How to Unlock and Build Your ARC Raiders Outpost

To unlock the Outpost in ARC Raiders, reach Level 18, open the Outpost tab and finish the three-stage Sheltered Retreat project: a photo on Blue Gate, a small materials hand-in, then damage against ARC on Pendola Pass. Finishing it also opens the Research Station, your route to Amplified weapons.

The Research Station is why the Outpost matters: Amplified weapons need it at level 4, and each room you add raises its cap by one. Below is every room and station cost in build order, checked on 9 October against Embark's 2.0 patch notes and ARC Tracker's game data.

Unlock it: the Sheltered Retreat project

Reach Level 18, select Outpost at the top of the menu and press Start. You can scroll ahead through all three stages before finishing the first, so read the Stage 2 list now and stop recycling what it asks for.

Each stage pays out as you go: an Advanced Camera blueprint, then a Red Light Stick blueprint, then a chair for the Outpost with 15 Planks and 5 Durable Cloth.

Stage 1: the farmhouse photo

Photo objectives now need a real camera in your loadout, here and in five older quests Embark updated, including The League and Groundbreaking. Any of these will do:

• Shani: her shop now takes Coins, and a camera costs 1,900.
• Workbench: craft one from 8 Plastic Parts and 1 Wire.
• Sizing Things Up: accepting this new quest hands you a camera.
• Topside: cameras also drop as loot.

The Ruined Homestead sits in the south of Blue Gate, beside the Olive Grove, and its label only shows once you zoom the map in. Any of the main farm buildings registers, including the one with the large hole in it.

Stage 2: the hand-in

Anything already in your stash counts, so you may clear this without a raid. Where each item comes from:

• Planks: Celeste sells them for 3 Assorted Seeds each, and Scrappy brings seeds home.
• Sheet Metal: Celeste sells it for seeds too. Topside, try industrial areas; the Railroad Junction trains on Pendola Pass have been reliable.
• ARC Alloy: salvaged from ARC you destroy.
• Advanced Electrical Components: craft them at a level 2 Refiner from 3 Wires and 2 Electrical Components, or loot electrical areas.

Stage 3: guard the build site

The last stage asks for damage rather than kills: 800 to flying ARC, plus a set amount on Bullies. Flying ARC patrol every map, but the Bully is one of the new Pendola Pass ARC, so run this stage there. Embark says new players can join Pendola Pass through a squadmate who has already unlocked it.

What you get once it's built

At launch you run the Outpost from menus: you can't walk around it, and friends can't visit yet, though Embark says it is considering both. Here is what's inside, and which parts matter.

Research Station and room costs

The Research Station (the Research Bench in Embark's patch notes) gains a level for each room you own, so rooms and station levels alternate. A room's price depends on how many you have, not which one you pick. Here is the full climb in build order:

In all, that's 70 Planks and 60 Sheet Metal plus the parts above, and Gunsmith level 4 also needs all four rooms. Notice the pattern: the top levels need parts from Skulkers, Bullies, the Frigate and the Emperor.

Rather skip the climb? Outpost Unlock clears the Sheltered Retreat project, all three stages or just the one you're stuck on. Outpost Full Upgrade builds this whole table with every part farmed. The FAQ on our ARC Raiders page covers how team up and piloted orders work.

How to amplify a gun

Amplification gives one of 15 guns a fifth quality level with a branching set of upgrades, such as a fully automatic Burletta or a scoped Renegade. Once the Research Station and the Gunsmith are both at level 4:

1. Get an Amplification Module. Modules drop only on the Frigate and inside the fallen Emperor, in Marks 1 to 5. Each Mark matches a weapon rarity, and all five drop at the same rate.
2. Research the perk. Each costs 5,000 Research Points, ARC parts and a task that often has nothing to do with the gun. The Renegade's scope wants 14 Snitch Scanners and a trip to Pilgrim's Peak on Blue Gate.
3. Apply it. Socket the module and buy upgrades along the gun's tree. It can't be undone, and some upgrades lock out others on the same gun.

The 15 are the Anvil, Aphelion, Bettina, Burletta, Canto, Equalizer, Hairpin, Hullcracker, Il Toro, Jupiter, Kettle, Osprey, Rascal, Rattler and Renegade. The new Stiletto and Bantam aren't on the list.

Modules are the slow part. Frigate runs put our operators on the ship with you, or one runs it on your account, and you keep everything recovered.

Furniture: where the 100 Designs come from

Most Designs use basic materials, mainly Sheet Metal and Planks. An Alpine Wardrobe takes 30 Planks and 2 Metal Brackets, for example. The Research Station can also research Designs, from 500 points each. Nothing in Embark's notes ties furniture to stats, so decorate for yourself, not your loadout.

Outpost questions

Does the Sheltered Retreat project expire? Not on current evidence. Embark's 2.0 notes give it no end date, and the game data lists its end as 31 December 2049, so treat it as permanent.

Can you research blueprints instead of finding them? Yes, 59 of them. The Stiletto, Bantam and Grappling Hook are all on the Research Station's first level, each for Research Points plus a stack of parts.

Do you need the Collector Set to build an Outpost? No. The DLC adds one furniture Design, the Retro Sofa. The project, the rooms and the Research Station are all earned in game.