Let’s be honest: in a game like ARC Raiders, your weapon is your lifeline. Whether you’re fighting off aggressive ARC machines or facing down enemy players competing for the same loot, having upgraded, powerful weapons makes all the difference between extracting safely and respawning empty-handed.
The Gunsmith (also called the Weapon Workbench) is where the magic happens. This specialized crafting station lets you enhance your weapons’ stats, craft higher-tier guns, and unlock accessories that dramatically improve combat performance. But it’s not as simple as clicking “upgrade”—you need the right materials, strategic planning, and an understanding of when to invest resources.
This guide covers everything you need to know about the Gunsmith in ARC Raiders: how to unlock it, how weapon upgrades work, what materials you’ll need, and smart strategies for maximizing your combat effectiveness without wasting precious resources.
What Is the Gunsmith in ARC Raiders?
The Gunsmith is one of the specialized crafting benches in your Workshop, dedicated entirely to weapons and combat gear. Think of it as your personal armory where you can:
Gunsmith capabilities:
- Upgrade existing weapons to improve their stats
- Craft new weapons from blueprints
- Create weapon accessories (scopes, grips, suppressors, etc.)
- Unlock higher-tier recipes as you level up the bench
Unlike the basic Workbench, which handles general gear, the Gunsmith is laser-focused on making you deadlier in combat. If you’re serious about surviving Topside and dominating firefights, this should be one of your highest priority upgrades.
How To Unlock the Weapon Workbench (Gunsmith)
Good news: the Gunsmith is available relatively early in your ARC Raiders journey.
Unlock Requirements
To unlock the Gunsmith:
- Complete the Introductory Quests in ARC Raiders
- Enter your Workshop at Speranza
- Look for the Install option in one of the tabs (next to Scrappy)
- Gather the required materials
- Install the Gunsmith
Materials Needed to Install the Gunsmith
You’ll need these resources to unlock the Gunsmith:
- Metal Parts x20
- Rubber Parts x20
These are common early-game materials, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble gathering them if you’ve been looting consistently.
Where To Find Installation Materials
Metal Parts:
- Scavenge metal objects during raids
- Recycle ARC Tech and mechanical loot
- Found in Industrial-tagged locations
- Common drops from ARC machines
Rubber Parts:
- Disassemble chemical containers
- Loot abandoned gear (Ruined Parachutes, Destroyed Vests, etc.)
- Found in residential and industrial areas
- Obtained from recycling certain equipment
If you’re struggling to find these materials, use the resource tracking feature from the Workshop (covered in our Workbench upgrade guide) to highlight them during raids.
Once you’ve collected 20 of each material, head back to your Workshop and install the Gunsmith. You’re now ready to start upgrading weapons.
How To Upgrade Weapons in ARC Raiders (Step-by-Step)
Now for the main event: actually making your guns better. Here’s the complete process.
Step 1: Access the Gunsmith
Two ways to open the Gunsmith:
- From the Workshop menu: Click the Gunsmith tab
- Direct interaction: Walk up to the Gunsmith crafting table in your Workshop and interact with it
Once opened, you’ll see the Gunsmith interface with several tabs available.
Step 2: Navigate to the Weapon Upgrade Tab
The Gunsmith has multiple tabs:
- Crafting Tab: Create new weapons and accessories
- Weapon Upgrade Tab: Enhance existing weapons (this is what we want)
- Level Up Tab: Upgrade the Gunsmith bench itself
Click on Weapon Upgrade to begin enhancing your gear.
Step 3: Select a Weapon to Upgrade
The Weapon Upgrade screen will display all eligible weapons from:
- Your current inventory
- Your stash storage (automatically included)
Pro tip: You don’t need to manually move weapons from your stash to your inventory. The Gunsmith pulls from both automatically, which is super convenient.
Click on the weapon you want to upgrade to select it.
