The Groundbreaking quest in ARC Raiders is one of those early missions that feels more involved than it first appears. Picked up from Shani in Speranza, it sends you out into the Blue Gate map to poke around ARC activity and piece together intel tied to Stella Montis ARC Raiders Coins. It's not especially hard, but it does ask you to move carefully, read the terrain, and interact with several different locations while staying alert to patrols and other players. You don't need top-tier gear to clear it, but preparation and awareness make the whole thing much smoother.
The first task takes you toward the Olive Grove area near the center of Blue Gate. From common entry points like Southern Station or the nearby ridges, you can work your way northwest through abandoned vehicles and broken structures. The comms terminal sits on a small tower at the edge of the grove, usually watched by light ARC presence. Climbing up and activating it is quick, but it can draw attention, so it helps to plan an exit in advance. Once it's online, your HUD updates with the next objective and gives you a better sense of how nearby points of interest cluster together.
After that, you'll need to deal with the EMP trap, which is often the part that trips people up. The trap itself can't be shut down directly—you have to power down three generators nearby. One is on higher ground overlooking the area, another is tucked along rooftops and ledges to the south, and the third is lower down near debris closer to the hydrodomes. Using a scanner makes this much easier, especially for the last one, which blends into the environment. Once all three are disabled, you can return to the trap and shut it off, keeping an eye out for machines or players rotating back into the area.
From there, the quest pushes you east toward Broken Earth and the massive ARC husk on the hillside. Taking the higher path is usually safer than dropping into the valleys, where ambushes are more common. The husk is hard to miss, and it tends to attract attention, so move in with purpose. Inside, you'll find light resistance and a covered section hiding a device you can interact with. Scanning helps here too, as the objective can be easy to overlook in the clutter. Interacting with it pulls the final data needed to complete the mission.
Once the upload finishes, the quest wraps up immediately. You'll get a notification confirming completion, and it's worth taking a moment to check nearby containers since husk areas often have decent loot cheap ARC Raiders Boosting. From there, head to the nearest extraction point before things get crowded. Even if you go down during the run, Safe Pockets usually protect your quest progress, so retries aren't too punishing.
The rewards lean more toward usefulness than flash. You earn credits, reputation with Shani, and a utility-focused augment blueprint that comes in handy later on. More importantly, Groundbreaking teaches you how ARC Raiders likes to structure its objectives—linking multiple points on the map. Finish it early, and Blue Gate starts to feel a lot less intimidating and a lot more like a place you can control.
