The best ARC Raiders loot farming route depends on what you’re farming for, and most guides skip that part. Coins, crafting materials, blueprints and the new Outpost parts all come from different container families, so a route built for one wastes time on the others. The short version: Buried City for coins, the Railyard on Pendola Pass for crafting mats, Stella Montis for augments and blueprints, and Pendola’s Storm Huts for Outpost materials. Below is a route for every map, with time per run and what a good run brings home.
Patch context: routes are checked against the Frozen Trail 2.0 update and Store Update 2.2.0, last checked October 2026. The official Frozen Trail 2.0 patch notes changed two things farmers need to know: Riven Tides loot value went up by about 15%, and Pendola Pass runs a Dynamic Loot Zones test where an area keeps its loot type but its value changes every raid.
Pick the goal before you pick the map
Start with what you’re short of. Container families decide what drops, so the goal picks the map for you.
- Coins: Residential, Commercial and Old World areas, where trinkets spawn. Trinkets exist to be sold.
- Crafting materials: Industrial, Mechanical and Electrical containers. Railyards, warehouses, workshops.
- Blueprints and weapons: Raider containers and weapon cases for guns, Security containers for augments. Condition matters more than map here (Night Raid and storms).
- Outpost materials: Insulation Rolls, Epoxy Buckets and Radial Presses, which players find most reliably in Pendola Pass Storm Huts.
The wiki’s trinket price table lists Legendary trinkets such as the Bronze Statuette, Elephant Obelisk and MRI Duck at 10,000 coins each, and Epic ones like the Familiar Duck, Breathtaking Snow Globe and Tellurion at 7,000. One lucky drawer in a Residential block can be worth more than a full bag of Industrial scrap. If coins are the goal, skip the warehouses.
Best ARC Raiders farming routes at a glance
These are the routes our team runs after Frozen Trail. Times are door-to-gondola or door-to-hatch on a normal raid. The haul column is our read of a typical good run, not an official number. Embark publishes no loot values per area, and Pendola Pass values change every raid by design.
| Route | Map | Best for | Time per run | Typical haul (our read) | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space Travel Building, Hospital, Library | Buried City | Coins, trinkets, medical | 15-20 min | High trinket count, full bag most runs | Medium |
| Research & Administration, Control Tower | Dam Battlegrounds | Coins, starter mats | 12-18 min | Moderate, steady | Low-medium |
| Railyard, Loading Platforms | Pendola Pass | Crafting mats | 12-16 min | Full bag of Industrial and Mechanical | Medium |
| Storm Hut loop (Flash Freeze) | Pendola Pass | Outpost materials | 15-20 min | 2-4 shelters, Outpost parts, odd epic weapon | High (contested) |
| Old Town, Almatera Station | Pendola Pass | Coins, research items | 15-20 min | Swingy: jackpot or average | High |
| Port Authority, Stacking Yard, Customs House | Riven Tides | Mixed, coins | 15-20 min | Better than before 2.0 (about 15% more value) | Medium-high |
| Security Checkpoint, Cultural Archives | Stella Montis | Augments, blueprints | 15-20 min | Best augment odds, fewer coins | Medium-high |
| Departure Building, Container Storage | Spaceport | Weapon cases, electronics | 12-20 min | Good, heavily contested | High |
| Warehouse Complex | The Blue Gate | Industrial mats | 15-20 min | Moderate, long walk | Medium-high |
Pendola Pass farming routes
Pendola Pass is the best new farm in the game, and also the hardest to farm the same way twice. Dynamic Loot Zones mean the Residential block that was stuffed last raid can be average this raid. So we farm Pendola by loot type, which stays fixed, and hit two or three zones per run so we aren’t relying on any single one.
Railyard into the Loading Platforms (crafting mats)
This is the most consistent route on the map. The Railyard has about 49 containers by community count, mostly Industrial and Mechanical, and the wall lockers are close enough to clear in one sweep. Drop south into the Loading Platforms for Exodus-tagged crafting materials, then extract from the Glacial Transceiver between the two. It takes about 12-16 minutes and works solo.
Storm Hut loop (Outpost materials)
This one only runs when a Flash Freeze hits. Storm Huts unlock on the warning, and players report Insulation Rolls, Epoxy Buckets and Radial Presses inside, which is exactly what Outpost upgrades eat. Creators running it on a free loadout report shelters cycling every 3-4 minutes, enough to hit several in one raid. The catch is that every squad on the map has the same idea. Go in with a cheap kit, grab what’s in the hut, and leave before the next squad arrives.
Old Town and Almatera Station (coins)
Old Town has the most containers on Pendola Pass, about 77 by community count, and its Residential and Old World tags are trinket territory. Almatera Station next door adds Commercial loot and the Train Station Room key room. It’s the highest-ceiling coin route on the map and the most ambush-prone. Squads only, or solo with a plan to bail early. Key rooms are a separate gamble: the r/ArcRaiders thread on what the Observatory key room pays out is a good reality check before you burn a key on the Observatory Room.
