Ever since Shrouded Sky landed, the Dam Battlegrounds has had one spot everyone keeps whispering about: the Controlled Access Zone. It's not a simple "kick the door, grab the crate" room. It's a little social experiment with bullets flying. If you're gearing up for a serious run, it helps to know what you're chasing and what you can prep from ARC Raiders Items before you even load in, because this place punishes sloppy planning.
Getting In Without Getting Deleted
You'll find the area southwest of the Power Generation Complex, but don't expect a clean entrance. The dam's layout is all height changes and weird angles, so most squads slip in through broken grates or climb up from the lower walkways. Once you're inside, you'll see the main secured door with four dead indicator lights. Ignore it for a minute. Head down and look for a Fuel Cell, then haul it back up and slot it into the power terminal. It's heavy, you'll feel slow, and that's the point. When the grid comes online, a side room opens and you'll get access to the first button location.
The Four-Button Problem
This is where comms stop being optional. There are four buttons, and they spawn in different places each raid—catwalk corners, under stair runs, beside big pipes, sometimes in spots that make you double back. The rule is simple and nasty: all four need to be pressed at the same time. Not "close enough." Not "I'm on it." Same moment, or it resets. Most teams do a clean 3-2-1 countdown, with everyone calling "ready" first. You can try it with three if two buttons spawn close, but it's a gamble, and the sprint usually gets someone clipped by patrols.
Repairs, RNG, and The Loot Rush
Hit the sync and the big door finally unlocks, but it still won't pay out. Inside is a busted control panel that needs materials, and the list can change. Metal Parts and an Industrial Battery are common asks, but you might get stuck hunting Wires, ARC Power Cells, or even a Leaper Pulse Unit. If you didn't bring the right bits, you're looting nearby under pressure, and the longer you're in there, the louder the whole situation gets. Once the panel's fixed, the vault opens and the rewards are usually worth it—premium weapon crates, rare gear, the kind of haul that makes your inventory feel suddenly too small.
Extraction Mindset
Don't hang around admiring your pulls. The puzzle noise is basically an invitation, and other squads love to camp the exits and play cleanup crew. Split the loot fast, pick an extraction route before you leave the vault room, and assume someone's watching the obvious choke points. If you're short on time or missing a key component, it's not shameful to bail and reset—better than donating your backpack. And if you want a smoother prep loop for the next attempt, a lot of players top up essentials through U4GM so they can focus on timing, positioning, and getting out alive, not scrambling for basics.
