If you've picked up "A Dead End" in Arc Raiders, you're heading underground-specifically into the Security Wing beneath Blue Gate. While the objective sounds straightforward, the layout, locked door, and extraction requirement can trip players up. This guide walks you through every step, from locating MANTIKOR's facilities to safely delivering the key quest item back to ARC Raiders Coins Speranza.

Before you deploy, one crucial tip: bring an augment with a safe pocket. You'll need to extract with a quest ARC Raiders Items at the end, and storing it safely ensures you can still complete the mission even if you're eliminated before reaching an extraction point.

Let's break everything down step by step.

Find MANTIKOR's Underground Facilities

Your first objective is to locate MANTIKOR's underground facilities, which are situated in the middle of the Blue Gate map inside the Security Wing.

There are multiple entry points to the underground area:

Checkpoint gates

Headhouse access

A small structure with a zipline (fastest route)

The zipline entrance at the small marked structure is the quickest and most efficient way down. It drops you directly into the underground network and minimizes time spent exposed above ground.

Once inside, navigate toward the Security Wing. Compared to other points of interest, it's relatively compact, so you shouldn't get too disoriented.

Open the Locked Room in the Security Wing

Inside the Security Wing, you'll find a large locked door with a battery console mounted to the right side. To open it, you must locate and insert three batteries scattered around the Security Wing.

Here's what you need to know:

Battery spawn locations are random.

The Security Wing is small, so search thoroughly.

Batteries are typically placed on surfaces, near machinery, or tucked into corners.

Because this is a shared objective, other raiders may already be working on it. In fact, you might arrive to find:

One or two batteries are already inserted

The door is fully unlocked

If you're running solo, move cautiously while searching. If you're in a squad, split up and sweep different sections to speed up the process.

Sometimes cooperation-even temporary alliances with random players-can help everyone get the door open faster. Once all three batteries are inserted, the locked room will unlock.

Search for Records of Project Heartwood

After the door opens, head inside and move toward the back of the room, where you'll see a large screen dominating the wall.

On the right side of the screen, there's a machine with an interaction prompt labeled "Play Recording."

Interact with it to:

Progress the quest

Trigger the next objective

Learn more about Project Heartwood

Once the recording plays, the mission updates and directs you to locate a new item nearby.

Good news: you won't need to leave the room.

Find the Dusty Film Reel

On the left side of the giant screen, you'll spot a searchable container.

Open it and look for the Dusty Film Reel inside.

Important:

After searching the container, make sure you interact again to actually pick up the ARCR Items. Simply opening the container isn't enough-you must confirm the pickup.

Once it's in your inventory, the objective updates to extraction.

Extract With the Dusty Film Reel

This is the most critical phase of the quest.

You must:

Successfully extracted from the map

Deliver the Dusty Film Reel back to Shani in Speranza

Immediately place the film reel into ARC Raiders Items your safe pocket, if you brought one. This protects the item even if you die before extraction.