Learn how to bypass unnecessary Emperor fights, find research supplies, expand practical storage, and handle gondola extractions in ARC Raiders. These 12 Frozen Trail tips focus on making each raid more productive while reducing the resources and equipment lost to avoidable mistakes.

The biggest gains do not always come from stronger weapons. Knowing which encounters to skip, where to search, and how to process progression resources can matter just as much as the loadout you carry Topside.

1. Skip Hydra Encounters When Clearing the Emperor

You do not need to shoot every Hydra in the Emperor dungeon. Bypassing these encounters saves ammunition, time, and other supplies without giving up especially valuable loot from the enemies themselves.

A Snap Hook is useful for navigating past the encounters. The first Hydra also has enough room at its side to walk past without engaging it. Look for the route around the threat rather than assuming every enemy blocks mandatory progress.

Prepare the bypass before committing. Identify where you intend to move and keep your mobility tool ready. The benefit disappears if a hesitant crossing turns into an extended fight anyway.

2. Move Explosive Container Loot onto the Ground

When opening explosive containers inside the Emperor, dragging their contents onto the ground makes the items easier to collect afterward. This helps you prioritize what you actually want rather than spending unnecessary time managing the container.

The approach also leaves unwanted items accessible to Raiders following behind. In a group, it gives teammates an opportunity to collect useful supplies instead of having everyone compete to manage the same container.

Keep the process deliberate: move the contents out, identify your priority items, and collect those first. Inventory management should support your movement through the dungeon, not become a reason to linger in danger.

3. Use Outpost Shelves and Weapon Racks for Storage

Your Outpost is more than a space to decorate. Shelves and weapon racks let you store loot outside the main stash, creating additional room for resources brought back from raids.

Weapon racks are particularly useful for equipment you want to retain without leaving it mixed into your everyday stash management. Shelves can hold other supplies, helping separate stored reserves from items you regularly move between raids.

• Place racks for weapons you intend to keep.
• Use shelves to move suitable supplies out of the main stash.
• Keep frequently used equipment easy to locate.
• Review stored loot before spending Coins on replacements.

Organizing ARC Raiders items this way makes existing supplies easier to use and reduces unnecessary replacement purchases.

4. Rearrange Your Benches Around Your Routine

The Outpost also allows you to reposition benches. This affects how they are aligned in the menu, letting you arrange them in an order that suits your preparation routine.

Place frequently used benches where you prefer them rather than treating the original arrangement as fixed. A consistent layout makes it easier to move through crafting, research, and equipment preparation without repeatedly searching for the next station.

This is a convenience improvement rather than a direct combat advantage, but it becomes useful when repeated across many raids. Set up the space around the tasks you perform most often.

On Pendola Pass, three areas are particularly useful places to check for research supplies. Treat them as search priorities, not guaranteed sources of a specific item: another Raider may have reached the containers first.

Storm Huts

Storm Huts are valuable stops during the map's storm conditions. Reaching one before other players gives you access to its loot, including supplies useful for research bench upgrades such as Insulation Roll.

Competition matters here. An already-looted hut is a reason to continue your search, not to spend the rest of the raid waiting for supplies that are no longer there.

Al Mater Station

Inside Al Mater Station, head upstairs using the escalators and inspect the shelves. These are useful places to check for Insulation Roll and other research-related loot.

Search the shelving deliberately rather than only checking obvious containers. If the area has been picked clean, move on to another location.

Take a look at: amplified weapon upgrade priorities for PvE and PvP

The Observatory

The observatory offers numerous containers throughout the building, including a room with several bins. Search beyond that single room: the wider building provides additional opportunities to find useful supplies.

Do not overlook the underground area. It contains more containers and can extend the search beyond the areas other Raiders check first. For anyone considering how to get crafting materials in ARC Raiders without losing them on raids, knowing when to stop searching and extract remains just as important as choosing a productive building.

6. Locate the Gondola Instead of Waiting at the Call Station

Calling the gondola does not mean you should remain beside the station and wait without checking its destination. There are three ways to determine where it will arrive:

• Listen to the radio announcement for its direction.
• Check the map for the gondola icon.
• Look overhead and track the gondola visually.

