A First Foothold in Arc Raiders is an early quest where players are introduced to The Blue Gate map, an open area of countryside centred around an underground bunker and the checkpoint to get inside it. There's multiple locations that you'll have to find across the region, including the Olive Grove, the Ridgeline, the Data Vault church and Trapper's Glade, and while these individual locations and objectives aren't individually too hard, actually finding where to go isn't easy, though fortunately you don't have to complete all this in a single expedition and can come back for subsequent objectives you don't complete the first time around.
With that in mind and having completed it myself, I'll outline all key locations in A First Foothold below, and get you acquainted with the most mountainous of the maps.
How to complete A First Foothold in Arc Raiders
You need to complete four objectives in the A First Foothold mission in Arc Raiders, though they don't all have to be in the same expedition. Those objectives are as follows:
- Stabilize the observation deck near the Ridgeline
- Enable the comms terminal near the Olive Grove
- Nail down the roof plates on the Raider structure near Trapper's Glade
- Rotate the satellite dishes on the church roof, north of the Data Vault
This means simply finding the key interaction point in each location and triggering it. Updates in Arc Raiders have made the outside of Blue Gate more dangerous than ever, so it's worth making sure you're prepared for combat. Or, if you're worried about survival, maybe go in with an Arc Raiders free loadout so you don't have as much to lose? Either strategy is perfectly valid, and many players pursue quests by simply going in with nothing, thus risking nothing.
Stabilize the observation deck near the Ridgeline
A little shack/observation point in the middle of nowhere on The Blue Gate's eastern border, here you need to interact with the supporting deck itself. There are actually two spots where you can do this, though either one completes the objective.
Enable the comms terminal near the Olive Grove
The Olive Grove comms terminal is on the Southern border of Blue Gate. It's a scrappy platform open to the elements with a computer on it. Interact with the computer to tick off this objective successfully.
Nail down the roof plates on the Raider structure near Trapper's Glade
This tiny, square shack in Trapper's Glade requires you to climb onto its roof, whereupon you'll see the interaction point. It's the only real building in the area (discounting the cable-covered satellite structure a little way off), so it shouldn't be too hard to find.
Rotate the satellite dishes on the church roof, north of the Data Vault
Right on the Northern border is a ruined church, high up and overlooking the rest of the map. You'll need to climb onto its roof, whereupon there'll be a radar dish you can interact with. Climbing up here isn't easy, but you can do it without any additional equipment – I managed to scrabble up the scaffolding on the west side.
And that's the whole quest! You shouldn't even need to extract safely to complete it, though obviously if you've found any Arc Raiders blueprints or other good loot, you'll definitely want to. Afterwards, head back to Speranza and you'll get your reward – an assortment of grenades and throwable gadgets, as well as unlocking the follow-up quest, "Reduced to Rubble".
Want more help with the Topside terrors? Find out: can you revive enemies and dead teammates in Arc Raiders? Or if you're looking for rewards, here's all the Arc Raiders twitch drops and discord drops you can get!
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