Step 4: Review Upgrade Requirements
Once you’ve selected a weapon, the right side of the screen shows:
- Current weapon level (starts at Level 0)
- Stats that will improve with the upgrade
- Materials required for the upgrade
- Upgrade button
Stats that improve with weapon upgrades:
- Damage: More damage per shot
- Magazine size: More bullets before reloading
- Reload speed: Faster reload times
- Durability: Weapon lasts longer before breaking
- Accuracy/recoil (depending on weapon type)
Each upgrade level requires progressively more materials, so early upgrades are cheap while later ones get expensive.
Step 5: Upgrade Your Weapon
If you have the required materials:
- Click the Upgrade button
- Materials are consumed
- Your weapon levels up (0→1, 1→2, 2→3, etc.)
- Weapon stats immediately improve
Important: Weapon upgrades are permanent and stay with that specific weapon. If you lose the weapon in a raid (and it’s not in a Safe Pocket), you lose the upgraded version.
Step 6: Repeat for Higher Levels
You can continue upgrading the same weapon multiple times, with each level providing incremental stat improvements. The material costs increase with each upgrade, so budget accordingly.
Upgrade progression example:
- Level 0→1: 10 Metal Parts, 5 Rubber Parts
- Level 1→2: 15 Metal Parts, 8 Rubber Parts, 3 Steel Spring
- Level 2→3: 20 Metal Parts, 10 Rubber Parts, 5 Steel Spring, 2 Advanced Components
(Note: Actual requirements vary by weapon type and rarity)
Understanding Weapon Quality Tiers
Not all weapons are created equal in ARC Raiders. Weapons come in different quality tiers, indicated by color.
Weapon Rarity System
Common (Gray):
- Baseline weapons
- Cheap to upgrade
- Good for early game
Uncommon (Green):
- Better base stats than gray
- Moderate upgrade costs
- Solid mid-game option
Rare (Blue):
- Strong stats
- Higher upgrade material requirements
- Worth investing in for serious raiders
Epic (Purple):
- Excellent stats
- Expensive to upgrade
- Requires rare materials
- Great for endgame content
Legendary (Yellow):
- Best possible stats
- Extremely expensive to upgrade
- Requires legendary-tier materials
- Often obtained from Harvester events or special loot
Quality-Matched Material Requirements
Here’s the critical detail: higher-quality weapons require same-quality materials to upgrade.
What this means:
- Gray weapons → Gray materials (common stuff)
- Blue weapons → Blue materials (rare components)
- Purple weapons → Purple materials (epic crafting items)
- Yellow weapons → Yellow materials (legendary resources)
This is why you need to be strategic about what you upgrade. Don’t dump legendary materials into a mediocre weapon just because you can. Save those resources for truly exceptional gear.
Strategic Weapon Upgrade Tips
Start with Common/Uncommon Weapons
Why upgrade lower-tier weapons first:
- Cheap material costs
- Immediate combat improvement
- Less painful if you lose the weapon in a raid
- Good for learning the upgrade system
Once you’re comfortable surviving raids and extracting consistently, then start investing in rare and epic weapons.
Prioritize Your Main Weapon
Don’t spread your materials thin trying to upgrade every gun you own. Pick one or two primary weapons you use consistently and focus your upgrades there.
Good candidates for upgrade investment:
- Your favorite weapon type (rifle, SMG, shotgun, etc.)
- Weapons with blueprints you’ve unlocked
- Weapons that match your playstyle
- Guns you’re comfortable using in PvP
Save Legendary Materials for Legendary Weapons
If you get your hands on legendary crafting materials, do NOT waste them on random upgrades. Save them for legendary weapon blueprints from the Harvester or other endgame sources.
Legendary materials are incredibly rare. Using them wisely is the difference between having a god-tier loadout and regretting your choices.
Upgrade Before Risky Raids
If you’re about to attempt something dangerous—like the Harvester event or a high-value contested area—upgrade your primary weapon beforehand. The stat boost could be the difference between survival and death.
Consider Durability When Upgrading
Weapon durability matters. Upgraded durability means your weapon lasts longer across multiple raids before breaking. If you’re running frequent raids, durability upgrades save you replacement costs in the long run.
