First Wave husks in ARC Raiders are the dead, rusted shells of the original ARC invasion. They are scattered across Rust Belt Ridge as loot containers and, for Week 5, they sit at the center of one of the game’s Trials.
The Trial sounds simple: breach and search as many First Wave husks as possible in a single deployment, then extract. In practice, success depends on knowing what actually counts as a husk, where they tend to spawn, and how Trials scoring works.
What First Wave husks are (and what they are not)
First Wave husks are not the machines you knock out during a raid. They are old, pre-existing wrecks from the earliest ARC landings, usually half-buried and covered in rust. They come in three functional sizes, all of which count the same for Trial scoring:
| Husk type | Rough size | Typical look | Counts for Trial? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baron husk | Huge | Massive ARC chassis lying in terrain with an accessible hatch on top | Yes |
| Rocketeer husk | Medium | Partially buried mid-size ARC with a breach point on the body | Yes |
| Wasp / Hornet husk | Small | Downed drone-like ARC on the ground, can be breached and looted | Yes |
All three sizes are treated the same by the Trial: each searched husk adds the same number of points, no matter how big or small. The shell of any current-match kill does not count; you’re looking for static wrecks you can latch onto and breach.
On the largest Baron husks, you usually climb up onto the main body and interact with a hatch. When the breach completes, the husk erupts in an explosion and fire before it’s safe to loot.
How First Wave husk Trial scoring works
Week 5 includes a “Search First Wave husks” Trial alongside four other objectives. That Trial uses a simple scoring model:
| Action | Base points | With major map condition (Night Raid, etc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Search any First Wave husk (Baron, Rocketeer, Wasp/Hornet) | 400 | 800 |
The Tier 3 reward unlocks at 4,000 points. That means:
- On a normal raid, you need to search 10 husks (10 × 400 = 4,000).
- On a Night Raid or other “major condition” map, you only need 5 husks (5 × 800 = 4,000).
The key Trial rules that trip people up are:
- All points come from a single deployment. You are chasing a personal high score per match, not cumulative progress over several runs.
- Only successful extractions count. If you die or fail to extract, that run’s points are discarded for Trial purposes.
- There is no bonus for size. A tiny Wasp husk is worth the same as a giant Baron husk.
The numbers scale far beyond Tier 3. With a good route and spawns, players regularly push past 7,000 points on Dam Battlegrounds and into the 14,000 range on Spaceport during Night Raids.
Best maps to find First Wave husks
Rust Belt Ridge has five deployment maps, but only four contain meaningful numbers of First Wave husks. Stella Montis has one Wasp remnant; it exists, but it is an inefficient choice for the Trial.
The most reliable hunting grounds are Dam Battlegrounds and Spaceport, with The Blue Gate and Buried City also supporting strong runs. Husk locations are not fully fixed, but they cluster around specific points of interest (POIs), especially areas that clearly show earlier ARC battles.
| Map | Notable POIs with husks | Why it’s good for the Trial |
|---|---|---|
| Dam Battlegrounds | Pattern House, Raider Outpost East, Pale Apartments, Old Battlegrounds, South Swamp Outpost, Water Towers, Formical Outpost, Red Lakes | Three static Baron husks and dense spawns of smaller wrecks around Old Battlegrounds and Red Lakes. |
| Spaceport | Fuel Depot, Shipping Warehouse, Jiangsu Warehouse, West Hangar, Water Towers, Fuel Processing, Departure Buildings, Fuel Lines, Fuel Storage, Vehicle Maintenance, Control Tower A6, Communications Tower, East Plains Warehouse | High husk density, especially in the outskirts outside the walls, making it easier to avoid other players. |
| The Blue Gate | Raider’s Refuge, Barren Clearing, Trapper’s Glade, Adorned Wreckage, Olive Grove, Ruined Homestead, Maintenance Bunker, Broken Earth, Gate Control Room, Warehouse Complex, Ancient Fort | Large number of scattered wrecks, with events that can temporarily spike husk counts. |
| Buried City | Gas Station, outskirts of Marano Park, Buried Properties, Research, Grandioso Apartments, Plaza Rosa, Plazza Arbusto, Church Ruins | Good mix of all three husk sizes across open and urban terrain. |
Across all maps, any area visually marked as a battleground—burned-out ARC debris, craters, and wrecked structures—is a strong cue that First Wave husks might be close by.
Dam Battlegrounds: a dependable three‑Baron route
Dam Battlegrounds has a distinctive advantage: three giant Baron husks spawn in the same locations every raid. These large wrecks serve as anchors for a reliable loop that you can adapt to your spawn point.
The three static Baron husks are:
- One in Old Battlegrounds, in the western part of the map.
