# How to Get the SMG: Level 37 Unlock, Stats, and Schematics

The Palworld SMG unlocks at Technology Lv 37 for 3 points — 130 attack across a 24-round magazine, 25 Refined Ingot and 6 Polymer on the Weapon Assembly Line, the cheapest ammo any SMG runs on, all five rarity tiers compared, and every place the Legendary schematic drops.

Source: https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-smg
Updated: 2026-08-06

The **SMG** unlocks at Technology Lv 37 for 3 Technology Points and is the mid-game gun that finally makes automatic fire cheap — **130 attack across a 24-round magazine**, built from 25 [Refined Ingot](https://palworld-db.com/item/IronIngot) and 6 [Polymer](https://palworld-db.com/item/Polymer) on the Weapon Assembly Line. This guide covers the full stat card, the unlock chain you need before Lv 37, the exact material trace, why its ammo is the cheapest of any submachine gun in the game, all five rarity tiers, and every place the schematics drop.

## SMG Stats

The number that matters here is **not** the 130 attack — it's the 24 rounds behind it. The SMG puts **3,120 damage in a single magazine**, which is more than the [Handgun](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandGun_Default) you were using at Lv 28 manages in its whole 8-round clip (2,000), and it does it off the same ammo. Durability is the quiet upgrade: **2,000 against the Handgun's 400**, so it survives five times as long between repairs. Weight is 15, standard for the class, so it eats a real chunk of your carry limit — check the [best Pals for carrying more items](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-pals-for-carrying-more-items) if that's already a problem.

| Stat | SMG |
| --- | --- |
| Weapon class | Assault Rifle |
| Rarity | Common |
| Base Attack | **130** |
| Magazine | **24** |
| Damage per magazine | **3,120** |
| Durability | 2,000 |
| Weight | 15 |
| Technology level | **Lv 37**, 3 Technology Points |
| Crafting station | Weapon Assembly Line (Tech Lv 32) |
| Crafting work | 75,000 |
| Ammo | [Handgun Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunBullet) — Tech Lv 28, 1 point |
| Legendary schematic | [SMG Schematic 4](https://palworld-db.com/item/Blueprint_SubmachineGun_5) |
| Item value | 29,380 Gold |

One honest caveat before you compare it to anything else on the tech tree: **attack is a per-bullet figure**, and the SMG's whole design is firing a lot of small bullets fast. Pocketpair hasn't published rate-of-fire values, so a 130 next to the [Single-Shot Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/SingleShotRifle)'s 1,100 tells you nothing useful — those two guns fire on completely different terms. Compare the SMG to other rapid-fire guns and to the other SMG families, and the numbers mean something.

## How to Unlock the SMG

The Lv 37 unlock is the last step, not the first — the gun is useless until four earlier things are in place, and they're spread across nine levels. The one people forget is **[Polymer](https://palworld-db.com/item/Polymer) at Lv 33**, which needs a Production Assembly Line you may not have built yet; the other is the **Improved Furnace at Lv 34**, because [Refined Ingot](https://palworld-db.com/item/IronIngot) doesn't come out of the primitive one. Spend the points in the order below and the SMG is craftable the minute you hit 37. Full costs are on the [Palworld technology tree](https://palworld-db.com/tech), and if you're short, see [how to get more Technology Points](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-technology-points).

| Level | Unlock | Points | Why you need it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Lv 28** | [Handgun Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunBullet) | 1 | The round the SMG fires — no ammo, no gun |
| **Lv 29** | Production Assembly Line | — | The station that makes Polymer |
| **Lv 32** | Weapon Assembly Line | — | The station that makes the SMG itself |
| **Lv 33** | [Polymer](https://palworld-db.com/item/Polymer) | 2 | 6 needed per SMG |
| **Lv 34** | Improved Furnace | — | Smelts [Refined Ingot](https://palworld-db.com/item/IronIngot) — 25 needed per SMG |
| **Lv 37** | [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun) | **3** | The recipe |

## SMG Crafting Materials

Two lines on the recipe card, but they trace down to four raw resources and **118 raw units per gun**. The Refined Ingot half is the bulk of it — 50 [Ore](https://palworld-db.com/item/CopperOre) and 50 [Coal](https://palworld-db.com/item/Coal) through the Improved Furnace — and Coal is the pinch point at this stage of the game, so park a base near a coal seam before you start. The Polymer half is small but annoying: 12 [High Quality Pal Oil](https://palworld-db.com/item/PalOil) means butchering or farming oil-dropping Pals, covered in the [best Pals to butcher](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-pals-to-butcher) guide.