Use Safe Pockets for Upgraded Weapons
If you’ve invested significant materials into upgrading a weapon, always extract with it in a Safe Pocket when carrying it into raids. Losing a fully upgraded purple weapon because you forgot to protect it is absolutely crushing.
Leveling Up the Gunsmith Bench
Beyond upgrading individual weapons, you also need to level up the Gunsmith itself to unlock better crafting recipes.
Why Level Up the Gunsmith?
Benefits of higher Gunsmith levels:
- Unlock crafting recipes for better weapons
- Access to weapon accessories (scopes, suppressors, extended mags)
- Ability to craft higher-tier gear
- Required to use certain blueprints
Even if you find a legendary weapon blueprint, you can’t craft it unless your Gunsmith is at the required level. This is covered in detail in our Workbench upgrade guide.
How To Level Up the Gunsmith
- Click the Level Up tab in the Gunsmith interface
- Review the materials required for the next level
- Track the resources you need (eye icon feature)
- Farm materials during raids
- Return to Speranza and upgrade the bench
Gunsmith priority: Among all crafting benches, the Gunsmith should be one of your top 2-3 priorities. Better weapons directly translate to better survival and loot acquisition.
Farming Materials for Weapon Upgrades
Best Locations for Weapon Upgrade Materials
Metal Parts (most common weapon material):
- Industrial zones
- ARC machine wreckage
- Power facilities
- Any location with “Industrial” tag
Rubber Parts:
- Residential areas
- Abandoned camps
- Chemical storage sites
- Recycled from damaged gear
Advanced Components (for higher-tier upgrades):
- Security lockers
- ARC Couriers and Probes
- High-risk areas
- Elite ARC machine drops
Efficient Farming Strategy
Multi-purpose raids:
- Combine weapon material farming with coin farming
- Grab resource items while you’re at it
- Complete quests simultaneously
- Always have a plan for extraction
Track everything you need: Use the resource tracking feature to highlight weapon upgrade materials during your raids. This makes farming 10x faster.
Additional Gunsmith Tips
Recycle Unwanted Weapons
Don’t hoard every weapon you find. Recycle weapons you don’t use to get crafting materials back. This gives you resources for upgrading the weapons you actually care about.
Unlock Combat Skills
Certain skills in the skill tree may boost weapon performance or reduce upgrade costs. Check for synergies between your skill build and Gunsmith investments.
Test Weapons Before Heavy Investment
Before dumping rare materials into a weapon, take it into a few raids to see if you actually like how it handles. Don’t upgrade a weapon you hate using just because it has good stats on paper.
Keep a Backup Weapon
Always have at least one upgraded backup weapon in your stash. If you lose your main weapon in a raid, you’re not stuck going in completely unprepared next time.
Optimize Your Loadout
For consistent performance in raids, check our best tips and tricks guide and make sure your PC settings are optimized for smooth gunfights.
Final Thoughts
Upgrading weapons through the Gunsmith is one of the most impactful progression systems in ARC Raiders. Better weapons = better raids = more loot = even better weapons. It’s a positive feedback loop that directly rewards smart resource management and strategic thinking.
The key is starting small with common weapons, learning the system, and gradually working your way up to rare and legendary gear as you become more skilled at surviving and extracting. Don’t rush to upgrade everything—focus on what you use, protect your investments with Safe Pockets, and always prioritize leveling up the Gunsmith bench itself to unlock better crafting options.
Master the Gunsmith, and you’ll dominate Topside. For more progression guides and survival tips, check out our complete beginner’s guide or learn how to efficiently extract with your upgraded loot.
You can download ARC Raiders on PlayStation, Xbox, or through the official website. Now get out there and build the perfect arsenal!
Quick Reference:
- Unlock cost: 20 Metal Parts + 20 Rubber Parts
- Upgrade location: Weapon Upgrade tab in Gunsmith
- Improves: Damage, magazine size, reload speed, durability
- Quality tiers: Gray → Green → Blue → Purple → Yellow
- Key tip: Higher quality weapons require same-quality materials to upgrade
