How to craft & upgrade weapons in Nightingale

Emily Stander
A player holding a gun in Nightingale

Besides exploring the Faewilds of Nightingale, players have access to a range of weapons they can craft, upgrade, and infuse. It can be a bit of a process, though, so here is where to find weapon recipes, how to craft them, and how to upgrade them. 

Nightingale is a new PVE open-world survival crafting game that was released in early access on February 20. Likened to Valheim, players can explore the steampunk-inspired Faewilds, craft, fight enemies, and progress through the game’s biomes

One of the main features is weapons and weapons crafting, and they are essential for helping you through the dark world of Nightingale. Here is where you can find them and what you need to upgrade them. 

How to craft weapons in Nightingale

Players can craft weapons in Nightingale by using the Simple Workbench.

For early-game weapons, you will likely be using a Simple Workbench to craft weapons like Slingshots. The Simple Upgrade Bench is used to upgrade weapons and can be built using four Lumber, two Ingots, and three Twine. The recipe can be bought from an Essence Trader.

While these will hold you through most of the early-game challenges, guns take a little more effort to find and craft for mid to late-game bosses and dungeons.

How to craft guns in Nightingale

Gun crafting will require you to upgrade the Simple Workbench to the Refined Workbench, which can be done by getting the Provisioner Realm Card and completing a quest.

Increasing your gear score is the first thing you’ll want to focus on, which will give you access to the Provisioner Dungeon in your starting Abeyance Map. Here, you need to defeat the boss to obtain the Provisioner Realm Card. 

Once you have the Provisioner Realm Card in hand, you will be able to access the realms and traders you need to unlock gun recipes and craft them. Here are the locations with the recipes:

  • Lancaster Pistol from the Forest Provisioner Essence Trader
  • Chassepot Rifle from the Swamp Provisioner Essence Trader
  • Smoothbore Shotgun from the Desert Provisioner Essence Trader

To craft guns, you first need to unlock the forge that enables you to turn Metal Ingots into working pieces like weapon barrels, triggers, and more. To craft the weapons themselves, you need to unlock the Refined Workbench. 

You can get your hands on a Refined Workbench by buying the recipe from the Forest Provisioner Essence Trader or Completing the Arm Yourself Questline.

In the Forest Provisioner Realm, you’ll encounter Bass Reeves. He will give you the Arm Yourself quest that requires you to get ammo and a ranged weapon. 

Any ranged weapon should do here, including the Slingshot. When you have the weapon and ammo, return to Bass Reeves and he will tell you to do some target practice. The reward for this quest is the Refined Workbench recipe. 

A player pointing a gun in Nightingale
You can craft guns in Nightingale to take on tougher enemies.

How to upgrade and infuse weapons in Nightingale

Players can upgrade and infuse weapons in Nightingale by using the Simple Enchanter’s Focus and Simple Upgrade Bench

The Simple Enchanter’s Focus is used to infuse weapons and can be built using one Lumber, two Ingots, and five Glass. Infusion recipes can be found at Essence Traders or as rewards for Bastille Challenges.

Upgrading weapons in Nightingale is essential for increasing your gear score, which is what gets you into Sites of Power where you can find new Realm Cards. The more you upgrade a weapon, too, the more infusion slots it will get, so it’s only possible to infuse your weapon until it is uncommon rarity or higher.

If you want to know more about the new survival game, you can check out our list of guides below.

Nightingale PC Requirements | Is Nightingale open world? | | Is Nightingale coming to Xbox Game Pass? | Can you play Nightingale solo? Single-player explained | Is Nightingale on Playstation? | How to solve Puzzle Cores in Nightingale | How to get Antiquarian card in Nightingale

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About The Author

Emily is a Games Writer at CharlieIntel. Most of the time, you can find her playing RPGs and platformers - but she enjoys engaging in the rage of Overwatch 2 or Apex Legends from time to time. Emily has a Masters in Media Studies and has been working as a journalist for over 5 years, both freelance and full-time. You can contact her at [email protected]