ARC Raiders: How to Max All Workshop Benches Fast

Your Workshop is the only thing standing between you and perpetual mid-tier mediocrity. It houses seven stations, six of which upgrade to Level 3, and each one demands specific materials that won't magically appear in your pockets. The default Workbench caps at Level 1 forever. Accept it and move on.

Before you touch a single container, open Metaforge's Workshop Tracker (or ARC Raiders Hub) and map your exact shortfall. The in-game UI hides future requirements until you've already committed to a level. Not knowing what you need costs you entire raids. Tag target materials before every drop: community veterans report it cuts farming time by 40-50%.

Gunsmith first (silencers save runs). Explosives second (you'll need the Deadline blueprint badly). Medical Lab and Gear Bench in parallel. Refiner as soon as possible. Utility Station last but don't skip it.

Here is everything you need. Memorize it or screenshot it. There is no excuse for a wasted raid.

Farming Routes: Where to Go

There is no single map that gives you everything. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling you something. Here is the breakdown by what you actually need.

Phase 1: Riven Tides: Stacking Yard

Run the Stacking Yard containers twice. You will walk out with most of your industrial materials: Rusted Tools, Synthesized Fuel, Crude and Explosive Compound. While you're there, kill Wasps and Hornets for their drivers. Motors and Industrial Batteries drop commonly from containers. Rusted Gears are rare everywhere: the puzzle room at Stacking Yard has the best concentration, but plan for extra runs. Two surveyors also spawn on the east side; don't ignore them for the Medical Lab requirement.

Three Rusted Gears are required for Gunsmith Level 3. They are rare on every map. The Stacking Yard puzzle room is your best bet, but don't expect them in one run. Budget for two or three extra raids specifically for this.

Phase 2: Stella Montis: Medical Research Area

Head to the Medical Research section and clean it out. Tick Pods, Fireball Burners, and Pop Triggers are abundant here. Pick up every Telemon crafting fragment you find: they break down into Advanced Mechanicals. The red server cabinets in this area drop Damaged Heat Sinks and Fried Motherboards reliably. Most importantly: hunt the Deadline Blueprint here. It spawns frequently in Stella Montis and is non-negotiable for the next phase. If you're short on Antiseptic, refine it from Great Mullen at the Refiner.

For Electrical Components specifically, route to Seed Vault afterward. The breachable electrical cabinets and android loot make it the most concentrated source available.

Phase 3: Blue Gate: Kill the Rocketeer

Go to the reinforced reception in Blue Gate. Post up in the doorway with whatever weapon you have: an Anvil purchased from Tanwen and upgraded is sufficient. Kill the Rocketeer. Extract. Repeat until you have three Rocketeer Drivers. It is tedious. Do it anyway.

Phase 4: Buried City: Bastion and Bombardier

With the Deadline Blueprint acquired and the Explosives Station leveled, craft the Deadline weapon using Comet fragments farmed on Riven Tides. Now go to Buried City. The Bastion spawns near the parking garage; the Bombardier swaps positions with it between raids. Shoot out the Bastion's knee first to immobilize it, place the Deadline on its back, collect six Bastion Cells. Do the same for six Bombardier Cells. A Leaper also spawns in this area: farm four Leaper Pulse Units for Utility Station Level 3 while you're already here.

If the blueprint refuses to drop, craft Light Impact Grenades at the Explosives Station instead. Twenty-five grenades on top of a Bastion will kill it. Stay back from the Bombardier's explosion radius. This is slower but it works.

Phase 5: Surveyor and Sentinel Farming

Surveyor Vaults are required for Medical Lab Level 3. Riven Tides has two Surveyor spawns. The Close Scrutiny event, when available, produces them in volume. Electrostorm conditions on any map trigger ARC Couriers underground: these have a random chance to contain Surveyor and Sentinel Firing Core drops. Run Electrostorm rounds deliberately for this; it is faster than praying for open-world spawns.

Phase 6: Spaceport Departure Building

The final gap is almost always Power Cables, Toasters, and Rusted Shut Medical Kits. Spaceport Departure Building is your destination. Power Cables flood out of the lootable office drawers. Toasters spawn on the cafeteria tables. The on-site medical area has Rusted Shut Kit spawns as well. If kits are still short, the Buried City hospital is a reliable secondary source.

Scrappy: The Only Workshop Member Doing Passive Work

Scrappy lives in your Workshop and delivers materials on a timer without requiring you to haul yourself topside. Upgrading him improves both delivery frequency and material quality. His requirements involve fruit, mushrooms, and Dog Collars found in residential areas.

The fastest Scrappy food source is Stella Montis cafeteria: a battery spawns outside, let you in, and two guaranteed fruit baskets are inside. Run it a few times. Done. The Lush Blooms event on any map is even faster when active.

Riven Tides is also workable: agave and mushrooms appear along the riverbed and in trees. But competing with other players over mushrooms while trying to simultaneously farm workshop materials is a special kind of inefficiency. Stick to Stella Montis cafeteria.

Do Not Neglect Scrappy

Every hour Scrappy sits un-upgraded is passive material income you are not receiving. He is not exciting. Upgrade him anyway.

Loadout for Farming Runs

You are not here to fight. You are here to carry materials home without dying. Your loadout reflects this reality.

• Buy Looting Mk.2 from Lance: 6,000 coins. It expands usable inventory significantly.
• Bring a Rattler 2 and minimal ammo. No overbuilt combat kit.
• Keep your backpack as empty as possible before the run to maximize extraction capacity.
• Carry Hatch Keys when possible: silent extractions avoid PvP entirely.
• Extract before the 10-minute mark if your bag is full. A run worth protecting ends before someone takes it from you.

The goal on most of these farming runs is materials weight, not kills. The ARC enemies you need to kill for drops are specific and deliberate targets: everything else you can walk past.