The current ARC Raiders quest set is far bigger than a simple starter checklist. Right now, the main line is tracked as a 100-quest chain, spread across Shani, Celeste, Lance, Tian Wen, and Apollo. The newer MetaForge data gives the cleaner objective structure, while the wiki still helps a lot with rewards and item turn-ins. If you're trying to plan your next few raids, don't expect one neat unlock path. The useful way to read the quest list is by trader, map, and required item.
What the traders actually feel like
Each trader has a pretty clear personality once you've done a few jobs. Shani pushes combat, ARC parts, keys, shields, grenades, and practical field gear. Celeste leans into research, water, crops, contamination, and old settlement problems. Tian Wen is the weapon person, so expect guns, attachments, blueprints, and technical recovery tasks. Lance is mostly about medicine, pharmacies, healing kits, and survival supplies. Apollo sits somewhere between home defence, explosives, civilian remnants, and late-map utility. That split matters because it tells you what kind of loot you should keep instead of selling too quickly.
Early quests are more useful than they look
The first Shani quests are worth doing early, even if they seem basic. Picking Up The Pieces, Trash Into Treasure, Clearer Skies, Off The Radar, Hatch Repairs, and Down To Earth all hand out gear that makes the next raids less painful. You get things like shields, ammo, a Rattler, binoculars, a Raider Hatch Key, and healing tools. Tian Wen's The Right Tool and A Better Use are also strong early picks, especially because A Better Use teaches the Supply Drop loop. It's a small thing, but learning that rhythm saves time later.
Route by map, not by quest name
You'll burn a lot of raids if you chase one objective at a time. Dam Battlegrounds alone can cover Broken Monument, Water Troubles, A Balanced Harvest, A Symbol Of Unification, Celeste's Journals, and parts of Back on Top. Buried City is packed with pharmacy, market, apartment, and industrial objectives. Spaceport has several terminal, trench, and supply jobs. Blue Gate handles Bees!, A First Foothold, Armored Transports, A Prime Specimen, and several exploration tasks. Stella Montis and Riven Tides appear later, with quests like Cold Storage, Last Entry, Stable Housing, Safe Harbor, and Battening Down.
Items you should stop ignoring
A lot of players dump "boring" loot, then regret it ten quests later. Batteries, Wires, ARC Alloy, Durable Cloth, Antiseptic, Great Mullein, Syringes, LiDAR Scanners, ESR Analyzers, ARC enemy drivers, and special story items all show up as gates. Some of the nastier requirements include Leaper Pulse Units, Rocketeer Drivers, Bastion Cells, Fireball Burners, Firefly Burners, Project Heartwood Blueprints, and Seed Vault items. If your stash is tight, at least check whether an item has quest value before turning it into quick cash.
Planning beats panic looting
The cleanest approach is to build a short list before every raid: one location task, one possible hand-in, and one enemy or container objective. Also watch for "In One Round" wording, because those jobs may need all steps done in a single run. If you're short on materials, comparing stash needs with cheap ARC Raiders Items can help you decide what to farm and what to save. The quest chain is messy, sure, but once you group it by map and trader, it starts to feel manageable.
