No Rest for the Wicked Crafting — How to Craft and Upgrade Gear
Updated 2026-06-03
Crafting in No Rest for the Wicked is essential for survival. You will use the workbench in Nameless Pass to upgrade weapons and armor, apply runes for stat bonuses, and salvage unwanted gear for materials. This guide covers the entire crafting system from start to endgame.
Upgrading gear
Each piece of gear can be upgraded up to +5 (standard gear) or +3 (unique boss weapons). Each upgrade tier costs increasing amounts of materials and gold. Upgrading a weapon increases its base damage and improves its stat scaling. Armor upgrades improve defense and poise resistance.
Rune application
- Runes are consumable modifiers that slot into gear.
- Standard gear has 1 rune slot. Unique gear has 2 slots.
- Rune types: damage, elemental, defensive, utility.
- Removing a rune destroys it — choose carefully.
- Runes can be swapped at any workbench.
Salvaging
Salvaging unwanted gear at a workbench returns a portion of the materials used to craft or upgrade it. Higher-tier items return rarer materials. This is the best way to farm upgrade materials without repeatedly farming enemies.
The Items guide lists all materials and their drop locations. The Weapons guide shows upgrade paths for every weapon type.
FAQ
- Can I upgrade armor?
- Yes. Armor upgrades at the same workbench using different materials (leather, cloth, ore).
- Is there crafting for consumables?
- Yes. You can craft healing salves, elemental coatings for weapons, and antidotes at a separate alchemy bench.