Raft does not ask you to choose a build. It asks you to choose an order: spear first or bow first, armor now or tools now, and whether the next metal ingot becomes a weapon or a hook. Get the order wrong and you will fight the shark with a stick while your smelter sits idle. Get it right and every upgrade arrives just before the enemy that demands it. This guide gives you that order, from the first wooden spear to the titanium endgame.
At a glance
Game: Raft, by Redbeet Interactive, published by Axolot Games; full release June 20, 2022, Early Access May 23, 2018
Price: $13.39 on Steam as of November 3, 2026, 33 percent off the $19.99 base price; prices change, so check the store page
Chinese name note: Raft has no official Chinese name; players often call it by the nickname Mu Fa Qiu Sheng, which is a player nickname, not an official name
Priority order: spear, then hook and axe upgrades, then bow, then machete, then titanium gear
Verified: November 3, 2026, against multiple community weapon guides for damage, durability, and recipes
Quick answer
First weapon: the wooden spear. You need it before you need anything else, because the shark attacks early and often.
First upgrade that pays for itself: the scrap hook. Faster, tougher, and thrown farther than the plastic hook.
Best mid-game weapon: the machete, once you have its blueprint from Balboa Island. It also cuts vines and tapes blocking story doors.
Best ranged weapon: the basic bow, the only ranged weapon in the game, with stone, metal, and titanium arrows.
Endgame: the titanium sword, blueprinted on Utopia, the final story island, plus titanium tools.
1. The first hour: spear, hook, axe
Your first fight is not a boss. It is the shark, and it starts before you have anything worth defending. Craft a wooden spear as soon as you can: 8 planks and 3 ropes, 5 damage, and enough to stab the shark off your raft. It is weak and it breaks, but a weak spear in hand beats a perfect weapon you have not built yet. Keep a spare, because the first spear will die mid-fight at the worst moment.
The hook is your real economy, so upgrade it early. The plastic hook you start with is slow and fragile. The scrap hook is faster, tougher, and thrown farther, and the titanium hook is faster and tougher again. The same ladder applies to the axe: stone, then metal, then titanium, each step chopping trees and clearing island vegetation faster. A common trap is saving metal for weapons while still gathering with a plastic hook; the hook pays back every ingot it costs, because faster gathering means more metal sooner.
2. Melee weapons: the damage ladder
Melee weapons in Raft form a clean ladder, and each rung has a clear job. The wooden spear is the starter. The metal spear doubles its damage and doubles its durability, and it is the weapon you will use for most of the early and mid game. The machete trades some attack speed for the highest mid-game damage and doubles as a story tool, cutting vines and tapes. The titanium sword tops the ladder and is the endgame melee weapon.
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| Weapon | Damage | Durability | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
Wooden spear | 5 | 20 | Craft from the start: 8 planks, 3 ropes |
Metal spear | 10 | 40 | Craft: 6 planks, 2 ropes, 2 metal ingots, 1 bolt |
Machete | 15 | 40 | Blueprint in Mama Bear cave, Balboa Island; craft: 3 scrap, 2 ropes, 2 metal ingots, 2 bolts |
Titanium sword | 20 | Endgame blade; see note below | Blueprint on Utopia; craft: 3 scrap, 2 ropes, 3 titanium ingots, 2 bolts |
One honesty note on the titanium sword: guides disagree on its durability figure, with some reporting it as effectively unbreakable and others giving a finite number, so this guide prints no durability number for it. What every guide agrees on is the damage, the recipe, and the source: the blueprint comes from Utopia, the final story island, so do not plan a build around the titanium sword before you are nearly done with the story.
3. The bow: the only ranged weapon, and worth every arrow
The basic bow is the only ranged weapon in Raft, and that alone makes it mandatory. It lets you fight the shark from the deck, hunt birds and island animals without charging them, and handle the Mama Bear fight from a safe cliff instead of trading blows. Craft it from 6 planks, 4 ropes, 2 vine goo, and 1 bolt, with 60 durability. Fired arrows can be picked back up on land, though arrows fired into the ocean are lost, so shoot over land when you can.
Swipe horizontally to view all columns.
| Arrow | Damage | Note |
|---|---|---|
Stone arrow | 10 | Cheap early option for hunting and shark poking |
Metal arrow | 15 | Matches the machete, from range |
Titanium arrow | 20 | Matches the titanium sword; needs the Utopia blueprint line |
Arrow choice is a resource decision, not a damage race. Stone arrows are for everyday hunting and shark harassment. Metal arrows are for fights that matter, like bears and story bosses. Titanium arrows are for the endgame, when titanium is no longer precious. Carrying two arrow types and switching by target is cheaper than firing your best arrow at a seagull.
4. Armor and healing: the gear that lets you take a hit
Leather armor is the only armor set most players will ever need, and it arrives exactly when island animals start hitting hard. The set is helmet, body armor, and greaves, crafted from leather and wool, and it reduces the damage you take from sharks, bears, warthogs, and other island threats. It does not make you invincible; it buys you one or two extra mistakes per fight, which is usually the difference between clearing an island and respawning on the raft.
Pair armor with healing salves and the net launcher, the two most skipped tools in the game. Healing salves patch you up between fights, and the good version is worth crafting before any boss island. The net launcher, fired with net canisters, is how you capture live animals for the raft, which is the only way to get renewable wool, milk, and eggs. Players who skip the net launcher keep hunting for every single feather and egg by hand.
5. What to prioritize: the upgrade route
Step 1, before anything fancy: wooden spear, then a spare. The shark does not wait for your research table.
Step 2: scrap hook and stone axe. Gathering speed is the engine of every later upgrade.
Step 3: metal spear and basic bow. Now you can fight from range and survive island trips.
Step 4: leather armor and healing salves before Balboa Island. The Mama Bear cave is where unarmored players go to learn respect.
Step 5: machete from the Balboa blueprint, then metal axe and metal tools. The machete unlocks story doors as well as damage.
Step 6: net launcher and canisters for live animals, then oxygen bottle, flippers, and metal detector for deep diving and treasure.
Step 7: titanium tools and the titanium sword after Utopia. By then titanium is a convenience, not a bottleneck.
6. Fighting the shark without wasting gear
The shark is a resource tax, not a boss, so fight it cheaply. Stab it with the spear when it bites the raft, shoot it with stone arrows from the deck, and use shark bait when you need to dive rather than fight. Killing it gives shark meat and a head, and the head can go into the biofuel refiner, but a new shark always returns, so the goal is deterrence, not extermination. Save metal arrows and durability for island animals that do not respawn on a timer.
Frequently asked questions
What weapon should I craft first?
The wooden spear: 8 planks and 3 ropes. It is the only weapon you need before the shark starts attacking, and it stays useful as a backup.
Is the machete worth the Balboa detour?
Yes. It is the strongest mid-game melee weapon and the tool that cuts story vines and tapes. Get its blueprint from the Mama Bear cave on Balboa Island.
Should I save metal for weapons or spend it on tools?
Spend it on the hook first, then weapons. A better hook gathers faster, which earns more metal. The only tools worth delaying are second-tier ones you will replace quickly.
Do I need armor for story islands?
For Balboa and beyond, yes. Leather armor plus healing salves turns boss fights from one-mistake deaths into survivable fights, especially with a bow.
What is the best endgame weapon?
The titanium sword for melee and the bow with titanium arrows for range, both from the Utopia blueprint line at the end of the story.