ARC Raiders Outpost: How to Unlock, Modules, Furniture and Research Workstation

ARC Raiders Outpost is one of the biggest new progression features introduced with the Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, 2026. It gives players a customizable base on the surface, complete with expandable rooms, craftable furniture and a Research Workstation for unlocking weapons and equipment. Unlike the usual Raider Den in Speranza, the Outpost represents the beginning of something more personal, although you’ll need to complete a project before you can start building.

There’s more to the ARC Raiders Outpost than placing furniture around a room. The new Research Workstation opens additional ways to unlock equipment and is required for the fifth weapon quality tier introduced with Amplified Weapons. You’ll also need to collect construction materials, photograph a building on The Blue Gate and fight ARC enemies to get everything started. Here’s how to unlock your Outpost and what you can do once it’s available.

How to Unlock the ARC Raiders Outpost

The Outpost is unlocked by completing the Sheltered Retreat project, which becomes available at level 18.

You’ll find the project in the Outpost section of the game’s progression menus. It consists of three stages, beginning with a photography objective and ending with a fight against ARC machines.

The three stages are:

1. Research Topside Living Conditions
2. Gather Building Materials
3. Safeguard the Building Site

You can view the later requirements before completing the earlier stages, making it possible to collect some of the necessary materials in advance.

Image credit: Embark Studios

Stage 1: Research Topside Living Conditions

The first objective sends you to Ruined Homestead on The Blue Gate, where you’ll need to photograph a farmland house.

Before leaving Speranza, make sure you’ve accepted the project objective and brought a Camera. Embark confirms that Cameras can be purchased from Shani, crafted at the Workbench or recovered while exploring Topside.

Once you’re ready:

1. Select The Blue Gate and travel to Ruined Homestead in the southern part of the map.
2. Find one of the farmland houses around the settlement.
3. Equip your Camera and aim at the building.
4. Take the photograph to register the objective.
5. Return to Speranza to continue your project progression.

Ruined Homestead can have dangerous ARC enemies nearby, so keep an eye on your surroundings while using the Camera.

Completing this stage awards a Camera Blueprint.

Stage 2: Gather Building Materials

The second stage requires four different materials for constructing the ARC Raiders Outpost.

Material	Amount required
Planks	3
Sheet Metal	5
ARC Alloy	10
Advanced Electrical Components	3

Planks and Sheet Metal are new construction resources introduced with Frozen Trail. Industrial locations are good places to search, particularly areas with plenty of shipping containers and supply crates.

ARC Alloy can be recovered from defeated ARC machines, including common enemies such as Wasps and Hornets.

Advanced Electrical Components are found in electrical loot areas. Check your stash before heading out, as returning players may already have some of the required components.

After collecting everything, contribute the materials through the project menu. Completing this stage awards the Red Light Stick Blueprint.

Stage 3: Safeguard the Building Site

The final stage moves away from collecting supplies and sends you back into combat.

You’ll need to deal 800 damage to flying ARC enemies and complete a damage objective against the new Bully enemy.

Flying ARC machines can be found across several maps, but Bully was introduced with Frozen Trail and can be encountered on Pendola Pass.

Bully is an aggressive machine that charges towards players and attacks at close range. Bringing equipment that can damage tougher ARC enemies will make the encounter easier, particularly if you’re completing the project alone.

Once both combat objectives are complete, Sheltered Retreat finishes and the Outpost becomes available.

The final rewards include a Decorative Chair, 15 Planks and five Durable Cloth, giving you a small collection of materials and furniture to start with.

ARC Raiders Outpost Modules and Room Expansion

After completing Sheltered Retreat, you can begin expanding your new base.

The ARC Raiders Outpost supports additional modules that increase the available space and provide more room for furniture and decorations. You can move between different sections through the customization interface and develop the base as you collect resources.

Celeste offers additional construction materials through her updated trader inventory, while other supplies can be recovered during raids.

The Outpost is located between the Rust Belt and the mountains leading to Pendola Pass. Embark describes it as part of the Raiders’ effort to reclaim territory on the surface.

For now, expansion happens through the Outpost interface rather than physically building structures while exploring a map.

How to Find Furniture Designs for the ARC Raiders Outpost

Frozen Trail introduces 100 Furniture Designs that players can collect to decorate their new home.

Furniture Designs work similarly to regular blueprints. Once you’ve obtained and learned a Design, you can craft the associated furniture using the required resources.