Use these cues together so you can move toward the correct boarding position. Waiting in the wrong place wastes time and leaves you exposed to ARC.

Be especially cautious when downed. Boarding the gondola while knocked can result in death rather than a successful escape. Do not build your extraction plan around being carried out safely in that state.

Redirection is not the only route to the Emperor Key Blueprint. Surveyors provide another acquisition route, making them worth considering if you do not enjoy that mode.

The Close Scrutiny event is a useful choice when targeting Surveyor encounters. It provides an alternative activity to pursue rather than repeatedly committing to a mode you would rather avoid.

Keep expectations realistic: an alternative source is not a guaranteed immediate drop. When pursuing specific ARC Raiders blueprints, choose an activity you can repeat comfortably and extract successfully rather than judging the entire route by one unsuccessful attempt.

8. Check Backpacks for Fossilized Lightning

Fossilized Lightning is used to amplify certain weapons, but the Electro Storm rotation is not the only opportunity to obtain it. Backpacks can also contain this resource.

This makes backpack searches useful during ordinary looting, especially when the storm schedule does not suit your available playtime. Inspect them as part of an existing route rather than assuming amplification progress must stop until the desired event returns.

The practical benefit is flexibility. You can continue working toward an upgrade while collecting other supplies, without making every raid depend on a particular weather condition.

9. A Full Gondola Does Not Necessarily End Your Escape

If the gondola is full, its interior is not your only extraction option. Getting onto its roof can still allow you to leave, and attaching with a grapple provides another way to reach it.

Reel yourself in when using the grapple. Simply attaching and remaining at a distance is not the method to rely on for a successful extraction.

These options are useful backups, not reasons to delay boarding. Track the gondola early and approach promptly. A roof entry or grapple maneuver is easier to manage when you are not already downed or under sustained attack.

10. Study Research Resources to Free Stash Space

Unprocessed research resources can accumulate and occupy space that could hold equipment or crafting supplies. Use the Research Station to study them instead of allowing them to pile up indefinitely.

• Open the Research Station in your workshop.
• Select Acquire Research Points.
• Study the eligible resources to convert them into research points.

Make this part of your post-raid routine. Processing what you have already collected keeps progression moving while reducing clutter, without requiring another trip Topside.

Take a look at: skill priorities for different raid styles

11. Loot ARC Couriers for Bully Fragmenters

Fighting a Bully is not the only way to obtain a Bully Fragmenter. ARC Couriers can also contain them, offering an alternative for Raiders who are not comfortable taking on that enemy directly.

Check Couriers encountered along your route before committing equipment and ammunition to a difficult fight solely for this component. The item is a possible find, so treat Courier looting as an opportunity rather than a guaranteed replacement for every hunt.

This is especially useful when your immediate goal is collecting upgrade supplies, not testing a combat loadout against a demanding machine.

Sprinting on Fumes no longer supports the same uninterrupted sprinting-and-stim pattern it previously enabled. You need some stamina recovery before using the stim, which changes how safely you can depend on the perk during an escape.

Running completely dry can leave you vulnerable when movement is interrupted. Getting shot, colliding with something, or jumping can turn an already tight stamina situation into a dangerous pause.

Evaluate the perk around your actual movement habits rather than its earlier behavior. Preserve enough stamina to react near enemies, and avoid assuming a stim will immediately rescue an exhausted sprint. Mobility planning should account for recovery time, not just maximum running distance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to kill the Hydras in the Emperor?

No. They can be bypassed, with a Snap Hook helping on the route. The first Hydra can also be passed by walking along its side.

Where should you search for research bench supplies?

Prioritize Storm Huts, the upstairs shelves at Al Mater Station, and the observatory's containers, including its underground area.

Can you extract if the gondola is full?

Yes. Boarding the roof or grappling onto it provides alternatives. Reel yourself in rather than relying on a distant grapple attachment.

No. Backpacks can also contain it, allowing you to search outside the event rotation.

How can you free stash space without discarding useful loot?

Use Outpost shelves and weapon racks, then study eligible research resources through the Research Station's Acquire Research Points option.