ARC Surveyors are those rolling, beachball-style bots in Arc Raiders that seem harmless until you actually try to kill one. They rarely spawn, they love to bolt across the map the moment you poke them, and they are tied directly to Shani’s Mixed Signals quest, which asks you to loot a Surveyor Vault.
They are not hard to damage, but they are very good at wasting your time, ammo, and sometimes even dragging you into bad fights as you chase them through other ARC patrols. The key is to locate them quickly, immobilize them, then dump burst damage into their weak point before they can escape.
How ARC Surveyors behave and why they’re annoying
Surveyors are small, spherical ARC units that roll around the map. They are primarily scanners, not frontline combat bots, and their behavior is built around staying alive, not trading damage with you.
| Behavior | What actually happens | Why it matters for killing them |
|---|---|---|
| Passive rolling | Surveyors roam slowly until they “notice” threats or start surveying. | Lets you stalk them and set up grenades before they panic. |
| Beacon scanning | They periodically stop, open up, and fire a vertical blue beam into the sky. | This exposes a weak interior and marks their position across the map. |
| Panic retreat | Once damaged or alerted, they close up and roll away at very high speed. | If you do chip damage instead of a burst, you end up chasing them across half the map. |
| Recall / aggro utility | They can pull nearby drones or other ARCs into the area when things kick off. | The longer the fight drags on, the more likely you pull extra enemies. |
| Collision “attacks” | When fleeing, they can slam into you if their path lines up, especially when on fire or stunned badly. | They are “harmless” on paper, but a bad ram at the wrong time can finish you. |
| Map escape | If they reach the edge of the playable area while fleeing, they can roll out of bounds. | You lose the Surveyor, its Vault, and the time invested in the chase. |
Once you understand that they are built to flee, the strategy becomes simple: do not start the fight until you are ready to end it.
Finding ARC Surveyors reliably
Surveyors can spawn on any of the large maps, but their spawn rate is low. You might go several raids without seeing one, which is why the Mixed Signals quest tends to sit in the log for a while.
The most consistent tell is the beacon. When a Surveyor begins scanning, it opens and projects a narrow blue beam straight up into the sky. This beam is bright, visible from a long distance, and appears and disappears as the bot cycles its scans.
- After you drop into a match, step outside your spawn building immediately.
- Rotate 360 degrees and scan the sky for a thin blue column of light touching the cloud layer.
- If you see it, mark that direction mentally or on your map and start moving toward it before it stops.
Because the beam is intermittent, you may lose visual for stretches. Keep heading toward the last seen direction; once you’re in the general area, listen for mechanical rolling and keep an eye out for a metal sphere about chest height.
Where Mixed Signals and Surveyor Vaults fit in
Shani’s Mixed Signals quest asks you to obtain a Surveyor Vault, which drops from an ARC Surveyor when it is destroyed. Completing the quest rewards you with a Photoelectric Cloak and a Raider Hatch Key, so it is worth prioritizing once you have the gear to kill a Surveyor cleanly.
Each time you chunk the Surveyor’s armor, small debris pieces fall off. These can include ARC Motion Cores and other useful scrap. The Vault itself drops when the core finally explodes. Make sure you loot the trail of parts as well as the final wreckage.
Because Mixed Signals only needs one Vault, you do not need an ultra-efficient, repeatable farming method for your first kill. What you do need is a way to avoid chasing a flaming ball off a cliff while every ARC in the district wakes up.
how to kill Surveyor Arc Raiders bots: core tactics
There are two principles that make Surveyor kills painless:
- Immobilize or stun the Surveyor before you commit damage.
- Front-load your damage in one or two big bursts, ideally hitting the inner weak spot.
The exact tool you use depends on your blueprint luck and stash, but several combinations are consistently effective and relatively cheap.
