop Triggers, Snitch Scanners, and Fireball Burners come from Pops, Snitches, and Fireballs on many of the same drone routes. Rusted Tools, Power Cables, Cracked Bioscanners, Damaged Heat Sinks, and Toasters come from mechanical, electrical, medical, technological, and residential loot. ARC Motion Cores drop from ARC machines (especially ball-type units), probes, and couriers.

Level 3 Ladder: Elite ARC Cells and Cores

Level 3 is where elite ARC parts lock the bench. Each specialist Level 3 bill uses one signature elite drop plus advanced components or salvaged high-tier junk.

Advanced Mechanical Components and Advanced Electrical Components craft at Refiner Level 2 once that station is online. Explosive Compound also appears on Refiner 2 and in industrial or security loot. Advanced Electrical Components are shared by Gear Bench 3 and Utility Station 3 (5 each). ARC Alloy is shared across Medical Lab 1, Explosives 1, and Utility 1 (6 each); Electrical Components are shared by Gear Bench 2 and Utility 2 (5 each).

Bastions appear in open map pockets such as Dam Water Treatment Control approaches, Buried City Market Ruins, Spaceport hangar edges, Stella Montis Loading Bay lower level, and Pendola Pass under Cielo Sereno Observatory. Surveyors drop Vaults and can also drop blueprints. Rocketeers, Leapers, Bombardiers, and Sentinels are high-threat ARC targets; the part only counts after a successful extract. Rusted Shut Medical Kits, Fried Motherboards, Damaged Heat Sinks, Rusted Tools, and Rusted Gear look like junk in the field and are easy to leave behind; each is a hard Level 2 or Level 3 requirement on Medical Lab, Utility, or Gunsmith.

Blueprint Gates: Learn, Station Level, Then Craft

Blueprints are inventory items. After extract, open the blueprint in Speranza and choose Learn and Consume. The recipe becomes permanent on the matching station once that station is high enough. Learned blueprints show a tick on the icon. Duplicates sell for 5,000 Coins.

Container type tracks recipe family:

Some blueprints also come from quests, Trials rewards, ARC Surveyors, locked rooms, and map- or condition-specific pools. Rare and epic blueprints appear more often during x2 Major Map Conditions. A blueprint found topside is not owned until extraction succeeds; Safe Pocket storage protects high-value plans during the exit.

When a craft stays grey after a station upgrade, the missing piece is usually an unlearned recipe rather than a missing mat stack. Extracted ARC Raiders BluePrints must be opened for Learn and Consume before the matching station can craft that recipe.

Frozen Trail Cap: Outpost, Research Station, Gunsmith 4

Weapon Amplification needs both Gunsmith Level 4 and Research Station Level 4. The Outpost unlocks through the Sheltered Retreat Project at Raider Level 18 (three stages under the Outpost tab). Research Station level cannot exceed the number of installed Outpost rooms.

Skulker Targeters come from destroyed Skulkers. Bully Fragmenters drop from Bullies. Frigate Inductor, ARC Data Module, and related Frigate hull loot come from ARC Frigate breach containers. Room expansion from Outpost Level 3 to 4 costs 40 Sheet Metal, 3 Laser Levels, and 3 Insulation Rolls, paid separately from station recipes.

Gunsmith Level 4 requires Gunsmith 3 plus Outpost Room 4, then:

The Emperor Modulator is random loot inside the Fallen Emperor dungeon on Pendola Pass and needs an Emperor Gateway Conduit to open the entrance. U4GM's sibling walkthrough on how to get the Emperor Modulator covers the Conduit blueprint, ARC Couplers, and dungeon loot search. Magnetic Accelerators appear in Exodus-area loot and high-end ARC drops; Radial Presses come from higher-tier industrial and mechanical containers.

With Gunsmith Level 4 and Research Station Level 4 online, Amplification projects and Amplification Module crafts for supported Quality IV weapons unlock on those benches.

The U4GM Team