RIFTSTORM Guide: How to Craft and Upgrade Weapons
5 - 6 minutes
In this guide, discover everything you need to know about weapon crafting in RIFTSTORM, including CP potential, rarity levels, and tips for efficiently upgrading your arsenal.
Crafting is essential to player progression in RIFTSTORM, enabling operatives to upgrade their arsenal with powerful weapons. For an in-depth overview of the game, check out our Everything You Need to Know About RIFTSTORM guide.
Crafting Mechanics: CP Potential and Rarity#Copy URL to this article section
In RIFTSTORM, weapons are crafted by selecting both a CP (Combat Power) potential and a rarity, each offering distinct power levels and stats that affect a weapon’s effectiveness in battle. Here’s how the system works:
CP Potential Tiers: CP is a measure of a weapon’s strength. Each weapon has a potential range, categorized into:
Low CP Potential
Medium-High CP Potential
High CP Potential
Higher CP potentials typically yield more powerful weapons, increasing your overall CP, which helps you take on harder missions.
Rarity Levels: Crafting also allows you to choose a weapon’s rarity, impacting both the crafting cost and the weapon's stats:
Rare+: Good quality with moderately enhanced stats.
Epic+: More expensive to craft but offers significantly higher performance.
Legendary: The highest tier, providing superior stats and abilities.
Crafting weapons at the Forge
Each weapon crafted in RIFTSTORM comes with a different cost depending on its rarity and CP potential, so it’s essential to plan and save parts accordingly, especially when aiming for Legendary-level weapons with High CP Potential.
Crafting Options: Random vs. Blueprint-Based Crafting#Copy URL to this article section
Crafting is divided into two main approaches:
Random Weapon Crafting: This type of crafting is almost always used. Based on the character you’re using, you’ll want to upgrade certain types of weapons. Since it’s rare to have a blueprint that fits your needs, you’ll most likely be crafting a random weapon of the type you are looking for (e.g. a random assault rifle).
Blueprint-Based Crafting: To craft specific weapons, you’ll need blueprints, which are earned through mission rewards. Blueprint crafting allows for more precise control over your weapon selection, letting you target the exact weapon that best fits your playstyle or character’s strengths.
Choose the weapon that fits your playstyle
Resource Management: Salvaging and Weapon Parts#Copy URL to this article section
Crafting in Riftstorm requires weapon parts, which you can obtain by completing missions or salvaging unwanted weapons. Salvaging is a vital part of the system, as it helps you amass the necessary parts for crafting high-tier weapons.
Salvaging for Scrap: Salvaging rewards depend on the CP of the salvaged weapon, categorized as follows:
Scrap Tier 1 (Gray): Earned by salvaging any weapon.
Scrap Tier 2 (Green): Earned by salvaging weapons with 225+ CP.
Scrap Tier 3 (Blue): Earned by salvaging weapons with 330+ CP.
Strategic Salvaging: Since missions continuously reward you with upgraded weapons, you’ll often find it beneficial to salvage common, uncommon, and even some epic weapons to gather enough parts for crafting higher-tier equipment. The goal is to save resources until you can afford a Legendary weapon with high CP potential, allowing for a substantial power boost.
Salvage weapons strategically
Weapon Types and Crafting Decisions#Copy URL to this article section
In RIFTSTORM, you can craft a variety of weapons, including handguns, automatic guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, miniguns, and assault rifles. Each weapon type has its unique advantages, and your choice should be influenced by your character’s capabilities and personal playstyle.
Considerations for selecting and crafting weapons include:
Primary and Secondary Weapons: Each character can equip a primary and secondary weapon, providing flexibility in combat scenarios. Make sure to craft a loadout that complements your character’s abilities and your preferred combat style.
Character Synergy: Each character in Riftstorm has specific strengths that work well with different weapon types. For instance, the character Hertz has a strong shield, making him ideal for solo play with high-damage, close-range weapons, while characters optimized for speed may benefit from lighter, faster-firing weapons. Refer to our guide on Picking a Character to align your weapon crafting choices with the best character for your playstyle.
Tips for Efficient Crafting and Weapon Upgrades#Copy URL to this article section
To maximize your crafting potential, follow these tips:
Prioritize Mission Rewards: As you progress through mission tiers and complete boss missions, you’ll unlock access to higher-threat-level missions with better rewards. Always equip your highest CP weapons and save rarer parts for crafting stronger weapons as you unlock them. Learn more about missions in our Mission System Guide
Focus on Legendary Weapons: Given the steady influx of weapon rewards from missions, it’s often best to save parts for crafting Legendary weapons with high CP. This approach ensures that your resources aren’t spent on lower-tier upgrades that may soon be replaced by mission rewards.
Adapt Crafting to Missions: Some missions may require specific weapon types or setups. In these cases, it’s helpful to have crafted weapons suited to the mission’s difficulty and requirements, enhancing your chances of success.
By understanding and utilizing Riftstorm’s detailed crafting mechanics, you’ll be well-equipped to conquer even the most challenging missions.