- One in the area below Water Treatment.
- One on or near the Breach in the north.
From many spawn points, a strong Night Raid route looks like:
- Head for Old Battlegrounds first for the guaranteed Baron husk. Watch for a Rocketeer or Wasp husk half-buried nearby for an early bonus.
- Move south or southeast toward the Baron near Water Treatment, cutting through small camps and outposts that often hide medium or small husks.
- Swing through the wreckage around Electrical Tower and Red Lakes. The hills and hatches near Red Lakes frequently spawn clusters of Wasp and Rocketeer husks.
- Finish at the Baron husk by the Breach, then head directly to the nearest extraction with a few minutes to spare.
On a solid run, it is normal to pick up all three Barons plus several medium and small husks en route. Scores around 7,000 on a Dam Night Raid are common once you know the terrain, and electro storms can add even more smaller husks in some pockets of the map.
Spaceport: high scores in the outskirts
Spaceport is the most efficient map to push the Trial far beyond its Tier 3 requirement. While Baron husks sit in fixed locations, the bulk of your points will come from scouring the outer edges of the complex for Rocketeer and Wasp wrecks.
A typical high-score approach on a Spaceport Night Raid is:
- Stay outside the main walls whenever possible. Most raiders focus on interior high-value buildings, so the outskirts are comparatively quiet.
- Trace a wide circle through Fuel Depot, the various warehouses, Water Towers, Fuel Lines, and the plains near East Plains Warehouse, prioritizing every downed husk you can latch onto.
- Detour to the static Baron husks when they fit naturally into your route; treat them as safe guarantees, not the core of your score.
With a good understanding of where smaller husks tend to spawn, it is realistic to find more than a dozen wrecks in a single Night Raid here. Scores in the 14,000 range have been hit by sticking to the edges and hitting “every little bugger” along the way.
Other maps and the Husk Graveyard event
The Blue Gate and Buried City both support the Trial well, especially when a Husk-focused event is active. The “Husk Graveyard” event, when present, scatters additional First Wave wrecks across a map, making it easier to chain husks together into a continuous path and maximize your stars.
On The Blue Gate, POIs like Adorned Wreckage, Ruined Homestead, and Warehouse Complex tend to stack ARC debris. In Buried City, the outskirts of Marano Park, the clusters around Grandioso Apartments, and the avenues near Plaza Rosa and Church Ruins are strong candidates.
Stella Montis, by contrast, only holds a single Wasp remnant. It works if you only need to touch a husk for a quest, but it is effectively a dead end for Trial efficiency.
Loadout and items that help First Wave runs
First Wave routes are about speed and survivability more than raw damage. Small ARCs and opportunistic players are your biggest threats while you’re sprinting from wreck to wreck.
- Mobility items: Adrenaline shots are particularly valuable. They instantly refill stamina, letting you sprint almost continuously across the map. They can be crafted cheaply at the Medical Lab once your workshop supports it, or bought from Lance in Descent if crafting is not available.
- Anti-ARC tools: Weapons or gadgets such as Hullcracker and Wolfpack grenades are effective for quickly knocking out ARCs that block a husk or your extraction path. Clearing a patrol fast is often safer than trying to sneak around it.
- Extraction safety: A Raider Hatch Key is a strong backup on Trial-focused sessions. It gives you a reliable escape when extraction zones are camped by ARCs or human raiders.
Keep your backpack light. Every extra second spent looting general crates instead of husks is a second not contributing to your score.
How to safely breach and loot First Wave husks
Once you reach a husk, the sequence is always the same, but there are two hazards: the husk’s own explosion and any enemies the noise attracts.
- Latch onto the breach point (usually a hatch or marked panel) and start the breach.
- As soon as the breach completes, move away. The husk will erupt with an explosion and fire.
- Wait for the flames to burn out, then step back in and loot the container.
On Baron husks, that typically means climbing up the body, planting the breach, then immediately diving or dropping down the side to avoid the blast. Give it a few seconds before climbing back up to search.
Any breach can draw Wasps, patrols of ground ARCs, and sometimes other raiders looking for easy targets. Do a quick 360° scan before committing to the interaction, and never linger after looting—your next husk is where your points come from.
Once you learn the silhouettes of old ARC wrecks and the POIs where they cluster, the First Wave husk Trial stops feeling mysterious. Choose a Night Raid on Dam Battlegrounds or Spaceport, stack adrenaline shots, follow a route that strings together as many known hotspots as possible, and leave enough time to extract. With five husks in a Night Raid, Tier 3 is done; with a strong loop and some luck on spawns, you’ll start chasing leaderboard scores instead.
