Buried City rewards Raiders who plan their movement before entering its larger buildings. Its narrow streets, multi-floor interiors, and exposed plazas make it easy to lose time searching the wrong rooms or get caught between rival players and ARC patrols. A successful raid depends on choosing buildings that match your loot priorities, using location-specific keys efficiently, and keeping a practical extraction route in mind.
If you are collecting ARC Raiders Items for Workshop upgrades, quests, or equipment preparation, you should treat each building as part of a larger route rather than searching every marked location. Hospital is a strong destination for medical loot, Town Hall offers a more focused high-value search, and residential areas provide another option when you want to avoid spending too much time in the busiest central streets. The best route is the one that gives you useful loot without forcing you to cross the entire map to extract.
1. Which Buried City Buildings Are Worth Searching?
Buried City has several distinct loot areas, but their value depends on what you need and how much risk you are willing to accept. Loot-zone markings help identify areas worth investigating, but they do not guarantee specific items or fixed container contents. Other Raiders may also reach a building before you, so the condition of the area can change from one raid to another.
Hospital is one of the main destinations for medical supplies. It is marked as a red loot zone and is particularly relevant when you need medical materials or are working on the Medical Merchandise quest. Its multi-floor layout gives you several areas to check, but the same layout can make it dangerous to search without listening for nearby movement. Clear your immediate surroundings before committing to a longer search.
Town Hall sits in the central part of Buried City and is marked as an orange loot zone. Its location makes it a useful stop when your route already passes through the central district. The building is worth considering if you have its dedicated key, but do not assume that every container or high-value item will be available on every run.
Library is a practical starting point for Raiders who want to explore the northern part of the map. It gives you an opportunity to search an indoor location before deciding whether to move toward Hospital or rotate elsewhere. Its position also makes it easier to build a shorter northern route rather than immediately crossing the open central streets.
Grandioso Apartments are worth considering when you need residential loot or have the Residential Master Key. The apartment buildings offer multiple interior spaces, but searching them can take time. Check the rooms that fit your objective instead of treating every floor as mandatory.
Space Travel, the J Kozma Ventures building, is another important location because of its dedicated access card. Its multi-floor interior can make navigation slower, so it is better approached with a clear reason to enter, especially when you are carrying valuable equipment.
Plaza Rosa and Piazza Arbusto can also fit into a broader search. Their commercial and medical loot categories make them useful alternatives when you do not want to commit to a major locked building. However, their value still depends on available containers, nearby players, and your current inventory needs.
2. Buried City Keys and Where to Use Them
Location-specific keys can make a raid more rewarding, but carrying one should influence your route from the beginning. A key is most useful when you can reach its corresponding building without making a long, exposed detour. Before deploying, check which key you have and decide whether the locked room is worth prioritizing over nearby loot or a safer extraction.
| Key | Location | Door or access point |
| Buried City Hospital Key | Hospital | Locked room on the second floor, in the northwestern section |
| Buried City Town Hall Key | Town Hall | Ground-level door on the northern side |
| Buried City JKV Employee Access Card | Space Travel / J Kozma Ventures | Locked access on the fourth floor, on the northern side |
| Buried City Residential Master Key | Designated residential buildings | Specific apartment doors, including locations at Grandioso Apartments and elsewhere in Buried City |
The Buried City Hospital Key gives you access to a locked room inside Hospital. If you are already searching the building for medical supplies or completing Medical Merchandise, using the key can fit naturally into the same trip. Avoid entering Hospital solely because you have the key if the surrounding area is already active with enemy movement.
The Buried City Town Hall Key opens a ground-level door on the north side of Town Hall. Since the building is centrally located, it can be combined with a central-city route. The main consideration is exposure: nearby streets and entrances can make it difficult to leave safely if another Raider group arrives while you are looting.
The Buried City JKV Employee Access Card is used inside the Space Travel building, which is also identified as J Kozma Ventures. The access point is on the fourth floor on the northern side. Because reaching an upper-floor room requires additional movement through the building, check the surrounding area before starting the climb.
The Buried City Residential Master Key is more flexible than the other location-specific keys because it can open designated apartment doors in multiple parts of the map. Grandioso Apartments is one known location, but the key does not open every residential door. Check the marked access point rather than assuming any locked apartment can be unlocked with it.
3. Practical Indoor Routes for Buried City
A good route should connect useful buildings with an extraction point that you can reach without crossing unnecessary open ground. The following routes are starting plans, not fixed paths. Adjust them according to your spawn, the condition of nearby buildings, available keys, and activity from other Raiders.
Northern Route: Library, Hospital, and Northern Station
Start with Library if you spawn in the northern area and want an indoor location to search before committing to a more dangerous building. Once you have checked the useful rooms, decide whether Hospital is worth visiting. If you need medical loot or have the Hospital Key, it can be a logical second stop.
Hospital should not become an automatic destination simply because it has a red loot-zone marking. Its value depends on what you are collecting and whether you can search it without attracting unwanted attention. If you hear sustained gunfire, repeated footsteps, or signs that another group is already inside, consider leaving the area instead of forcing the encounter.
Northern Station is a natural extraction option for a northern route. Check your approach before leaving the last building, and avoid adding another major search location if your inventory is already valuable.
Central Route: Town Hall and Nearby Commercial Areas
Town Hall is a useful anchor for a central-city route. Raiders with the Town Hall Key can prioritize its locked room, while those without it can search nearby buildings such as Piazza Arbusto or other accessible commercial areas.
