The philosophy goes that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. With the collapse of society and industry, all a man can do is salvage what he needs from the ruins of the old world. In Fallout 76, the player must scavenge for the raw materials necessary to survive, be it food, water, shelter...but are more focused on their weapons and armor.

That old children's toy was sentimental to someone once long ago, but to the Wastelander at large, it means they finally got a screw and a spring to repair their rifle. In Post-Apocalypse Appalachia, value is tied directly to its use. Today we are looking at some of the most valuable items you can salvage from the hollow husk of the Back When.

10. Aluminum

I never seem to have enough Aluminum when I need it. Aluminum is a shiny metal commonly used to make cans and containers. Your soda can is aluminum. We wrap our leftovers in the stuff. It is also the one item in Fallout 76 you will probably use the most of, so don’t feel bad picking up every derelict can lying around. I’m not gonna judge you.

What Makes Aluminum Valuable 

• Aluminum is most often used in weapon crafting and repairs. Self-sufficiency demands a hearty stock of shiny metal.
• A lot of CAMP items and Workshop items require Aluminum to craft.

How To Get Aluminum

• Go anywhere in Fallout 76, be it a house, an abandoned hospital, or a gas station with half the wall on the north end blown out, you will find cans. Super Mutants use them to make low-tech alarms...yoink them.
• In Garages and barns, you’ll find gas cans to break down.
• Aluminum deposits are very common in Workshops, such as Charleston Landfill and Sunshine Meadows Industrial Farm.

9. Springs

Speaking of items I never seem to ever have on hand when I really need them, Springs are metal coils that stores mechanical energy when depressed and releases that energy when pressure is removed, “springing” back to its original form. 

What Makes Springs Valuable

• You need Springs to craft weapons and some Power Armor pieces.
• You need them to keep your weapons in working order, along with turrets and other defensive measures.
• Power Armor legs take a lot of spring. A lot. Start saving up as soon as you can.

How To Get Springs

• Yaoi Guai will sometimes drop Springs when you kill them. It makes you wonder what they were eating.
• Items such as Typewriters, pocket watches, flip lighters, camera, clipboards, and several others yield spring when scrapped.
• Grahm sells bulk spring.
• Sugar Grove has as many as 5 fans and 30 clipboards.

8. Nuclear Material

Did you know back in the day, science kits used to come with a real piece of Uranium? That’s probably the inspiration behind the Nuclear Material component found in the Blast Radius Board game. “Nuclear Material” is more of a pillow term for anything from Plutonium to Thorium. In real life, I would advise against stockpiling irradiated minerals in your home but this is a video game, it’s not the most unsanitary thing in our Stashes.

What Makes Nuclear Material Valuable

• Used in the creation of higher-level weaponry and modifications, such as the Recon Scope.
• It’s used in the crafting of certain explosive items.
• Some Workshop items also need a little bit of that Uranium Fever.

How To Get Nuclear Material

• The Blast Radius board game will warrant some Nuclear Material, often found in homes and bedrooms.
• Other junk items that contain Nuclear Material include High powered magnets, Biometric Scanners, Ichor Sacs, Wakemaster Alarm Clocks, and Radscorpion Stingers.
• The Red Rocket Mega Stop hosts a Nuclear Material resource you can smash an extractor on.

7. Brahmin Milk

It’s milk. It comes from cows. But in this case, it also doubles as a poor man’s Rad Away and allows you to make a White Russian in the game (Not kidding, you can). One of the better things about Fallout 76, all Brahmin appear to be female...So no embarrassment there.

What Makes Brahmin Milk Valuable

• Consuming the milk straight up has the effect of removing 25 rads from the player, making it a valuable emergency Rad Way should you run out. Don’t laugh, it can happen. I’ve been there.
• It’s also used in a few recipes like the aforementioned White Russian and S’mores.

How To Get Brahmin Milk

• Approach a Brahmin, preferably in a calm and non-threatening manner. Approach the rear, and after you have cleansed any unwholesome thoughts you might be having, you should see a prompt to ‘activate’ the Brahmin. Go ahead and have a chuckle, then do so. If RNG smiles on you, the Bramhin will moo, and you will receive Brahmin Milk. If RNG frowns on you, the Brahmin will just moo and walk away from you, judging you. You get one shot per Brahmin for a set amount of time, or you can just server hop.
• Any Brahmin will do this, and the largest concentration I’ve found has been in Flatwoods where they just wander about like they own the place. Dumb cow’s don’t even pay rent.

6. Ballistic Fiber

Originally introduced into the Fallout games in Fallout 4, I immediately think of bulletproof vests. It’s a tough synthetic fiber. I like to think of it as Yarn that said its prayers and took its vitamins. The bulk of it you will find will come in the form of ammunition bags...Maybe if they made the uniforms out of it instead. 

What Makes Ballistic Fiber Name Valuable

• It’s a necessary component in a lot of high-end armors in the later stages of the game.
• It’s used in armor mods, weapon upgrades, and the occasional building material.

