The Snap and Salvage quest in Arc Raiders sends you deep into Stella Montis for a mix of simple scouting tasks and a frustrating loot grind. You talk to Tian Wen in Speranza after finishing Cold Storage, then head into the new facility to photograph a rover, dig through a security office, and eventually bring back two specific Exodus materials: a Flow Controller (rare) and a Magnetron (epic).
Here’s how each part actually works, and where players are reliably finding the salvage you need.
Snap and Salvage quest basics
| Quest | Giver | Map | Prerequisite | Key Objectives | Main Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snap and Salvage | Tian Wen | Stella Montis | Cold Storage completed |
Take a photo of a Rover in the Sandbox; search papers at the Security Checkpoint; deliver Flow Controller; deliver Magnetron |
Burletta III, Silencer II, Extended Light Mag II, 100 Light Ammo |
The structure of the quest is straightforward:
- Two fixed-location interaction objectives (photo and papers) that you can clear in a single run.
- Two random-drop salvage items that may take many raids to secure.
Because the Flow Controller and Magnetron are normal loot, not marked quest items, you can find them before picking up the quest. If you already have them in your stash when you talk to Tian Wen, you can hand them in immediately.
Arc Raiders Snap and Salvage: take a photo of a Rover in the Sandbox
The first step is to photograph any Rover in the Sandbox zone inside Stella Montis. The game is surprisingly picky about location, but forgiving about which actual rover you choose.
| Target | Zone | Floor / Side | How to reach it | What to look for | Threat level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rover | Sandbox (Stella Montis) | Top layer, west side (may require going down internal stairs) | From Lobby Metro or Loading Bay, follow signs to Sandbox | Small wheeled drone/buggy with gold interaction points around it | Medium loot area; expect several ARC drones, possible Shredder |
Once you enter Sandbox, you’re looking for a sandy testing space with one or more small rovers parked in it. When you approach a rover, golden interaction dots appear around the chassis.
Walk up to any dot and interact to “snap” the photo. You don’t need special gear or a camera item; the prompt does everything. One successful photo completes the entire step.
Arc Raiders Snap and Salvage: find the Security Checkpoint papers in the Lobby
Next, the quest sends you to the Lobby Security Checkpoint to search classified documents. The trick here is that “Lobby” spans multiple levels, and the checkpoint itself is a small embedded room with restricted doors.
| Target | Parent area | Exact sub‑location | Access notes | Paper placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security papers | Lobby (Stella Montis) | Security Checkpoint room on Lobby bottom floor, under/near “Security Bridge” text on map | Door marked “Security, Restricted Access”; may need to breach from upper level | On a central, three‑sided desk in the glassed/control room overlooking the Lobby |
From inside the Lobby:
- Move toward the side labelled “Security Bridge” on your map.
- Locate the Security Checkpoint doors with “Security” and “Restricted Access” signage.
- If you come from an upper catwalk, one of the checkpoint doors can require a breach; once inside, go down to the ground floor portion.
On the lowest level of the checkpoint, you’ll find a small office with a slit/visor window facing the main Lobby. The desk in the middle has a stack of papers with a gold interaction marker. Search those to finish the second objective.
How Magnetron and Flow Controller drops work
The last two objectives are where Snap and Salvage stops being a simple tour and becomes a long-term farm. Both required items are standard Exodus salvage:
| Item | Type | Rarity | Quest role | Can drop outside quest? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flow Controller | Exodus salvage material | Rare (blue) | Deliver one to Tian Wen | Yes, normal loot in Stella Montis |
| Magnetron | Exodus salvage material | Epic (purple) | Deliver one to Tian Wen | Yes, normal loot in Stella Montis |
They are not tagged to a specific environment type the way some materials are, and they are not guaranteed spawns. That means:
- No fixed crate or “quest chest” exists for either item.
- You can find them in any run, but the chance is low and uneven.
- Different players report very different experiences: some get multiple Flow Controllers before seeing a single Magnetron; others have the opposite problem.
For quest progression, you only need one of each. Both must be physically handed to Tian Wen while the quest is active, so do not recycle or sell them beforehand.
