Arc Raiders Controlled Access Zone puzzle solution

Arc Raiders Controlled Access Zone puzzle: A player looking at a locked door with four lights above it in an overgrown facility. — (Image credit: Embark)

Arc Raiders' Shrouded Sky update has added a new location to Dam Battlegrounds, known as the Controlled Access Zone. If you've done the A Rising Tide quest, then you'll have noticed (and completed the first step of) the Controlled Access Zone puzzle, which opens a locked door guarding loot.

Your first goal is reaching the Controlled Access Zone in the north of Dam Battlegrounds, between The Breach and the Power Generation Complex. There are multiple ways in, but the easiest is just sliding down the ladder on the surface of the dam wall.

How to complete the Controlled Access Zone puzzle in Arc Raiders

Inside the Controlled Access Zone, you'll see a walkway that leads around and all the way down the chute, leading to a flooded area at the bottom. Notably, there's an empty battery slot near the top, and a locked door with four lightbulbs above the door halfway down. However, there are four buttons hidden around the room, and the locations of all but one will change each match, and you need to activate all four buttons at the same time to open the door.

Yes, this means you need four players to complete the puzzle. This is crucial because the max party size is three, so you will always need the help of a stranger to open the vault. If you're solo, this means befriending three other players, which can be a challenge.

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Arc Raiders Controlled Access Zone puzzle: A player looking at a fuel cell in murky, cluttered water. — (Image credit: Embark)

Here's the step-by-step process to complete the Controlled Access Zone puzzle:

Find the fuel cell hidden somewhere in the chute, similar to the Stella Montis doors—be extra thorough in searching the flooded area at the bottom because the battery can spawn in the murky water next to the wrecked Arcs.
Carry and insert the fuel cell in the empty machine at the top of the Controlled Access Zone, near the hanging Rocketeer. This will open the locked room opposite the machine, to the northwest, which always contains one of the required switches.
Locate the other three buttons—these can be hidden on the side of staircases, next to pipes, and one even next to the locked puzzle door.
Designate a player to each button and activate all four buttons at the same time, opening the first door.
Head to the puzzle door, and there'll be a second locked door, which you will need to repair using the items displayed on the panel to the left—these are random each time.
Repair the door and go inside to loot it for all its worth.

While gathering four players is quite a challenge, the trickiest step in solving the puzzle is actually the part where you'll need random materials to repair the second door. Why? Because this can include anything from Metal Parts and Arc Powercells to Leaper Pulse Units, Motors, and Industrial Batteries. Of course, these items can be found mid-match, especially if you have four players hunting for them, but it's not unwise to bring the rarer items with you into the match just in case they're required.

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