Some jobs in Arc Raiders feel like the game's messing with you, and "The Major's Footlocker" is right up there. Tian Wen wants a keepsake tied to her mum, then sends you into Dam Battlegrounds with basically nothing but vibes. If you're trying to plan a run and pack smart, it helps to think in terms of risk versus reward, the same way you'd choose your ARC Raiders Items before you even hit deploy, because this spot gets checked a lot.
Where you're actually going
Load into Dam Battlegrounds and don't waste time poking around the dam itself. You're heading northwest, to the Ruby Residence area. It's the apartment cluster that looks like a messy block of buildings on the map. The one you want is on the far left edge of that cluster: a three-storey red building that's easy to pick out once you're close. People do laps through Ruby Residence all the time, so assume you're not alone and move like it.
The fastest grab inside the building
Get inside and treat the lower floors as noise unless you need a quick ammo top-up. Push straight to the third floor. You're looking for a room with an open window; it's a simple visual tell when you're clearing doorways. Next to that window is an interactable box, and that's where the Major's mementos are. Don't overthink it. Snatch the item and immediately reset your position instead of lingering to "make sure" you didn't miss anything.
How not to lose it to the usual nonsense
The real trap isn't finding the box, it's what happens after. As soon as you pick up the mementos, open your inventory and drop them into your Safe Pocket. Do it before you even reload. Extraction shooters love that last-minute heartbreak: someone hears the loot ping, pushes the stairs, and suddenly your whole run's a highlight reel for the other guy. If you've got a Raider Hatch Key, this is a good time to burn it for a quick disengage. If not, rotate out slow, avoid the loud lanes, and don't take the "straight line" route to extract unless you like coin flips.
Turning it in and why it's worth the stress
Once you're back in Speranza, hand the mementos over and you'll unlock the Hullcracker blueprint. That's the reason people bother with this quest at all, because heavy ARC units don't care about your standard loadout when they're plated up. Build it, learn the recoil, and you'll feel the difference the next time a big machine shows up and you're not stuck tickling its armor. If you're tweaking your loadout afterward, it's a good excuse to reassess your RSVSR so the next run is less panic and more control.