| Material | Qty | Traces down to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Refined Ingot](https://palworld-db.com/item/IronIngot) | **25** | 50 [Ore](https://palworld-db.com/item/CopperOre) + 50 [Coal](https://palworld-db.com/item/Coal) |
| [Polymer](https://palworld-db.com/item/Polymer) | **6** | 12 [High Quality Pal Oil](https://palworld-db.com/item/PalOil) + 6 [Sulfur](https://palworld-db.com/item/Sulfur) |
| **Total raw** | **118 units** | 50 Ore, 50 Coal, 12 High Quality Pal Oil, 6 Sulfur |

At 75,000 crafting work the SMG is a quick build by mid-game standards — the [Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/AssaultRifle_Default1) eight levels later is nearly triple that. Put Handiwork Pals on the Weapon Assembly Line and it finishes inside a single in-game day. The [best base locations](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-base-locations) guide lists the coordinates with both Ore and Coal nodes in range, which is the setup you want here.

## SMG Ammo and Running Costs

This is the SMG's real selling point and nobody mentions it. It fires **[Handgun Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunBullet)**, the same round as the [Handgun](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandGun_Default), [Old Revolver](https://palworld-db.com/item/OldRevolver), [Marksman Revolver](https://palworld-db.com/item/OctaviaRevolver) and [Ballistic Shield](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunShield) — so five weapon families share one stockpile and you never split your crafting queue. One craft is **1 [Ingot](https://palworld-db.com/item/CopperIngot) + 1 [Gunpowder](https://palworld-db.com/item/Gunpowder2) for 20 rounds**, which traces to just 2 Ore, 2 Charcoal and 1 Sulfur. A full 24-round magazine is 1.2 crafts.

| SMG | Ammo | Recipe | Rounds per craft | Damage per craft |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Makeshift SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftSubmachineGun) | [Coarse Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/RoughBullet) | 1 Ingot + 1 Gunpowder | 20 | 2,000 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun) | [Handgun Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunBullet) | 1 Ingot + 1 Gunpowder | 20 | **2,600** |
| [Combat SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SkySubmachineGun) | [Combat SMG Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/SkySubmachineGunBullet) | 2 Soralite Ingot + 6 Gunpowder | 20 | 18,140 |

Read the first two rows together: **the SMG and the Makeshift SMG cost exactly the same to feed, and the SMG gets 30% more damage out of every round.** The moment you unlock it there is no reason to keep firing Coarse Ammo. The Combat SMG at the bottom hits far harder but burns Soralite Ingot, an endgame material — it's a different budget entirely. Every other weapon's running cost is on the [Palworld ammo database](https://palworld-db.com/ammo).

## Every SMG Rarity Tier

The SMG comes in five versions. The Common one is the tech-tree unlock you craft for free at Lv 37; the four above it each need a schematic in your inventory, and from Uncommon upward they also demand [Ancient Civilization Parts](https://palworld-db.com/item/PalCrystal_Ex) — 1 to 4 of them, which is the real gate, not the ingots. **Legendary is 1.75× the attack and 2.33× the damage per magazine of Common**, plus four times the durability, so it's worth chasing if you plan to live in this gun until Lv 45.

| Version | Attack | Magazine | Damage per mag | Durability | Materials | Work |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun) (Common) | 130 | 24 | 3,120 | 2,000 | 25 Refined Ingot, 6 Polymer | 75,000 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun_2) (Uncommon) | 156 | 26 | 4,056 | 3,000 | 31 Refined Ingot, 7 Polymer, **1 Ancient Civilization Parts** | 300,000 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun_3) (Rare) | 175 | 28 | 4,900 | 4,000 | 37 Refined Ingot, 9 Polymer, **2 Ancient Civilization Parts** | 600,000 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun_4) (Epic) | 195 | 30 | 5,850 | 6,000 | 43 Refined Ingot, 10 Polymer, **3 Ancient Civilization Parts** | 1,200,000 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun_5) (Legendary) | **227** | **32** | **7,264** | **8,000** | 50 Refined Ingot, 12 Polymer, **4 Ancient Civilization Parts** | 2,400,000 |

Note the work column — the Legendary takes **32× longer to craft** than the Common for 1.75× the attack, so build the Common the day you hit 37 and treat the upgrades as a background project. Ancient Civilization Parts come off Alpha and tower bosses; the [Ancient Civilization Cores guide](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-ancient-civilization-cores) covers the farming routes for that whole material family.

