- Outer Worlds vs Fallout New Vegas Compared - January 10, 2023
- Fallout vs Metro Compared - January 1, 2023
- Fallout 4 Frost Mod Guide - May 6, 2022
One of the most significant parts of playing Fallout 76 is gathering resources from killing enemies and looting Fallout 76 locations. Those resources are then used to craft gear and build player bases across the map.
This makes gathering resources a highly integral part of playing Fallout 76, so if you’re looking to play the game, you’ll likely want to know as much about getting your hands on resources as you can.
Here’s a complete list of resources we’re going to explore in our Fallout 76 resources guide.
Key Info Up Front
- Metal Resources: Aluminum, Black Titanium, Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver, Steel, and Uranium
- Junk Resources: Acid, Ballistic Fiber, Concrete, Fertilizer, Oil, Screws, and Wood
Resource Farming Overview
Once you spend a lot of time in Fallout 76, you’ll want to start farming for resources to build your C.A.M.P. and keep your gear in top form. You’ll need to track down the resources that can be split into two categories: Metal and Junk.
These two categories each contain multiple resources, and each one has a few different ways to farm for them. The methods can include setting up an extractor or other building to produce the resource over time, scrapping items found in the world, or killing particular monsters to get them to drop.
Which option you decide to pursue will primarily depend on your preferences and ability, so, luckily, each resource has multiple methods for players to pick from for each one.
Metal Resources Guide
Metal resources are used to build architecture for players’ C.A.M.P., armor, weapons, and modifications. Throughout your entire playthrough of Fallout 76, you’ll need to get a ton of metal resources, so you’ll want to know the best ways to get your hands on them.
Aluminum
Aluminum cannot be farmed by killing monsters, so to farm it, you’ll have to either use extractors placed on Aluminum deposits or scrapping items containing Aluminum. Luckily, both methods are very productive. The best locations to farm Aluminum from scrapping are:
- Abandoned Mine Shaft 1 – 14 Aluminum Veins per run
- Pleasant Valley Ski Resort – 46 Ski Poles per run
- Poseidon Power Substation PX-02 – 10 Ski Poles per run
After you run the locations, however, you’ll want to do something else and give the locations time to replenish their inventory to avoid making inefficient runs. If you go to any other locations and are looting, you can keep an eye out for the following items that can all be scrapped into Aluminum:
- Anything with Aluminium in its name
- Alarm Clock
- Blasting Caps Box
- Cake Pan
- Chez Vivi Typewriter
- Coffee Tin
- Coolant Cap
- Eyebot Model
- HH-3 Capacitor
- Hubcap
- Industrial Oil Canister
- Large Glass Jar Lid
- Large Glass Jar Ring
- Large Glass Jar Top
- Mr. Gutsy Model
- Mr. Handy Model
- Oil Can
- Protectron Model
- Ring Stand
- Robot Parts Model
- Sentry Bot Model
- Ski Pole
- Small Glass Jar Lid
- Small Glass Jar Ring
- Small Glass Jar Top
- Steel Guitar
- Surgical Tray
- Tin Pitcher
- Toy Rocketship
- TV Dinner Tray
- Vault-Tec Alarm Clock
- Wake Master Alarm Clock
However, if you’re looking to farm Aluminum with a more passive strategy, you’ll want to set up an extractor on an Aluminum deposit. To do this, you’ll have to either keep control of a Workshop near any deposits that have one or build your C.A.M.P. nearby to build an extractor on top of it.
The location of every deposit and whether or not you need to build a C.A.M.P. there or not are below. However, you should note that for any deposits with a workshop, you’ll have to complete an event to capture as well as occasionally having to defend it from monster attacks to keep control of it.
