ARC Raiders A First Foothold: All Four Locations and Quest Guide

You need access to The Blue Gate, which unlocks after 18 raids on any map. No special weapon, quest item or extraction item is required.

A free or cheap loadout is the sensible choice because this quest is almost entirely traversal. Since progress persists and death does not cancel the reward, expensive gear adds risk without helping the objectives.

The observation deck is on Ridgeline's outer rim, on the eastern to southeastern side of the ridge rather than deep inside the POI.

1. Reach Ridgeline and move toward the map-edge side of the area.
2. Look for the observation deck on the outer rim and watch for patrolling ARC around the approach.
3. Step onto the deck floor and interact with either of the two quest objects there; only one interaction is needed.

Do not waste time activating both objects. One successful interaction advances the quest.

The comms terminal is not inside Olive Grove. Look west to southwest of the POI, roughly between Olive Grove and Highway Collapse near the Checkpoint side of the route.

1. Leave Olive Grove toward Highway Collapse instead of searching among the trees and farm plots.
2. Find the scrappy open platform with a computer terminal on it.
3. Use either nearby valid interaction point to register the objective.

Olive Grove is also a common farming area for lemons, apricots and olives used for Scrappy upgrades, so expect other raiders even if the terminal itself is outside the POI.

The satellite dishes are on the roof of a ruined church north of the Data Vault, toward the northern edge of The Blue Gate.

1. Travel north from the Data Vault toward the church between the Village and Pilgrim's Peak side of the map.
2. Circle the church for the scaffolding rather than trying to jump straight onto the roof.
3. Climb the scaffolding and reach the satellite dishes on top to complete the interaction.

This is a map-edge objective, so budget for a long traverse if you spawn far south.

The roof plates are on a small ruined Raider structure on the western side of the Trapper's Glade area, below Raider's Refuge.

1. Reach the forested structure near Trapper's Glade and identify the small ruined building.
2. Move to its east side and use the box there to climb onto the roof.
3. Find the two traffic cones and interact with the roof plates beside them.

The traffic cones are the easiest confirmation cue that you are on the correct roof.

The cleanest single-raid loop is to move around the outside of the map rather than repeatedly cutting through the centre.

1. Start at Ridgeline if your spawn is on the eastern side and clear the observation deck.
2. Continue north to the ruined church and climb to the satellite dishes.
3. Sweep west to the Trapper's Glade structure and fix the roof plates.
4. Finish south at the comms terminal between Olive Grove and Highway Collapse.

If your spawn puts you near a different corner, reverse or rotate the loop. Completing one or two nearby objectives per raid is safer than forcing all four because progress persists.

A First Foothold rewards three grenade types, and the reward is still available if you die before extracting.

Reduced to Rubble unlocks after A First Foothold. It keeps you on The Blue Gate and sends you to photograph Highway Collapse, enter Broken Earth, follow the destruction trail and investigate a downed ARC machine.