To unlock the Outpost in ARC Raiders, reach Level 18, open the Outpost tab and finish the three-stage Sheltered Retreat project: a photo on Blue Gate, a small materials hand-in, then damage against ARC on Pendola Pass. Finishing it also opens the Research Station, your route to Amplified weapons.
Each stage pays out as you go: an Advanced Camera blueprint, then a Red Light Stick blueprint, then a chair for the Outpost with 15 Planks and 5 Durable Cloth.
Stage 1: the farmhouse photo
Photo objectives now need a real camera in your loadout, here and in five older quests Embark updated, including The League and Groundbreaking. Any of these will do:
The Ruined Homestead sits in the south of Blue Gate, beside the Olive Grove, and its label only shows once you zoom the map in. Any of the main farm buildings registers, including the one with the large hole in it.
Stage 2: the hand-in
Anything already in your stash counts, so you may clear this without a raid. Where each item comes from:
Stage 3: guard the build site
At launch you run the Outpost from menus: you can't walk around it, and friends can't visit yet, though Embark says it is considering both. Here is what's inside, and which parts matter.
The Research Station (the Research Bench in Embark's patch notes) gains a level for each room you own, so rooms and station levels alternate. A room's price depends on how many you have, not which one you pick. Here is the full climb in build order:
In all, that's 70 Planks and 60 Sheet Metal plus the parts above, and Gunsmith level 4 also needs all four rooms. Notice the pattern: the top levels need parts from Skulkers, Bullies, the Frigate and the Emperor.
Amplification gives one of 15 guns a fifth quality level with a branching set of upgrades, such as a fully automatic Burletta or a scoped Renegade. Once the Research Station and the Gunsmith are both at level 4:
The 15 are the Anvil, Aphelion, Bettina, Burletta, Canto, Equalizer, Hairpin, Hullcracker, Il Toro, Jupiter, Kettle, Osprey, Rascal, Rattler and Renegade. The new Stiletto and Bantam aren't on the list.
Most Designs use basic materials, mainly Sheet Metal and Planks. An Alpine Wardrobe takes 30 Planks and 2 Metal Brackets, for example. The Research Station can also research Designs, from 500 points each. Nothing in Embark's notes ties furniture to stats, so decorate for yourself, not your loadout.
