- What to know
- Quick overview of Explosives Station Workshop upgrades
- Rocket Assembly in Spaceport is the best early farming route
- How to reach Explosives Station Level 2 quickly
- Advanced upgrade materials needed for Level 3
- Hydroponic Complex and Water Treatment Center explosive farming
- Buried City pharmacy run for Laboratory Reagents
- Rocketeer enemies and how to obtain Rocketeer Drivers
- How to reach Explosives Station Level 3
- Why maxing the explosives station is worth it
- Fully upgrading the explosives station in ARC Raiders
What to know
- The Explosives Station Workshop has multiple upgrade tiers, each requiring specific crafting components found across the map.
- Spaceport’s Rocket Assembly area is the best place to farm early upgrade materials.
- Advanced upgrade materials come from Hydroponic Complex, Water Treatment Center, and Buried City.
- Rocketeer enemies are essential targets because they drop Rocketeer Drivers required for the final upgrade.
Upgrading your workshop in ARC Raiders is one of the most important progression systems if you want consistent access to powerful explosives. The Explosives Station Workshop unlocks stronger crafting options and improves your ability to deal with heavy ARC machines and hostile encounters.
Reaching the maximum level requires collecting multiple rare materials scattered across dangerous areas of the map. Each upgrade stage introduces different items, which means you need to follow efficient farming routes and understand where specific loot spawns appear.
The process can be completed fairly quickly once you know where to go and which enemies or locations provide the required components.
Quick overview of Explosives Station Workshop upgrades
| Workshop Level | Key Materials Required | Main Farming Locations | Main Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | Synthesized Fuel, Crude Explosives, Pop Triggers | Spaceport – Rocket Assembly | Finding the machine vehicle loot spot |
| Level 3 | Laboratory Reagents, Explosive Compound, Rocketeer Drivers | Hydroponic Complex, Water Treatment Center, Buried City | Defeating Rocketeer enemies |
Rocket Assembly in Spaceport is the best early farming route
Before upgrading the station to Level 2, you must gather three Synthesized Fuel, five Crude Explosives, and five Pop Triggers. These materials can technically spawn in several industrial locations, but the Spaceport area provides the most reliable and concentrated farming route.
Within Spaceport, the Rocket Assembly section contains multiple lockers and industrial storage points where explosive materials frequently spawn. When you enter this location, your main objective is to reach the upper part of the assembly area where a strange machine vehicle sits.
This machine vehicle acts as one of the most reliable spawn points for Synthesized Fuel, which is often the hardest material to obtain for the Level 2 upgrade. Players usually find the fuel inside the vehicle compartment or in nearby containers.
Around this same location you will notice several lockers placed along the walls and near stairways. These lockers commonly contain Pop Triggers and Crude Explosives, allowing you to gather most of the upgrade materials during a single run.
Because the area contains multiple lootable containers close together, it becomes one of the most efficient farming spots for early workshop upgrades.
How to reach Explosives Station Level 2 quickly
Head to the Spaceport region and move toward the Rocket Assembly area, which contains large rocket structures and industrial equipment. Climb toward the top section of the Rocket Assembly structure until you reach a strange machine vehicle parked near the platform.
Search the interior compartment of the machine vehicle where Synthesized Fuel commonly spawns. Check all nearby lockers and storage units around the vehicle and staircases. These containers frequently spawn Crude Explosives and Pop Triggers.
Continue looting the area and extracting safely until you collect three Synthesized Fuel, five Crude Explosives, and five Pop Triggers, which are required to upgrade the workshop to Level 2.
Once you deliver these materials to your base, the Explosives Station Workshop upgrades to Level 2, unlocking the next tier of explosive crafting.
Advanced upgrade materials needed for Level 3
After reaching Level 2, the next upgrade introduces much rarer materials. To reach the maximum level you must collect Laboratory Reagents, Explosive Compound, and Rocketeer Drivers.
