Make more Iron Rods with a Smelter
After spending the early pickups, get more Iron Rods by feeding Scrap Metal and Coal into a crafted Smelter. Build the Smelter from 5 Clay and 5 Scrap Metal, then use it to turn your gathered materials into more rods.
If you need rods before you can build it, check the prison's loose pickups and small chest, plus the camp chest containing Leather. Prison and sewer spawns can also turn up rods, while broken goo piles only rarely drop them. Use those finds to cover an immediate repair, and aim to establish smelting for ongoing crafting.
Check the ready-made rods you may have missed
Check these pickups before setting out for more materials. If you have already emptied a chest or spent its rods, move on to the Smelter setup below. Keep the chest contents in mind when retracing your route.
| Pickup | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Loose rods in the prison | 2 Iron Rods lying in the open. |
| Small chest in the prison | 2 Iron Rods together with a Small Key. |
| Small chest at another camp | 3 Iron Rods packed with Leather. |
Treat rods from replenishing spawns and goo piles as extra finds during exploration. The prison and sewers can produce them occasionally, but those spawns mostly give other items. Once you have a Pickaxe, breaking goo can supply Clay for the Smelter as well as the occasional rod.
Get the materials and start smelting
- Collect the Pickaxe in the lower spider prison, behind the door with skeleton archers above. It breaks the yellow goo piles you need for Clay.
- Return to the sewers using the rope behind the hub camp's stairs. This brings you back to the sewer route with your Pickaxe ready for the goo.
Break yellow goo piles with the Pickaxe to gather Clay. Collect the drops before heading back to build your Smelter.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
- Gather Scrap Metal and Coal in the area down the stairs from the hub. Bring both back for your Smelter setup and its ongoing supply.
- Craft the Smelter from the Crafting menu with 5 Clay and 5 Scrap Metal. This builds the station without spending Iron Rods.
Place the Smelter over a fire to set up the station at camp. Keep its output area easy to reach when you return with materials.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
Supply the Smelter with Scrap Metal and Coal to produce Iron Rods. Replenish those materials as you use the station.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
Collect the finished rods from the Smelter's output. Set aside the materials for your next repair before choosing another craft.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
Budget rods for tools and camp stations
Choose the craft that helps with your next obstacle before making spare equipment. The Workbench opens up equipment and tool crafting, while the Cooking Pot makes broths and soups. Use the costs below to decide what to reserve.
| Craft | Materials and menu |
|---|---|
| Workbench for tools and equipment | 3 Wood Planks, 2 Iron Rods and 1 Leather; Crafting menu. |
| Cooking Pot for broths and soups | 1 Iron Pot and 3 Iron Rods; Crafting menu. |
| Skillet for faster cooking and stir-frying | 1 Grate and 3 Iron Rods; Crafting menu. |
| Water Pot for a fresh water source | 4 Clay and 1 Iron Rod; Crafting menu. |
| Chains for repairs and crafting | 2 Iron Rods; Workbench, after finding your first Chains. |
| Hammer for breaking rusty metal fences | 2 Iron Rods and 3 Rock; Workbench, after finding your first Hammer. |
| Axe for cutting brown roots | 1 Leather and 2 Iron Rods; Workbench, after finding your first Axe. |
| Nail for a wall-mounted rope route | 1 Iron Rod; Crafting menu. Rope is attached separately. |
| Wood Chest for storing supplies | 3 Wood Planks and 2 Iron Rods; Crafting menu. |
For a replacement Hammer, budget 2 Iron Rods: patch 1.0.51.0 reduced its rod cost. You must find the first Hammer before its recipe appears, and the same find-first requirement applies to the Axe and Chains. The Pickaxe also has a Workbench recipe following the hotfix.
If you need more storage while saving rods for repairs, a Small Chest uses 2 Wood Planks and 3 Scrap Metal in the Crafting menu. It gives you somewhere to store supplies while you are rationing rods. Balance that craft against the Scrap Metal needed to build and run the Smelter.
Reserve rods for the prison and boat repairs
The prison has 3 broken levers labeled Fix Lever, and each needs 1 Iron Rod before it can be pulled. One opens a door; the other 2 each raise a Counter Weight. Repair the lever blocking your current route before spending those rods on extra equipment.
Supply Chains when the prison Mechanism displays “Bring Chains to Fix it”. With that Mechanism repaired and both Counter Weights raised, the Big Door opens. It closes again after a while, so be ready to move through.
The boat Mechanism later uses 1 Iron Rod and 1 Chains to make the boat operable. Keep that repair in mind when preparing for the deeper sewers. If you need to craft the Chains, their Workbench recipe consumes 2 Iron Rods and requires you to have found Chains first.