Why Rusted Gears Feel Impossible To Find
If you have spent any time in Arc Raiders, you have probably hit that moment where a crafting material you used to ignore suddenly becomes the rarest thing in the universe. For a lot of players, that material is rusted gears.
Rusted gears are a mid level crafting resource used to upgrade the gunsmith bench. Once you decide it is time to boost your firepower, the game seems to instantly hide every single rusty piece of metal it has. Places where you used to casually pick them up now feel completely empty.
One popular tip started making the rounds on social media, claiming to be the answer: a specific spot in Dam Battlegrounds that supposedly showers you in rusted parts.
The claim was simple and tempting. Visit this place, and you would get a rust part nine times out of ten. For frustrated Raiders, that sounds like endgame loot heaven.
The Dam Battlegrounds Bus Trick
The hotspot people are talking about is at the North Elevator of Dam Battlegrounds, inside the Power Generation Complex region. It is an area many players have already passed through dozens of times without really looting it properly.
Right next to the elevator you will see a cluster of buses and cars. On the backs of those buses are compartments you can breach and loot. The viral tip claimed that those compartments practically guarantee rusted gears.
In practice, it is not quite that generous. When tested in game, the spot did produce some results. After several runs, it was possible to walk away with a few rusted gears and rusted tools. That alone makes it better than roaming completely blind.
But the reality is that rusted gears are still a rare drop. The Power Generation Complex is rated as a medium value loot area, so you are not exactly farming a high tier treasure zone. On many runs you will crack open a trunk or compartment and only see:
- Uncommon mechanical components
- Basic metal parts
- Oil and other filler loot
So no, the North Elevator bus trick is not a guaranteed nine out of ten jackpot. It is more of a decent routine farm spot with a higher chance than average for the stuff you want.
However there is one thing this tip absolutely nails: the type of container you should be targeting.
How Arc Raiders Actually Hides Its Loot
Arc Raiders does not just randomly throw loot everywhere. The placement has a logic to it that becomes clearer the more you pay attention to where you find things.
The world is not only divided into broad area types like residential or industrial. Individual objects and locations strongly hint at what they are likely to contain. If you follow that logic, you give yourself a real advantage when you are hunting specific items.
Here are a few patterns that line up with player experience so far:
- Soft items like pillows tend to appear near beds and sleeping areas
- Medical supplies often sit on pharmacy counters or inside clinics
- Mechanical junk and rusted parts are more likely to be found in cars, buses, and other beaten up vehicles
This logic is not perfect. Players have searched entire apartment blocks and still struggled to find very comfortable pillows for their base needs. Sometimes the loot table just decides to be stingy.
But when the world logic does apply, it gives you a repeatable plan. Instead of looting everything in sight, you can quickly zero in on the containers that make the most sense for your current goal.
So if you are specifically chasing rusted gears and rusted tools, you should make a habit of checking:
- Buses and their rear compartments
- Abandoned cars and trunks
- Vehicle clusters around major points of interest
The Dam Battlegrounds bus farm fits this pattern perfectly. Even if the nine out of ten claim is exaggerated, it is still a smart way to focus your time where the correct loot can actually spawn.
If the Dam run keeps spawning you a thousand meters away or you just get tired of that route, there are alternatives. Other players have reported consistent luck in Buried City, which uses a smaller and easier to clear map. Dedicated guides for rusted gears and rusted tools point to specific locations there that can be farmed more efficiently than wandering around big open regions.
The bigger lesson is simple. Arc Raiders rewards you for thinking like a scavenger instead of a tourist. Treat every location as a puzzle. Ask yourself what used to be here and what people would have left behind. Beds mean bedding. Pharmacies mean meds. Bombed out vehicle convoys mean metal and rust.
Once you start reading the world like that, your chances of walking away with the exact material you need go up a lot. Rusted gears will still be rare and you will still have dry runs, but at least you will know you are spending your time in the right places instead of praying to the loot gods in the middle of a random field.
So next time you are stuck on that gunsmith bench upgrade, do not assume the game is trolling you. Grab your gear, head to spots like the Dam Battlegrounds buses or Buried City vehicle clusters, and start cracking open every car you see. With a bit of map knowledge and a scavenger mindset, those elusive rusted gears will finally start adding up.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/i-tested-that-spot-in-arc-raiders-that-supposedly-guarantees-rare-rusted-parts-and-my-results-were-mixed/