Embark has confirmed several sources for these designs:

• 73 Furniture Designs can be found while exploring Topside.
• Four are exclusive to the Frozen Trail Reward Pass.
• One is exclusive to DLC.
• Additional designs are associated with Outpost progression.

This gives players another reason to investigate buildings and containers during their regular raids.

Furniture is crafted using various resources, including the Planks and Sheet Metal introduced with the update. Different pieces have their own crafting requirements, which you can check after learning their Designs.

Once you’ve crafted furniture, you can arrange it within your available modules using the customization view.

There are plenty of decorative options, but furniture also provides a longer-term collection goal for players who enjoy scavenging beyond weapons and ammunition.

ARC Raiders Outpost Research Workstation Explained

The Research Workstation, also called the Research Bench, is one of the most important additions to the ARC Raiders Outpost.

You gain access to the station after unlocking your base, and upgrading it opens additional research opportunities.

Research provides another way to work towards specific equipment unlocks. Rather than relying entirely on randomly finding the correct blueprint during a raid, players can use the research system to pursue eligible weapons and items.

Research involves collecting resources and progressing towards selected unlocks. Not every blueprint is necessarily available through this system, particularly certain specialist equipment associated with endgame encounters.

The new Bantam and Stiletto weapons are among the additions associated with the expanded research system.

The workstation also supports the new Amplified Weapons system, although you’ll need to upgrade it fully before accessing the most advanced weapon enhancements.

How to Unlock Amplified Weapons at the Outpost

Amplified Weapons introduce a fifth quality level for supported guns, allowing players to choose powerful modifications that can change how a weapon behaves.

The first step is unlocking the Outpost and gaining access to the Research Workstation. You’ll then need to upgrade the station fully to access the advanced amplification system.

Fifteen weapons support Amplification in the initial Frozen Trail rollout.

Embark has highlighted several examples of what these modifications can achieve:

• Burletta: A fully automatic firing option.
• Renegade: An upgrade path that introduces a scope.
• Rattler: Incendiary ammunition with a 64-round magazine.

These upgrades go beyond ordinary stat improvements. Some alter firing behaviour, ammunition properties or how a weapon can be used in combat.

The system also introduces branching choices, so players can customize supported weapons around different combat preferences.

Can You Walk Around Your ARC Raiders Outpost?

Although the Outpost is represented as a physical location on the surface, you cannot freely walk around its rooms at launch.

Instead, players interact with the base through its customization interface, moving between available modules to place furniture and manage their space.

You also cannot currently invite friends to explore your Outpost as a shared walkable location.

Embark has described the system as the beginning of a larger feature that it hopes to expand in future updates. More interactive Outpost functionality may arrive later, but no release date has been confirmed.

ARC Raiders Outpost Known Issues in Update 2.0

Embark has acknowledged several problems affecting the Outpost following the October 8 launch.

Some furniture can clip through walls or other parts of the structure. Furniture placement can also block certain customization slots, preventing players from selecting them when they should be available.

Other known problems include the customization camera becoming obstructed by furniture or the Raider’s character model, and the view returning to the base room when leaving another module.

Lighting may appear corrupted inside the main building when Shadow quality is set to Low.

There’s also an interface issue where the orange notification indicator may fail to appear after completing the first stage of the Outpost project.

Embark has confirmed that fixes for most of these problems are already in development for a future live update.

If you’ve completed a project objective but the notification hasn’t appeared, check the Outpost tab directly to see whether the next stage is available.

Is the ARC Raiders Outpost Worth Unlocking?

The Outpost adds two different kinds of progression to ARC Raiders. Players who enjoy collecting resources and decorating their spaces now have furniture, room expansions and Designs to work towards, while those interested in combat have the Research Workstation and Amplified Weapons.

The Sheltered Retreat project also gives players a reason to revisit The Blue Gate, gather construction resources and explore Pendola Pass to fight the new Bully enemy.

For returning Raiders, unlocking the Research Workstation is likely to be one of the biggest attractions. Higher-quality weapon upgrades and more control over equipment research provide useful goals beyond simply filling a stash with loot.

The ARC Raiders Outpost may still be an early version of Embark’s planned personal base system, but Frozen Trail 2.0 has already given players plenty to collect, construct and research between raids.

Official source: Embark Studios: Frozen Trail 2.0 Update Patch Notes