The Deforester Husk on Blue Gate is a reusable environmental puzzle and the core objective for the A Prime Specimen quest in Arc Raiders. It is a hollow, cylindrical ARC machine that you activate with Arc Powercells, then traverse while avoiding timed fire traps to reach a final loot panel.
Quick answer: Bring two Arc Powercells into Blue Gate, enter a Deforester Husk, slot one cell into the sparking panel inside the cylinder, wait for the flames to pause and push to the back to slot the second cell, exit and climb to the new upper platform, then dodge one more flame pattern to reach and interact with the final loot plate; the quest step completes and the flames shut off when that last interaction succeeds.
Deforester Husk location on Blue Gate
The Deforester Husk only appears on the Blue Gate map.
There are multiple fixed Husk spawns on that map:
- One inside or immediately adjacent to the Abandoned Wreckage area.
- Others between western landmarks such as Adorned Wreckage and Barren Clearing, and near Ridgeline to the east.
On the tactical map, each Deforester Husk is visible as a large, horizontal cylinder. On the ground, you are looking for a massive, fallen machine that is hollow, with an open central chamber you can walk into.
Requirements to activate a Deforester Husk
To trigger the Deforester event inside a Husk, the following conditions must all be true:
- You are on Blue Gate and physically inside a Deforester Husk.
- You are carrying at least two Arc Powercells in your inventory.
- No other squad has already looted that Husk in the current match.
Arc Powercells are the same common ARC material used for shield charges. You can either bring them from base or loot them from ARC machines during the expedition. The event consumes exactly two cells.
Failure case: If you reach the inner panel and there is no interaction prompt at all, the Husk has already been activated and looted in that session. That specific Deforester cannot be used again until the match resets; moving to another Husk or starting a new expedition is required.
Deforester Husk fire sequence (mechanics)
Once you start the puzzle, the Deforester behaves in a fixed way every time. The event has three distinct interaction points and two fire patterns.
Step 1: Enter the central cylinder and find the sparking panel on the inner wall near the entrance, usually on the left-hand side. Interact with it while carrying at least one Arc Powercell. One cell is consumed, and the first fire sequence activates further down the cylinder.
Step 2: Watch the flame jets ahead. The fire turns on and off in a repeating pattern along the floor and walls. Move only during a safe window with no flames, staying close to cover inside the tube. Reach the panel at the very back of the cylinder and interact again, consuming the second Arc Powercell. This immediately reconfigures the internal layout and updates the fire pattern.
Step 3: After slotting the second cell, withdraw from the back of the Husk and exit the cylinder. A new platform or accessible ledge appears on the upper half of the machine. Climb onto this upper platform using vaultable edges on the outside of the Husk.
Step 4: Follow the upper corridor that now runs along the inside top of the cylinder. A fresh flame pattern plays here as well, again cycling on and off. Time your movement to pass between bursts and reach the final loot plate at the far end of the upper path.
Step 5: Interact with the final plate to search the Husk. This action does three things at once: it grants the ARC crafting and recyclable components stored inside, completes the A Prime Specimen quest requirement to “search the Arc Deforester,” and permanently turns off all active flames in that Husk for the rest of the match.
Only the first player or squad to reach that final interaction in a given session receives the loot and quest credit from that specific Husk.
How to know the Deforester event completed correctly
The Deforester Husk event is complete when all of the following are true for that match:
- The A Prime Specimen quest objective to interact with or search the Arc Deforester advances to its next step or marks as done.
- The final upper loot plate shows the usual completed/looted state and no longer offers an interaction prompt.
- All flame jets inside the Husk remain permanently inactive.
At that point, the Husk is considered fully resolved for the current expedition. No further players can restart or reuse it until the next match.
Common reasons the Deforester interaction does not work
Several predictable conditions prevent the Deforester from triggering or completing:
- No interaction at the first panel – The Husk has already been fully looted earlier in the match. There is no workaround; you must find another Husk or start a new expedition.
- Interaction but no fire – You are not actually slotting a Powercell, usually because you do not have one in your inventory. The prompt will not consume anything, and the sequence will not start until at least one Arc Powercell is carried.
- Quest objective does not update – For A Prime Specimen specifically, the quest is tied to interacting with and searching a Deforester. If the event runs but the quest does not advance, it is behaving like a known bug where the quest trigger sometimes fails. Trying another Husk on the same map or extracting and running a new expedition is the only practical resolution.
As long as you bring two Arc Powercells, reach an unused Husk on Blue Gate, successfully slot both cells, and interact with the final upper plate, the puzzle will be completed, and the machine will shut down permanently for that run.