Related read: Fallout 76 Workshop Locations Guide.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Berkely Springs West
- Charleston Landfill
- Converted Munitions Factory
- Poseidon Energy Plant Yard
- Red Rocket Mega Stop
- Sunshine Meadows Industrial Farm
- Tyler County Dirt Track
- Workshop South of Mount Blair
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- Southeast of Vault 63
Black Titanium
Black Titanium is a metal resource that you likely won’t have to worry about farming until late into the game as it is primarily used to craft and repair pieces of Power Armor. While you may not need it much until late in the game, when you need it, you’ll likely need a lot since Power Armor is integral to tackling end game content in Fallout 76.
To get Black Titanium, you can set up an extractor, kill Mole Miners, or loot ore veins. However, once you get Black Titanium Ore, you’ll need to equip the Super Duper Perk Card and use a Chemistry Station to craft three Black Titanium Ore and four Acid into two Black Titanium Scrap. To kill Mole Miners or loot ore veins, you can complete the locations below in order.
- Welch Station – 76 Black Titanium Ore
- A.M.S. Testing Site -76 Black Titanium Ore
- Bleching Betty – 96 Black Titanium Ore
- Blackwater Mine – 6 Mole Miners
However, when you kill the Mole Miners, you’ll have to scrap the Miner Suit Scraps they drop to get Black Titanium Scraps. If you want to focus on killing enemies to farm, you can also find Mole Miners in any location below.
- Garrahan Mining
- Kerwood mine
- Monogah Mine
- Mount Blair
If you want to place an extractor instead, you can set one up at either location below.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- George Junkyard
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- Southeast of Belching Betty
Copper
Copper is an integral material for building your C.A.M.P. as it is used to craft anything that requires electricity. Running electricity throughout your C.A.M.P. is vast to have more excellent stations, defenses, and light to be able to see where you’re going at night.
Luckily, farming Copper gives you the option of using extractors, looting veins, and crapping items. Once you get Copper Ore, you can turn it into Copper Scrap by equipping the Super Duper Perk Card and using a Chemistry Station to smelt three Copper Ore and two Acid into three Copper Scrap.
Here’s everything you need to know about farming Copper and its uses in Fallout 76.
If you’re looking to loot Copper Ore Veins, you’ll want to go to these locations in this order:
- Northeast of Hornwright Testing Site #03 – 7 Copper Ore Veins
- South of Hornwright Testing Site #03 – 4 Copper Ore Veins
- Southeast of Striker Row – 6 Copper Ore Veins
- South of the Cliffs by Interstate 84 – 10 Copper Ore Veins
- South of Hornwright Air Purifier Site #03 – 12 Copper Ore Veins
- West of Hornwright Air Purifier Site #03 – 4 Copper Ore Veins
- West of Abandoned Mine Shaft #1 – 6 Copper Ore Veins
- Between Abandoned Mine Shaft #1 and Striker Row – 6 Copper Ore Veins
- East of Hornwright Testing Site #02 – 3 Copper Ore Veins
If instead, you prefer to just keep an eye out for Copper as you loot locations, there are tons of items that will give you Copper when scrapped. However, these items provide you the most:
- Beaker Stand
- Brass Miner’s Lamp
- Cooking Pots
- High-Powered Magnets
- Hot Plates
- Pre-War Lamps
- Sensor Modules
- Trumpet
The best locations on the map to find items to scrap for Copper are:
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Bolton Greens
- Landview Lighthouse
- Mountainside Bed and Breakfast
- Sugar Grove
Of course, if you’re willing to fight for it, you can also set up an extractor to mine Copper for you while you go and do other things. The locations for Copper deposits are below.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Billings Homestead
- Charleston Landfill
- Dabney Homestead
- Grafton Steelyard
- Spruce Knob
- Wade Airport
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- South of Billings Homestead
Gold
Gold is a precious metal resource, as not only is it used for crafting weapon modifications but for building some of the more expensive and valuable C.A.M.P. pieces.
If you’re looking to get your hands on a heaping amount of Gold, you can find it by scrapping items, mining veins, or setting up extractors.
