How to find surveyors and get surveyor vaults in Arc Raiders

Polygon (Published Jan 27, 2026) explains how to find surveyors in Arc Raiders and what you need to do to get surveyor vaults. Surveyors are large metal balls that patrol maps and scan the environment; they aren’t hostile until you shoot them. Polygon’s testing found surveyors most commonly on Buried City — one was spotted by the Grandioso Apartments, north of the Abandoned Highway Camp — but they can spawn on any map.

If a surveyor is present you can spot it by an enormous blue beam it shoots into the sky while scanning; that beam is visible from across the map and is easier to see during night raids. Players have also reported finding them in remote spots such as the Adorned Wreckage on Blue Gate, the Scrap Yard on Dam Battlegrounds, and Staff Parking on Spaceport, while Stella Montis is a poor choice because the beam can’t be seen from far away.

You don’t have to fully kill a surveyor to get surveyor vaults. Instead, do enough damage that it drops pieces of its armor plating; each part can be looted and has a chance to contain a surveyor vault, Polygon says. Tips from Polygon for damaging surveyors: use a showstopper grenade to stop its movement, then follow up with an explosive like a trigger nade or heavy fuse grenade.

Heavy ammo is more effective against its armor, with the anvil listed as the best weapon; a hullcracker or wolfpack will also do significant damage. Don’t panic when it charges you — the charge doesn’t deal much damage.

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