If you've spent your first few hours in Enshrouded running around punching grass, scavenging every stick you can find, and fighting off stray wolves every time you stop to gather fiber, you know how tedious early-game resource collection can be. That's where knowing how to make a rake in Enshrouded changes your entire early-game loop for the better. I remember wasting two full in-game days trying to collect enough fiber to build my first farm plot and craft a full set of cloth armor before I realized this simple tool cuts that work down by 70%. It's not just for yard work, either—this multi-use tool helps you clear overgrown paths, harvest rare seeds, and even get extra drops from small bushes you'd otherwise ignore if you were just swinging a sword.
How to Make a Rake in Enshrouded: Required Materials and Crafting Station
You don't unlock the rake recipe immediately when you start a new playthrough, but it becomes available far earlier than most players realize. The first thing you'll need is a Basic Workbench, which you can craft with 10 wood as soon as you place your first flame altar for your base. You'll also need to reach player level 3 to get the recipe to appear in your workbench menu, which you can hit easily by gathering wood and fiber for your first hour of play.
Once you meet those prerequisites, you'll need the following materials to craft your first rake:
- 6 x Wood: You can gather this from felling small trees or picking up loose branches around your starting base, no axe required for the smallest saplings
- 3 x Copper Bar: Smelt copper ore in a furnace to make these, you'll find copper veins scattered in the northern parts of the starting meadow, near the edge of the first shroud area
- 2 x Rope: Crafted from 3 fiber each, you can get fiber by harvesting tall grass with your bare hands before you have your rake
- 1 x Stone Tool Handle: Made from 2 wood at the workbench, you'll use this component for most early-game tools including pickaxes and axes
If the recipe doesn't appear when you hit level 3, try crafting one stone pickaxe first to trigger the tool recipe progression. I've seen dozens of new players miss this because they rush to level up fighting enemies instead of gathering resources, so make sure you're earning XP from harvesting too if you want the recipe to unlock faster. The whole crafting process only takes a few seconds once you have all materials, and you'll be ready to start harvesting in no time.
Key Uses for Your Rake Beyond Basic Farming
Most new players assume the rake is only good for harvesting fiber for farming, but it's far more versatile than that. First, You get 2x the fiber and seed drops from grass and small bushes when using a rake compared to punching or using a sword. That's a huge difference if you're trying to set up a farm to grow wheat for bread, or cotton for mid-game cloth armor. You'll also occasionally get rare wildflower seeds that you can use to craft healing potions, which you almost never get from harvesting by hand.
You can also use the rake to clear debris like fallen leaves and small brush piles around your base to free up building space without using a pickaxe that wastes durability on soft materials. If you're exploring the shrouded areas, you can use the rake to clear away thorny vines that block your path, which is way faster than hacking at them with an axe. I once got stuck in a small shroud cave because I forgot my axe, but my rake cut through the vines blocking the exit in 3 hits, so I always keep one in my hotbar now, even in late game.
If you're playing on a multiplayer server, having a few extra rakes on hand for your clan members will cut down on shared resource grind time significantly. I run a small server with 4 friends, and we keep 3 rakes at our main farm at all times so no one has to wait to harvest fiber when they need it for building or crafting. It's a small investment that makes a huge difference for group play.
How to Upgrade Your Rake for Better Efficiency
The basic copper rake works fine for the first 10 hours of play, but you can upgrade it once you unlock higher tier crafting stations to get even better results. The first upgrade is the iron rake, which unlocks once you rescue the Blacksmith NPC from his cell in the Forgotten Ruins area. The iron rake has 3x the durability of the base copper version, and gives you a 30% chance to get extra seed drops from all harvestable plants.
Always prioritize upgrading your rake before you upgrade your combat weapons if you spend more than half your playtime building and farming. It's a common mistake new players make, they sink all their iron into swords and armor, then have to spend hours grinding fiber because their basic rake breaks every 10 minutes. That said, don't upgrade your first rake until you have a steady supply of iron coming in from your mines. It's not worth wasting 5 iron bars on an upgraded rake if you don't even have a stone pickaxe to mine more iron yet.
Later in the game, you can add modifiers to your rake at the enchantment table to make it even more effective. The "Harvest Boost" modifier gives you an extra 50% resource drop chance, which is perfect if you're running a large farm for your clan. The "Durability" modifier extends your rake's lifespan by another 50%, so you don't have to repair it as often during long gathering runs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Your Rake
It's easy to treat the rake like a throwaway tool, but there are a few common mistakes that can cost you time and resources if you're not careful. First, don't use your rake to fight enemies. I know it looks like a weapon, but it only does 2 damage per hit, even the upgraded iron version. You're way better off using a stone sword than wasting your rake's durability on wolves or bandits.
Never use your rake to chop trees or mine stone, even if you're in a pinch. It does almost no damage to those resources, and you'll break the rake in 2 hits for almost no reward. I've made this mistake before when I forgot my pickaxe on a mining run, and I ended up having to walk all the way back to base to make a new rake before I could harvest the fiber I needed for a new backpack.
Second, don't leave your rake lying around outside your base. It sounds silly, but if you drop it on the ground and log off, there's a chance it will despawn when you come back, especially if it's in an unclaimed area. I learned this the hard way after leaving my fully enchanted iron rake next to my farm and coming back to an empty spot. Third, don't forget to repair your rake before you go on a long gathering run. It's so frustrating to be halfway across the map with a full inventory of fiber, only to have your rake break right as you find a patch of rare cotton plants. Keep a stack of extra wood and copper bars in your inventory so you can repair it on the go at a portable workbench.
You don't need to be a pro player to get the most out of your tools, and knowing how to make a rake in Enshrouded is one of those small, game-changing tips that makes your entire playthrough way less stressful. Even if you're the type of player who prefers fighting bosses and exploring deep shroud dungeons over farming, having a rake in your inventory will save you hours of grinding for resources when you do need to upgrade your base or craft new armor. Next time you log in, take 10 minutes to gather the materials and craft one—you won't regret it.