As you loot areas, you’ll want to look out for these objects that can all be scrapped into Gold:
- Anything with Gold in its name
- Lighters
- Red Star Pins
- Unstoppables! Board Game
The best locations to find these items are:
- Appalachian Antiques
- The Burrows
- White springs Resort
- White springs Golf Club
You can also go to mines to loot Gold veins in the following areas:
- Northeast of Spruce Knob – 10 Gold Ore
- Glassed Cavern – 3 Gold Ore
- Hornwright Industrial Headquarters (basement) – One Gold Ore
- Tanagra Town – Several Gold Ore
Like the other metals, you can also set up extractors on Gold Deposits. These can be built at the following locations.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Beckley Mine Exhibit
- Billings Homestead
- Dolly Seeds Campground
- Hemlock Holes Maintenance
Lead
For many players, Lead is the most crucial metal resource. It serves two primary purposes, increasing your resistance to radiation and crafting ammunition.
For builds that use high amounts of ammunition, you’ll need to become very familiar with farming Lead to keep your heavy machine gun-happy and full.
You can again set up an extractor, mine Lead veins, or farm items to scrap to get Lead. If you want to mine Lead veins, you should head to Lucky Hole Mine.
There you’ll find 40 Lead veins in one convenient location that you can then smelt at a Chemistry Station by combining two Lead Ore with one Acid to turn them into five Lead Scrap.
If you want to find items to scrap into Lead, you’ll want to look for gyms. There, you can grab all of the weights and equipment to turn them all into Lead Scrap. The best locations to go to are:
- Charleston Fire Department
- Eastern Regional Penitentiary
- Hornwright Estate
- Lewis And Sons Farming Supply
- Monorail Elevator (third floor)
- Morgantown North Monorail Station
- The Green Country Lodge
- Tree Tops
- Vault Tech University
- West Tek Research Center
If you’d instead set up an excavator to defend, you can do so at these locations.
Related read: Comprehensive Fallout 76 Lead Farming Guide.
Deposit Location -Workshop
- Berkley Springs West
- Converted Munitions Factory
- Dolly Sods Campground
- Lakeside Cabins
- Poseidon Energy Plant Yard
- East of the Archery Set
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- East of the Archery Set
Silver
Silver is another metal resource used for crafting gear and upgrades, so you’ll likely need to get your hands on some eventually. When you need some, the best way to get it is to build an excavator, scrap items, mine silver veins, or kill Mega Sloths.
If you want to mine veins, the best place to do so is in the Wendigo Cave, where you can find multiple veins in one convenient run-through. You can also collect the following items and scrap them:
- Anything with Gold in its name
- Assaultron Circuit Board
- Enhanced Targeting Card
- Fancy Hair Brush
- Flute
- Grey & Gould Pocket Watch
- Metal Beer Stein
- Gold Table Spoon
You can also farm Mega Sloths by heading to their spawn point southwest of Mosstown. If you kill mega Sloths there, they will drop both Silver and Loose Screws.
As always, the best passive way to get your hand on Silver is by setting up an excavator on one of the game’s numerous Silver deposits that are listed below.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Tyler County Dirt Track
- Wade Airport
- Lakeside Cabins
- Converted Munitions Factory
- Abandoned Bog Town
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- Northwest of Pioneer Scout Lookout
- Southwest of Black Bear Lodge
- Northeast of The Palace of the Winding Path
- South of Sunnytop Ski Lanes
- East of Crashed Plane
- South of Mosstown
- Southeast of Bolton Greens
- Northwest of New Appalachian Central Trainyard
- Northwest of Drop Site G3
- Southwest of Bootlegger’s Shack
- West of Dent and Sons Construction
- East of Pleasant Hills Cemetary
- West of Hornwright Air Purifier Site #03
- West of Abandoned Mine Shaft 5
Steel
Steel is the most universal of all the metal resources, meaning you’ll be needing a lot of it pretty consistently. It can be used to craft modifications for your armor and weapons, build in your C.A.M.P., craft ammunition, and work on your Power Armor.