How To Get Ballistic Fiber

• Go to Fort Defiance and start hunting down ammo bags. There are ten Ammo Bags to loot, netting a profit of 20 Ballistic Fiber.
• The Torn Wing off a Mothman will yield Ballistic Fiber. Still wrapping my head around that one.
• Military Grade Duct tape uses Ballistic Fiber in its design, and thus you’ll gain it if you scrap it.

5. Loose Screws

I can’t believe I’m explaining what a Screw is. It’s like a nail, but it has a spiral edge all the way around it, that assists in digging into and securing the screw into material like metal, wood, and other things a nail just isn’t cut out for. In Fallout 76 they are also an important crafting component.

What Makes Loose Screws Valuable

• Primarily used in the upkeep and crafting of Power Armor parts.
• Many weapons and armor recipes, and the odd CAMP furniture require Loose Screws.

How To Get Loose Screws

• Most firearms contain screws and will yield them to you when you scrap them.
• Mobs like Super Mutants, Mega Sloths and Wendigos will drop them upon being relieved of their existence. 
• Junk Piles like the sort found at the Charleston Landfill will generate Loose Screws if you cap them with a Junk Extractor.

4. Lead

Lead is a heavy metal that is soft and malleable and can be melted down. Originally a bright silver color, it will turn a gray color when exposed to air. Originally used in a lot of common household products, it’s toxicity became a concern in the 1970s. Lead is also a component in ballistic ammunition. It’s the part that goes inside the thing you are trying to make dead.

What Makes Lead Valuable

• You make bullets out of it. Sure, you could just hop over into an area lower level than you and pop off mobs and loot their ammo, but a little self-reliance goes a long way. Plus the ability and items to make your own ammo exist, so why not use it? ...Plus they nerfed ammo drops about a year ago.
• Lead is also a component used in the making of weapons and armor mods.

How To Get Lead

• The Green Country Lodge just north of Flatwoods has a gym that has a chance to have weights that are worth a king’s ransom in Lead.
• Pencils can be a source of lead. Wait, did the U.S. use actual Lead in pencils in the Fallout Universe?
• Ammo Casings, paint cans, toys, cans, baby rattles and more contain lead when scrapped.
• Lead Scrap can be found in random loot in the world.

3. Ultracite

Fallout 76 introduces Ultracite to the Fallout Universe, as a coveted crafting material that was sought after by the mining companies before the war. A glass-like material that gives of some radiation. It’s existence and acquisition is the subplot behind much of the tragedy of Appalachia’s mining industry.

What Makes Ultracite Valuable

• It can be used to create ammo and weapon upgrades, assuming you have the plans for them.
• The primary reason people gun for this stuff is to acquire the Ultracite Power Armor, which will set you back around 60 or so pieces of Ultracite.

How To Get Ultracite

• Ultracite can be obtained by scrapping things like Hardened Mass, Scorchbeast Bones, Scorchbeast hide, and Scrochbeast Wing Fragment. Huh, guess the flying terrors just roll in the stuff.
• Fissures can house some Ultracite Scrap to get a hold of should be able to get close enough.
• 20 pieces can be found at the Glassed Cavern.

2. Black Titanium

Another new item introduced in Fallout 76 is Black Titanium. Many guides list it as ultra-rare, but taking a look at our input here will show you, it’s not hard to find at all, it’s all in how much do you need, and how big a hurry are you in?

What Makes Black Titanium Valuable

• Its primary use is the creation of Power armor like the X-01, which can set you back twenty pieces, or the Excavator Power Armor. That will set you back about thirty-six pieces.
• You can also use it to repair the Cultist Blade if that’s what you’re rocking.

How To Get Black Titanium

• Scrapping Miner Suit Scrap looted of Mole Miners is one way of attaining the material, and also one of the easiest. 
• Raw Black Titanium Ore can be found at the Gorge Junkyard workshop. Slap and Extractor on it and let it do the work for you.

1. Legendary Equipment

Don’t act like you’re surprised to see this at number one. Often guarded by some of the more formidable enemies of the wasteland, these armaments appear like any other you will find or craft, but these ones possess strange and magical abilities. Abilities to inflict pain on specific enemies, or grant you the power of a god when you only have a sliver of health. Truly the Excaliburs of the Fallout world.

What Makes Legendary Equipment Valuable

• Legendaries and getting Legendaries are the true Endgame of Fallout 76, at least at the time of this writing. These are the game changers and the game-breakers.
• Each piece comes from a set and a prefix, with more effects the more stars are attached to it. These effects can be boosts to stats to damage modifiers to certain criteria.
• These are the reasons Bloodied Builds exist.

How To Get Legendary Equipment

• Listen well, child, for I have told this tale many times. The take hold of these armors and weapons of legend, you must pry them from the hands of mighty Legendary Foes, who stand taller than all the others, with naught but wrath in their hearts...and sometimes from event rewards, it really seems to depend on how the RNG is feeling on any given day.
• In today's Fallout 76, check the odd player vendor shop and see who’s selling what.

You may also be interested in:

• Fallout 76 Best Builds (Top 10)
• 10 Features Fallout 76 Needs to Become Great
• [Top 10] Fallout 76 Best Armors
• Fallout 76 Best Perks To Start With And Level Up (Top 10 Perks)
• Fallout 76 Best Power Armors (And How To Get Them)