Crafting mechanics have almost overstayed their welcome at this point. Where they were a genuine novelty a decade ago, they’ve become commonplace to the point of almost feeling extraneous. The average game doesn’t use crafting well simply because they lack proper resource management. Fortunately, this hasn’t been the case for Resident Evil as the franchise’s crafting system manages to balance simplicity with actual in-game purpose.
Ammo conservation and careful item use has always been at the heart of Resident Evil. Ammo crafting was introduced in the original Resident Evil 3 and has appeared in some form or another in almost every game since. Resident Evil Village makes some notable changes to the series’ crafting system, requiring a number of different materials to put together different recipes.
It should be noted that materials don’t have a physical space in Ethan’s attaché case, relegated instead to the craft menu where they don’t need to be managed. That said, recipe ingredients always clash with one another and the materials themselves aren’t always easy to find. While every material can be randomly dropped by enemies, most will need to be spotted in the level design. Every major area will have some of each material scattered about (often before boss encounters and in save rooms), so try to be as observant as possible.
5 Herbs
Herbs have been a staple of Resident Evil since Day One and are synonymous with healing throughout the franchise. While Resident Evil 7 introduced First Aid Med as the main source of healing, players could still use Herbs if they didn’t want to wait to craft medicine. Unfortunately, Resident Evil Village rebalances healing so that First Aid Meds are your only source of health and Herbs are exclusively ingredients for crafting in the following recipes:
- First Aid Med
- Explosive Rounds
- Flash Rounds
- Rifle Rounds
- Rocket Pistol Ammo
On a first playthrough, Herbs are best saved for either First Aid Med or Explosive Rounds. You’ll need a fair amount of healing items to get through all of Village’s combat set pieces and Explosive Rounds become extremely useful once armored Lycans are introduced in the second half of the game. Herbs in Resident Evil 8 can be identified by their bright green bodies and are usually tucked away with other plantlife. More often than not, you’ll acquire Herbs as random enemy drops.
4 Chem Fluid
Chem Fluid was introduced in Resident Evil 7 as the other main ingredient for First Aid Med and makes a comeback in Resident Evil Village. This time around, Chem Fluid is a precious resource that serves as a material in several different recipes. The following recipes use Chem Fluid:
- First Aid Med
- Shotgun Ammo
- Sniper Ammo
- Pipe Bomb
- Flash Rounds
All things considered, Chem Fluid might be the most useful ingredient in Resident Evil Village. First Aid Med is always useful, Shotgun Ammo can throttle enemies up close, and Sniper Ammo is so easy to craft that you’d be a fool not to stockpile as much as you can. Chem Fluid appears as a common drop and shows up with more frequency than Herbs. You’ll find them in abundance in every major area.
3 Gunpowder
Gunpowder was introduced in Resident Evil 3 and was previously the focus of the crafting system. Players used to have to combine different forms of Gunpowder together to craft ammo, but there’s only one type of Gunpowder in Resident Evil Village. Gunpowder is used to craft the following items:
- Handgun Ammo
- Shotgun Ammo
- Sniper Ammo
- Pipe Bomb
- Magnum Ammo
Gunpowder is used in a lot of useful recipes, but it actually drops fairly often as a result. Gunpowder can be found in every major area and is identified by its slightly open canister of black powder. The Factory will throw a reasonable amount of Gunpowder at the player, but you’ll be expending just as much ammo you make if not more.
2 Rusted Scrap
Rusted Scrap is one of two scrap materials in Resident Evil 8 and easily the more prominent of the duo. Rusted Scrap can be found all over the central Village, usually by piles of junk and occasionally near outhouses, and in most major areas including Castle Dimistrecu, the Lake, and the Factory. Rusted Scrap is used in the following recipes:
- Handgun Ammo
- Shotgun Ammo
- Sniper Ammo
- Pipe Bomb
- Mine
- Flash Rounds
- Magnum Rounds
- Rifle Ammo
- Rocket Pistol Ammo
Since virtually every single recipe needs Rusted Scrap, it goes without saying that you’ll be running into the material quite often over the course of your journey. Be on the lookout for any small piles of gears together and make sure not to horde too much. There’s enough Rusted Scrap in every area where you should be regularly crafting ammo or Pipe Bombs/Mines.
1 Metal Scrap
Metal Scrap aren’t as abundant as Rusted Scrap, but they start popping up with greater frequency during the second half of the story. Resident Evil Village’s Metal Scrap can be identified by their dark grey bodies and metallic structure (just spot the blatant metal). Metal Scrap is used in the following recipes:
- Mine
- Explosive Rounds
- Magnum Ammo
- Rifle Ammo
- Rocket Pistol Ammo
Since Metal Scrap is tied with some of the best recipes in the game, don’t expect to find too many until Heisenberg’s section. Until then, hope that enemies end up dropping Metal Scrap so you can start stocking up on Explosive Rounds, Magnum Ammo, or Mines.