Materials are the real currency of ARC Raiders. Every weapon you craft, every workshop station you upgrade, and every piece of gear you replace after a bad raid runs on a steady supply of Metal Parts, Fabric, Chemicals, ARC Alloy, and the rare components above them. Run dry and your progression stalls; build a reliable pipeline and you craft the meta loadouts on demand instead of grinding for them. This guide covers exactly how to get materials fast — the passive income most players ignore, how to recycle for double value, which zones drop which materials, and the full tier-and-value table so you always know what's worth carrying out.
Below we break down how the crafting and materials system actually works, the four fastest ways to stockpile resources, the best loot zones by material type, and how to spend what you farm on the workshop upgrades that matter.
Why materials matter more than credits in ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders is a PvPvE extraction shooter: you drop in, fight human Raiders and AI ARC machines, and try to extract with your loot. Credits buy convenience, but materials are what actually move your account forward — they craft your ammo, your healing, your grenades, and the weapons themselves, and they're the only way to build and upgrade your workshop stations.
Two things make a material pipeline non-negotiable. First, you lose your loadout if you die without extracting, so you're constantly re-crafting gear — and crafting costs materials, not cash. Second, the strongest weapons and consumables are locked behind upgraded workshop stations, and every station upgrade is paid for in raw materials. A player who farms materials efficiently is always armed and always upgrading; a player who doesn't is permanently one bad raid from being stuck with starter gear.
Get this pipeline right and you stop grinding for survival and start playing to win.
How materials and crafting work (read this first)
Three systems feed your material stockpile: Scrappy (passive), looting (active), and recycling (conversion). Everything you craft flows through the workshop.
Scrappy — your passive material engine
Scrappy is the rooster who lives in your workshop and passively generates basic materials every time you go Topside — whether you extract or not. Scrappy produces six core resources: Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, Rubber Parts, and Assorted Seeds. (He doesn't accumulate while you're offline or in Speranza, and he holds up to 50 of each item, so empty his stash regularly.)
The reward rules are worth memorizing. At Level 1 (Fledgling), the payout scales with time in raid — and, counter-intuitively, you get more base materials if you don't extract (a pity payout for losing your loot):
| Time in raid | Not extracted | Extracted |
|---|---|---|
| Over 1 minute | 5× per resource + 3 seeds | 3× per resource + 3 seeds |
| Over 6 minutes | 9× per resource + 4 seeds | 4× per resource + 4 seeds |
| Over 15 minutes | 12× per resource + 5 seeds | 6× per resource + 5 seeds |
Two hard rules: you need a minimum of 1 minute in a raid to earn anything, and the payout caps at 15 minutes — staying 40 minutes nets the same as 15. Note the twist: the raw Scrappy count is higher on a death, but that handful of extra base materials is nothing next to the full bag of loot you keep by extracting (more on that below). Upgrading Scrappy raises all of these numbers, so it's one of the highest-ROI workshop investments in the game: free materials, every single raid, forever.
Recycling — turn junk into materials (and double your value)
You don't have to carry raw junk out to profit from it. ARC Raiders lets you recycle loot while you're still Topside (field recycling), breaking items down into their component materials on the spot — no extra risk, and it frees up inventory slots so you carry more of what matters. Build the Refiner station back home and recycling becomes far more efficient, converting raw materials into the refined components higher-tier crafting needs.
One catch: some basics — Chemicals, Fabric, Assorted Seeds, ARC Powercell, and key items — cannot be recycled. Those you sell or use directly.
