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Crafting
August 26, 2026 at 01:35 PM
Added workbench tier progression, salvage and repair as the three axes of the crafting rework
Crafting is a core system in Rooted that allows players to build tools, structures, furniture, and survival equipment from gathered resources. The crafting system is tied to the Workbench and the Survivor Guide, which together form the progression backbone of the game.
Station | Function |
|---|---|
Primary crafting station that players build in their base. Constructing a Workbench unlocks new blueprints in the Survivor Guide. Also used to repair post-apocalypse items. | |
Mechanical Workbench | Advanced crafting station for more complex items. Inventory now saves correctly between sessions (fixed in a recent patch). |
The Survivor Guide is an in-game reference that stores all discovered blueprints and crafted item knowledge. As players build crafting stations and discover new materials, the Survivor Guide expands with additional recipes. It is both a crafting menu and a progression tracker.
Crafting requires materials gathered from the world through salvaging, logging, and exploration:
Resource | Source |
|---|---|
Logs | Harvested from trees. |
Planks | Processed from Logs at crafting stations. |
Slabs | Cut lumber for construction. |
Metal Sheets | Salvaged from structures and vehicles. |
Berries | Found scattered throughout the world. |
Junk items | Collected and broken down via salvaging. |
Item | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
Storage Chests | Storage | Containers for organizing collected materials and equipment. |
Slabs Rack | Storage | Dedicated rack for storing processed slabs. |
Planks Rack | Storage | Dedicated rack for storing planks. |
Metal Sheets Rack | Storage | Dedicated rack for storing metal sheets. |
Cooking Pot | Food | Used for boiling water safely. See food management. |
Water Collector | Water | Collects rainwater for drinking and crafting. |
Water Filter | Water | Purifies collected water for safe consumption. |
Campfire | Food | Cooking and heating station. Requires fuel with variable burn times depending on fuel type. |
Tent | Shelter | Portable shelter that is a respawn point. Can be packed into a backpack for transport. |
Bed | Shelter | Permanent respawn point for a base. |
Hammock | Furniture | Part of the outdoor furniture set. |
Bench | Furniture | Part of the outdoor furniture set. |
Garden Set | Furniture | Part of the outdoor furniture set. |
Brazier | Furniture | Part of the outdoor furniture set. |
Geodome Pod | Shelter | Exclusive item for Kickstarter founders. |
Doors | Building | Interactive doors for base construction. |
Barricades | Defense | Defensive structures to block enemy access. |
Partitions | Defense | Walls and dividers for base segmentation. |
Traps | Defense | Defensive devices to damage or slow enemies. |
Respirator Mask | Survival | Protection against spore contamination in hazardous zones. |
Post-apocalypse items found in the world can be repaired at a Workbench. This allows players to restore functionality to scavenged equipment rather than needing to craft everything from scratch, encouraging salvaging and exploration.
Crafting in Rooted starts at the workbench and scales outward as base utilities come online. Early crafts cover melee tools, traps, basic clothing, and simple containers. Mid-game expands into vehicles, repaired weapons, and electrical components. Late-game work reaches into automation, advanced clothing, and recovered 2080-era tech as players push deeper into the contaminated city.
Input | Source | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
Logs | Tree harvesting, basic salvage | Planks, simple constructions |
Planks | Sawn from logs, recovered debris | Building, furniture, racks |
Metal Sheets | Salvaged from electronics and vehicles | Advanced construction and crafting recipes |
Slabs | Quarry-style yields, salvage | Heavy construction |
Electrical components | Drones, sensors, power-system salvage | Workbench upgrades, electricity and automation |
Once a base has functional electricity, automated stations cut the manual time spent at the workbench. Power supply, basic automation, and workshop upgrades unlock chained recipes that turn surplus salvage into finished goods. The studio's design notes confirm that the workshop expansion path continues into Phase 3 with deeper automation.
Modding support with Steam Workshop integration for sharing blueprints is announced as planned. This will let players exchange custom base designs and crafted layouts once the Early Access window opens in 2027, supporting community-driven extension of the build system.
Phase 3 has expanded craftable options alongside other content drops. Hunting traps came in with the wildlife rollout; firearms training and ammo crafting touched the December 2025 weapons patch; UI refinements continue to make recipe management cleaner. Players returning between patches should expect the recipe tree to keep widening through 2026.
The studio has since described the crafting layer in the production build in three words: workbenches with tiers, salvage, and repair. Those are the three axes it is being built along. Tiers give a bench somewhere to climb to and gate the recipes worth climbing for, salvage supplies the parts, and repair is the alternative to consuming those parts on something new. Exclusive blueprint guides sit at the top of the tier ladder as the reward for pushing a bench further.
Because the tier level is shared across everyone crafting at the same bench, the loop pulls toward a single well-supplied workshop inside a defended base rather than several half-finished ones. That work is in the unreleased build and is not part of the public alpha.
