How To Complete A Lay of the Land in Arc Raiders: Step-by-Step Guide

A Lay of the Land sends you into Spaceport to recover LiDAR scanners for Shani in a single raid. The quest splits across two locations: Jiangsu Warehouse for the shipping notes and Control Tower A6 for the scanners. You must pick up the scanner item and successfully extract with it or the mission does not complete. A Safe Pocket, a solid weapon loadout, and a clear route across open ground make this one of the more demanding early objectives in Arc Raiders.

A Lay of the Land Step-by-Step Walkthrough

The mission opens with a simple directive: reach Jiangsu Warehouse on the Spaceport map. On your map, look along the top-left edge of Spaceport between Fuel Depot and the Water Towers, then zoom in until you see “Jiangsu Warehouse” labeled without a thick outline. This site sits on the outskirts and usually draws less traffic than the central Spaceport lanes, which gives you a quieter start to what becomes a tense route. Bring weapons that can handle both close pushes and mid-range drone fire, plus space in your Safe Pocket for the scanners later.

Inside Jiangsu Warehouse, head upstairs to the foreman’s office that overlooks the sand-filled storage area. The room has windows on all sides and a desk with a terminal near the center; the shipping notes you need sit on that desk. Interact with the document to tag it for the quest, then leave the warehouse and start the long crossing to Control Tower A6. Expect more resistance here, with ARC drones patrolling the sky and Raiders often cutting across the same ground.

Control Tower A6 is marked clearly on the Spaceport map and functions as one of the hotter locations in the region. Approach from cover where possible and watch for Fireballs and hostile players near the base of the tower. Enter through the main doors, move past the statue, and use the interior stairs or zipline route to reach the upper floors, depending on which version of the objective you follow. What matters is the destination: the second floor rather than the very top.

The LiDAR scanners sit in a small metal box tucked behind divider walls on an upper interior level of Control Tower A6. Once you reach the correct floor, push toward the side rooms near the zipline, then look for low office partitions that form a semi-enclosed space. Inside, you find the box that contains the LiDAR scanner quest item. Take the scanners, then place them in your Safe Pocket if you have one; this protects the objective if you die on the way out.

From here, the mission turns into an extraction problem. You have already visited the warehouse, collected the shipping notes, and secured the scanners. Now you need to leave Spaceport alive with the item in your inventory. Choose an extraction that avoids the busiest lines through the tower and central map, and do not linger to take extra fights unless you are certain of your position. Once you successfully extract and hand the LiDAR scanners over to Shani, A Lay of the Land completes.

Step 1. Reach Jiangsu Warehouse on the top-left edge of Spaceport between Fuel Depot and the Water Towers.

Step 2. Enter the warehouse, climb to the foreman’s office, and read the shipping notes on the desk overlooking the storage area.

Step 3. Travel across Spaceport to Control Tower A6, using cover to avoid ARC drones and hostile Raiders.

Step 4. Enter Control Tower A6 and reach the upper interior floor rather than the rooftop.

Step 5. Locate the small office space behind divider walls, open the metal box, and collect the LiDAR scanner quest item.

Step 6. Place the LiDAR scanners in your Safe Pocket if available, then extract safely from Spaceport and deliver them to Shani.

A Lay of the Land stands out because it demands a full clear in one run with no room for mid-quest failure. The Jiangsu Warehouse step stays relatively calm, but the approach to Control Tower A6 and the exit from Spaceport often turn into the real test. Your reward for a successful extract is 1 Dam Testing Annex Key, 3 Ziplines, and 2 Smoke Grenades, giving you both utility for future raids and access to locked loot in the Dam Battlegrounds Testing Annex.

Arc Raiders Beginner Tips

Weapon cases on the Blue Gate map are fewer than on larger regions, so each known spawn becomes a priority stop. Town Hall’s locked door, the Space Travel building in the yellow zone, the Research building in the red zone, and the outer-perimeter alleys near Town Hall account for most reliable crate routes. Standard Weapon Cases, Rare Weapon Caches, and broader Loot Container Drops can all appear here, making an early sprint through this loop a strong way to secure weapons, mods, and parts even if every run does not produce a case.

Keys sit at the center of Blue Gate progression, since they open sealed rooms, side corridors, and hidden loot chambers that often contain weapon cases or rare crates. Most Blue Gate keys drop in the Dam Battlegrounds around Ruby Residence and the Research & Administration Building, with specific keys like the Blue Gate Communication Tower Key, Cellar Key, Confiscation Key, and Village Key each tied to a single door in locations such as Pilgrim’s Peak, Ruined Homestead, and the village’s northwest sector. Each key works once and then disappears, so mark any locked doors you see, return when you are prepared, and use keys before extraction to avoid losing them on a failed raid while still securing rare weapons, blueprints, grenades, ammo, and components such as Sensors, Advanced Electronics, and Mechanical Parts.