The workshop — where materials become gear
Your workshop is the crafting hub. You start with the free workbench (just "1 Round Played" to unlock), which crafts basic weapons, most ammo types, bandages, and light grenades. Every other station costs materials to build and to upgrade through Level 3, unlocking better recipes at each tier:
| Station | Level 1 build cost | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Workbench | Free (1 round played) | Basic weapons, most ammo, bandages, light grenades |
| Gunsmith | 20 Metal Parts + 30 Rubber Parts | Guns (Arpeggio, Bettina, Hullcracker at higher tiers) |
| Gear Bench | 25 Plastic Parts + 30 Fabric | Shields, tactical/combat/looting loadouts |
| Medical Lab | 50 Fabric + 6 ARC Alloy | Healing items and bandages |
| Explosives Station | 50 Chemicals + 6 ARC Alloy | Grenades |
| Utility Station | 50 Plastic Parts + 6 ARC Alloy | Gadgets and traps |
| Refiner | 60 Metal Parts + 5 ARC Powercell | Converts raw materials into refined components |
Notice the pattern: Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, and Rubber Parts — exactly what Scrappy farms — are the backbone of every early upgrade. Prioritize the Refiner early; it pays for itself by squeezing more refined materials out of everything else you gather.
The 4 fastest ways to get materials
1. Let Scrappy do the easy work — always stay past 1 minute
The single most-ignored material source is the one that requires zero effort. Because Scrappy pays out on every raid (even a death) after just one minute, you should never leave before the one-minute mark — you'd forfeit the entire payout. Since the count caps at 15 minutes, there's no material reason to linger past that. Upgrade Scrappy as soon as you can afford it; the passive income compounds across every future raid and quickly outpaces the early base levels.
2. Recycle everything you won't sell
Before you extract, field-recycle the junk clogging your bag. Low-value items that aren't worth a slot whole are often worth more broken down into Metal Parts, Plastic Parts, or Rubber Parts — and recycling on-site costs you nothing but a few seconds. Carry out the refined and high-tier components; recycle the filler. Once you've built the Refiner, funnel raw materials through it to produce the Uncommon/Rare components (ARC Alloy, Electrical Components, ARC Circuitry) that gate your best crafts.
3. Loot the right zone for the material you need
Materials aren't spread evenly — each area type concentrates a different category, so farm with intent instead of looting randomly:
| Zone type | Where | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial | Factories, warehouses | Batteries, Gears, Electronic Components, Toolsets | Core for ammo & explosives crafting |
| Medical | Field hospitals, pharmacies | Antiseptics, Syringes, Bandages, Stim-shots | High demand → PvP hotspot, fight expected |
| Residential | Houses, apartments | Dog Collars, Valuables, Food, Cosmetics | Quick credits, solo-friendly, low risk |
| Security Outposts | Locked compounds | Weapon Parts, Ammo, Access Keys, Armor Plates | Highest value, heavy resistance, keys/hacking needed |
The rule of thumb: Industrial zones for crafting components, Medical for consumable mats and credits, Residential for safe quick value, Security Outposts when you want top-tier loot and can win the fight. Rooms that take extra effort to open — breach doors, keycard locks, puzzles — consistently reward better materials.
4. Extract — it's the only way to keep what you farmed
Here's the part players get wrong: Scrappy actually hands you a few more base materials when you die (the pity payout above) — but that's a rounding error next to what you lose. Dying zeroes out your entire bag: every refined component, every rare part, every blueprint you were carrying. Extraction is what converts a raid's worth of looting and recycling into permanent progress. If you're holding a heavy load of refined or Epic components, play for the exit — a single clean extraction with a full bag beats several reckless runs that end in death, every time. Greed is the most expensive habit in ARC Raiders.
