The Riven Tides update brought a new coastal map to Arc Raiders, but Celeste's "Line in the Sand" quest sends you right back to Buried City. The story here involves a Stella Montis hard drive containing transport schedules for vital Exodus components, and a train from Stella Montis that never made it to Marano Station. The objectives are genuinely vague, which is the main reason players keep getting stuck. Four locations, no extractions required, and rewards worth the trip.
You don't need to extract anything during this quest, so a free kit or light personal loadout works fine. Pack extra Adrenaline Shots and Medical Bandages in case you run into trouble while traveling between locations, as confirmed by multiple community walkthroughs.
What are all the steps for Line in the Sand?
The quest has exactly 4 objectives, each locked until you complete the previous one. Here's the full sequence:
How to find the train that never reached Marano Station
Your first instinct might be to head directly to Marano Station, but the clue is in the phrasing: the train never arrived. Follow the tracks south from Marano Station and look for the blue derailed train cars sitting in the sand. According to PC Gamer's walkthrough, they're positioned between Warehouse and Piazza Roma, roughly in the centre of Buried City.
You don't need to press any button or interact with anything here. Simply walking up to the train cars triggers the objective update automatically. Celeste will radio in with the next task.
The train that never reached Marano
How to find out who orchestrated the robbery
This is the step that trips people up most. The objective gives no map marker and no real hint about direction. Head northeast from the derailed train and you'll spot a small square tower at the end of a wall, sitting between Warehouse and Piazza Roma, just west of Piazza Roma itself.
Climb over the railing to get inside. In the southwest corner, behind a bush or plant, you'll find an interactable spot. Search it, and the Marano Market Business Card item drops. Pick it up immediately and store it in a safe pocket, as Destructoid notes you'll want to keep it secure for the rest of the run. The objective updates as soon as you grab the card.
The Marano Market Business Card is a quest item. If you finish the quest with it still in your inventory, both Polygon and Beebom confirm you can safely sell it afterward.
How to find out where the thruster valves were stashed
The business card points you toward "Marano Market," but that name doesn't appear on the in-game map. According to Polygon's walkthrough, zoom into the map and look northeast of the Hospital to find the location labeled Market Ruins. That's where you're headed.
Same deal as the train: approach the outside of the collapsed building (the one with the raider hatch on its north side) and the objective ticks over automatically. No interaction needed, no items to find. The quest just registers your presence.
How to search the basement of the merchant's nearby apartment
From Market Ruins, head northeast again toward a building on the edge of the map, north of the Dune's End location. According to PC Gamer, you can enter through the front of the building and go through a door to find a zipline that drops a long way down into a basement.
Ride the zipline down. At the bottom, approach the stack of cardboard boxes along the wall. A prompt to take a photo will appear. Interact with it, the photo gets taken, and the quest completes. That's it.
Don't forget to actually pick up the Marano Market Business Card in step 2 before moving on. Skipping it means the step won't complete even if you've visited the tower location.
Basement photo prompt location
What rewards do you get for completing Line in the Sand?
Once you return to Celeste at Speranza, the quest pays out the following, as documented by Beebom:
- 2x Exodus Modules
- 2x Magnetic Accelerator
- 2x Magnetron
These are solid materials for crafting and progression, making this one of the more rewarding quick quests in the Riven Tides update. The whole run takes under a single raid if you know the locations, and since nothing needs to be extracted, there's no risk of losing progress to a bad wipe.
Is Line in the Sand worth doing on a free kit?
Absolutely. Every source covering this quest agrees: because you're not extracting any items (the photo is taken in-place and the business card can be sold after), there's no reason to bring expensive gear. A free loadout gets the job done. The main hazard is other players and Arc machines while jogging between the four locations, so bring healing consumables and stay aware of your surroundings on Buried City's open stretches.
For more Arc Raiders quest coverage and everything else dropping in the Riven Tides update, browse more guides at GAMES.GG.