Arc Raiders Stench of Corruption quest: How to unlock the Warden outfit

The Warden outfit is one of the cosmetic rewards tucked into Arc Raiders’ Cold Snap update, and it’s tied to a short but easy‑to‑miss mission: Stench of Corruption. The quest only opens up once you are deep into the game’s progression, but the actual objectives are straightforward once you know exactly where to go.

Quest requirements and how to start Stench of Corruption

Stench of Corruption is not an early‑game mission. It sits behind both the main quest chain and another Spaceport quest.

Requirements:

Finish the base campaign questline (the core 60‑quest progression).
Complete the quest A Toxic Trail, which rewards a key item for Spaceport.

After clearing the base quest chains, speak to Shani in Speranza. Shani will eventually give you Stench of Corruption once A Toxic Trail is turned in and you have the Spaceport key in your inventory.

From this point, the quest log breaks Stench of Corruption into five tasks:

Reach the southwest lobby of the Departure building.
Find the staff locker room.
Search the room for any clues to the saboteur’s identity.
Reach the tunnels below the Spaceport.
Use the key on any Flushing Terminal to override the bypass protocol.

Stench of Corruption: Departure building objectives

Deploy to the Spaceport map and make your way to the Departure building. You are looking specifically for the southwest lobby, which is the entry point used by the quest.

*Image credit: Embark Studios (via YouTube/@nickkokimiko)*

Enter the building through the southwest lobby entrance. Once inside, turn right and move down the corridor. Keep going until you reach a corner you can turn left around.

After that left turn, continue straight until you see a staircase leading down. This staircase brings you into the staff locker room area needed for the second objective.

In the locker room, you need to “search for any clues to the saboteur’s identity.” The key interaction point here is a pair of hazmat suits stored in the room. Move close and interact with the hazmat suits to progress the third task.

Interacting with the hazmat suits does two things:

Completes the “search the room for any clues” objective.
Rewards a Flushing Terminal key (sometimes labelled as a key for a terminal in the tunnels).

The quest text refers to “override the bypass protocol” using this key, so treat it as a critical quest item.

Open your inventory and add the Flushing Terminal key to your safe pocket. Keeping it in a safe pocket prevents losing it on extraction failure and ensures it is available when you reach the terminal in the tunnels.

Stench of Corruption: Accessing the Spaceport tunnels

With the key secured, the remaining steps all happen under Spaceport.

Leave the Departure building through any convenient exit and move across the surface toward the Spaceport tunnel network. You are aiming for the section of tunnels reachable via a caved‑in roof.

Drop through the collapsed roof opening to enter the underground tunnels. This puts you directly into the area referenced by the “tunnels below the Spaceport” objective.

Navigate through the tunnels until you reach the Flushing infrastructure. Stench of Corruption expects you to find any Flushing Terminal that accepts the key. The relevant terminal sits in the tunnel path linked to the Departure building area; look for a console with an obvious interaction prompt tied to the quest.

Interact with the terminal and choose the prompt that uses the Flushing Terminal key from your safe pocket. This triggers the “override the bypass protocol” step and resolves the contamination setup implied by the quest text.

Once the terminal accepts the key and the override finishes, the mission completes as soon as you successfully extract or the objective registers as done, depending on how your session plays out.

Warden outfit reward and how it fits into Arc Raiders’ cosmetics

Finishing Stench of Corruption grants the Warden outfit, which is added to your cosmetic inventory and can be equipped from the Raider → Customization menu.

The Warden outfit joins a set of gear that is only obtainable through play, not through Raider Tokens or the store. Other outfits follow similar patterns:

Aviator comes from the main‑line quest A Symbol of Unification on Dam Battlegrounds.
Radio Renegade colors and accessories are tied to quests such as Into the Fray and Switching the Supply.
Multiple color variants for existing outfits drop from late‑chain missions on Spaceport and Blue Gate.

Cosmetics unlocked this way sit alongside outfits earned from two other systems:

Raider deck skins purchased with Cred you earn by completing feats and playing raids.
Store sets purchased with Raider Tokens, which are the only cosmetics in Arc Raiders that rely on premium currency.

Stench of Corruption is on the “play to unlock” side of the spectrum. Clearing the late‑game quest chains and finishing its short objectives gives permanent access to Warden without touching the store.

Once Warden is unlocked, equip it from the customization screen just like any other outfit, swap attachments if the set supports it, and it will be available on every future deployment on any map.