ARC Raiders Loot Bird's Nests Trial Guide

The most aggressively passive Trial in the ARC Raiders rotation. No heroics required. No grand tactical positioning. No agonizing over which gun to bring. The ARC Raiders Loot Bird's Nests Trial guide you actually needed is embarrassingly simple: go to Buried City, find chimneys, jam your face into them, and collect 4,000 points worth of bird-related real estate violations before your extract timer runs out. That's it. That's the whole thing.

This Trial is part of the weekly rotation tied to the Buried City Bird City event ARC Raiders map condition. If Bird City is not active, those chimneys are completely useless to you, because the birds, and therefore their nests, simply don't exist. The universe is indifferent to your schedule. Check the event timer, plan accordingly, try not to cry.

The good news: this is legitimately one of the easiest Trials in the game. The bad news: knowing that will make it feel even worse if you somehow fail it.

Condition Required

The Loot Bird's Nests Trial only functions during the Bird City map condition on Buried City. Outside of that window, every chimney on the map is just a chimney. Spiritually empty. Like you, but less useful.

How Scoring Works

To maximize score Bird's Nests ARC Raiders Trials, you need to understand one brutally simple math problem. Each nest you search awards 180 points. You need 4,000 points for 3 stars. That means you need to search exactly 23 chimneys to cross the threshold. Not twenty-two. Twenty-three. You're welcome.

One critical detail that most players miss: chimneys already opened by other raiders still award you points. You don't have to be first. You don't have to do anything heroic. You just have to walk up and interact. This Trial actively rewards scavenging the leftovers of other people's work like the competent parasite you are.

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The Buried City map Bird's Nests ARC Raiders layout is not subtle about where the nests are. They sit inside chimneys, and chimneys sit on rooftops, and rooftops are on sloped-roof buildings. The formula is not complicated. If you see a sloped roof, you are looking at a potential nest location. If you see a flat roof, walk past it with contempt.

The critical geographic truth is this: the north-eastern portion of the Buried City map has essentially zero chimneys with active nests. Spending time there during a Bird City run is a personal choice you are free to make, but you will be disappointed. The southern half of the map is where density lives, and density is where your three stars live.

The north-east section of the Buried City map is completely empty of nests. If you head there expecting ARC Raiders Bird's Nest chimney locations, you'll find nothing but wasted stamina and a quiet lesson in map awareness.

The best route for Loot Bird's Nests ARC Raiders isn't a single fixed path, because your spawn point changes every run. However, the optimal approach follows one universal principle: stay south, stay on rooftops, and never voluntarily set foot in the north-east. The route is a loop, not a straight line. Think of it as a tourist circuit, except the tourist is clambering through chimneys and the souvenirs are rubber ducks.

• Identify your spawn position and orient yourself relative to the southern half of the map. If you're already south: perfect, you get to feel smug about it. If you're north: stop standing there, start moving.
• Head to Plaza Rosa as your first major anchor point. It sits centrally enough to pivot from in any direction, and it has enough chimneys to justify starting your nest count there immediately.
• Follow the loop southward through Church Ruins and Piazza Arbusto. These zones have the highest cluster density on the map. If you only have time to visit two zones, make it these two.
• Transition through Town Hall toward Corso Da Vinci. The linear layout here makes it fast to clear without doubling back. Use ziplines aggressively between rooftops to avoid dropping to street level where ARC enemies patrol with disappointing enthusiasm.
• Close out via Santa Maria Houses and Main Street. By this point you should be near or past the 23-nest threshold. If not, do a secondary sweep of any zones you rushed through. If yes, extract before something unfortunate happens to you.

Pro Tip

Spend the first 30 seconds after spawning planning your route rather than sprinting randomly at the nearest rooftop. The time lost to planning saves three times that amount in backtracking. You are not being slow. You are being professional about bird theft.

ARC Raiders Bird's Nest Chimney Mechanics

Understanding ARC Raiders Bird's Nest chimney locations isn't just about the map, it's about understanding how the chimney system works so you don't waste interactions on things that will never reward you. Here is everything you need to know, delivered without pity.

Chimney Availability

Not every chimney has a nest. The spawns are not guaranteed, which means some runs will feel generous and others will make you question your life choices. If you open a chimney and it's empty, move on immediately. Standing there staring at an empty chimney accomplishes nothing, and the birds are not coming back because you wished hard enough.

Shared Interaction Points

When the first raider opens a chimney, it remains interactive for other players for roughly 5 to 6 seconds. This is the game's one act of generosity in an otherwise brutal extraction loop. Other players' opened nests are your opened nests. Check every chimney you encounter, regardless of whether someone else has already been there. Points are points. Pride is optional.

Nest Points Don't Require Looting

This is genuinely important: you earn the 180 points from simply searching the chimney, not from extracting with the loot. You can grab the rubber ducks and sell them for a tidy sum back at Speranza, or you can leave everything behind like a monster. The Trial score doesn't care either way. The Rubber Ducks, however, are rare Trinkets worth real coin. Take them if you have space. Leave them if you're already overloaded. Abandon them if you want to financially self-harm.

No Respawns

Once a nest is searched, it's done. No respawns within the same Bird City instance. This is why route efficiency matters. Every nest you miss due to poor routing is a nest you cannot go back for. Plan accordingly, or don't, and then feel the appropriate amount of regret at 3,960 points.