Thankfully, it also has the most ways to get your hands on it, including excavators, Iron Veins, killing enemies, and scrapping items. You will also likely get Steel and Iron, which can be smelted into Steel naturally throughout your playthrough. Most of this will be done by scrapping items, such as the following:
- Any weapon
- Accordion
- Adjustable Wrench
- Antique Table Knife
- Ball-Peen Hammers
- Bandage Scissors
- Bird Decorations
- Blacksmith Hammers
- Blowtorches
- Paint Cans
- Bonesaw
- Bunsen Burners
- Cans
- Board Games
- Tea Kettles
- Clothes’ Hangers
- Clothing irons
- Coffee Pots
- Combination Wrenches
- Cooking Pans
- Cooking Pots
- Metal Tubs
- Sauce Pans
- Canisters
- Cutting Fluid
- Desk Fans
- Detonator
- Dinner Fork
- Dinner Plates
- Dog Tags
- Enamel Buckets
- Extinguishers
- Flip Lighter
- Flute
- Forks
- Frying Pans
- Fuel Tanks
- Giddyup Buttercup
- Hack Saws
- Hallucigen Gas Cannisters
- Hammers
- Handcuffs
- Industrial Solvent
- Kitchen Scales
- Ladels
- Lanterns
- Beer Steins
- Metal Buckets
- Miner Suit Filter
- Miner Suit Scrap
- Miner’s Lamp
- Mining Lights
- Mr. Handy Fuel
- Toy Trucks
- portable Fuel Tanks
- Saw
- Scalpels
- Screwdrivers
- Sensor Modules
- Shopping Baskets
- Stew Pots
- Toasters
- Turpentine
How many items can be scrapped into Steel makes it a great resource to farm while farming something else. However, if you want to get a lot of weapons to scrap into Steel, a great location to do so is running through West Tek Research Center once your character is a high enough level to kill the enemies there quickly.
This will drop plenty of weapons, new modes, and even some legendaries for you to use. You can also set up an excavator at any of the below deposits.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Charleston Landfill
- Red Rocket Mega Stop
- Thunder Mountain Power Plant Yard
- Tyler County Dirt Track
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- Northeast of New gad
- East of Hornwright Testing Site #03
- East of Vault 63
- Northwest of Monorail Elevator
Uranium
Uranium is a rare late-stage resource required to craft Nuclear Waste, which is in turn used to make weapon modifications, explosives, and mods for your Power Armor.
Since it is a bit rarer than the other metal resources, you won’t have quite as many options to get your hands on it. If you want to get some Uranium, you’ll have to pick from mining a few veins, setting up an extractor, or farming frogs.
If you’re looking to mine Uranium veins, you can best do so at Blackwater Mine while frogs are most easily farmed in the Carleton Mine pool. However, the most reliable way to farm Uranium is by setting up an extractor at one of the following sites.
Deposit Location
Workshop
- Federal Disposal Field HZ-21
- Red Rocket Bega Stop
- Poseidon Energy Plant Yard
- Thunder Mountain Power Plant Yard
- Monongah Power Plant Yard
Junk Resources Guide
Junk Resources can be a bit harder to track down, but they are just as important as their metal counterparts.
They are used in various crafting recipes, from using them to make other resources to building C.A.M.P. structures and gear.
Acid
Acid is an essential resource in using metal resources, as most of them need Acid to craft ore into useful metal. So, you’ll need to be getting your hands on a lot of Acid alongside getting your hands on other resources.
