Explosives & tools
Bases in EXO are broken with three tools, and none of them can be bought from a trader.
C4 — the only way to break structures#
Cannot be bought. Assembled at a workbench:
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Plastic explosive | 2 |
| Phone | 1 |
| Duct tape | 1 |
| Wires | 2 |
| Circuit board | 1 |
Crafting takes 20 seconds.
Everything hinges on plastic explosive: it drops only in military buildings and in Military Cache mission crates, and there is little of it. Construction Supplies missions never contain it.
How many charges#
| Structure | Charges |
|---|---|
| Wooden door, gate | 2 |
| Wood: wall, foundation, window, floor, ceiling, stairs | 3 |
| Concrete door, gate | 4 |
| Concrete: wall, foundation, window, floor, ceiling, stairs | 6 |
| Workbench | 3 |
| Territory flag | indestructible |
What you break without explosives#
C4 does not stick to everything. A charge simply will not attach to:
- cameras, the surveillance laptop and the generator;
- camo nets and sandbags;
- the shredder;
- the safe — a separate case, see below.
Everything on that list except the safe breaks under ordinary damage: bullets, grenades, rockets, a ramming vehicle. Nets and sandbags take about two RPG rockets; a camera or laptop far less. Ammunition is cheaper than plastic explosive here — but there is no loot behind these either, so they usually get flattened in passing.
Grinder — opening safes#
A safe cannot be blown up with C4 — the charge simply will not attach. The only way in is a grinder.
- Breaching takes 60 seconds of uninterrupted channelling.
- Range is 2.5 metres at most.
- Success chance is 100 %, no randomness.
- The tool is not consumed.
- Afterwards the PIN is removed, the safe opens and the contents are free for anyone.
Crowbar — vehicles only#
A crowbar does not break structures. It removes a code lock from someone else's vehicle:
- the hack takes 2 minutes;
- you must stay within 2.5 metres, moving interrupts it;
- success chance is 100 %;
- the vehicle blares its alarm and flashes its lights for some fifteen seconds;
- a repeat attempt on the same vehicle is possible after 20 seconds.
Crowbars are also reusable.
Where to find all of this#
- Plastic explosive — military buildings and Military Cache crates.
- Grinders and crowbars — the same places, but rarely. Most of them turn up in the castle crate.
- Finished C4 — the castle only. No other loot table contains charges, so the workbench remains the main route to explosives.
Doors need explosives#
There is no separate lockpicking tool for doors and gates. A PIN-locked door either opens with the correct code or comes down to C4. Brute-forcing is pointless: the server enforces a 5 second pause between attempts.