Once you figure out the mechanics of Pacific Drive, it’s time to upgrade yourself, your garage, and, first and foremost, your car. However, there are a lot of options, so knowing which one to start with can be a little overwhelming.
The immediate draw is to get on and fix your car up, but without the right tools in the field, you’re going to struggle to find the resources. To make things even more complex, you are also going to need to right amount of storage to hold it all.
The first things to upgrade in Pacific Drive
Storage, protection, and improved movement are the aims of the early game in Pacific Drive. Get these nailed, and you can start to work on the more delicate elements of your experience, like pretty paint jobs and sick hood ornaments. To upgrade your gear, you’re going to need a lot of energy. You can read our guide on collecting that here.
Let there be light
You will immediately notice that Pacific Drive is very dark, especially inside buildings. The Road Flares you pick up along the way are great for a time, but they’re limited, and dropping them all the time is a pain. One of the first upgrades to work for in Pacific Drive is the Reusable Flare. It’s slightly better than the original and only requires one Fabric and 0.4 Stable Energy to build.
Armour upgrade
Having to constantly fix the various panels and doors on my vehicle became very tedious very quickly in Pacific Drive. My focus quickly became armoring my car as much as possible. I am a terrible driver, and I know that I am always going to take the quickest route in the game. This results in me rolling down hills, plowing through trees, and jumping cliffs. With the Steel upgrade, my car became much stronger in Pacific Drive.
The first thing you will need to unlock in the Fabricator is the Steel Plate. Once you have unlocked it, you can start to unlock the Steel Doors, Bumpers, and Panels. This will protect your vehicle from a lot more damage than the crude versions from the start.
Outfitting station
Fashion is everything in the land of the Roadside Picnic. You can’t be caught slacking in Spookyville. So, grab the Pacific Drive Outfitting Station upgrade to start improving your wearable gear. This station will help you get ahold of one of the other essential early-game upgrades. In the Outfitting Station, you can craft the Medium Backpack, allowing you to carry a lot more gear on your expeditions.
New wheels
Sometimes, when you’re making a mad dash for the exit, you’re going to have to go offroad. Where the extract points decide to show up can be totally out of the way, and those puny little summer tires just won’t cut it.
Head to the Fabrication Station to unlock some new tires for your tired old jalopy. The offroad tire upgrade gives you significantly more grip when hurtling across the anomaly-infested wastes of Pacific Drive. They will help you climb hills and stop a lot of that slide and slip.
How to upgrade and collect Blueprints in Pacific Drive
To start unlocking new items and equipment in Pacific Drive you need to find the Fabrication Station. You won’t be able to get into this room until Oppa grants you access. It is located in the locked-off room in the main part of the Garage.
Once inside, you will notice the large Fabrication Station posted up in the corner. Access this machine to view all the available upgrades in Pacific Drive. You will notice that each one must have certain parameters met before being unlocked. These will usually be a material of some sort. You will also need to make sure you have unlocked the previous item in the development tree.
The final and most important thing you have to upgrade is the right type of Energy. This can be seen in the bottom right of the screen. There are three types of energy, ranging from stable to corrupt. These correspond to the levels of the zones. They must be collected from the various Anchors around the maps.