To do this, you can either use an extractor, kill enemies that drop Acid, or scrap items. To farm Acid from killing enemies, you’ll want to go to these locations in this order:
- Flooded Trainyard – 3-6 Snallygasters
- Tanagra Town – Crickets in the cave
- Dolly Sods Wilderness – One Yao Guai
- Kiddie Corner Cabins – 4 Snallygasters
- Carleton Mine – Crickets inside the Mine
- The Deep – Crickets in the cave
If you instead want to farm Acid through scrapping items, you’ll want to follow this route:
- Beckley – 3 HalluciGen Gas Canister
- Blackwater Mine – 5 Coolant, 2 Abraxo Cleaner Industrial Grade, 2 Makeshift Battery
- Camp McClintock – 3 HalluciGen Gas Canister
- Darling Sister’s Lab – 4 HalluciGen Gas Canister
- Groves Family Cabin – 3 Bag of Chlorine
- Lady Janet’s Soft Serve – 5 Coolant, 1 Abraxo Cleaner
- Silva Homestead – 6 Bag of Chlorine, 2 Coolant, 2 Abraxo Cleaner, 1 Rat Poison
- The Whitespring Resort – 4 Abraxo Cleaner Industrial Grade, 6 Undamaged Abraxo Cleaner, 1 Makeshift Battery, 1 Suprathaw Antifreeze, 2 Abraxo Cleaner
- US-13C – 3 HalluciGen Gas Canister
- WV Lumber Co. – 6 Coolant, 2 Suprathaw Antifreeze, 1 Antifreeze Bottle, 1 Abraxo Cleaner
If you’d rather cut down on the traveling and set up an extractor, you can do so at the following sites:
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Federal Disposal Field HZ-21
- Hemlock Holes Maintenance
- Monongah POwer PLant
- Relay Tower LW-B1-22
Deposit Location – C.A.M.P.
- Southwest of Hopewell Cave
Ballistic Fiber
Ballistic Fiber is one of the rarest resources in all of Fallout 76. This is because it is needed to craft the most valuable high-level equipment and mods.
It is also so rare because there is no way to excavate the resource or get it as drops from enemies. Instead, it can only be obtained by scrapping the few following items:
- Military Ammo Bags
- Military Duct Tape
- Mysterious Fur
- Torn Mothman Wing
So, if you need to get a lot of Ballistic Fiber, there is one optimum farming route that you should take advantage of.
- Survey Camp Alpha
- Watoga Civic Center
- Fort Defiance
- The Thorn
- Forward Station Alpha
- Camp McClintock
Concrete
Concrete is a valuable resource for building sturdy C.A.M.P. structures and things at workshops. If you need to get your hands on it, you have to use extractors to mine Concrete or scrap particular items. The items that you can scrap for Concrete are below.
- Bags of Concrete
- Garden Gnomes
- Lead Pipes
The best way to collect these items is to follow this farming path:
- Kanawha County Cemetery
- Lewis & Sons Farming Supply
- New River Gorge Bridge – East
- Huntersville
- Monorail Elevator
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Harpers Ferry
Of course, you can also claim one of five workshops to generate Concrete for you as long as you are willing to fight for it.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Dabney Homestead
- Gorge Junkyard
- Poseidon Energy PLant Yard
- Sunshine Meadows Industrial Farm
Crystal
Crystal is a very high-end resource required to craft the most powerful modifications, gear, ammunition, and Power Armor. Thankfully, to get your hands on it, you can either go to mines filled with Crystal or scrap items that are relatively common.
The best mine to find Crystal in is none other than Lucky Hole Mine, where you can get an incredible amount of Crystal with just one run if you have Excavator Power Armor. However, if you’d rather scrap items, you’ll be looking for the following:
- Cameras
- Crystal Liquor Decanter
- High-Powered Microscopes
- Magnifying Glasses
- Microscopes
While these items are pretty standard across locations in the game, you can find an exceptionally high spawn rate at these locations:
- Clancy Manor
- West Tek Research Center
- Vault-Tec University
- Atlas Observatory
- Watoga Emergency Services
- Sugar Grove
- Robco research Center
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is an essential resource for players who want to grow crops or craft certain Chems and explosives. However, the only way to get your hands on it is by scrapping just two items: Bags of Fertilizer and Radioactive Pumpkin Seeds.