Let's address the central question of how many Bird's Nests for 3 stars ARC Raiders requires, since apparently this needs its own section: 23 nests. That's 23 times 180, which is 4,140, which is above the 4,000-point threshold, which gets you three stars. The math is not ambiguous. There is no rounding, no grace period, no partial credit. Twenty-three is the number. Commit it somewhere reliable.

If you reach 20 nests and start thinking about extracting early, you are 540 points short of three stars and you are about to make an extremely avoidable mistake. Do not extract at 20 nests. Do not extract at 21. At 22 you are still technically failing. Find nest 23, then you may leave.

Here is the rare piece of legitimately good news: ARC Raiders free loadout Trials are fully viable for Bird's Nests. You do not need an expensive kit to complete this Trial. You are not fighting anything of consequence. You are not breaching compounds. You are looking for birds on rooftops. A free loadout will get you your 3-star rewards without any meaningful risk to your stash.

The only real downside of a free loadout is the absence of Adrenaline Shots, which means your stamina regeneration between rooftop runs is slower. If that genuinely bothers you, bring one or two. If it doesn't, run your free kit and pocket the savings.

Recommended Basics (Even Free)

• Snap Hook or Zipline: Non-negotiable for rooftop traversal. Some chimneys are only accessible vertically. Without one, you will stand at the base of a building watching points you can't reach.
• Adrenaline Shots: Optional but useful. Keeps you moving between zones without awkward stamina pauses.
• Lure Grenades: Excellent for redirecting ARC enemies away from rooftops you're actively working. Much faster than killing them.
• Photoelectric Cloak: For when a Rocketeer or Bombardier has noticed you and you'd like it to immediately stop noticing you.
• Raider Hatch Key: Plan your extract route before you're sprinting for your life with a backpack full of stolen bird property.

Friendly Lobbies via Matchmaking

Regarding ARC Raiders friendly lobbies matchmaking: the community has discovered that playing passively (loading in with no gear and surrendering repeatedly without shooting other players) signals low aggression to the matchmaking system, resulting in lobbies that are significantly less contested. For a Trial based entirely on looting rather than combat, a quiet lobby is the difference between a clean 23-nest sweep and spending half your run being hunted by someone who brought an actual weapon to a bird-counting contest.

This method takes some setup time across multiple surrendered raids, but if you're serious about leaderboard positioning rather than just the 3-star threshold, a friendly lobby is worth the investment.

Loadout Reality Check

Do not bring your best gear for this Trial unless you actively enjoy risking it. The free loadout runs this without complaint. Your rare blueprints deserve better than dying to a Rocketeer on a rooftop in Buried City while chasing rubber ducks.

Mistakes That Will Make You Miserable

Fighting Every ARC You See

Every second you spend in a firefight with an ARC enemy is a second you're not searching chimneys. The rooftops are patrolled by various ARC machines with an inflated sense of purpose. Unless they are physically blocking a chimney you need, consider routing around them, using Lure Grenades, or popping a Cloak. You are not here to prove anything. You are here to steal from birds.

Going to the North-East

There are no nests there. There have never been nests there. The ARC Raiders Bird's Nest chimney locations on the north-east quadrant of the Buried City map are a myth perpetuated by poor navigation and wishful thinking. Do not go there during a Bird's Nests run. Accept this.

Extracting Too Early

The leading cause of 2-star finishes is extracting at 3,600 points because it "felt like enough." It is not enough. 3,960 is not enough. You need 4,000. Check your Logbook in the pause menu regularly to track your score. Count your nests. Extract when you've crossed the line, not when you feel like you might have almost crossed the line.

Ignoring Already-Opened Chimneys

Other raiders opening a chimney before you is not a loss. Walk up. Interact. Collect 180 points. That is literally free score. The chimney does not care who opened it first. Neither should you.

Not Bringing Vertical Traversal

Some rooftops in Buried City are only reachable with a Snap Hook or Zipline. Showing up without one means voluntarily skipping nests that are physically above your reach. Those skipped nests will cost you a star at the margins. Bring the vertical tools. This is non-negotiable.

Completing the ARC Raiders fast 3-star rewards Bird's Nests loop nets you the weekly Trial tier rewards upon reaching 4,000 points. The specific rewards rotate, but reported drops have included the Epic Duck cosmetic, the Bobcat Blueprint, and the Compensator Blueprint, which are legitimately useful early-game items. Beyond the Trial rewards, the Rubber Ducks themselves are rare Trinkets that sell for a significant sum at Speranza. A successful Bird City run with smart nest coverage can meaningfully pad your coin count on a fresh character, which is one of the few cases in this game where the word "passive income" applies to climbing around on abandoned buildings at gunpoint.

Quick Reference Checklist

1. Wait for Bird City map condition on Buried City. Do not attempt on any other map or without the event active.
2. Load in with a free or minimal loadout. There is no reason to risk good gear here.
3. Bring a Snap Hook or Zipline. Non-negotiable.
4. Spawn and orient yourself. Head south immediately. Ignore the north-east entirely.
5. Follow the southern loop: Plaza Rosa > Church Ruins > Piazza Arbusto > Town Hall > Corso Da Vinci > Santa Maria Houses.
6. Check every chimney on sloped rooftops, including ones other raiders have already opened.
7. Track your score in the Logbook. Do not extract until you have 4,000+ points (23 nests minimum).
8. Extract safely with your Rubber Ducks and your dignity.