How to Use the Dam Control Tower Key in ARC Raiders

Locked rooms such as the Dam Control Center in Dam Battlegrounds can potentially hold some of the most valuable loot available in ARC Raiders. As expected, high rewards usually come with serious risks. These locations don’t always attract a lot of traffic, but if another raider shows up while you’re nearby, chances are the encounter will turn hostile very quickly. Thankfully, the locked room inside the Control Tower is relatively straightforward to access, and as long as you’re carrying the correct key in ARC Raiders, you can claim everything stored inside without sharing.

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Where to Get Dam Control Tower Key in ARC Raiders

To gain access to the dam’s control room, you’ll first need to track down the key by searching the Research & Administration building, which sits directly beside the Control Tower. On the second floor, desk drawers can randomly spawn keys that open locked rooms across multiple maps. This includes not only the Dam Control Center, but also other locations like the Confiscation Room found on Blue Gate.

Research & Administration is classified as a high-value area, meaning player encounters are extremely common. If you’d rather avoid combat, or if your spawn point is closer to the northwestern side of Dam Battlegrounds, it may be safer to search locations like Ruby Residence, Pale Apartments, or Ben Welder’s Sunroof POIs instead. These areas have provided consistent key drops in our experience. However, keep in mind that a nearby player spawn point can result in these locations being completely looted if you didn’t start close by.

Tip: You can also obtain this key as a guaranteed reward by completing Shani’s The Trifecta quest.

Where to Use Dam Control Center Key in ARC Raiders

The Dam Control Center Key is used to unlock the control room located at the very top of the Control Tower POI. To reach it, you’ll need to ascend a tall elevator shaft positioned along the northeastern edge of the map. There are several different routes you can take to access the tower:

• Approach the Control Tower from the Red Lakes Balcony extraction point. At the base of the tower, you’ll find a door that leads directly toward the control room path.
  
• Stand facing the main entrance of the Research & Administration building, but do not enter it. Instead, move to the right and follow the extended corridor until you reach a door at the very end. This will take you to the elevator shaft.
• If your starting location is to the north or northeast, you can reach the base of the Control Tower by moving through the dried lake bed. Follow the floodgates until you come across an open sewer grate.
  

Be aware that a mounted machine gun turret may be positioned partway up the elevator shaft. If you notice lights or laser indicators above you, deal with the turret before advancing further. Alternatively, you can throw a smoke grenade to safely push forward. Ignoring it will almost certainly result in taking heavy damage. Once the turret is destroyed or bypassed, use the available ziplines to climb toward the top of the shaft.

If you begin your ascent from the lower entrance, you’ll reach the Dam Control Center after riding the second zipline upward. Use the key to unlock the room and grab as much loot as possible. Having additional Safe Pockets will make this run significantly more profitable.

After securing the loot, you can backtrack to the Red Lakes Balcony elevator to extract safely. For players looking to avoid further encounters, there is also a Raider Hatch located just north of the Red Lakes elevator that provides an alternative escape route.