Looking to keep your car running and your electronics humming in Pacific Drive? Mastering the art of scavenging copper wire is key to crafting essential upgrades and survival tools. From scrapping radios and computers to exploiting clever respawn spots like the auto shop, this guide reveals the best ways to gather copper wire on PC and PlayStation – ensuring you never run out of this vital resource on your harrowing journey through the eerie wilderness.
Our Pacific Drive copper wire guide will tell you where to look for copper wire (and electronics and 9v batteries) and what you’ll use it for.
How to get copper wire in Pacific Drive
To get copper wire in Pacific Drive, use the Scrapper tool to dismantle electronic devices such as radios, computers, phones, and TVs found in houses, cabins, and lead-shielded data outposts scattered throughout the game world. A particularly reliable spot is the auto shop, where you can scrap the computer and radio for copper wire, then save and reload your game to respawn these items for repeated harvesting. Additionally, lab computers and receivers found near lead shielding sites yield a good amount of copper wire, making these locations ideal for bulk collection. Exploring various buildings and repeatedly visiting these resource-rich areas will help you gather the copper wire needed for crafting and upgrades.
Copper wire and most other electronics-related resources don’t usually show up in the places you usually collect resources like dumpsters, car trunks, or storage containers. And it’s not immediately clear where to get it.
You collect copper wire by using your scrapper on things like radios, phones, computers, and TVs. There is even a computer and a radio on a shelf next to the wrecked car outside of the garage that you can scrap every time you return to your base.
Outside of your base, you’ll find consumer electronics inside of buildings – check the counters in ARDA trailers for radios and computers, and check houses for phones and radios. Rarely, you might even find radios outside of buildings or in shipping containers.
Other resources that drop from consumer electronics are things like plastic, electronics, and the occasional 9v battery.
Another good place to look is the small ARDA research outposts. They don’t show up on the map, but you can spot them from the distinctive lead shielding racks and blue-purple sodium vapor lights. Scrapping the lights, receivers, and lab computers at these locations will get you a ton of useful materials including copper wire and electronics (and that lead comes in handy later).
Copper wire recipes in Pacific Drive
In Pacific Drive, copper wire is a crucial crafting material used in many recipes, including electronics and various upgrades. To craft copper wire, players typically need to gather raw copper and process it at the Fabrication Station. Copper wire is often combined with other components like electronics, pressurized cartridges, bulbs, and duct tape to create essential tools and upgrades. For example, crafting items like circuit boards or headlights requires copper wire as a core ingredient. Players can find copper wire recipes by unlocking blueprints at the Fabrication Station, which become available as they progress through the game and explore different zones.
Likely, the first time you’ll notice you need copper wire is crafting a battery jumper (4 9v batteries, 2 copper wires, 1 electronics) – those are all resources you’ll collect from consumer electronics. Battery jumpers recharge 30kW into your battery.
Both the bulbs (2 glass shards, 1 pressurized cartridge, 1 copper wire) and light replacement kits (1 copper wire, 1 bulb) that you’ll need to repair your headlights need copper wire. So do crude headlights (2 plastic, 1 duct tape, 1 copper wire, 5 road flares) and headlights (2 glass shards, 3 copper wire, 1 electronics, 1 bulb).
You’ll also need it in an electrician’s kit (1 9v battery, 2 copper wire, 1 electronics) that repairs electrical damage to things like headlights.
A bit later in the game, you’ll need more copper wire for things like the LIMpulse emitter (4 scrap metal, 4 copper wire, 4 electronics, 2 plasma) to repel bunnies and the auto parker (4 pressurized cartridges, 2 copper wire, 2 electronics, 4 gears) that keeps your car from rolling away every time you forget to put it in park.
Want to know the easiest way to scrap electronics for copper wire in Pacific Drive
The easiest way to scrap electronics for copper wire in Pacific Drive is to repeatedly dismantle the computer and radio found on the shelf next to the wrecked car outside the garage at the auto shop. By saving your game in the auto shop after scrapping these items and then reloading that save, you can exploit a respawn mechanic that refreshes the computer and radio, allowing you to gather unlimited copper wire efficiently. This method works because the items respawn every time you reload your save, giving you a reliable and renewable source of copper wire early on in the game.
How can I maximize copper wire drops from scrapping electronics in Pacific Drive
To maximize copper wire drops from scrapping electronics in Pacific Drive, follow these key strategies:
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Focus on scrapping high-yield electronics such as lab computers and receivers found at lead-shielded data collection outposts and ARDA trailers, which often contain stacks of these components and yield more copper wire than common items like radios or TVs.
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Utilize the auto shop exploit: scrap the computer and radio outside the garage, then save your game inside the auto shop and reload that save. This causes the computer and radio to respawn, allowing you to repeatedly scrap them for copper wire without limit.
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Regularly loot houses and buildings for TVs, radios, and other electronics to increase your scrap volume. TVs, especially newer models found at gas stations, can drop significant amounts of electronics and copper wire.
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Use a Scrapper tool to efficiently dismantle electronics and keep backup Scrapper tools in your car trunk to avoid downtime.
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Prioritize repairing headlights with Repair Putty instead of replacing them to conserve copper wire and lightbulbs, freeing these resources for crafting other essential gear like floodlights and flashlights.
By combining targeted looting of high-value electronics, exploiting respawn mechanics at the auto shop, and efficient scrapping with proper tools, you can maximize your copper wire yield throughout your Pacific Drive journey.
