The Forgotten Relics event is officially live in ARC Raiders, and players are racing against the clock to complete the event battle pass before it wraps up on July 27, 2026. The ultimate prize at the end of this grind is the highly anticipated Saltwalker Outfit. While you will naturally accumulate the required Merits just by playing matches and earning passive XP, relying purely on standard gameplay is going to take a while. If you want to unlock the Saltwalker set fast, you need a targeted strategy built around hunting down Relic items and extracting with them efficiently.



Physical Relics are the absolute meta for point progression right now. Depositing these items yields massive boosts to your event score, turning what looks like a daunting weeks-long grind into something you can knock out in just a few dedicated sessions. Here is the exact breakdown of how to optimize your runs, hit the right loot spots, and unlock your gear ahead of the pack.



1. Target the Best Maps for Relics

Relics are classified as trinkets within the game mechanics, meaning they heavily populate areas with high container density and specific high-tier item spawns. Instead of wandering aimlessly across the maps, you should focus your deployments on three specific high-yield zones:



Buried City (Space Travel Building): This area is an absolute goldmine for high-rarity loot. When navigating the Space Travel building, look out for breachable doors. Blowing through these barriers gives you access to secure offices where Legendary and Epic trinkets are frequently found just sitting out in the open on desks and chairs.



Damn Battlegrounds (Pale Apartments & Patterned Houses): If you are dropping into Damn Battlegrounds, make a beeline for the top-left quadrant of the map. The Pale Apartments, the distinct red building directly across from them, and the surrounding cluster of patterned houses are incredibly dense with lootable structures and hidden rooms.



Riven Tides (Hotel): For fans of Riven Tides, the central Hotel area is the premier destination. The multi-story layout provides rapid, concentrated relic spawns in close proximity, making it a favorite for teams looking for quick rotations.



2. Prioritize Container Looting Over Combat

The biggest trap players fall into during collection events is getting bogged down in protracted firefights. Heavy ARC units are bullet sponges that drain your ammunition, compromise your position to rival Raiders, and offer very little return on event progression relative to the time invested.



To maximize your efficiency, adopt a pure runner mindset. Sprint through structures, bypass non-essential combat encounters, and systematically open every single container you pass. Keep your eyes peeled for lockers, drawers, and heavy supply crates. These containers are the primary sources for physical relics, and hitting them in rapid succession is significantly faster than fighting your way through an ARC patrol.



3. Successfully Extract to Lock in Your Progress

Finding a bag full of Legendary trinkets means nothing if you do not make it home. Merits tied to physical relics are only credited to your event battle pass upon a successful extraction. If you happen to pull high-value Epic or Legendary trinkets early in a raid, break off from your looting route immediately and head straight to the nearest extraction point.



Securing a live extraction with a high-tier haul can lock in hundreds of Merits from a single run. Dying with a backpack full of relics throws away all that progress, so prioritize survival and know when to call it quits and cash in your rewards.



4. Complete Parallel Milestones for Variants

While you are grinding out your main Merits, do not ignore the concurrent Converging Paths Project. Progressing through these parallel assignment stages unlocks alternative cosmetic variants to complete your look. For instance, reaching Stage 6 of the project rewards you with the distinctSaltwalker Red & Black outfit color variant. This particular milestone requires you to actively deal damage to ARC enemies using mines and traps, so try to layer these mechanical tasks into your runs while you search for containers.



Community Tips & Perspectives

Sifting through recent community discussions highlights just how effective targeted looting routes can be compared to older event styles. Experienced players are emphasizing map knowledge and aggressive container farming as the fastest path to completion.



“Nahhh dude damn battlegrounds is where it's at go to the pale apartments or patterned houses and you'll find all of your... relics in there. You'll get the whole project done in a couple games thank me later.”

— Community Runner



“If it was like the ship event, going for the ships specifically made the progression really quick. I imagine it will be similar but with the new relics.”

— Veteran Raider



By focusing your drops on loot-dense landmarks like the Buried City Space Travel complex or the Damn Battlegrounds apartments, minimizing unnecessary combat engagement, and extracting safely as soon as your inventory is loaded with high-tier trinkets, you will maximize your Merit per hour and unlock the Saltwalker Outfit well ahead of the July 27 deadline.