Where to Find Laboratory Reagents in ARC Raiders
Laboratory Reagents are a rare and vital crafting material in ARC Raiders, serving as a key component for upgrading the Explosive Station to Level 3-a crucial step to unlock powerful late-game explosives like Wolf Pack Grenades. Unlike common resources, these chemical bottles are not randomly scattered across all maps; they spawn primarily in specific medical-themed locations, making targeted farming essential for efficient progression.
Whether you're a new raider struggling to collect the three reagents needed for the Explosive Station upgrade or a veteran looking to optimize your farming runs, this guide breaks down the best locations, spawn patterns, and pro tips to track down this elusive material.
Key Basics: What Are Laboratory Reagents?
First, understanding the fundamentals of Laboratory Reagents will help you avoid wasting time on fruitless searches. Classified as a rare medical-category item, these reagents are marked by a medical tag in-game, meaning they only spawn in areas associated with healthcare or research.
They appear as small, greyish plastic bottles, so keep an eye out for this distinct visual to avoid confusing them with similar items like antiseptic or crude explosives. Each reagent weighs 3kg and can stack up to three per inventory slot, making it easy to carry multiple during a single raid if you prioritize storage space.
Beyond upgrading the Explosive Station, Laboratory Reagents can be recycled into 16 chemicals and 3 crude explosives-valuable resources for crafting ammunition, gun parts, and other explosives-or sold for 2,000 ARCR Coins if currency is your priority.
Top Locations to Farm Laboratory Reagents
Laboratory Reagents spawn almost exclusively in areas marked with a plus (+) sign on your map, indicating medical-themed Points of Interest (POIs). Some maps have far more reliable spawns than others, and avoiding maps without dedicated medical loot zones will save you time and frustration.
1. Buried City: The Best Overall Farming Hub
Buried City is the gold standard for Laboratory Reagent farming, boasting four major medical-tagged loot zones-more than any other map. The city's layout is packed with medical locations, making it easy to string together a efficient looting route.
The Buried City Hospital is the standout spot here: it's the only large POI in the game dedicated entirely to medical loot, meaning its loot table isn't diluted by other resource types. This makes it the most reliable place to find Laboratory Reagents, with spawns concentrated on upper floors, around treatment rooms, and on metal carts or bedside counters.
If the hospital is looted or crowded (it's a popular spot for other raiders), head to the Research Building southeast of the hospital. It's quieter, has multiple floors to loot, and features consistent medical container spawns-perfect for a low-pressure search.
For quick, secondary stops, check the small pharmacies in Plaza Rosa and near Piazza Arbusto. These compact spots often have Laboratory Reagents on shelves or in cabinets, making them ideal for topping up your supply after looting the hospital or research building.
2. Dam Battlegrounds: Testing Annex
The Testing Annex in Dam Battlegrounds is a high-loot zone that offers excellent Laboratory Reagent spawns, especially on its upper floors. This area is a bit riskier due to high raider traffic (thanks to its high-tier loot), but the payoff is worth it for dedicated farmers.
Focus your search on storage closets, side labs, and research counters-these are the most common spots for reagents to spawn here. The Testing Annex also has a convenient extraction point nearby, allowing you to loot quickly and escape before conflicts escalate.
3. Stella Montis: Medical Research Wing
For more experienced raiders, the Medical Research Wing on the northwestern side of Stella Montis is a hidden gem. This high-loot area has a high chance of spawning Laboratory Reagents, especially if you find the Medical Storage Key to access top-tier loot rooms.
This location is more dangerous due to ambushes from other raiders, so move quickly: loot the medical containers and counters, grab any reagents you find, and head to the nearest extraction point to avoid losing your haul.
Maps to Avoid
Not all maps are worth your time when farming Laboratory Reagents. Blue Gate and Spaceport have no dedicated medical loot zones, so searching these areas will likely result in wasted effort. Stick to the maps mentioned above to maximize your efficiency.
Pro Tips for Efficient Farming
Even with the right locations, Laboratory Reagents are rare-so using these tips will help you make the most of each raid:
Tag your target: Before launching a raid, tag Laboratory Reagents in your workshop. This highlights them in-game, making them easier to spot among other loot and cutting your farming time by 40-50%.
Use a Safe Pocket Augment: Store reagents in your Safe Pocket as soon as you pick them up. If you die before extraction, you'll still keep them-critical for protecting this rare material.
Go solo for efficiency: Solo runs often have fewer player conflicts, allowing you to loot medical areas at your own pace without competing for resources. If you do play in a squad, split up to cover more ground quickly.
Check every container: Reagents spawn in cabinets, drawers, medical crates, and sometimes on open surfaces like counters. Don't skip any container-even small storage closets can hide a reagent.
Be persistent: RNG plays a role, so some raids will yield no reagents. Don't get discouraged-consistent runs in the right locations will eventually get you the three reagents you need for the Explosive Station upgrade.
Final Thoughts
Laboratory Reagents may be elusive, but with the right strategy, you can streamline your farming and unlock the full potential of your Explosive Station. Focus on Buried City's Hospital and Research Building for the most reliable spawns, use the Testing Annex and Stella Montis's Medical Research Wing for secondary runs, and follow the pro tips to protect your loot.
Whether you're recycling reagents for essential crafting cheap ARC Raiders Materials or saving them for the Explosive Station upgrade, these locations and strategies will ensure you never run short of this vital late-game resource. Happy looting, Raiders!