Crafting in The Division is very similar to crafting in other MMOs out there. Players must find materials, find blueprints and then craft the items according to the instructions listed on the blueprint. There are a few hints and tips on making the most of resources, including some do’s and don’ts when it comes to early game crafting, as well as tips on selling and dismantling gear for material.

YouTuber Mtashed has a quick guide that clocks in at nearly four minutes explaining what you should and should not do early in the game when it comes to crafting, gathering material and getting your hands on blueprints in Tom Clancy’s The Division. You can check out the video below.

One thing that’s mentioned is that when you start off you should not craft any and everything early in the game. Just because you can craft it doesn’t mean you should.

One of the reasons that it’s mentioned not to craft everything early on is because of the way some materials are used. For instance, in the video it’s explained that a low-level gun uses the same material as a higher level gun at say, level 30. As mentioned in the video, crafting a bunch of low-level gear and wasting material on them will drain your resources when you could be using them to make higher level gear when the time comes.

It’s suggested to hold off on crafting until you get to level 20 or level 30, this way when the time comes you’ll have the resources necessary to craft the higher level gear.

One thing you should do when you gather up supplies and low-level gear during your loot runs is avoid selling them back to vendors. Instead go to the crafting station and dismantle the gear you would have otherwise old. You can use the materials to craft better items later on.

Now if you’re in need of blueprints to make some good gear, it’s suggested to do side-missions so you can earn the blueprints and use them to build the weapons, armor and items that you want.

As the image above showcases, you can earn things like the SCAR-H blueprint by doing the Uplink Repair: Chelsea side mission. You’ll earn a few credits, get a blueprint and earn a green grade gear item.

You can also scavenge many of these items, materials and resources just by completing missions or scavenging through the maps.

Blueprints for making items come in nine different categories: including guns, masks, body armor, backpacks, gloves, holsters, knee pads, weapon mods and gear mods.

Blueprints don’t scale so you will need to find new blueprints for higher level gear.

Each of the items and blueprint grades relate to the quality of material that players can craft. So white items are worn, green items are standard, blue items are specialized, purple items are superior and gold items are high-end or legendary.

For the gold grade weapon blueprints and high-level gear blueprints you’re only going to be able to earn those from the Incursions or by using the Dark Zone currency, or by using the Phoenix currency from participating in Dark Zone missions. These missions are the kind that will pit players versus environment versus players. The PvPvE setup makes it a lot more challenging than getting standard blueprints, but the higher grade weapons and gear can pay off in the long run.

There’s also a video from MarcoStyle explaining how the gear works, how the crafting works and how the crafting categories work. You can check out the video below.

In order to craft you just head to the crafting stations and use the crafting materials required by the items. There are five categories of crafting sources, including fabrics, weapon parts, tools, electronics and division tech.

Each category is designated for making specific items. For instance, fabric can be used to make armor and armor mods, also known as gear and gear mods. Weapon parts and tools can be used to make weapons and weapon modifications. Electronics can be used to make armor, gear, item and gear mods, and Division Tech can be used to make Dark Zone blueprints.

Now if you have a lot of low-grade materials but you’re in desperate need of higher grade material, it’s possible to use the material conversion option in the crafting station. This will allow you to use a larger amount of standard materials to convert them into a small amount of high grade, rare material. This is a feature common in many MMOs as a way for players to make use of their old mats in exchange for higher quality mats.

You won’t be able to convert Dark Zone tech materials, so you’ll just have to scavenge for those if you want higher grade Dark Zone tech.

The Division is available right now for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The game is supposedly one of Ubisoft’s fastest selling titles according to a post on the Business Wire. The game seems to be wiggling its way into a replacement for Destiny, which is not surprising given how similar both games are.