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The Harvester in Arc Raiders is a massive drop pod of resources that is always guarded by the Queen, but itself can prove a lethal threat if not handled carefully. The Harvester holds blueprints and large quantities of loot, but it's also bobby trapped and rigged to alternately burn or electrocute those within it if they're not careful. To access the full Harvester and get the majority of loot within, we'll explain how to solve its puzzle below.
The Harvester is always waiting in the shadow of the deadly Arc Raiders Queen. You don't have to kill the Queen to access the Harvester, but if you want to know how to do that, check out our guide!
Arc Raiders Harvester puzzle guide
The Harvester in Arc Raiders is a multi-step process where there's a puzzle that needs solving to access the best rewards inside it. If you don't, the loot in the centre will remain inaccessible, and you'll be constantly at risk of the booby traps that are set off periodically within. I'll explain how it's done below.
Keep in mind that fire and electricity traps will be triggering regularly throughout. See further down for how to handle those.
- On reaching the Harvester, either pry open the doors, or enter via the air vents on top if you can access the roof. Wait for any fire within to go out before entering.
- You need to find 3 fuel cells inside the Harvester (steel objects you can carry in both hands). One will be lying on the floor somewhere. The other two are inside access panels you need to pry open on the upper walkway.
- Bring all 3 cells to the central terminal and pry open the ports to plug them in. They may periodically close depending on when certain traps are about to trigger. I recommend leaving all three close to the terminal so you can plug them in quickly in succession.
- Once all 3 cells are plugged in, yellow nodes will emerge on various walls. You need to shoot and destroy all of them.
- The nodes will retract periodically for the fire trap to go off. The fire trap also ejects the fuel cells out of the terminal, and you'll need to plug them back in to get the nodes to re-emerge.
- Once all nodes are destroyed, the traps will deactivate permanently and the central terminal will open up, allowing you to access the loot within!
Harvester fire and electricity traps
The Harvester has two built-in traps: one that fills the whole thing with fire, another that electrifies the floor to damage player's shields. Here's how to handle them both.
- Fire trap. If the lights on the central console turn yellow, this is about to go off! Get out of the Harvester straight away, and make sure that the doors are open in preparation for this. This happens roughly every 45 seconds, and there's no way to stop it other than to just get out of the way. This also ejects any fuel cells, as mentioned above.
- Electricity trap. If the lights in the central terminal turn blue, it's about to run electrical current through the floor, damaging player shields (not health) and temporarily stunning everybody. Considering that shields don't stop fire, it may be worth de-equipping your shield before entering the Harvester, as it can't protect you either way.
Harvester rewards and loot
The Harvester drops a random assortment of Arc components, as well as blueprints for both the Jupiter and the Equalizer, though the blueprints are only accessible through the central console and you'll need to complete the puzzle to get them. Of course, these only being the blueprints, you'll need to kill a Queen and get the Queen Reactor inside to build either of them, as well as have your Gunsmith table at Level 3.
If you've built these super-weapons, there's only one thing above the Queen to truly test them on. Dare you face the Arc Raiders Matriarch?
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