Using Showstopper grenades to stun and shred
Showstopper grenades are designed for exactly this job. When they detonate, they emit an electric pulse that stuns ARC units and prevents movement for around ten seconds.
| Step | What to do | Why it works on Surveyors |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Approach quietly | Crouch and walk toward the Surveyor while it is idle or just starting a scan. | Reduces the chance it panics and flees before you throw. |
| 2. Wait for the hatch to open | Once it starts its blue beam, its shell opens and the white inner core is exposed. | The weak core takes significantly more damage than the outer shell. |
| 3. Throw a Showstopper | Land the grenade close enough that the pulse hits the Surveyor. | Locks it in place for roughly ten seconds. |
| 4. Dump damage into the core | Use heavy ammo weapons like Anvil or Ferro and aim directly at the exposed white interior. | Maximizes damage while the bot cannot move or close up. |
| 5. Re-stun if needed | If it survives and starts to close, throw another Showstopper before it gains speed. | Prevents a drawn-out chase and keeps the fight localized. |
In practice, a single Showstopper plus a handful of well-placed heavy shots is often enough, especially if your Ferro or Anvil is upgraded. If your damage is lower, bring two Showstoppers and treat the second as insurance.
Snap Blast and other sticky grenades: efficient one- and two-shots
Semi-rare grenades like Snap Blast and other green stickies are among the most cost-effective ways to delete a Surveyor, especially if you are trying to conserve exotic items like Wolfpack.
There are two main patterns that work well:
Pattern 1: Pure Snap Blast burst
- Creep into throwing range while crouched; do not sprint.
- Toss two or three Snap Blast grenades and stick them directly to the Surveyor’s shell.
- Back off slightly, then let the chain of explosions resolve.
Three well-placed Snap Blasts can destroy a Surveyor outright or leave it on its last legs. The trick is getting all of them attached before it decides to flee.
Pattern 2: Snap Blast plus weapon follow-up
- Stick one or two Snap Blasts.
- As it starts to react, swap to a heavy rifle like Ferro or Anvil.
- Time your shot so it lands just after the grenades detonate, again targeting the open core if possible.
This combination uses fewer grenades and lets you convert weapon upgrades into a faster kill. Two Snap Blasts plus a core shot from a leveled Ferro is reliably lethal when timed well.
Cheap remote-detonation and trigger grenade setups
Trigger-style grenades (manual detonation) and remote mines are also very useful, especially for solo players who don’t want to waste high-end consumables.
The key advantage is that simply sticking a trigger grenade does not immediately aggro the Surveyor. You can load it up, then choose the perfect time to blow everything at once.
- Crouch-walk to close distance until your throw arc comfortably covers the Surveyor.
- Stick one or two trigger grenades or remote mines to its body while it is still “curious” and idle.
- Add a sticky grenade if you have one for extra damage.
- Back away to a safe distance and detonate when ready.
Two well-placed trigger grenades are enough to one-shot a Surveyor in many cases. Combining triggers with a heavy grenade like Heavy Fuze increases your margin for error while still being cheaper than a Wolfpack.
High-damage grenades: Wolfpack and Heavy Fuze
Wolfpack grenades are basically a “delete this ARC” button. Thrown correctly at a Surveyor, a single Wolfpack can erase a full-health bot instantly, even through armor. The grenade bursts into multiple homing micro-missiles, so you do not even need pinpoint aim; as long as it detonates near the Surveyor and it is the only meaningful target, the missiles will track and kill.
The tradeoff is cost. Wolfpacks are rare until you find their blueprint; they require relatively expensive components to craft, and they also nearly one-shot far more dangerous enemies like Rocketeers, Leapers, Bombardiers, and even chunk ARC Queens. Most players treat them as luxury ammo reserved for those larger threats.
Heavy Fuze grenades sit in a more reasonable middle ground. Thrown into an opened Surveyor while it is scanning, a single Heavy Fuze can either kill outright or leave the bot extremely low. That makes them strong candidates for Mixed Signals if you have a few in your stash and do not want to fuss with stickies.
