Last updated: 5 July 2026

ARC Raiders Maps Guide All 6 Zones Explained

ARC Raiders currently has six raidable zones, and picking the right one for your level and playstyle matters as much as your loadout. Some zones are forgiving mountain passes with clear chokepoints; others are dense, PvP-heavy hubs where a full backpack can vanish in seconds. This guide walks through all six — what makes each one distinct, how they compare in difficulty, and which extraction options each offers — plus the recommended order to unlock your way through them.

01Blue Gate — Where to Start

Blue Gate is built around mountain pass terrain with natural chokepoints, making it the most commonly recommended entry zone for new Raiders. Its layout rewards learning fundamentals — rotating between cover, watching sightlines through the passes — before you're facing the more open or vertical zones later on.

Notable locations include the Communication Tower, the Confiscation Room, a Cellar area, and the Traffic Tunnel. Despite being an entry-friendly zone, Blue Gate still sees serious PvP activity around its key-locked rooms, so don't assume it's purely a beginner's playground once you're past your first few runs.

02Dam (Dam Battlegrounds)

The Dam is a waterlogged industrial zone, with toxic hazard areas mixed into its layout. It's generally grouped with Blue Gate as an accessible early zone — consistent, moderate profit without the fiercest competition.

Key locations include the Hydroponic Dome Complex, the Research & Administration Building, and the Floodgates area. The Control Tower is commonly cited as the Dam's single best loot pull for the risk involved.

03Spaceport (Acerra Spaceport)

Spaceport trades the Dam's relative calm for large, open launch-infrastructure terrain and some of the fiercest player-vs-player competition of any zone below Stella Montis. Expect frequent fights over its best containers.

Notable locations include Control Tower A6, the Departure Building, and multi-floor Container Storage areas stacked with loot crates. Because of the PvP pressure, Spaceport rewards a build that can both fight and extract quickly rather than one built purely for looting efficiency.

04Buried City

Buried City is an arid wasteland zone with a maze-like street network, which makes navigation and route-planning more important here than in the more open zones. It's the only zone with metro station extraction points in addition to the standard elevator and airshaft options.

Key locations include the Hospital, the Galleria, the Space Travel Building (multiple floors of tech-focused loot), and Town Hall. Its layout suits Raiders who've learned to move efficiently through tight corridors rather than open sightlines.

05Riven Tides

Riven Tides is ARC Raiders' newest map, launched April 28, 2026. It's a coastal, vertically-oriented zone where elevation control matters more than in the flatter maps — rooftops, cranes, and multi-story buildings all factor into both looting routes and PvP positioning.

Notable locations include the Port Authority Building, the Stacking Yard Crane House, and low-lying Seabed areas. Its hotel buildings are frequently cited by the community as some of the most efficient loot routes currently in the game, thanks to dense, close-together room loot that doesn't require much cross-map travel.

06Stella Montis — The Endgame Zone

Stella Montis is ARC Raiders' dedicated endgame map, recommended around Level 25 and up. It has the smallest map footprint of any zone in the game, but concentrates the highest-value loot and the most dangerous ARC units into that compact space — a deliberate risk/reward trade-off rather than a bigger, longer raid.

Notable locations include Medical Research and a Cultural Archives area that requires a specific Archives Key to access its best loot. Because of its small footprint, engagements with both ARC units and other Raiders tend to happen at closer range and more frequently than on the larger maps — come prepared for sustained combat, not just looting.

07Extraction Options Across Zones

Every zone shares the same core extraction toolkit, with some variation in what's available where:

• Cargo elevators — available on Dam and Spaceport; the slowest but most reliable extraction method.
• Metro stations — currently unique to Buried City.
• Airshafts — faster than elevators, available on multiple maps, including as Blue Gate's primary extraction option.
• Raider Hatches — the fastest option but require a key and only stay open for a short window; disabled during storms.

See our extraction guide for the full mechanics behind each method, timing, and how to avoid getting ambushed on your way out.

08Recommended Progression Order

If you're working through the zones for the first time, the community-recommended path is: Blue Gate → Dam → Spaceport → Buried City → Riven Tides → Stella Montis. This roughly tracks increasing complexity and PvP intensity, with Stella Montis reserved for when you're comfortable with your loadout and extraction timing on every other map. There's no hard level gate stopping you from raiding zones out of this order, but going in under-leveled and under-geared against the later maps' player base is the most common reason new Raiders lose their whole backpack.