Clear the Room Before You Touch Anything
The mistake I see all the time is players rushing straight to the terminal. Someone says, “I've got it,” starts the interaction, and then a drone wanders in like it owns the place. Now the hacker has to break off, the team turns around, and suddenly nobody's watching the door. That's how clean raids turn into panicked shouting. Before anyone starts routing power or messing with switches, sweep the room. Check the side hall. Kill the small bots. Listen for patrols on the next level. It feels slow, sure, but it's faster than getting knocked mid-animation because you skipped thirty seconds of basic work.
The Alarm Changes the Whole Fight
Once the vault opens, the game practically yells your location for you. That alarm isn't background noise. It's an invitation. Players nearby will start moving in, and the sneaky ones may already be there. Don't have four people shoulder to shoulder around the loot box like it's a shop counter. Pick one looter before the door opens. One person grabs the good stuff. The others hold space. Simple. Watch stairs, tunnels, broken windows, catwalks, and every bit of high ground you'd normally ignore. Vault campers love height because most teams stare at the chest, not the ceiling. A smoke grenade can save the run. An EMP can buy just enough time to reset the fight.
Don't Let Greed Pin You Down
The vault room gets worse the longer you stay in it. You'll hear footsteps, distant shots, maybe ARC units closing from outside. That's not the time to compare gear rolls or shuffle your backpack like you're back at base. If the looter has the rare materials, move. If someone picked up a blueprint, move faster. Call the exit before you open the vault, not after. The obvious tunnel is usually watched. The cleanest route is often the ugly one: a side ladder, a zipline, a broken ledge, anything that breaks line of sight and stops other squads from tracking you in a straight line.
Leave With the Payload
A vault run only counts if the loot leaves with you. Plenty of squads win the first fight, grab the prize, then lose everything because they hang around trying to squeeze out one more crate. Don't do that. Treat high-value ARC Raiders Items like a hot object the whole map can smell, and build your escape around keeping them moving. Rotate early, split angles without splitting too far, and don't take ego fights unless you have to. The door opening is just the middle of the job. The real win is getting clear while everyone else is still shooting at the empty room.