These components come from completely different regions of the game world, which means you will need to travel between several high-risk zones to gather them efficiently.
| Material | Best Locations | Where It Spawns |
|---|---|---|
| Laboratory Reagents | Buried City – Piazza Arbusto | Pharmacy shelves |
| Explosive Compound | Hydroponic Complex, Water Treatment Center | Lockers and storage rooms |
| Rocketeer Drivers | Dropped by Rocketeer enemies | Combat encounters |
Each of these items has a different acquisition method, which makes the final upgrade more complex than the previous one.
Hydroponic Complex and Water Treatment Center explosive farming
The Explosive Compound material is most commonly found in industrial lockers scattered throughout the Hydroponic Complex. This area contains multiple greenhouses and research structures, which makes it a frequent spawn zone for chemical and explosive crafting components.
Players often run through the main complex buildings and check every locker inside laboratories and maintenance rooms. Explosive Compound appears regularly in these containers, especially during early runs before the area is heavily looted by other players.
If the Hydroponic Complex fails to provide enough materials, the Water Treatment Center serves as a reliable backup location. The storage rooms and locker clusters there often contain the same explosive components.
Because both areas share similar loot pools, rotating between them greatly improves your chances of finding the required items.
Buried City pharmacy run for Laboratory Reagents
The most reliable location for Laboratory Reagents is the Buried City district, specifically the Piazza Arbusto area. Within this location you can find a pharmacy building containing shelves stocked with medical and scientific supplies.
Inside the pharmacy, Laboratory Reagents spawn on shelves and counters, making them easier to spot compared to container-based loot. This location has become a common farming route because the spawn rate for reagents is noticeably higher than in most laboratories.
However, the Buried City is a dangerous region filled with ARC machines and hostile players. Successful runs require careful movement and quick extraction after collecting the reagents.
Rocketeer enemies and how to obtain Rocketeer Drivers
The final component required for the Level 3 upgrade is Rocketeer Drivers, which are obtained by defeating specific enemy types known as Rocketeers.
These enemies carry heavy rocket launchers and typically appear in areas with higher combat difficulty. Defeating them is the only way to obtain the driver component, which makes combat preparation extremely important.
A common strategy involves using a Showstopper weapon combined with a Deadlure device. By placing the Deadlure, you can distract nearby ARC enemies and isolate the Rocketeer. Once the enemy is separated, the Showstopper can quickly eliminate it before other machines interfere.
After the Rocketeer is defeated, the Rocketeer Driver can be looted from the dropped equipment, allowing you to progress toward the final workshop upgrade.
How to reach Explosives Station Level 3
- Travel to Hydroponic Complex and search every locker and industrial container for Explosive Compound. If the compound is not available in sufficient quantity, continue farming lockers inside the Water Treatment Center.
- Visit the Buried City district and locate Piazza Arbusto, then enter the pharmacy building. Search the pharmacy shelves and storage areas to collect Laboratory Reagents.
- Hunt Rocketeer enemies in high-danger zones, using a Deadlure to distract nearby ARC units and a Showstopper to eliminate the Rocketeer quickly. Loot the Rocketeer Drivers dropped by defeated enemies and extract safely.
- Return to your base and deliver all collected materials to upgrade the Explosives Station Workshop to Level 3, the maximum level.
Why maxing the explosives station is worth it
Upgrading the Explosives Station Workshop to its maximum level significantly improves your crafting capabilities. The station unlocks stronger explosives that can deal heavy damage to ARC machines and fortified enemies.
Higher-tier explosives are particularly useful during difficult missions and large machine encounters. Players who invest time into upgrading the station gain a major combat advantage, especially when dealing with armored enemies or defending extraction zones.
Because of this, the workshop upgrade is considered one of the most valuable progression goals in ARC Raiders.
Fully upgrading the explosives station in ARC Raiders
Maxing out the Explosives Station Workshop in ARC Raiders requires strategic farming across multiple regions including Spaceport, Hydroponic Complex, Water Treatment Center, and Buried City. The early upgrade focuses on industrial materials from Rocket Assembly, while the final upgrade introduces combat challenges through Rocketeer enemies.
Once completed, the Level 3 workshop unlocks powerful explosive crafting options that greatly improve your combat effectiveness, making it one of the most impactful upgrades available in the game.
