The “A Lay of the Land” quest in Arc Raiders turns the Spaceport map into a long cross-country run between two quiet but exposed locations: Jiangsu Warehouse and Control Tower A6. The first part is about tracking down paperwork; the second is about slipping into Control Tower A6’s upper floor, pulling a LiDAR scanner from a metal box, and getting out alive with it.
This walkthrough focuses on the Control Tower A6 leg of the quest, but it covers the entire flow, so you can complete every objective in a single round and avoid wasting keys or loot.
A Lay of the Land quest basics
| Quest detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Quest name | A Lay of the Land |
| Giver | Shani (Security lead in Speranza) |
| Map | Spaceport |
| Round requirement | All objectives must be completed in a single raid |
| Main objectives | Reach Jiangsu Warehouse, find shipping notes, locate scanners in Control Tower A6, deliver 1 LiDAR Scanner to Shani |
| Key reward | Dam Testing Annex Key |
| Other rewards | 3× Zipline, 2× Smoke Grenade |
The quest is only active on Spaceport. It does not depend on any specific map modifier, but it’s easier to complete when the conditions are mild, because you’re forced to cross large open spaces twice. If you die before extracting, or leave without the scanner in a safe pocket, the chain resets, and you have to run it again.
Bring an augment with at least one safe pocket so you can lock in the LiDAR scanner once you find it. Avoid using a free loadout for this quest; you want that safe storage.
Jiangsu Warehouse location and foreman’s office
A Lay of the Land begins at Jiangsu Warehouse, far from the hot spots in the middle of Spaceport. It’s tucked into the northwest corner of the map, inside the Alberi Hills region. That distance is useful; fewer teams spawn there, and most players target central objectives, which gives you room to work.
| Location | Region | Key details |
|---|---|---|
| Jiangsu Warehouse | Northwest Spaceport, Alberi Hills | Secondary POI, large sand-filled storage area inside, multiple entrances |
When you reach the warehouse, you don’t need a key. There are several doors and windows; any opening works. Inside, your goal is the foreman’s office and the shipping notes sitting on a desk.
Work your way to the northwest side of the building and look for the stairs up. The foreman’s office is on the second floor, overlooking the main storage area. On that upper level:
- Hug the outer edge of the second floor, on the side that faces the interior of the warehouse.
- Look for a small office space with sightlines across the sand-filled floor.
- On the desk, interact with the highlighted shipping notes.
This interaction doesn’t give you a physical item to carry, but it updates the quest log and confirms that the LiDAR shipment was forwarded to Control Tower A6. At this point, you’re done with Jiangsu; the quest now pushes you toward the launch area in the middle of the map.
Traveling from Jiangsu Warehouse to Control Tower A6
Control Tower A6 is on the opposite side of Spaceport’s pacing from Jiangsu Warehouse. While Jiangsu sits quietly off to the side, A6 hangs over high-traffic ground near the launch facilities and central buildings.
| Control Tower A6 reference | Relative position | Nearby points of interest |
|---|---|---|
| Map center band | Southeast of Spaceport center | Past the Departure Building and Launch Towers |
| Ground level neighbors | Just north of southern ring | Above Vehicle Maintenance and Container Storage |
From Jiangsu Warehouse, plan for a long crossing. You’re moving from a low-interest corner into one of the most contested stretches of the map. You’ll often pass near other teams rotating between extraction points, launch towers, and events, and Arcs are denser here than in the hills around Jiangsu.
It’s safer to approach Control Tower A6 from the south or southeast, skirting Container Storage and Vehicle Maintenance, then moving up toward the tower. This keeps you away from players funnelling straight through the middle from the Departure Building and launch infrastructure.
Finding the upper floor of Control Tower A6
Control Tower A6 is tall, but the LiDAR scanner you need is not locked behind the key-restricted top floor. For this quest, everything happens on the upper floor below the roof, which you can reach without using a key.
| Floor | Access | Relevance to quest |
|---|---|---|
| Ground floor | Main entrance, no key | Starting point for your path |
| Second floor (upper interior) | Staircase from ground level, no key | LiDAR scanner box is here behind divider walls |
| Top floor / roof room | Locked door; requires Spaceport Control Tower key | Not required for A Lay of the Land |
To get to the right floor without burning a key:
- Enter Control Tower A6 through the main entrance at ground level.
- Inside, move left, past the statue in the lobby area.
- Look for a door that hides the staircase; it leads to the upper interior, not the locked roof room.
This staircase delivers you to the second floor, which is a ring-like corridor around the tower’s core. You’ll see a zipline access point nearby and partial walls breaking up the line of sight. This is the floor where the quest objective is stored.
There are also ways to exploit windows and movement gear to reach the locked space without a key, which some players use to camp on unsuspecting keyholders. For A Lay of the Land, you don’t need to involve that room at all; staying on the second floor is safer and fully sufficient for the quest.
Control Tower A6 scanner location and route
The scanner isn’t obvious at first glance. It’s tucked into a small office-like enclave formed by low walls, with a metal box on the floor. You’re looking for a “search for scanners” style prompt on those containers.
From the top of the staircase, use this path:
- Step out onto the second-floor landing.
- Turn right and follow the corridor along the eastern side of the building.
- Move past the nearby zipline area, staying close to the southern edge of the floor.
- Look for a cluster of divider walls and stacked boxes that form a semi-enclosed corner.
Inside that small, walled-off area, you’ll find a low metal box you can interact with. Use the prompt to search it, and you’ll pull out the LiDAR scanner quest item. This scanner goes into your inventory like any other object.
Using safe pockets and extracting with the LiDAR scanner
Once you have the scanner, A Lay of the Land is no longer about exploration; it’s all about survival and extraction. The quest only completes when you leave Spaceport with the item successfully secured.
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Move scanner to safe pocket | Prevents quest reset if you die before extraction |
| Reach an extraction point | Completes the “in one round” requirement |
| Turn in to Shani | Finalizes the quest and unlocks the rewards |
Open your inventory as soon as it’s safe and transfer the LiDAR scanner into a safe pocket from your augment. If something goes wrong—an ambush on the tower stairs, a snipe from the nearby buildings, or a misstep around Arcs—you won’t lose the quest progress tied to the item.
From there, pick the extraction that best fits your spawn, current position, and remaining time. You’ve already crossed the map once from Jiangsu to the tower, so avoid taking extra fights. On extraction, the round ends, and the quest updates to the final step, which is delivering the scanner to Shani back in Speranza.
Handing the LiDAR scanner to her completes A Lay of the Land and drops the Dam Testing Annex Key into your inventory, along with three ziplines and two smoke grenades. That key opens up a new locked space on the Dam Battlegrounds map, setting up a new branch of high-risk loot routes.
The trick to this quest is realizing that Control Tower A6’s quest objective isn’t hidden behind its keyed doors. Stay on the second floor, grab the scanner from the metal box behind the divider walls, pocket it safely, and treat the extraction like any other high-stakes run. Once you’ve done it once, Control Tower A6 stops being a mystery and becomes just another stop on your Spaceport circuit.
