I didn't expect "A Rising Tide" to be the quest that slows me down after Shrouded Sky, but it did. It's not hard because the enemies are cracked; it's hard because the game's a bit coy about where it wants you to go. If you've been sorting your loadout around ARC Raiders Items, this mission's a good reminder that movement and timing matter just as much as gear. You'll be bouncing across two Battlegrounds, chasing little breadcrumbs tied to Project Heartwood, and one missed ledge can waste an entire run.
Buried City Entry Trick
Your first stop is Buried City, and the objective reads like it's pointing you to a normal door: the foreman's apartment just south of Piazza Roma. Except the front entrance is blocked solid. A lot of people try to brute-force it. Don't. Treat it like a platforming puzzle. The sketchy option is climbing the nearby stairs and dropping onto that narrow platform wedged between the twin tower buildings. It works, but it's easy to slip. The smoother play is the rooftop zipline between the towers. Ride it, then drop about halfway across so you land on the right balcony. Once you're in, grab the digital logbook from the desk terminal, then get out before you turn the whole block into a firefight.
Dam Map: Trigger The Next Step
After you extract, queue up for the Dam Battlegrounds. Your HUD will drag your attention to the Power Generation Complex on the north edge. Here's the nice surprise: you don't need to clear the building or rummage through every room. Just entering the POI is enough to advance the quest. That means you can play it smart—hug cover, listen for other squads, and don't take loud fights unless you have to. Once the step pops, rotate southwest, watching for a building with an exterior ladder. Get on it, slide down, and you'll drop straight into the Controlled Access Zone underground.
Whiteboard Evidence And A Safe Exit
The CAZ feels like it's begging for an ambush, so slow it down. You're not hunting a boss; you're hunting proof. Stick to the interior walkways, peek corners, and keep an ear out for boots on metal. Eventually you'll reach an overseer-style office that looks out over a huge suspended ARC machine. That sightline is the giveaway. Inside, there's a whiteboard covered in messy notes—interact with it to snap the photo and the objective's basically done. Don't get greedy after that. Pick a quiet route to extraction and head back to Speranza while you've still got momentum.
Rewards Worth Planning Around
Turn everything in to Celeste and you'll feel why people recommend doing this early: a Level 2 Anvil weapon, an Anvil Splitter mod, an Extended Barrel, plus a decent stack of heavy rounds. It's the kind of kit that actually changes how your next runs feel, especially if you've been scraping by. And if you're trying to keep your progression tidy—ammo, mods, and the bits you're missing—some players top up through marketplaces that sell game currency and items, like RSVSR, so you can spend more time raiding and less time grinding in circles.
