The Surveyor is a large, fully plated rolling ARC built for reconnaissance. You’ll know you’ve found one when it halts and sends a bright blue signal straight into the sky. That transmission window is more than visual flair: it’s when the machine is actively relaying player locations to nearby ARCs.

Left alone, a Surveyor prefers to disengage and roll away. Corner it, and it will commit to a high-speed charge that can flatten anyone in its path. Treat it as a skirmisher first, a brawler only when forced.

Surveyor behavior and its critical weak window

  • Scan phase: the Surveyor stops, opens up, and transmits. Its core is exposed during this window.
  • Flee priority: once damaged, it will try to escape and reset for another transmission cycle.
  • Charge attack: if escape is blocked or you stand in its path, it will roll through at speed.
  • Armor shedding: panels snap off as it takes damage; those pieces drop where they’re broken and can be looted.
Tip: Position to cut off escape routes before you commit damage. Heavy ammo and grenades strip plating faster than standard rounds, shortening the time to core damage.

How to bring a Surveyor down quickly

  • Wait for the blue-beam transmission and focus the exposed core. That’s the highest damage window.
  • Use heavy ammo or explosives to pop off armor plates early, then swap to sustained fire on the core.
  • Anticipate the escape roll: rotate one player ahead of its most likely path to deny a clean getaway.
  • When it charges, break line of sight or dodge roll laterally; don’t backpedal in a straight line.
Note: When fleeing, a Surveyor can roll itself off ledges in some encounters. Maintain awareness around cliffs and catwalks—both to avoid being bulldozed over the edge and to secure any dropped parts that tumble down.

Loot and XP you can expect

Surveyors drop both main and small debris. As armor breaks off, those panels become lootable parts on the ground near the damage point. The rare Surveyor Vault can appear in either debris tier.

  • Main debris: ARC Alloy, ARC Powercell, ARC Motion Core, ARC Circuitry, Advanced ARC Powercell, Sensors, Surveyor Vault
  • Small debris: ARC Alloy, ARC Motion Core, Advanced ARC Powercell, Surveyor Vault

XP rewards are straightforward: 200 XP for destroying the unit, plus 300 XP for looting the core and 100 XP for each additional part collected.

Surveyor Vault explained (drop, uses, and processing)

The Surveyor Vault is a rare, recyclable item that drops from destroyed Surveyors. It also appears on ARC Couriers. You can sell it as-is or break it down for crafting materials, depending on whether you’re optimizing for credits or components.

Property Surveyor Vault
Category Recyclable
Rarity Rare
Stack size 3
Weight 0.75 kg
Sell price 2000
Primary sources Surveyor, ARC Courier

Processing outcomes are fixed and simple:

Action Input Output
Recycle 1× Surveyor Vault 2× Mechanical Components + 2× ARC Alloy
Salvage 1× Surveyor Vault 2× Mechanical Components

If you need parts for builds or repairs, recycle; if you’re flush on materials and want credits, the intact Vault’s sell price is strong. Because armor panels drop where they’re shed, take a lap around the fight area after the Surveyor falls—Vaults can appear in those smaller debris piles.

Quick-read: counters at a glance

Surveyor action Your response
Starts transmitting (blue beam) Target the exposed core for burst damage
Attempts to flee Cut off its path; use heavy ammo to finish
Begins a charge Break line of sight or dodge roll sideways
Armor plates break off Loot panels where they fell before moving on

The Surveyor is less a boss and more a moving objective: catch it during transmission, punish the core, and claim the panels it scatters. When a Vault drops, decide quickly whether to bank credits or convert it into the components you need next.