If you’re looking to build up your Fertilizer stock, you’ll want to go to the following locations that have a higher spawn rate for them than others:
- Beckwith Farm
- Cobbleton Farm
- Lewis and Sons Farming Supply
- Lewisburg
- Pumpkin House
- Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center
Oil
Oil is similar to Fertilizer in that it can only be obtained by scrapping specific objects that are looted across the world. However, it is needed much more frequently than Fertilizer for crafting weapons, Power Armor, and mods.
So, if you need some, you’ll want to keep your eye out for the following items:
- Aluminum Canisters
- Oil Cans
- Lighters
- Blowtorches
- Blue Paint
- Cooking Oil
- Cutting Fluid
- Fuel Tanks
- Fumigus Blowtorch
- Gas Canisters
- Industrial Oil Canisters
- Industrial Size Shortening
- Lanterns
- Mr. Handy Fuel
- Oil Canisters
- Paint Cans
- Plastic Gas Canisters
- Portable Fuel Tanks
- Red Paint
- Soap
- Sticky Tar
- Yellow Paint
If you need to focus on collecting Oil more than just finding these items around in random locations, you’ll want to head to these locations:
- Silva Homestead
- Wilson Brother’s Auto Repair
- Beckwith Farm
- Aaronholt Homestead
- Charleston Trainyard
- Delano Grange
- Sons of Dane Compound
- Sunrise Field
- Yellow Sandy’s Still
Screws
Screws are a convenient resource to have around as they are primarily used to repair gear and craft some weapons and armor. Unfortunately, for how many screws you’ll need in your playthrough, they can be a bit tough to come by naturally.
So, if you have a lot of gear to repair or just want to stock up for the future, you can collect screws from either killing enemies or scrapping certain enemies.
If you’re going to earn them by killing enemies, you’ll want to farm the A Colossal Problem event that has you killing Earle Williams on repeat.
However, if you’d instead just loot for items rather than wait for the event to start, you’ll be looking for the following items:
- Globes
- Desk Fans
- Typewriters
- Telephones
- Clipboards
- Toy Cars
- Hubcap
- Giddyup Buttercup
- Giddyup Buttercup body
If you want to look for these items, the best route is these locations in the following order.
- The Whitespring Golf Club
- Whitespring Bunker
- Abandoned Bog Town
- Horizon’s Rest
Wood
Wood is a highly coveted resource as high quantities are needed to build C.A.M.P.S. There are plenty of places to gather Wood across Appalachia, but getting it in high quantity quickly takes some targeted farming.
One popular way to farm Wood is to gather it at Sylvie and Sons Logging Camp and scrapping weapons. Otherwise, some Workshops will allow you to generate Wood as well.
Deposit Location – Workshop
- Dabney Homestead
- Dolly Sods Campground
- Gorge Junkyard
- lakeside Cabins
- Thunder Mountain Power Plant Yard
F.A.Q.s
Question: Does playing solo or in a team impact farming in Fallout 76?
Answer: Playing in a team will increase the enemy spawns that you run into, so if you are farming by killing enemies or collecting items to scrap from drops, you will get them a bit quicker if you are playing on a team.
Question: Is there any way to speed farming up even more?
Answer: If you are farming by running through locations, enemy spawns, or mines, you can speed it up by switching to another server, regenerating its resources.
Question: Which resource is the best to farm in Fallout 76?
Answer: The resource that you should be farming is entirely dependent on what resources you need at any given moment. If you’d instead farm for money, there are much more profitable ways to do so than farming resources you don’t need for crafting or building.
Conclusion
Gathering resources make up a lot of Fallout 76’s gameplay, especially once players get to higher levels and want to customize their C.A.M.P. either further or complete their builds with optimal gear. Thankfully, each resource has multiple ways for players to go about farming it to do so in whichever way they prefer.