Workbench Level 2

Level 2 is where a wipe turns into fights with real guns. 5.56 rifle ammo, the semi-auto rifle, the pump shotgun, the custom SMG, the garage door and the large furnace all sit at this tier, and the group that gets here first usually sets the pace on the server for days.

The old advice was to hoard scrap for the bench. The recipe no longer fits that: five basic blueprint fragments, 20 high quality metal and 500 metal fragments, crafted at a Level 1 workbench. HQM is the easy part. The fragments come from loot, so the bench now waits on a monument run rather than on a scrap pile.

Picture a duo on day two with HQM ore smelting and three fragments in the box. Two more and they can stop trading arrows with bow players. Meanwhile, spend the scrap on research and the Level 1 tree. It will not sit idle, since this bench's own tech tree runs on scrap as well.

Watch for the Salvage upgrade on those monument runs too: nobody can craft it, it only turns up as loot, and it cuts every tech tree unlock at its bench by a fifth. Recycling a spare Level 2 bench never gives all five fragments back.