How Crafting Unlocks Better Equipment
Better equipment comes from learning recipes through Blueprints, world notes and quest rewards, then using the station each recipe requires. Start with inventory-crafted Stone tools, move to Flint tools at a Workbench, and use a Stone Furnace, Tailoring Bench and Dismantle Bench for the materials and clothing needed further along.
Inventory Crafting and Crafting Stations Compared
| Option | Details |
|---|---|
| Inventory crafting | Makes basic gear without a station, including Stone tools, Rope, the Crude Bow and Makeshift Bandages. Individual recipes still need to be known. |
| Workbench | Crafts Flint tools and advanced recipes, including Wire and Scrap tools. Its recipe list is separate from inventory crafting. |
| Stone Furnace | Smelts raw metal into ingots and converts Wood into Coal. Finished products appear on the ground beside its base. |
| Tailoring Bench | Makes clothing from learned recipes. Finding a clothing recipe and obtaining the required bench are separate parts of that progression. |
| Dismantle Bench | Recycles Metal Junk and Plastic Junk into crafting materials. Use it to support material gathering for later equipment. |
| Repair and Radio Station benches | Handle equipment repair and story progression respectively. They have separate functions from the Workbench. |
Open your inventory with TAB to find the crafting list on the right. Select a recipe, choose the amount and press Craft. At a Workbench or Stone Furnace, use that station's own recipe list; the furnace panel can also carry the WORKBENCH heading.
Unlock Recipes Through the Blueprints Screen
- Open Blueprints with U to view the crafting and building trees and check your Available points.
- Unlock Rope in the CRAFTING tree for 1 point to make it from 2 Cloth through inventory crafting.
- Unlock the Stone Furnace blueprint in the BUILDING tree for 2 points to gain access to its construction under Utilities.
- Unlock the Scrap Tools Set in the CRAFTING tree for 2 points to learn the Scrap Axe, Sledgehammer, Pickaxe and Shiv recipes.
Leveling up gives you more blueprint points. Crafting and building can raise their respective skills toward another level. Before spending points on an optional unlock, check whether your next quest asks for the Tribal Clothes Set or Scrap Tools Set, which each require 2 points.
Find Recipe Notes and Claim Quest Recipes
Pick up a Recipe note to learn its recipe and display the RECIPE UNLOCKED message. Collecting a recipe you already know displays RECIPE ALREADY KNOWN instead. Some early recipes come from these pickups or quest reward containers rather than the Blueprints tree.
| Recipe | Location |
|---|---|
| Refined Flint Axe | Recipe note at the hillside camp above your first base in the Woods. |
| Refined Flint Pickaxe | Recipe note on a crate inside Bunker Checkpoint's walled yard. |
| Refined Flint Shiv | Recipe note in the highest cabin of the Hunter's Glade tower. |
| Survivor's Boots | Recipe note on a crate in Horizon's kitchen building. |
| Survivor's Hood | Recipe note on a green barrel in the trader's shop alcove. |
| Survivor's Trousers | Recipe note on the kitchen counter in Robyn's cabin. |
Robyn's quest reward crate beside her fireplace provides the Survivor's Gloves and Uniform recipes. Skinwalker's quest reward box at Hunter's Glade provides the Tailoring Bench recipe. Make checking the reward container part of your routine after completing a quest.
Useful Early Inventory and Workbench Recipes
These early ingredient costs apply to Survival difficulty. The Stone tools, Crude Bow and Makeshift Bandage recipes are known from the start. Although the bow recipe is already known, you still need Rope as an ingredient.
| Recipe | Station and Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Stone Axe | Inventory: 2 Stone + 4 Wood. |
| Stone Shiv | Inventory: 1 Stone + 2 Wood. |
| Crude Bow | Inventory: 2 Wood + 1 Rope. |
| Makeshift Bandage | Inventory: 2 Cloth. |
| Flint Axe | Workbench: 2 Flint + 4 Wood. |
| Flint Shiv | Workbench: 1 Flint + 2 Wood. |
| Refined Flint Axe | Workbench: 1 Flint Axe + 4 Flint + 1 Cloth, after learning its Recipe note. |
Progress From Stone Tools to Ingots and Wire
- Craft a Stone Pickaxe in your inventory from 2 Stone and 4 Wood to mine Stone and Flint.
- Mine Flint Boulders along Bone Cave's route between the dog's chamber and the far exit to gather material for Flint tools.
- Build a Workbench through the Building menu's Utilities section for 10 Wood to access its crafting station.
- Craft a Flint Pickaxe at the Workbench from 2 Flint and 4 Wood to mine Copper, Coal and Sulfur as well as Flint and Stone.
- Build the unlocked Stone Furnace under Utilities for 40 Stone to process raw metal into ingots.
- Smelt a Copper Ingot from 3 Copper and 5 Coal; the finished product appears on the ground beside the furnace.
- Craft Wire at the Workbench using 1 Copper Ingot to complete the furnace-to-bench material chain.
The Stone Furnace also turns 5 Wood into 2 Coal if you need another way to supply a batch. Smelt what you need for your next craft and keep the remaining materials available. Before another gathering trip, check your tool's DURABILITY STATUS and carry a spare if it is wearing down.
Use Clothing Unlocks and Recycled Materials
Make learned clothing recipes at a Tailoring Bench. For recycled materials, use the free Dismantle Bench inside the Church, beside an arched window and hymn board with shelves and red toolboxes. Metal Junk becomes 2 Scrap per piece, while Plastic Junk becomes 2 Processed Plastic per piece. Processing takes 5 seconds per piece, and the bench keeps working while you are away.
The Church is a No Build Zone, so you cannot place your own crafting stations inside it. Keep your own production setup at your base or another suitable location. Scrap tools are Workbench recipes, making recycled Scrap useful as you move beyond the early Flint tier.
Solve Missing Crafts and Tool Restrictions
A red ingredient count means you are short of that material and cannot complete the craft. Recipe pinning and a Workbench crafting crash have received fixes. Crafting with a controller is listed as a known issue. Try keyboard and mouse if controller input prevents you from crafting.
Check the pickaxe's Mines tooltip before planning an ore run. Moonstone requires the quality iron pickaxe, despite the basic iron pickaxe's description saying it can mine it. The Refined Flint Sledgehammer is not in the game yet. Its blueprint can drop, but collecting it does not unlock anything.