Material tiers, values & recipes
Knowing what each material is worth — and what it breaks down into — tells you instantly what to carry, what to recycle, and what to sell. Values below are the approximate in-game recycle/sell values; the last column shows what each material yields when recycled (verified against the wiki: ARC Alloy, for example, recycles back into 2× Metal Parts).
| Material | Rarity | Approx. value | Recyclable | Recycles into |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemicals | Common | 50 | No | — |
| Fabric | Common | 50 | No | — |
| Assorted Seeds | Common | 100 | No | — |
| ARC Powercell | Common | 270 | No | — |
| ARC Alloy | Uncommon | 200 | Yes | 2× Metal Parts |
| Battery | Uncommon | 250 | Yes | 2× Metal Parts |
| Crude Explosives | Uncommon | 270 | Yes | 3× Chemicals |
| Durable Cloth | Uncommon | 640 | Yes | 6× Fabric |
| Electrical Components | Uncommon | 640 | Yes | 3× Plastic Parts + 3× Rubber Parts |
| ARC Circuitry | Rare | 1,000 | Yes | 2× ARC Alloy |
| Exodus Modules | Epic | 2,750 | Yes | 2× Magnet + 2× Processor |
| Complex Gun Parts | Epic | 3,000 | Yes | 3× Simple Gun Parts |
| Assessor Matrix | Epic | 5,000 | Yes | Advanced Mechanical Components + Advanced ARC Powercell |
Two takeaways. First, a refined material is usually worth more intact than the parts it recycles into — Durable Cloth sells for ~640 but breaks down into 6× Fabric (~300), so recycle raw junk and keep refined components whole to sell or craft. Second, the Epic components (Exodus Modules, Complex Gun Parts, Assessor Matrix) are the real end-game bottleneck, so prioritize the magnets, processors, and advanced parts that feed them. Note that refining runs the other direction at the bench — e.g. 8× ARC Alloy at a Refiner 2 produces 1× ARC Circuitry.
A note on blueprints
Materials get you the gear you've already unlocked — but the strongest weapons and items are locked behind blueprints, the recipes you learn from loot or quest rewards. The key rule: you have to successfully extract with a blueprint item to actually learn it. Die with it in your bag and it's gone. Unlocking the best blueprints (and farming the rare materials they demand) is one of the biggest time sinks in ARC Raiders — which is exactly why many raiders skip the grind.
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FAQ
What is the fastest way to get materials in ARC Raiders? Combine three sources: let Scrappy generate passive materials every raid (stay at least 1 minute; the payout caps at 15), field-recycle junk into components before you leave, and loot Industrial zones for crafting parts. Then always extract — it's the only way to keep the full bag you farmed.
Who is Scrappy and what does he give me? Scrappy is the rooster in your workshop who passively produces Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, Rubber Parts, and Assorted Seeds after every raid (minimum 1 minute, capped at 15 minutes). At Level 1 he gives 3–12 of each resource plus 3–5 seeds depending on raid length — and slightly more if you die than if you extract (a small pity payout). You still always want to extract, because dying loses your whole looted bag.
Where do I find the best materials in ARC Raiders? Industrial zones (factories, warehouses) for Batteries, Gears, Electronic Components, and Toolsets; Medical areas for consumable materials; Security Outposts for the highest-value Weapon Parts and Armor Plates if you can win the fight. Locked and breachable rooms reward better loot.
Should I recycle or sell my loot? Recycle items that are worth more as components than whole, and do it Topside to save inventory slots — but note that Chemicals, Fabric, Assorted Seeds, ARC Powercell, and keys can't be recycled, so sell or use those. Build the Refiner to convert raw materials into high-value refined components.
What workshop station should I upgrade first? The Refiner (60 Metal Parts + 5 ARC Powercell) — it multiplies the value of everything else you farm by turning raw materials into refined Uncommon/Rare components. Then upgrade Scrappy to boost your passive income.
How do I unlock blueprints in ARC Raiders? Find a blueprint item in loot or earn one from a quest, then successfully extract with it to learn the recipe. If you die before extracting, you lose it.
Material values, rarities, Scrappy reward rules, station costs, and loot-zone data sourced from the official ARC Raiders wiki (arcraiders.wiki — Workshop & Loot) and arcraiders.com. Farming-route and priority recommendations reflect Timesaver's competitive analysis. Topic surfaced from live r/ArcRaiders materials/blueprint-farming discussion.