If you would rather have the bag filled for you, our ARC Raiders loot farm runs these routes on a schedule, along with blueprint farms and squad carries on the maps you haven’t learned yet.
Rust Belt farming routes
Buried City: the coin route
Buried City is still our default coin farm. Start at the Space Travel Building (weapon cases across several floors), cut to the Hospital for medical containers, and finish in the Library, a tight cluster of containers, lockers and desks that empties fast. The residential blocks between them are where trinkets turn up. About 15-20 minutes, with time left to reach the train.
Dam Battlegrounds: the beginner route
Dam is where new players should learn to farm. Work the Research & Administration building room by room, then the Control Tower if it’s quiet, and extract early. The haul is smaller than Buried City’s, but so is the risk, and every container search gives XP whether it has loot or not.
Stella Montis: augments and blueprints
Stella Montis is a blueprint map that also pays coins. The Security Checkpoint and the East Lobby breach room are the keyless options, and the Cultural Archives with the Archives Key is the best key room in the game for blueprints. Our full blueprint farming guide covers which conditions to queue into and the route for every map.
Riven Tides: buffed in 2.0
Riven Tides got about 15% more loot value in 2.0, which pushes it up our list. Port Authority has a room full of lockers, and the yellow Industrial containers at the Stacking Yard and Customs House cover crafting mats. It’s a difficulty-5 map, so bring a real kit.
Spaceport and The Blue Gate
Both are situational. Spaceport’s Departure Building and Container Storage are good for weapon cases but draw the most PvP of any farm we run. The Blue Gate’s Warehouse Complex is a fine Industrial farm with a long walk and Rocketeer patrols. We send boosters there for specific materials, not for coins.
Rules that make any route faster
Most farming time goes to walking and fighting. These habits add the most per hour.
- Free loadout for sweeps. If the route is about container count, you lose nothing by dying in a free kit. Bring a real kit only for key rooms, Old Town and the Emperor.
- Sell-check before you loot. Learn the trinket and high-value item icons so you stop picking up scrap you’ll recycle anyway.
- Leave the last 10 minutes for extraction. Rounds are 30 minutes. A full bag at minute 25 with no exit plan is how most loot gets lost. Our guide on how to get a full bag home solo covers timing in detail.
- Spend points on looting. The Survival branch is where the looting skills in the skill tree live, and on a farming account they pay for themselves on every run. Check what the 2.0 rework left in that branch before you respec.
- Upgrade the stash. 2.0 added two more stash tiers, up to 328 slots without Expedition or Nomadic Envoy bonuses. Farming is pointless if you’re selling at a loss because the stash is full.
One story from our side. A client wanted an Outpost built as fast as possible, so we put two boosters on Storm Hut loops only, free kits, Pendola Pass, and they ran it all evening. The shelter runs were great until about the fourth raid, when it became obvious that half the server had watched the same video. We switched them to Railyard sweeps and stopped at a shelter only when a freeze caught them nearby. The Outpost got finished the same night, and the kits stayed free.
Where these routes fall short
Route guides go stale. Dynamic Loot Zones are a test, Embark says they may spread beyond Pendola Pass, and if they do, “the best building” stops being a thing on older maps too. The haul column is our read, not a measurement. Embark publishes no per-zone values, and the per-run coin numbers you see elsewhere are guesses as well. Routes also assume a quiet lobby. A third squad in the Library ruins the plan, and no guide fixes that. Finally, the PvE matchmaking test ended on October 20 and Embark plans to share its decision in November, which could change how contested every one of these routes is.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best map to farm loot in ARC Raiders?
It depends on the goal. Buried City for coins and volume, Stella Montis for augments and blueprints, and Pendola Pass for Outpost materials and crafting mats.
What sells for the most in ARC Raiders?
Trinkets. The wiki lists Legendary trinkets at 10,000 coins each and several Epic ones at 7,000, so Residential and Old World areas are the coin farms.
How long should an ARC Raiders loot run take?
Most routes take 12-20 minutes. Rounds last 30 minutes, so finish looting with about 10 minutes left and spend the rest getting out.
Is Pendola Pass good for farming?
Yes for crafting materials and Outpost parts. It’s less predictable for coins, because Dynamic Loot Zones change each area’s value from raid to raid.
Should I farm with a free loadout?
For container sweeps and Storm Hut loops, yes, since you lose nothing on a death. Bring a real kit for Old Town, key rooms and the Fallen Emperor.
Do you get XP from looting in ARC Raiders?
Yes. Every container search gives XP, even an empty one, so a good loot route also levels you up.
Pick the goal, pick the map that matches its container type, and leave enough time to extract. Buried City pays the coins, Pendola Pass builds the Outpost, and Stella Montis brings the blueprints. If you’d rather spend your evenings on the fun raids, our ARC Raiders boost team handles loot farms, blueprint farms, squad carries and raid help on your schedule.
