Struggling to get Sentinel Firing Cores in ARC Raiders? Here’s where to find them

Sentinel Firing Cores are one of the first real progression walls you’ll hit in ARC Raiders because they’re not a material you’ll be finding willy-nilly. If you’re trying to upgrade the Gunsmith to level 3, you need four of them, so knowing where to find them is pretty big.

Below, we’ll explain how to get Sentinel Firing Cores in ARC Raiders, as well as the best maps to farm them, so you can rack up enough for both upgrades and selling on a couple to earn some additional cash.

The Escapist recaps

• Sentinel Firing Cores primarily drop from Sentinel sniper turrets.
• Sentinels spawn at fixed high locations, but are not guaranteed in every raid.
• ARC Couriers have a very small chance of containing Sentinel Cores.
• Dam Battlegrounds and Buried City offer the fastest farming routes.

What are Sentinel Firing Cores in ARC Raiders?

Before we get into how you actually get them, let’s do a brief rundown as to what Sentinel Firing Cores are.

As previously mentioned, they are primarily used as a rare upgrade material to advance the Gunsmith from level 2 to level 3. This upgrade gate is significant because it unlocks access to higher-tier weapon modifications.

As you might have expected, these Firing Cores are an ARC part from a Sentinel. Sentinels are the ceiling-mounted sniper turrets positioned near rooftops, towers, and high structures. When you enter their range, they project a targeting laser that shifts from orange to red before firing a high-damage beam shot.

They have a visible weak point, which is a yellow canister mounted on their arm, but don’t stay in view too long or you’ll be melted.

Where to find Sentinel Firing Cores in ARC Raiders

As just stated, you’re going to be looking to Sentinels to secure Firing Cores, but you won’t be seeing them in every Topside POI.

Here is where you need to look and the fastest ways to pick them up:

Dam Battlegrounds Sentinel locations (fastest farm)

Dam Battlegrounds is widely considered the most efficient Sentinel farming map because several spawn points are clustered close together.

Key areas to check:

• R&D building — above the blue exterior staircase
• Broken dam bridge path between Control Tower and Power Plant
• Upper R&D overwatch platforms

These locations can be cleared in a tight loop. If no Sentinel spawns, you can extract and reset quickly, which improves long-term efficiency. The risk is player traffic since Dam tends to attract most people who like a fight.

Buried City Sentinel locations (safe solo loop)

Buried City offers two close-together Sentinel spawn points:

• Inside the Town Hall bell tower
• Above the Santa Maria housing courtyard

Because the map is smaller overall, this route is easier to run solo. You can check both locations in minutes and extract without crossing large open areas.

It is slightly slower than Dam over multiple resets, but more consistent for cautious players.

Spaceport Sentinel locations

Confirmed Sentinel placements in Spaceport include:

• Rocket Assembly building ceiling
• Container Storage supports
• Control Tower A6 interior
• South trench tower corner

Spawns here are more spread out so you will cover more ground between checks, which makes farming less efficient compared to Dam or Buried City.

The Blue Gate Sentinel locations

Known spawn areas include:

• Northeast concrete checkpoint ceiling
• Pilgrim’s Peak communication tower interior

As with other maps, these are fixed spawn points, but not guaranteed every raid. If you clear the locations and find nothing, it simply means a Sentinel did not spawn in that instance or you’ve been beaten to the punch.

Stella Montis Sentinel spawn

Stella Montis has one Sentinel spawn, which is on the ceiling in the Atrium.

While you might be able to get to this quickly based on where you load in, we’d strongly advise using Stella as your Sentinel farm since there are so many ARC around and usually a Raider looking to kill at every opportunity.

Can you get Sentinel Firing Cores any other way?

Yes, but rarely.

ARC Couriers, the large crashed ARC pods, have a small random chance to contain Sentinel Cores. The drop rate is low and inconsistent. Couriers appear more frequently during Electromagnetic Storm events, which makes storm raids a secondary farming method.

No other ARC enemies are confirmed to drop Sentinel Firing Cores. Standard machine-gun turrets do not count.

Why Sentinel Firing Cores sometimes don’t drop

If you destroyed a turret and found nothing, consider the following:

• It may not have been a Sentinel variant
• The lootable husk may have fallen farther than expected
• The loot may have scattered due to long-range destruction

Before assuming a bug, sweep the ground thoroughly and check nearby terrain. This is the same when considering Comets, too, since these break off into multiple parts.

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