Best places to farm Flow Controller and Magnetron in Stella Montis
Although the items are RNG-based, player runs have surfaced clear hotspots where they appear most often. Both items seem heavily biased toward industrial workshop and office spaces inside Stella Montis rather than generic hallways.
| Zone | Floor / description | Reported containers | Typical find | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Workshop levels and rooms above Assembly floor | Yellow toolboxes, blue storage containers, white file cabinets, wall “breaker/computer tower” breaches, random boxes | Multiple Flow Controllers per run for some players, occasional Magnetron | Most consistent hotspot for both materials; upstairs workshops are especially good |
| Business Center | Office-style side rooms and corridors | Desks, cabinets, office drawers, weapon/ammo cases | Flow Controller, rarer Magnetron | Often mentioned alongside Assembly as a required farm area |
| Security (Lobby) | Same Security Checkpoint used for quest papers | Desk cabinets, occasional high‑tier cases | Flow Controllers reported, general epic crafting mats | Not an official Exodus area but still good for rare/epic materials |
| Atrium–Lobby corridor side room | Side room off the corridor connecting Atrium and Lobby | Storage units and containers, especially one blue container | Magnetron (isolated reports) | Not guaranteed; treated as a bonus check rather than a primary farm |
From repeated runs, a few patterns stand out:
- Assembly is the primary farm. Players have found both items there, often in the upstairs workshops rather than the main floor. It’s common to see several Flow Controllers drop before a single Magnetron appears.
- Business Center complements Assembly. The offices add more desks, drawers, and cabinets to the pool, which are exactly the container types that seem to roll these materials.
- The Lobby Security area is better than it looks. Even though it doesn’t carry an explicit Exodus tag, its dense container density and high rarity pool make it a reasonable side stop when you’re already there for the papers.
There is no evidence that the items drop outside Stella Montis at the moment, so treating Stella Montis as your dedicated farming map is the practical approach until that changes.
Efficient farming loop for Snap and Salvage
Because drop rates are low and uneven, the best way to finish Snap and Salvage is to treat it like an extraction grind, not a one‑off mission. A simple loop helps you work through raids efficiently.
| Step | Action | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Build a safe loadout | Equip at least one safe pocket in your loadout before going to Stella Montis. | Lets you stash a Magnetron or Flow Controller immediately, so you don’t lose it if the raid goes bad. |
| 2. Clear quest locations once | On your first few runs, prioritize Sandbox (rover photo) and Lobby Security (papers) to lock in the fixed steps. | Removes the easy objectives from your mental checklist, leaving only the loot grind. |
| 3. Farm Assembly hard | Route through Assembly every raid, especially upper workshops, opening every toolbox, cabinet, wall breach, and crate. | Highest confirmed concentration of both Flow Controllers and Magnetrons. |
| 4. Add Business Center and Security passes | When time and risk allow, sweep Business Center offices and the Lobby Security Checkpoint for extra containers. | Expands the number of eligible loot rolls without adding much travel time. |
| 5. Extract as soon as you hit value | Once you secure one of the quest items (especially Magnetron), rotate straight toward a safe extract. | Minimizes the chance of losing high‑rarity salvage to other raiders or ARC mobs. |
Because the Flow Controller is rare and the Magnetron is epic, you’re likely to finish the Flow Controller part first. Don’t be surprised if you sit on a stack of Flow Controllers while Magnetron refuses to drop, or the opposite; reports go both ways. The only real mitigation is volume: more containers looted per raid and more raids overall.
Turning in Snap and Salvage to Tian Wen
Once you’ve done the interaction steps and extracted with both items at least once, all that’s left is the hand‑off in Speranza.
- Return to Tian Wen’s shop in town while Snap and Salvage is active.
- Start the conversation and select the quest turn‑in when prompted.
- The game will check your inventory/stash for one Flow Controller and one Magnetron and consume them for the quest.
On completion, you receive a set of weapon mods and ammo tailored toward light weapons, most notably a Burletta III, Silencer II, Extended Light Mag II, and a bundle of Light Ammo. You also move Tian Wen’s questline forward and get one more reason to keep routing through Stella Montis for future tasks.
Snap and Salvage feels demanding because so much of it hinges on random salvage drops. Once you treat Assembly, Business Center, and Lobby Security as a regular farming circuit and protect your finds with a safe pocket, the quest turns into a manageable background grind that pays out solid early–mid game gear when it finally ticks over.
