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Dead Space upgrades guide: Weapons, locations and pricing

Full Arsenal, Built to Order and Maxed Out will soon be yours, Issac.

Dead Space is a survival horror game where careful resource management is key. This post is designed to help with that, showing you all available upgrades and how to get them.

In this guide, we cover upgrade locations and costs including monetary value and the amount of nodes you’ll need to max something out.

As you find all weapons and upgrades, you’ll unlock the Full Arsenal and Built to Order Achievements or Trophies.

You can also unlock the Maxed Out Achievement or Trophy by using nodes to max out all items. For those keeping score, you’ll need a total of 187 nodes to max out all options.

Items are broken up into categories below, and we’ll try to give you a roundabout idea of the Chapter they’re found in as well. There’s also a point of no return at Chapter 11; a clear on-screen tooltip provides you the chance to go back and explore to pick up the things you’ve missed.

You’ll need a Level 3 clearance and a Master Override clearance for some items — while the Level 3 clearance comes as part of Dead Space‘s story, the Master Override clearances comes from an optional side quest (click this link for a walkthrough).

RIG | Plasma Cutter | Pulse Rifle | Ripper | Flamethrower | Line Gun | Contact Beam | Force Gun

RIG locations and upgrades

Issac’s RIG is upgradeable to level six and requires 25 nodes in total to max out.

  • Suit Level 1: Automatically equipped at start of game. Unmissable.
  • Suit Level 2: Found in the Store and purchaseable for $10,000.
  • Suit Level 3: Found just beyond the water purification room, or on the way to ADS cannon calibration (Bridge; Floor 5 – EVA Prep Room in Chapter 4). This needs to be equipped at a Bench.
  • Suit Level 4: In the same room as the SOS Beacon after a stint with Nicole (Mining; Floor 2 – Equipment Workshop in Chapter 7). This costs $35,000 to unlock in the Store once you’ve found it.
  • Suit Level 5: Always check the toilets (Crew Quarters; Floor 4 – Standard Bathrooms). It costs $60,000 in the Store once you’ve found it (Chapter 10).
  • Suit Level 6: The final RIG upgrade is automatically obtained after completing the game (we did it on Medium difficulty to unlock). It costs $99,000 in the Store on your New Game Plus run.

Plasma Cutter locations and upgrades

The Plasma Cutter, like all other weapons, has three upgradable parts after you’ve found it. It requires 23 nodes to max out.

  • Weapon location: Chapter 1, as part of story. Unmissable.
  • Upgrade 1: After blowing up the barricade in Medical, this is in the next room (Medical; Floor 4 – Ishimura Clinic in Chapter 2).
  • Upgrade 2 (Heat Accumulator): Found in the Store for $11,000 (Chapter 3).
  • Upgrade 3: After the gondola ride on the way to deploy the antenna, this is found in a storage room directly ahead (Communications Hub; Floor 2 – Maintenance Locker Room in Chapter 8).

Pulse Rifle locations and upgrades

The Pulse Rifle has three upgradable parts and requires 23 nodes to max out.

  • Weapon location: This is taken off a dying (then dead) body after finding the Kinesis Module (Medical; Floor 4 – Medical Tram Station in Chapter 2).
  • Upgrade 1 (Kinetic Autoloader): This can be purchased for $ in the Store (Chapter 3).
  • Upgrade 2: You’ll see the yellow glow from a locked-off room while rerouting power. Find a broken window, use Kinesis to move boxes and then destroy a fuse to gain entry (Bridge; Floor 1 – Electrical Systems Storage in Chapter 4.)
  • Upgrade 3: This requires Master Override clearance and is in the Water Purification Storage Room (Bridge; Floor 5 – Water Purification Storage in Chapter 10).

Ripper locations and upgrades

The Ripper has three upgradable parts and requires 23 nodes to max out.

  • Weapon location: You’ll find this in the Machine Shop as you’re refuelling engines (Engineering; Floor 4 – Machine Shop in Chapter 3).
  • Upgrade 1 (Ricochet Tracer): Can be purchased in the Store for $11,000 (Chapter 5).
  • Upgrade 2: You’ll find this in the first of three rooms that are adjacent to acid-spitting mechanical devices (Hydroponics; Floor 1 – B. Andonov – Flow Supervisor office in Chapter 6).
  • Upgrade 3: Remember where you found the Ripper? Its final upgrade is in the same room; you’ll need Master Override to get into the box that holds it though (Engineering; Floor 4 – Machine Shop in Chapter 3).

Flamethrower locations and upgrades

The Flamethrower has three upgradable parts and requires 25 nodes to max out

  • Weapon location: You’ll pick this up off a body on your way to the Engine Room (Engineering; Floor 5 in Chapter 3).
  • Upgrade 1: This is on the bottom floor of a zero-gee area (where you once had a big chat with Nicole) and requires Level 3 access (Mining; Floor 1 – Utility Room in Chapter 8).
  • Upgrade 2 (Gellified Hydrazine): This costs $11,500 in the Store.
  • Upgrade 3: This is in a Master Override box in a bunk room (Crew Quarters; Floor 3 – Deluxe Shift Bunks… we got this in Chapter 10 but you can do it while running away from the Hunter earlier).

Line Gun locations and upgrades

The Line Gun has three upgradable parts and requires 24 nodes to max out

  • Weapon location: Found in a storage room as you’re tasked to lift a lockdown (Medical; Floor 4 – Emergency Equipment Storage in Chapter 5).
  • Upgrade 1 (Ionized Capacitor): This costs $11,500 in the Store.
  • Upgrade 2: Once you’ve got the Master Override clearance, this is in a box inside Hydroponics (Hydroponics; Floor 1 –  Unnamed room off Central Hub in Chapter 10.)
  • Upgrade 3: This is in Lab Storage, a room locked behind Level 3 clearance in Medical (Medical; Floor 4 – Lab Storage in Chapter 10).

Contact Beam locations and upgrades

The Contact Beam has three upgradable parts and requires 21 nodes to max out

  • Weapon location: As you’re rerouting power, you’ll find this in a storage room just after a bit in a vacuum (Bridge; Floor 2 – Records Office in Chapter 4).
  • Upgrade 1 (Supersymmetry Tether): This costs $12,000 in the Store.
  • Upgrade 2: This requires Master Override clearance. If you’ve got it, head over to Mining (Mining; Floor 6 – Tools Storage in Chapter 10).
  • Upgrade 3: This is in a Level 3 locker room in Medical (Medical; Floor 1 – Bioprosthetics Locker Room in Chapter 10).

Force Gun locations and upgrades

The Force Gun has three upgradable parts and requires 23 nodes to max out

  • Weapon location: This is in a Level 2 room while you’re on the hunt for Wheezers (Hydroponics; Floor 2 – West Seeding Room A in Chapter 6).
  • Upgrade 1 (Subsonic Oscillator): This costs $12,000 in the Store.
  • Upgrade 2: This is in the same room as the last bit of the Nicole’s investigation side mission (Crew Quarters; Floor 3 – Mercer’s Quarters in Chapter 10).
  • Upgrade 3: In a Master Override box while you’re getting the Marker out of the huge cargo room (Hangar-Cargo-Tram Control; Floor 1 – Cargo Bay in Chapter 11).

Dead Space heads to Windows PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PS5 on 27 January 2023.

Dead Space

27 January 2023
PC PS5 Xbox Series S & X
 

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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.