Using Hornet cores, Showstopper, and other utility stuns
Surveyors are vulnerable to any effect that disrupts or disables movement, not just Showstopper. Hornet cores, for example, can be repurposed as pseudo-stun grenades that lock a Surveyor down for roughly ten seconds. Combined with a high-DPS gun, they offer an alternative if you are short on dedicated stun grenades.
- Throw a Hornet core near the Surveyor to trigger the stun.
- While it is frozen, aim for the white inner core with a high-damage weapon (Ferro, Anvil, Renegade).
- Repeat once more if its armor and health pool are higher than expected.
Other crowd-control tools like water or environmental hazards can also contribute, but the clear theme is the same: immobilize first, then dump damage.
Weapon-only approaches (for when grenades are scarce)
It is possible to kill a Surveyor using almost no consumables. It is just slower and more dangerous, especially in live PvEvP lobbies. If you are determined to go light, you can lean on timing and precision instead.
| Loadout focus | Recommended approach | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ferro rifle (high level) | Wait for the blue scan beam, then hit the inner core with 3–4 heavy shots. | The first core shot does massive damage; clean up armor as it breaks off. |
| Anvil / Renegade | Use one stun (Showstopper or Hornet core), then mag-dump heavies into the stunned bot. | Without stun, you will likely need to chase and risk losing the Surveyor off-map. |
| Basic rifles / Rattler | Not recommended solo; you risk ten-minute chases and wasted ammo. | Only viable if you can corner the Surveyor or have teammates body-block its escape. |
Players have technically killed Surveyors with melee tools like pickaxes and even crowbars, usually after cornering them. Treat those as novelty kills, not strategies. For a quest-critical Vault, rely on some combination of stun and explosives.
Avoiding common Surveyor pitfalls
Several patterns keep repeating whenever players talk about Surveyor attempts that went wrong. Avoiding them matters as much as your grenade choice.
- Do not “tag” the Surveyor early. A single stray shot to test damage can be enough to send it sprinting toward the edge of the map. Commit only when you have stuns or stickies ready.
- Do not herd it straight toward the map border. As you chase, try to angle your attacks to steer it back toward the interior. If it hits out-of-bounds, it is gone.
- Watch your surroundings. Surveyors often roll near other ARC patrols. If one is between you and a Leaper or Garvester, do not tunnel vision – you can die mid-chase.
- Expect recall behavior. The longer you take, the more likely extra drones and ARC units will show up in response to the Surveyor’s presence.
- Use your safe pocket wisely. If you are carrying a Wolfpack or other rare grenade specifically for a Surveyor, store it in a safe slot until you actually spot the bot, so you do not lose it to an early death.
When to spend Wolfpacks on Surveyors (and when not to)
Wolfpack grenades can one-shot Surveyors with almost comical ease, and their homing missiles make them forgiving if your throw is slightly off. That makes them an attractive solution when you are tired of chasing “harmless beachballs” around Blue Gate.
However, Wolfpacks also nearly delete Rocketeers and Leapers in a single throw, and they significantly hurt higher-tier ARCs like Bombardiers or Queens. Many players consider using them on Surveyors a waste unless they already have the grenade blueprint and a healthy stockpile.
A practical rule of thumb:
- If you only need one Surveyor Vault for Mixed Signals and you have multiple Wolfpacks gathering dust, using one is reasonable.
- If you rarely see Wolfpacks or do not own the blueprint, prioritize saving them for big ARCs and rely on Showstoppers, Snap Blasts, trigger grenades, or Heavy Fuze for Surveyors.
The Surveyor itself cannot output meaningful sustained damage the way a Leaper or Bastion can. The real danger is the chaos created when you chase it through active combat zones. Spending your strongest grenade on something that is fundamentally designed to run, not fight, is usually bad economics.
Surveyors are deliberately awkward opponents: scarce, skittish, and strangely durable when you fight them the wrong way. Once you treat them as timed puzzles instead of regular enemies—find the beacon, sneak in, stun, then burst the core—they turn into quick, controlled engagements that pay out motion cores, a Vault for Mixed Signals, and one less blue beam cluttering the skyline.
