ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades let you make materials that otherwise have to be found Topside. The station takes common salvage and turns it into the components needed for weapons, shields and other workshop upgrades. There are three levels, and each has its own materials bill.
Some ingredients are easy to lose without realising you’ll need them later. Toasters can be recycled for parts, while Fireball Burners and Bombardier Cells come from specific ARC units. Here’s the complete list of costs, where to search and every component the Refiner can craft.
ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades: all Level 1–3 costs
| Level | Required items | Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 60 Metal Parts; 5 ARC Powercells | Build the Refiner |
| Level 2 | 3 Toasters; 5 ARC Motion Cores; 8 Fireball Burners | Advanced material crafting |
| Level 3 | 3 Motors; 10 ARC Circuitry; 6 Bombardier Cells | Final component recipes |
All three payments are separate. To finish the ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades, you’ll need every row in that table, not just the Level 3 materials. Put the named items aside until you’ve bought their upgrade; recycling a Toaster won’t count as handing in a Toaster.
Level 1: Metal Parts and ARC Powercells
The initial build asks for 60 Metal Parts. Search industrial areas, gather basic scrap and recycle suitable surplus items back in Speranza. Metal Parts are common, but crafting other equipment can drain your stash. Save enough for the Refiner before spending them elsewhere.
You also need five ARC Powercells from ARC-related loot. Once those are collected, you can build the station. Starting ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades early is useful because Mechanical Components and Electrical Components from the first tier feed into other benches.
ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades: Level 2 farming
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Toaster | 3 | Residential loot in homes and apartments |
| ARC Motion Core | 5 | ARC machine loot, or crafting through an available Refiner recipe |
| Fireball Burner | 8 | Fireball ARC enemy drops |
Toasters are household salvage, so don’t waste time hunting robots for them. Residential rooms, cabinets and apartment loot are the right places to search. Hold three intact Toasters in your stash, even if you usually break them down.
ARC Motion Cores appear in certain ARC drops and also have a crafting recipe at the appropriate station level. Fireball Burners come from Fireball machines. The Level 2 ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades require eight Burners, which makes those small enemies worth searching after a fight.
ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades: Level 3 materials
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Motor | 3 | Mechanical loot areas |
| ARC Circuitry | 10 | ARC enemy loot or component crafting |
| Bombardier Cell | 6 | Bombardier ARC enemies |
For Level 3, focus on the six Bombardier Cells. They’re dropped by Bombardiers, not Fireballs or Ticks. Motors come from mechanical loot, while ARC Circuitry is an ARC material that can also be made at the Refiner when the recipe is accessible.
Try to extract the Level 3 requirements in batches rather than risking the whole set in one raid. ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades happen back at the station in Speranza, so carrying a Bombardier Cell Topside isn’t enough until you’ve brought it home.
ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades: all 17 recipes by level
The Refiner makes 17 different components across its three levels. These are the available outputs, not free items: each recipe still costs ingredients. Unlocking a new level allows you to make higher-tier materials used in other crafting stations.
| Refiner level | Craftable items |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Crude Explosives; Durable Cloth; Electrical Components; Mechanical Components |
| Level 2 | Advanced Electrical Components; Advanced Mechanical Components; Antiseptic; ARC Circuitry; ARC Motion Core; Explosive Compound; Heavy Gun Parts; Light Gun Parts; Medium Gun Parts; Mod Components |
| Level 3 | Complex Gun Parts; Magnetic Accelerator; Power Rod |
That gives you four early recipes, ten Level 2 recipes and three Level 3 recipes. Durable Cloth can help with Medical Lab progression; Mechanical and Electrical Components are used by other stations; and Magnetic Accelerators matter for higher-end Gunsmith progression. The ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades are worth doing because they connect to several separate crafting paths.
Which Refiner materials should you keep?
Save three Toasters, five ARC Motion Cores and eight Fireball Burners for Level 2, then three Motors, ten ARC Circuitry and six Bombardier Cells for Level 3. Don’t recycle named upgrade items while you’re saving up. You can always process spare materials once the station has taken what it needs.
Should you upgrade the Refiner first?
Building the Refiner early is valuable if other stations keep demanding crafted components. But if you’re losing most runs because you lack healing or shields, upgrading Medical Lab or Gear Bench might help you extract enough material to finish the Refiner later. There’s no single upgrade order that suits every loadout.
Check the full workshop costs before spending your rare items. ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades won’t automatically increase Gunsmith, Medical Lab or Research Bench levels. Those stations have their own requirements even if they consume Refiner-made parts.
ARC Raiders Refiner upgrades: before you press Upgrade
Check the numbers in your stash, keep each required item intact and complete the levels in order. Once the Refiner reaches Level 3, review the newly available recipes for Complex Gun Parts, Magnetic Accelerator and Power Rod. Save enough input materials to craft something afterwards rather than spending your final resources merely to unlock the menu.
Related Guides
Official source: ARC Raiders — Embark Studios.