## Where the SMG Schematics Drop

All four SMG schematics live in the **Forest** loot pool and the enemy-camp tables, and the odds fall by exactly a factor of five each step up the ladder — 5.23% to 1.05% to 0.21% to 0.04% in Forest supply drops. That symmetry is the whole strategy, because the Drafting Table turns **5 of any tier into 1 of the next**, so a stack of cheap Schematic 1s is worth just as much as a lucky Legendary roll. Every source and every rarity is listed on the [Palworld schematics database](https://palworld-db.com/schematics). (Heads up on the pictures below — every schematic in the game shares the same rolled-scroll icon, so we show the gun each one builds instead.)

| Source | Schematic 1 | Schematic 2 | Schematic 3 | Schematic 4 (Legendary) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Alpha [Beakon](https://palworld-db.com/pal/beakon) | — | — | — | **3.00%** |
| Crates on the large oil rig | — | — | — | **1.47%** |
| Enemy camp loot, Snowfields | **24.82%** | 3.55% | 0.71% | 0.14% |
| Enemy camp loot, Desert | **24.39%** | 4.88% | 0.98% | 0.20% |
| Camp boss stashes, Mount Obsidian (sea base) | — | **14.92%** | 2.98% | 0.60% |
| Chests in the Desert | 10.36% | 2.07% | 0.41% | 0.08% |
| Fishing in the Desert | 8.58% | 1.72% | 0.34% | 0.07% |
| Camp boss stashes, Mount Obsidian | 5.64% | 1.13% | 0.23% | 0.05% |
| Forest supply drops | 5.23% | 1.05% | 0.21% | 0.04% |
| Chests in the Forest | 2.61% | 0.52% | 0.10% | 0.02% |
| Fishing in the Forest | 2.61% | 0.52% | 0.10% | 0.02% |
| Treasure map digs (tier 1) | — | 1.60% | 0.64% | 0.26% |

### Alpha Beakon Is the Direct Route

[Beakon](https://palworld-db.com/pal/beakon) is the only Pal in the game that drops an SMG schematic, and it drops the **Legendary** one at **3.00%** — the best single roll for it anywhere. The alpha is a fixed **level 37** Electric bird in the north, which is a neat coincidence: it stands at exactly the level the gun unlocks. Bring a Ground Pal, and shoot it with the SMG you just built. Roughly **33 kills** is the expected wait for the schematic, so treat it as a repeat stop on your [alpha hunting route](https://palworld-db.com/guides/alpha-hunting-by-level) rather than a single trip. Find its pin with the [interactive map](https://palworld-db.com/map?pal=ThunderBird).

### Enemy Camps Are the Fast Route

If you want the Legendary sooner, ignore the 0.04% supply-drop roll and farm **enemy camps** — there are 48 land camps and 10 sea-base camps on the map, and Desert camp loot alone hands out Schematic 1 at 24.39%. Bank every tier and combine upward: counted in Legendary-equivalents, a Desert camp clear is worth **0.78%**, so about **128 camps** gets you there against 513 if you only ever count the 0.20% Legendary roll. That's a **4× cut** to the grind for doing nothing except not selling the cheap schematics. Switch on the camp layer with the [camp map view](https://palworld-db.com/map?layers=camp,camp_seabase).

> **Tip.** **Never sell or scrap a low-tier SMG schematic.** Five Schematic 1s make a Schematic 2, five of those make a 3, and five 3s make a 4 — and because each tier is exactly one fifth as likely as the one below it, every tier is worth the same expected progress. Banking all four cuts the Forest supply-drop grind from roughly 2,500 drops to about **603**. The [Drafting Table guide](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-upgrade-schematics) covers the combine mechanic.

## SMG vs the Rest of the Class

Against the other rapid-fire guns the SMG is a clear step up from the [Makeshift Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftAssaultRifle) you unlocked at Lv 31 — more damage per magazine, more than a full magazine's worth of extra rounds, and better durability. What it isn't is a replacement for the [Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/AssaultRifle_Default1) at Lv 45, which more than doubles the damage per magazine. **The SMG owns the automatic-fire slot from Lv 37 to Lv 45**, an eight-level window, and its job is to carry you through the mid-game bosses cheaply. The full ladder is in the [best weapons at every tech level](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-weapons-by-tech-level) guide.

| Weapon | Tech Lv | Attack | Magazine | Damage per mag | Durability |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Makeshift SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftSubmachineGun) | 26 | 100 | 24 | 2,400 | 1,000 |
| [Makeshift Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftAssaultRifle) | 31 | 170 | 15 | 2,550 | 1,500 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun) | **37** | **130** | **24** | **3,120** | **2,000** |
| [Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/AssaultRifle_Default1) | 45 | 320 | 20 | 6,400 | 3,000 |

All four of these fire conventional automatic bursts, so the per-magazine column is a fair comparison between them — it is **not** a fair comparison against the [Semi-Auto Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/SemiAutoRifle), a shotgun, or the beam-firing [Laser Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/LaserRifle) at Lv 51, all of which spend their magazines on completely different terms. The whole class is ranked head to head in the [Palworld guns tier list](https://palworld-db.com/guides/all-guns-ranked).

