Workbench

A workbench is used in The Last of Us and in The Last of Us Part II to upgrade firearms to make them more powerful. To upgrade them, parts are needed, as well as tools upgrades in the first game.

The Last of Us

As Joel acquires weapons, tools, and parts, he can use them to make his weapons more powerful, such as faster reloading and adding a second gun holsters. In order to make upgrades, Joel needs the right number of parts and tools to make them.

Locations

• "The Outskirts": At the museum's basement, after escaping the infected through a garage door.
• "Bill's Town": At the church's basement.
• "Pittsburgh": There are three locations. The first one is located after defeating the hunters at the start of the chapter, past their sleeping quarters in a room, before dropping down into the street. The second one is in an office right before the kitchen in the hotel, after Joel escapes the basement. The third one is in a building, on the second floor by going through a garage door.
• "The Suburbs": Inside the open garage of one of the houses.
• "Tommy's Dam": In the dam control room, on the left side. Gets destroyed when bandits attack the dam.
• "The University": There are two locations. The first one is in a room where Joel obtains the flamethrower. The second one is in a science lab, on the left side where Joel first entered the building.
• "Bus Depot": There are two locations. The first one is in a tent, right before Joel enters the bus. The second one is in the hospital's ventilation system, in the first room, where Ellie lets Joel in.

List of upgrades

Here is a complete list of upgrades. Not all weapons will use the same upgrade.

• Weapon holsters: Adds a second holster for a pistol or long gun.
• Armor piercing: Rounds fired by the weapon can go through armor.
• Clip capacity: Allows the weapon to hold more rounds before reloading.
• Draw speed: Allows you to draw the weapon faster
• Fire rate:  Allows you to fire the weapon faster.
• Power: Rounds fired by the weapon deal more damage.
• Range: Increases the range of the weapon.
• Recoil: Decreases the kick of the weapon.
• Reload speed: Allows you to reload the weapon faster.
• Scope: Adds a scope to the weapon.
• Spread: Increases the spread of the weapon when fired.

List of weapons

Here are the upgrades available for the firearms. The lists are ordered. The first set are the handguns: the 9mm pistol, revolver, Shorty, and El Diablo. The second set are the long guns: the hunting rifle, shotgun, bow, and flamethrower. Alongside each of them, the parts and tools required to upgrade each are also provided.

9mm pistol

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload Speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2 3	15 20 25	0 1 2
Fire Rate	Allows you to fire the weapon faster.	1 2 3	20 30 40	0 1 3
Magazine Capacity	Lets the weapon hold more rounds before having to reload.	1 2 3 4	15 20 30 40	0 1 2 3

Revolver

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2 3	15 20 30	0 1 3
Fire rate	Allows you to fire the weapon faster.	1 2 3	20 30 40	0 1 3

Note: At the first workbench in the “Outskirts,” the revolver upgrades are mistakenly switched. For example, if you upgrade reload speed, the next workbench will show that you have upgraded fire rate and vice versa. This can be used to your advantage if you only upgrade reload speed because you will get fire rate at a cost of 15 instead of 20. That being said, spending parts on just fire rate will unnecessarily cost you five parts on that playthrough.

Shorty

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2	15 30	1 4
Fire rate	Allows you to fire the weapon faster.	1 2 3	30 40 50	1 4 5
Clip capacity	Lets the weapon hold more rounds before having to reload.	1 2 3 4	20 30 40 50	2 4 4 5
Recoil	Decreases the kick of the weapon when fired.	1 2	20 30	1 4
Spread	Increases the spread of the weapon when fired.	1 2 3 4	20 30 40 50	2 3 4 5

El Diablo

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2	15 25	1 5
Fire rate	Allows you to fire the weapon faster.	1 2 3	20 30 50	4 4 5
Clip capacity	Lets the weapon hold more rounds before having to reload.	1 2	30 50	4 5
Armor piercing	Rounds fired by the weapon can go through armor.	1 2	75 75	4 5

Shotgun

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2 3	20 30 40	1 2 4
Fire rate	Allows you to fire the weapon faster.	1 2 3	15 40 50	2 3 4
Clip capacity	Lets the weapon hold more rounds before having to reload.	1 2 3 4	15 30 40 50	2 3 4 5
Recoil	Decreases the kick of the weapon when fired.	1 2	15 40	1 2
Range	Increases the range of the weapon.	1 2	30 50	3 5

Hunting rifle

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2	15 30	1 3
Clip capacity	Lets the weapon hold more rounds before having to reload.	1 2	20 40	1 4
Scope	Adds a scope to the weapon.	1 2	25 35	1 4
Armor piercing	Rounds fired by the weapon can go through armor.	1 2	15 40	1 2
Power	Rounds fired by the weapon deal more damage.	1	60	4

Flamethrower

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1 2	20 40	1 4
Range	Increases the range of the weapon.	1	40	4
Power	The weapon deals more damage.	1	60	5

Bow

Upgrade	Description	Level
Reload speed	Allows you to reload the weapon faster.	1	30	3
Range	Increases the range of the weapon.	1 2 3	20 30 50	1 4 5
Draw speed	Allows you to draw the weapon faster.	1 2 3	20 30 50	1 2 4

The Last of Us Part II

In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie and Abby Anderson can use workbenches to upgrade their weapons. Unlike in the first game, tools are no longer required for certain upgrades. Instead the player only needs to collect the required number of parts.

