There’s an observable phenomena in Arc Raiders that dictates the somewhat rare material that you used to easily find all the time will suddenly disappear from all maps once you actually need it. For me, that’s Arc Raiders’ rusted gears, a mid-level crafting material needed to upgrade the gunsmith bench.
The search has been going so poorly that I put rusted gears on the backburner while I focused on quests, convinced that pretending I don’t care about rust nor gears would magically conjure them in the next dusty toolbox I opened. Then this morning, I saw an X post from Arc Raiders Hub with a ton of views telling of a place where the rusted loot flows like a rushing river:
My results? While I did successfully secure three rusted gears and tools over a handful of visits to the bus hotspot, it’s safe to say rusted gears are not guaranteed, certainly not 9 out of 10 times. They’re considered a rare drop, and since the region they’re in (Power Generation Complex) is only a “medium” loot value area, you’ll sometimes pop a trunk just to find some uncommon mechanical components, metal parts, and oil.
But don’t let that deter you too much—what the tip is right about is that buses and cars are the correct places to be looking for rusted gears. If you haven’t already noticed, Arc Raiders’ loot placement is more nuanced than just basic types like “residential” or “industrial.” You’re roughly more likely to find parts in containers that make sense—pillows near beds, syringes on pharmacy counters, and rusty gears in beaten up vehicles.
That logic is not always bulletproof (I’ve searched dozens of apartment dwellings and still can’t find a consistent source of Very Comfortable Pillows for my chicken), but when it does apply, you’ve got yourself a repeatable plan of attack.
If I’d turned to the internet for my search sooner, I would have also noticed that our guides writer Rory wrote a helpful guide to finding rusted gears at a spot he found success with in Buried City, (and another to finding rusted tools). If you’re desperate for gears and the buses are a bust, or you keep spawning 1,000 meters away from them and can’t be bothered, give it a try on a much smaller map.
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