Timed Explosive Charge (C4)

C4 needs a Workbench Level 3 and the blueprint researched or unlocked through the tech tree — it's not a default recipe. Once unlocked, one charge costs Explosives, Cloth and Tech Trash, and takes 30 seconds to craft.

The real cost is upstream

Nobody actually farms Explosives, Cloth and Tech Trash directly for C4 — those ingredients are themselves crafted or looted, and the sulfur, charcoal and metal that go into them are the real bottleneck. If you want the full raw-material cost per charge — sulfur included — the table on this page is computed live from the same data, so check it before you commit a stockpile to a raid.

Getting the blueprint

You can research a found C4 at a research table, or unlock it through the tech tree at a Workbench 3 for scrap — the tech tree route is the reliable one since it doesn't consume an item. Either way, it's a Workbench 3 blueprint, so you need the bench tier before anything else matters.

Tech Trash is the annoying one

Explosives and Cloth are farmable at will, but Tech Trash only comes from recycling electronic items — target lock computer stations, laptops, or anything with a computer chip in the recycler. If you're short right before a raid, check what's sitting in your recycler queue before you go looking for more loot.

Don't craft more than your raid needs

C4 doesn't recycle back into anything close to what it cost, so overcrafting is a straight loss. Work out the exact count for your target on the raid chart first, then craft to that number instead of rounding up out of habit.