Find Bombardiers in ARC Raiders on Blue Gate, Spaceport, Dam Battlegrounds, Riven Tides, Pendola Pass, and Buried City.
Blue Gate and Spaceport have the most patrol spawn sites, with 8 each. Buried City is a useful alternative for a search built around recognizable landmarks and apartment cover. Bombardiers move, so treat each location as a search area, not a fixed enemy position. Listen for heavy mechanical movement, scout nearby buildings, and identify a retreat route before you fire, especially if Spotters are nearby.
Which map should you search for Bombardiers?
Bombardiers have 33 patrol spawn sites across these six maps. Some map conditions increase their presence, making the condition worth checking before you deploy.
| Map | Patrol spawn sites | Conditions with more Bombardiers | Search approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Gate | 8 | Hurricane | Scout around Raider's Refuge, industrial buildings, and the checkpoint |
| Spaceport | 8 | Hurricane or Night Raid | Check near the West Elevator and outside the Shipping Yard |
| Dam Battlegrounds | 5 | Hurricane | Inspect the area north of the Hydroponic Dome |
| Riven Tides | 5 | Night Raid | Choose Night Raid when hunting for more encounters |
| Pendola Pass | 4 | No condition bonus listed | Search for moving patrols and listen for their approach |
| Buried City | 3 | No condition bonus listed | Scout Marano Park, nearby residential areas, and the parking garage |
The site count is not the number of Bombardiers active in a single raid. A map with more possible patrol starts also does not guarantee an encounter at the first landmark you visit.
Choose Blue Gate or Spaceport when your priority is having more patrol sites to search. Choose Buried City when you prefer checking recognizable landmarks with nearby building cover.
If you're searching Dam Battlegrounds for workshop progression, the ARC Raiders Sentinel Firing Core locations give you a separate component objective when you cannot locate a Bombardier.
Where to look for Bombardier patrols
Blue Gate search areas
Start with the nearest of these areas instead of crossing the whole map to reach one preferred landmark:
- Raider's Refuge: Search the surrounding wooded area and listen before moving into exposed ground.
- Industrial warehouses: Check the spaces between buildings, where structures give you places to retreat.
- Checkpoint: Scout the fortified area before committing to a fight.
- Cliffside ruins: Use the higher viewpoints to inspect the ground below before approaching.
The warehouses are a practical place to look when you also want building cover nearby. The cliffside ruins offer viewing angles, but reaching them can expose you during the approach. Neither location removes the need to watch for other Raiders.
Search around Raider's Refuge
Buried City search areas
Check Marano Park, Plaza Rosa, and Santa Maria Houses as scouting stops. The hospital exterior and upper level of the parking garage are additional places to inspect when your route passes nearby.
Marano Park is open and has limited cover. Locate a building you can retreat into before drawing a Bombardier's attention. Spotting one in the park is not a reason to fight it from the grass.
The apartments around Plaza Rosa offer multiple rooms and exits for repositioning. At the parking garage, inspect the lower level before engaging a Bombardier above you, so you know where to withdraw between attacks.
Spaceport and Dam Battlegrounds search areas
On Spaceport, check between the buildings near the West Elevator and around the Shipping Yard exterior. The West Elevator area offers nearby structures, while the Shipping Yard exterior leaves you more exposed to other players.
If the patrol search comes up empty, the ARC Raiders Mushroom locations guide provides a fallback collection objective on Spaceport. Keep that detour separate from an active Bombardier fight.
On Dam Battlegrounds, inspect the area north of the Hydroponic Dome. Approach it as a patrol search, not a guaranteed encounter, and listen for the machine before entering open ground.
Hurricane increases Bombardier presence on both maps. Spaceport also gets more during Night Raid, giving you another condition to choose when planning a dedicated hunt.
How to recognize a Bombardier before engaging
Listen for movement and look for Spotters
The Bombardier is a slow, heavily armored ground unit that acts as mobile artillery. Its loud, grinding movement is a useful search cue when buildings or terrain block your view.
Watch for accompanying Spotters. Their targeting helps the Bombardier fire at Raiders hiding behind cover, so losing sight of the artillery unit does not make your position safe.
Watch for Spotter targeting
Choose your position before firing
The Bombardier has strong front-facing armor. A frontal shooting position gives you fewer useful angles than one that lets you reach its leg joints or rear.
Use a Hullcracker for the armored target, or consider the Ferro or Anvil as alternatives. If you plan to craft a Hullcracker for the hunt, the ARC Raiders blueprint locations guide can help you plan the separate search for crafting unlocks.
Bring explosives, shield recovery, healing, and smoke for the looting phase. Its slow movement makes grenades useful, but supplies do not replace a protected firing position.
What to do once you find a Bombardier
Control the fight before collecting loot
Use this sequence to turn a patrol sighting into a controlled engagement:
- Find a position with multiple exits. Give yourself another route if the Bombardier starts targeting your current opening.
- Destroy accompanying Spotters. Recheck for returning drones while the fight continues.
- Use explosives against the machine. Its large body and slow movement make it easier to keep within an explosive's damage area.
- Aim at the yellow weak points. Target the leg joints when they are accessible, or the rear cylinder when you have a clear angle.
- Recover before exposing yourself again. Recharge your shield and heal from cover instead of continuing a damage trade.
Destroying leg joints slows and briefly stuns the Bombardier. Damaged legs can also leave separate pieces to search after the kill, so remember where they fall.
The rear cylinder offers a valuable damage target, but reaching it can be dangerous alone. Do not abandon a protected position simply because the rear weak point exists.
Search the remains without extending the fight
After the kill, check your surroundings before approaching the wreckage. The fight's noise can attract rival Raiders, and looting leaves you occupied with the remains.
Use smoke to obscure the looting area, then search the main body and large detached parts before checking smaller pieces. Bombardier Cells can appear in multiple lootable parts, so inspecting only one section can leave your target material behind.
Smoke does not make you invisible. If you hear nearby footsteps, stop searching and return to cover instead of finishing another loot interaction.
Which Bombardier loot should you keep?
Bombardier Cells are the progression item to prioritize. Each weighs 1 kg, and they stack up to 3, so account for both weight and inventory space before the hunt.
| Progression goal | Bombardier Cells required | When to keep them |
|---|---|---|
| Refiner level 3 | 6 | Reserve these while the workshop upgrade is unfinished |
| Trophy Display, phase five: Imposing Behemoths | 8 | Save an additional set if you're working toward this project |
These are Cell requirements, not guaranteed drops from one kill. Count what you actually recover before deciding whether another hunt is necessary.
Move Cells into a Safe Pocket when your equipped augment provides one, then head for extraction. Once you've secured the amount needed for your immediate upgrade, leave the remaining patrol search for another raid.