During "Seattle Day 2", three Washington Liberation Front deserters will attack the player if they use a workbench. This only occurs once and is only triggered this way.

List of weapons for Ellie

Here are the upgrades available for the firearms Ellie obtains throughout her story. They are split into two segments. The first contains the handguns, notably the semi-auto pistol and revolver. The second set contains the long guns, like the bolt-action rifle, pump shotgun, and bow. Furthermore, the parts required for each upgrade are given as well.

Semi-auto pistol

Short-range handgun with high fire rate and moderate accuracy.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Fire rate	Replace the hammer spring to increase fire rate.	+45% Fire Rate	40
Stability	Replace the pistol grip to decrease weapon sway.	+35% Stability	50
Recoil	Attach a compensator to reduce weapon recoil.	+25% Accuracy -35% Recoil	30
Capacity	Craft an extended magazine to hold more rounds.	+4 Magazine Capacity	50

Revolver

Mid-range revolver with moderate damage and slow reload speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Fire rate	Replace the hammer spring to increase fire rate.	+35% Fire Rate	30
Stability	Replace the revolver grip to reduce recoil and decrease weapon sway.	-25% Recoil +35% Stability	50
Reload speed	Use a speed loader to load rounds all at once instead of individually.	+85% Reload Speed	50
Damage	Replace the barrel to fire more powerful shots.	+40% Damage +25% Accuracy	70

Bolt-action rifle

Long-range rifle with high damage and slow fire rate.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Stability	Add weight to the stock to decrease weapon sway.	+40% Stability	50
Capacity	Add a magazine to increase reload speed and hold more rounds.	+3 Magazine Capacity +65% Reload Speed	50
6x Scope	Add a scope to aim at distant targets with greater accuracy by pressing the X button.		80
Damage	Replace the barrel to fire more powerful shots.	+25% Damage	100

Pump shotgun

Close-range shotgun with high damage and slow reload speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Fire rate	Replace the springs and extractor to increase fire rate.	+55% Fire Rate	40
Stability	Replace the grip to reduce recoil and decrease weapon sway.	-40% Recoil +35% Stability	40
Capacity	Extend the magazine tube to increase shell capacity.	+2 Magazine Capacity	50

Bow

Long-range bow with silent shots and slow draw speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Draw speed	Restring the bow to increase draw speed.	+50% Nocking Speed +70% Draw Speed	50
Stability	Replace the grip to decrease weapon sway.	+60% Stability	60
Rangefinder	Add a rangefinder to automatically mark the distance of enemies on the reticle.		80

List of weapons for Abby

Here are the upgrades available for the firearms Abby obtains throughout her story, as well as the parts required for each upgrade. Her hand guns are the military pistol and the hunting pistol. Her long guns include the semi-auto rifle, the double barrel shotgun, and the crossbow.

Military pistol

Short-range handgun with high fire rate and moderate accuracy.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Fire rate	Replace the hammer spring to increase fire rate.	+50% Fire Rate	40
Stability	Replace the pistol grip to decrease weapon sway.	+35% Stability	50
Recoil	Attach a compensator to reduce weapon recoil.	+25% Accuracy -35% Recoil	30
Capacity	Craft an extended magazine to hold more rounds.	+4 Magazine Capacity	50

Hunting pistol

Long-range handgun with high damage and slow reload speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Stability	Replace the pistol grip to decrease weapon sway.	+25% Accuracy +35% Stability	50
4x Scope	Add a scope to aim at distant targets with greater accuracy by pressing the X button.		60
Damage	Replace the barrel to fire more powerful shots.	+25% Damage	80

Semi-auto rifle

Mid-range rifle with high fire rate and moderate accuracy.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Stability	Add weight to the stock to decrease weapon sway.	+35% Stability	50
Capacity	Extend the magazine to hold more rounds.	+3 Magazine Capacity	60
4x Scope	Add a scope to aim at distant targets with greater accuracy by pressing the X button.		80
Burst fire	Modify the trigger to allow for a three-round burst that can be toggled on and off with the triangle button.	+40% Fire Rate	80

Double barrel shotgun

Mid-range shotgun with high damage and slow reload speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Stability	Add weight to the stock to decrease weapon sway.	-35% Recoil +50% Stability	30
Reload speed	Store shotgun shells in bullet loops on the stock to increase reload speed.	+35% Reload Speed	40
Damage	Replace the barrel to fire more powerful shots.	+30% Damage	60

Crossbow

Long-range crossbow with silent shots and slow draw speed.

Upgrade	Description	Effect
Stability	Attach a foregrip to increase stability.	+55% Stability	50
4x Scope	Add a scope to aim at distant targets with greater accuracy by pressing the X button.		60
Reload speed	Store arrows in a quiver to increase reload speed.	+55% Reload Speed	80

Gallery

Joel's workbench in Boston.