Introduction

Wires and batteries are valuable crafting materials you'll need early in Arc Raiders. The trader Shani gives you the "Trash into Treasure" quest alongside "Clearer Skies," and completing it requires six wires and one battery. Once you've gathered these materials from Topside, you'll bring them back to Speranza.

The in-game tooltips point you in the right direction, but finding these items efficiently takes some know-how. This guide covers the best farming locations, how to use the recycling system to your advantage, and backup methods if luck isn't on your side.

Arc Raiders Speranza Hub — Speranza serves as your base of operations where you'll turn in quest materials

How Arc Raiders Categorizes Loot

Arc Raiders marks different areas with specific loot types, and understanding this system helps you plan your routes before deploying.

Electrical Areas contain power-related equipment and infrastructure. Wires drop more frequently here.

Technological Areas hold computing equipment, research materials, and tech infrastructure. Batteries tend to show up slightly more often in these zones.

Both items can appear in either location type, so don't skip one for the other. When you inspect a map before deployment, you'll see which areas contain electrical or technological loot. Use this information to plot your path.

Best Locations for Farming

Dam Battlegrounds

This map has several high-value spots for gathering wires and batteries, making it the go-to choice for new players working on the quest.

Research & Administration is marked with technological loot and offers plenty of computers, server boxes, and tech equipment. Expect to find both wires and batteries here. Fair warning: this is a high-threat zone, so watch out for other players and ARC machines.

Power Generation Complex focuses on electrical components and works well for farming wires. Check the interior hallways, and don't skip the electrical panels and generators on the outside of buildings.

Power Generation Complex in Dam Battlegrounds — The Power Generation Complex is one of the best spots for finding wires

Control Tower spawns both electrical and technological loot. The facility hallways inside are worth a thorough search.

Field Depot locations have computers with decent chances of containing wires and batteries.

Pale Apartments in the northwest corner isn't a dedicated tech zone, but the buildings there can hold recyclable items like power cables and toasters that break down into wires.

The area between Power Generation Complex and Research & Administration is also worth checking. Random buildings in this in-between zone sometimes contain power banks and other recyclable tech.

Pro Tip

The area between Power Generation Complex and Research & Administration often has overlooked loot spawns. Check the smaller buildings for power banks and recyclable tech items.

Maps You'll Unlock Later

After several successful runs, you'll gain access to additional maps with more farming options:

On Buried City, check out Space Travel and Research areas.

On Spaceport, hit Fuel Control and the various Tower locations.

New players should stick to Dam Battlegrounds until these other maps open up.

What to Search

Be thorough when you reach electrical or technological zones. Here's what deserves your attention:

Containers and furniture: Lockers, drawers, shelves, cabinets, and craters (environmental containers) all hold potential loot.

Electronic equipment: Computers, server boxes, CRT monitors (especially near command consoles, which have high battery drop rates), electric panels, and generators.

Searching electronic equipment in Arc Raiders — CRT monitors near command consoles have high battery drop rates

The Recycling Approach

Finding wires and batteries directly isn't always reliable. A more consistent method is grabbing recyclable items and breaking them down.

Items That Give You Wires

Power cables (three wires each)
Computer power cables
Toasters
Heatsinks
Cooling fans
Various green and blue quality tech items from electrical and technological areas

Items That Give You Batteries

Power banks (one battery each)
Industrial batteries
Electronic devices found on shelves and in drawers

To recycle something, right-click it in your inventory and select salvage. The item breaks down into component materials instantly.

Critical Note

This approach works so well because recyclable items spawn more often than raw wires and batteries. A single power cable gives you three wires, which is half the quest requirement from one item.

Green and blue quality recyclables from tech areas frequently break down into multiple wires, so don't ignore them even if they don't seem useful at first glance.

Getting Your Loot Out Safely

Finding the materials is only half the job. You still need to extract successfully.

Use your Safe Pocket. Put at least some wires or batteries in this slot. If you die to enemy players or ARC machines, anything in your Safe Pocket survives. This guarantees progress even on failed runs.

Extract quickly once you have what you need. Hanging around high-value areas increases your chances of losing everything.

Loot enemy players in tech zones. Other players searching electrical and technological areas are probably hunting for the same materials. If you take them down, check their inventory.

Extracting safely in Arc Raiders — Always use your Safe Pocket to protect valuable materials during extraction

Buying from Traders

If the loot gods aren't cooperating, you have a backup option in Speranza.

The trader Celeste sells both batteries and wires for Seeds. This costs you currency, but it guarantees you can finish the quest without relying on RNG. Consider this route if you've had multiple failed extractions or just want to move on quickly.

Turning In the Quest

Once you have six wires and one battery, head back to Speranza and visit Shani's Trader tab to complete Trash into Treasure.

Your rewards:

XP toward your next level
1x Tactical MK.1
3x Adrenaline Shots

Teammate Trick

The quest doesn't consume your materials when you turn it in. After completing Trash into Treasure, you can bring those same wires and batteries into your next raid and drop them for a friend who still needs to finish the quest. This saves your squad a lot of farming time.

Quick Reference

Material	Amount Needed	Best Spots	Recycle These
Wires	6	Power Generation Complex, Control Tower, Research & Administration	Power cables, toasters, heatsinks, cooling fans
Battery	1	Research & Administration, Field Depots, CRT monitors near command consoles	Power banks, industrial batteries, electronic devices

Summary

Check Dam Battlegrounds map info before deploying to spot electrical and technological zones
Prioritize recycling tech items over hunting for raw materials
Protect some of your finds with the Safe Pocket
Buy from Celeste if looting isn't working out
Pass your materials to friends after finishing since the quest doesn't consume them

Wrapping Up

Gathering wires and batteries in Arc Raiders comes down to knowing the right locations and working the recycling system. Focus on electrical and technological areas in Dam Battlegrounds, particularly Research & Administration, Power Generation Complex, and Control Tower. Search containers and electronic equipment thoroughly, and remember that breaking down items like power cables and power banks is usually faster than finding raw materials.

With these strategies, you'll have Trash into Treasure done and your rewards collected before long.