The new Arc Turbine enemy in Arc Raiders‘ Riven Tide update is a bit of a terror. Not only does it spawn quite late into a round, meaning you have to kill it fast or risk not exfilling, but its projectiles create lightning strikes, which it’ll try to zap you with. Unfortunately, you’ll need to kill it to get the new Turbine Compressor material for the Avian Alarm project.

You can also use this material to craft some of the new items, like the Powered Descender fall mitigation tool. This is a tough enemy, so make sure you bring plenty of shield rechargers and healing, but otherwise, I’ll explain how to find Arc Turbines below plus your best bet for killing one.

Where to find the Arc Turbine in Arc Raiders

The Arc Turbine is a late-spawning enemy that usually appears on Riven Tides at the 16-13 minutes remaining mark. It’s easy to tell if one is spawning because you’ll hear a giant thunderclap and will be able to spot it descending in the sky from a distance. They don’t spawn consistently, so if one doesn’t appear by the 13-minute mark, you may as well extract.

Sometimes, though, two Arc Turbines will spawn instead of just one. The spawn locations are in the northern part of the map along the shore, either:

• In the northeast by the Tidebreaker seawall
• In the northwest near the Azzurro Beach and the hotel
• In the north near the Port Authority Building
• Further south, just to the west of the Customs House

The only time I’ve seen the one spawn near the Customs House is alongside the one that drops by the Port Authority Building, so this might be the only combination in which two Arc Turbines appear at once. When one arrives it’ll land and open up for a while, before taking off and moving to a new location.

How to kill an Arc Turbine in Arc Raiders

The Arc Turbine is a tricky enemy to defeat—far more challenging than a Rocketeer, Vaporizer, or Bombardier. As you might have guessed, the Arc Turbine’s weak spot, a bunch of spinning yellow cylinders at its core, is only revealed when it lands and opens up, giving you two options in terms of killing it:

• Bring Deadlines to plant on the inside of the Arc Turbine: It should only take a couple of Deadlines to kill an Arc Turbine if you plant them on its inside. The problem is that when it lands it drops a bunch of mines in the area, which makes approaching it quite tough. It also won’t stay in position for long, so it’s a race against time trying to reach it and plant your mine before it takes off. Theoretically, Trigger ‘Nades might also work, but you won’t have much time to place and detonate them before the Turbine takes off. Remember that you can buy a Deadline daily from Apollo.
• Use a Hullcracker or a sniper rifle to hit its cores from a distance: If you find the right angle, you can plink away at the Arc Turbines’ innards from range when it’s landed, but remember that if you’re close enough, it will start firing out lightning projectiles at you. Still, if you have a full squad of three fighting it, this might be a more viable approach depending on what gear you have available to you. In case you forgot, you can buy a Hullcracker daily from Apollo.

After a little while, the Arc Turbine will take off. Don’t try and shoot it while it’s flying: it’s heavily armoured and will just rain lightning down on you. Instead, think of it like damage phases for a boss. Wait until it lands again and then approach to set up your second Deadline, or continue plinking. The real issue with the Arc Turbine is that it spawns so late in the round, and relatively far away from an elevator depending on your luck.

With that in mind, I definitely think the Deadline strategy is the best and fastest method, provided you can deal with the mines on approach. Hell, you could even plant two Deadlines at once if you have a teammate and you both approach via the same route. The Arc Turbine doesn’t seem to have any defensive capabilities at close range, though it will take off shortly after you get close. In many ways, you can sneak up or surprise attack it with the first Deadline and then just hide in cover until it lands again.

As mentioned, killing one and looting it will net you the new Turbine Compressor material, which is used to craft some of the new gear, like the Powered Descender, and you’ll need two to complete the Avian Alarm project.