Early in your Arc Raiders journey, you'll unlock "A Bad Feeling"-a pivotal quest that introduces you to ARC technology and sets the stage for more challenging endgame content. Given by the trader Celeste, this mission tasks you with tracking down and investigating mysterious ARC probes or couriers scattered across the wastelands.

While the objective sounds simple-find and search one ARC probe or courier-many players get stuck due to the random spawn nature of these objects. This step-by-step walkthrough eliminates the ARC Raiders BluePrints guesswork, covering prerequisites, best locations, search strategies, and tips to complete the quest quickly and safely.

Quest Overview: What Is "A Bad Feeling"?

"A Bad Feeling" is a mid-early quest that unlocks immediately after completing Celeste's previous mission, "Off the Radar". It's designed to familiarize you with ARC technology and teach you to explore maps intentionally, rather than just looting randomly.

Celeste gives the quest after detecting an unfamiliar ARC signal-one that suggests a shift in ARC behavior, which could spell disaster for raiders and settlements alike. Your job is to investigate this signal by finding and breaching an ARC probe or courier, then report back to her for rewards.

The quest has only one core objective: find and search any ARC probe or ARC courier. You don't need to extract the loot from the object to complete the quest, but extracting ensures you keep any additional rewards you find inside.

Prerequisites: Unlock the Quest

Before you can start "A Bad Feeling," you must complete two simple prerequisites to unlock it from Celeste:

Progress through the early-game questline until you complete "Off the Radar," another quest from Celeste. This mission requires you to visit a field depot and fix a roof antenna in a single raid.

Return to Speranza (the raider base) and speak to Celeste. She'll mention the unusual ARC signal and assign "A Bad Feeling" as your next task.

There are no level or gear requirements for this quest, making it accessible to new players still building their loadouts. A basic weapon and a few bandages are all you need to stay safe.

Key Details: ARC Probes vs. ARC Couriers

To complete the quest, you need to find either an ARC probe or an ARC courier-both count toward the objective. These two objects are distinct in appearance, spawn behavior, and how you interact with them, so knowing the difference saves time.

ARC Probes

ARC probes are small, rocket-like structures that fall from the sky mid-raid. They're easier to spot than couriers because they emit a bright light and a mild mechanical hum when nearby, and they often leave a small cloud of smoke upon landing.

Probes spawn randomly across all maps but are most common in open areas, like fields or near ruined structures. They're small but distinct-look for a sleek, chrome metallic body sticking out of the ground or debris.

Interacting with a probe is straightforward: approach it, press the prompted button (usually "E") to breach it, and wait for the buy ARC Raiders Weapons short interaction animation to finish. No climbing or extra steps are needed.

ARC Couriers

ARC couriers are larger, round metallic structures that resemble small UFOs or downed transport pods. Unlike probes, they don't fall from the sky-they spawn at the start of the raid, often perched on top of massive derelict ARC machines called "barons".

Couriers are silent but emit a faint black smoke, making them easier to spot from a distance. They're often guarded by low-to-mid level ARC enemies, so you'll need to clear the area before interacting with them.

To reach a courier on a baron, climb the baron's hull (use nearby debris for leverage) and approach the courier. Be careful-breaching a courier may trigger the baron to emit a small flame burst, so move quickly after the interaction to avoid damage.