Crafting is often overlooked in The Cycle: Frontier, but it’s one of the most powerful systems you can use to consistently improve your survivability, efficiency, and inventory management. Knowing what to craft gives you a sense of purpose while in raid, helps reduce clutter in your stash, and turns excess materials into useful, run-enhancing equipment. This guide breaks down the best beginner crafting priorities and where to gather what you need.

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1. Medium Backpack – More Loot, Faster Progress

The medium backpack increases your carry capacity by 50 pounds compared to the standard one. That might not sound like much at first, but over multiple raids, it significantly boosts your earnings and quest progression.

Materials Required:

• 2x Altered Nickel – Found in green-glowing nodes, especially near rivers, caves, Southwest Collection Point, and Eastern Caverns.
• 2x Polymetallic Prefabricate – Looks like a toilet paper roll; commonly found lying around in Waterfall Lab and Vaccine Labs, especially on desks or open spaces.

Craft a few of these early on so you always have one ready post-raid.

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2. Strong Stims – Better Healing with Less Weight

Strong stims heal significantly more than weak stims. While they don’t activate faster, they restore more health per use, which means:

• You heal more in clutch situations
• You can carry fewer and save backpack weight

Materials Required (crafts 5 at a time):

• 3x Old Medicine – Found in medical crates in labs
• 2x Waterweed Filament – Located in or around water, especially at the lake, swamp, and rock pools north of the swamp
• 1x Brightcap Mushroom – Also common in the rock pools

A quick run through the rock pools can net you everything you need.

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3. Green Helmet – Essential Head Protection

Helmets reduce damage taken from headshots, which is vital in a game where a single well-placed bullet can down you. Green-tier gear is where your protection starts to matter.

Materials Required:

• 5x Hardened Metals – Found almost everywhere on the map, usually lying around or inside containers
• 9x Spinal Bases – Drops from Striders, the most common creature

You’ll gather these passively if you’re looting and defending yourself properly.

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4. Green Shield – Body Protection That Matters

Green armor doesn’t just protect your chest—it reduces damage to your entire body, including arms and legs. As of the latest update, armor is even more effective, making green-tier a must.

Materials Required:

• 9x Spinal Bases
• 5x Polymetallic Prefabricate

Same materials as before—easy to stockpile with general looting and creature kills.

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5. Restoration and Tactical Gear – Utility Over Raw Protection

These variants offer only 12 armor (compared to 15), but provide utility:

• Restoration Gear: Slowly regenerates your health over time. Great for passive healing during downtime.
• Tactical Gear: Grants stamina bonuses, letting you run longer.

Restoration Materials (Helmet & Shield):

• Same base as green helmet/shield
• 2x Brightcap Mushroom

Tactical Materials:

• Helmet: Add Cables to the standard recipe
• Shield: Add Waterweed Filament

These are great situational pieces. If you like mobility or sustainability, craft accordingly.

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Why Crafting Matters

• Frees stash space by turning stackable junk into usable gear
• Gives you direction during raids
• Helps maintain consistency in your runs with backup gear

Knowing what you need lets you prioritize loot and get the most out of each drop. Crafting key items like backpacks, stims, and green gear early ensures you have a sustainable advantage while you work on missions or upgrade your quarters.

Gear up smarter—and good luck out there, Prospector!