Originally posted by electricdawn:

No, you need specific materials to be able to craft workbench upgrades. Usually you get a recipe when you have gathered at least ONE of the needed materials. You don't need to hoard things (well, you should on some materials, because you always need them), to get recipes for upgrades.

You need the RIGHT materials.

Not atleast one, you only get the recipe when you have had atleast every item of the unknown recipe in your inventory.

Atleast thats how i remember it working when pick axes and stuff.
I always forget core wood.

Look in the crafting menu when your hammer is equipped for the materials you'll need.
If you don't have all the upgrades you're looking for and want to know more then search the wiki.

When it comes to upgrading workbenches or crafting stations, as long as you have collected or built all of the needed resources at least once, you'll get the recipe in the building menu.

You don't need to hoard everything, just having had the required ingredients once in the inventory is enough for the game to tell you the exact composition.

And, adding to what xx mentioned, some crafting stations interact with each other as well. Still, the recipe will tell you when something like that happens.

Orange man got it.
Work benches don't gain levels on their own. They upgrade by building the proper accessories next to them. The work bench for example has 4 unique accessories, you need 1 of each to reach the max level bench:
https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Workbench

Work stations in general have strict gated progression and you will hit a wall until the next tier of tech and materials are unlocked.

Look in the crafting menu when your hammer is equipped for the materials you'll need.
If you don't have all the upgrades you're looking for and want to know more then search the wiki.

What do you mean with requirements exactly?

Pretty much when you get the materials for an upgrade, you usually get the recipe for the next upgrade of a workbench, sometimes more than one (on the forge).

But most of it comes down to the materials.

Originally posted by electricdawn:

What do you mean with requirements exactly?

Pretty much when you get the materials for an upgrade, you usually get the recipe for the next upgrade of a workbench, sometimes more than one (on the forge).

But most of it comes down to the materials.

so just hoarding materials like wood, flint, and hide?

Look in the crafting menu when your hammer is equipped for the materials you'll need.
If you don't have all the upgrades you're looking for and want to know more then search the wiki.

Hey there!

Crafting stations have upgrades that you need to set up around them (buildable with the hammer). Every upgrade increases the level of the crafting station by 1.

If you don't mind spoilers, you can check out the wiki:

https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Workbench

Have a good day!

No, you need specific materials to be able to craft workbench upgrades. Usually you get a recipe when you have gathered at least ONE of the needed materials. You don't need to hoard things (well, you should on some materials, because you always need them), to get recipes for upgrades.

You need the RIGHT materials.