I didn't drop into Buried Echoes to play "apartment decorator," but here we are—again—crawling through a busted kitchen, opening drawers like I've lost my mind, and praying the next bit of loot isn't another useless trinket. If you're stuck staring at the early workbench requirements, it helps to keep a quick reference like ARC Raiders BluePrint in mind, because the real problem isn't fighting ARC machines, it's finding the one silly item that blocks everything.

Why Everyone Gets Stuck

Candle holders shouldn't be rare, but they're the biggest early-game gatekeeper. You can have a backpack full of electronics, weapon parts, and all the "serious" loot, then still be dead in the water because you can't upgrade the bench. And without that first decent bench tier, your gear feels like it's made of cardboard. People keep sprinting straight to industrial zones and shopping areas, because that's where the danger is and danger "must" mean value. Nah. That's where you'll find hardware and metal crates and the kind of loot that looks good on paper, not the domestic junk the progression wants.

Go Residential, Not Industrial

If you want candle holders, think like someone looting a home, not raiding a factory. The Speranza Outskirts are where it starts clicking, especially the three-story residential buildings that look like the whole place slid sideways during an earthquake. Yes, the patrols can be rough. Still worth it. Those buildings are packed with small containers that actually fit the item's vibe: bedside tables, little wooden cabinets, cramped cupboards under the stairs. Skip the big metal crates. They're loud, slow, and they tend to spit out the same "useful" stuff you already have stacked at base.

The Basement Pattern

Here's the routine that finally made it consistent for me: stop chasing perfect routes and start chasing clutter. Basements first. Laundry rooms, storage nooks, the weird corners behind water heaters. You'll notice it fast—rooms that look lived-in tend to pay out. Rooms that look like offices. Usually a waste of time. On my first run focusing only on basements, I pulled two holders from a flooded laundry setup. Second run, I found one tucked behind a heater like someone hid it in a panic. Third run, I grabbed another from a tight under-stairs cupboard. Fourth run, same deal: messy rooms, better odds. Fifth run, I nearly left empty, doubled back to a cramped storage closet, and there it was.

Blue Bins and Smart Shortcuts

One more thing that most folks blow past: the blue plastic storage bins near the back of cafes. Not dumpsters. Not street trash. The bins that look like people were packing up to flee. I'm convinced they've got a different loot table—"evac stuff," basically—and it shows. I've pulled multiple candle holders out of those in a single session when the rest of the run was dry. If you're short on time, you can also smooth out the grind by trading for missing pieces or topping up supplies through U4GM while you keep running those residential loops, so you're not stuck doing ten more raids just to make one upgrade happen.