## Makeshift SMG and Combat SMG

There are three separate SMG families and they don't share a tech path, a station or an ammo type — they're three different guns that happen to fire the same way. The **[Makeshift SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftSubmachineGun)** at Lv 26 is the scrap-built starter you use for eleven levels; the **[Combat SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SkySubmachineGun)** at Lv 68 is the Soralite endgame version that hits **seven times harder** than the one in this guide. Ignore the Makeshift as soon as the SMG is up — same ammo cost, worse output — and treat the Combat SMG as an Ancient Workbench project for after Lv 67.

| Family | Tech Lv | Station | Base Attack | Magazine | Ammo | Legendary Attack |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Makeshift SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/MakeshiftSubmachineGun) | 26 | Weapon Workbench | 100 | 24 | [Coarse Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/RoughBullet) | 175 |
| [SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SubmachineGun) | **37** | Weapon Assembly Line | **130** | **24** | [Handgun Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/HandgunBullet) | **227** |
| [Combat SMG](https://palworld-db.com/item/SkySubmachineGun) | 68 | Ancient Workbench | 907 | 42 | [Combat SMG Ammo](https://palworld-db.com/item/SkySubmachineGunBullet) | 1,587 |

The magazine column tells the story of the family: 24 rounds at the bottom, 24 in the middle, **42 at the top** — and 50 on the Legendary Combat SMG, the largest magazine of any gun in the class. Every version is listed with its full recipe in the [Palworld weapons database](https://palworld-db.com/weapons).

## The Short Answer

Unlock the SMG at **Technology Lv 37 for 3 points**, then craft it on the **Weapon Assembly Line** from **25 Refined Ingot and 6 Polymer** — 118 raw units, 75,000 work. It does **130 attack across a 24-round magazine** for 3,120 damage per mag with 2,000 durability, and it runs on **Handgun Ammo**, the cheapest round any SMG fires and one you're probably already stockpiling. For the Legendary version, kill **Alpha Beakon** in the north for a **3.00%** roll, or farm **enemy camps** and bank all four schematic tiers for the Drafting Table — about 128 Desert camps versus 513 if you only chase the top tier. It's the best automatic weapon you can hold between Lv 37 and Lv 45 — the [Semi-Auto Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/SemiAutoRifle) at Lv 41 hits far harder per shot but fires on completely different terms — and the [Assault Rifle](https://palworld-db.com/item/AssaultRifle_Default1) takes the slot over at 45.

## Related Guides

More on weapons, schematics and the mid-game gear ladder:

- [Best Guns Tier List: All Guns Ranked](https://palworld-db.com/guides/all-guns-ranked)
- [Best Weapons at Every Tech Level: Full Upgrade Path](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-weapons-by-tech-level)
- [All Legendary Weapon Schematic Locations in Palworld](https://palworld-db.com/guides/legendary-weapon-schematic-locations)
- [How to Upgrade Schematics to Legendary at the Drafting Table](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-upgrade-schematics)
- [Best Legendary Schematics and How to Get Them](https://palworld-db.com/guides/best-legendary-schematics)
- [Heavy Assault Rifle Schematic Location and Stats](https://palworld-db.com/guides/heavy-assault-rifle-legendary-schematic)
- [Makeshift Handgun Schematic Location and Stats](https://palworld-db.com/guides/makeshift-handgun-legendary-schematic)
- [How to Get the Advanced Weapon Assembly Line and Its Crafts](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-advanced-weapon-assembly-line)
- [How to Get More Technology Points and Ancient Points](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-technology-points)
- [Alpha Pal Hunting Route: Every Field Boss by Level](https://palworld-db.com/guides/alpha-hunting-by-level)
- [How to Get More Weapon and Food Slots in Palworld](https://palworld-db.com/guides/how-to-get-more-weapon-and-food-slots)
- [Palworld weapons database: every weapon compared](https://palworld-db.com/weapons)
- [Palworld ammo database: every round and its cost](https://palworld-db.com/ammo)
- [Every schematic in Palworld and where it drops](https://palworld-db.com/schematics)
- [Palworld technology tree: every unlock by level](https://palworld-db.com/tech)
- [Palworld interactive map: every node, chest and camp](https://palworld-db.com/map)
- [All Palworld guides](https://palworld-db.com/guides)


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Palworld Database — every number on this page comes from the game's own data files.