The advantage of this route is that you can concentrate your search around the central district rather than spending time moving between distant landmarks. The disadvantage is that central locations can attract other players. Keep track of the entrances you have used and avoid remaining inside a building after its useful containers have been searched.
Once you have enough loot, choose the nearest practical Metro extraction. Western Station or Eastern Station may be more suitable depending on your position and the activity around the route. Do not assume that the closest station is automatically safe; check the approach and listen for other players before committing.
Southwestern Route: Grandioso Apartments and Residential Areas
Grandioso Apartments can serve as the main objective for a southwestern route, especially if you have the Residential Master Key. Search the relevant apartment access point first, then decide whether nearby residential buildings are worth checking.
This route is more efficient when you have a specific need for residential materials or want to use the key during the same raid. Avoid searching every apartment simply because it is nearby. Moving repeatedly between floors and rooms increases the time you spend indoors and makes it harder to react if another Raider enters the area.
After finishing the search, consider whether Western Station or Southern Station offers the more practical exit. If reaching either station requires crossing a busy street or exposed plaza, reassess your route before leaving the building.
4. Buried City Extraction Points
Buried City has two main types of extraction: Metro Stations and Raider Hatches. Knowing the difference matters because each has its own access requirements.
The map has four Metro Station extraction points:
- Northern Station
- Western Station
- Eastern Station
- Southern Station
These stations provide the standard Metro extraction option. You need to reach the relevant entrance and use the extraction process available there. The station nearest to your final building is not always the best choice if other Raiders are nearby or your approach leaves you exposed.
Buried City also has four Raider Hatches:
- Collapsed Supermarket Hatch
- Train Station Hatch
- Highway Overpass Hatch
- Old Town Hatch
Raider Hatches require a Raider Hatch Key. They can be useful when a Metro Station is too far away or when your route naturally brings you close to a hatch. However, carrying the required key is essential; reaching a hatch without one does not give you the same extraction option.
One location worth distinguishing is Marano Station. It appears as a named location on Buried City maps, but it should not be confused with one of the four listed Metro extraction points. When planning an exit, use the actual extraction markers rather than relying on similar location names.
The safest approach is to identify a primary extraction point before you begin looting and keep a second option in mind. This reduces the chance of crossing the map with a full inventory because your original exit has become too dangerous.
5. How to Handle Indoor Encounters
Indoor fights are different from engagements across Buried City’s open streets. Walls, stairwells, doorways, and narrow corridors limit visibility and reduce the time available to react. A weapon that performs well at longer ranges may become difficult to use when an opponent suddenly appears at close distance.
A versatile loadout is usually more practical than building entirely around one engagement range. Use a weapon that can handle street-level encounters, while keeping a close-range option available for tight interiors. Your choice should also account for ammunition and healing supplies, since a prolonged fight can leave you poorly prepared for the extraction journey.
Sound is particularly important inside buildings. Sprinting through several rooms can reveal your position before you see another Raider. When you hear footsteps or other signs of player activity, slow down and pay attention to the direction and distance of the sound. Avoid rushing through doorways without checking the next room.
Stairwells deserve extra caution. They create predictable movement paths and can expose you to opponents holding an angle from above or below. Before changing floors, listen for movement and check the available sightlines. If you do not need to enter another section of the building, leaving it unexplored may be the better decision.
You should also distinguish between ARC threats and player threats. Fighting an ARC patrol can draw attention from nearby Raiders, while engaging another player can create noise that attracts additional enemies. Do not start a fight unless the potential reward justifies the ammunition, healing, and time it may cost.
6. Common Buried City Looting Mistakes
One common mistake is treating every marked loot zone as a guaranteed source of valuable items. Zone categories indicate the type or level of loot associated with an area, but individual containers are not guaranteed to produce a particular item. Search according to your actual needs and leave when the remaining containers are unlikely to justify the risk.
Another mistake is carrying a location-specific key without planning to use it. A Hospital Key or JKV Employee Access Card is only useful when you can reach the corresponding building and access point. If the route becomes too dangerous, keeping the key for another raid may be more sensible than forcing an entry.
Players also lose time by searching buildings too thoroughly. Once you have collected the materials or equipment you came for, continuing through every room adds risk without necessarily improving the haul. This is especially important in multi-floor buildings where every extra search takes time and creates more opportunities for an ambush.
Finally, do not delay extraction just because you are close to another point of interest. Valuable ARC Raiders Items only help your progression if you successfully bring them back. If your backpack already contains the materials you need, leaving Buried City safely is often a better decision than risking everything for one more container. Raiders who need to fill equipment gaps can also consider whether it makes more sense to buy ARC Raiders Weapons than spend another raid searching for a specific weapon.
7. Build Your Buried City Route Around the Exit
The most reliable Buried City strategy is to choose a loot objective, identify the key or building that supports it, and plan an extraction route before moving into the interior. Library and the northern area provide a practical starting point for shorter searches, Hospital is worth considering for medical loot, Town Hall suits central routes, and Grandioso Apartments can support residential searches.
Keys should determine where you go, not encourage you to cross the map without a reason. Use the Hospital, Town Hall, JKV, and Residential Master Keys when their access points fit your route. Keep Metro Stations and Raider Hatches in mind as separate extraction options, and remember that Raider Hatches require their own key.
Most importantly, know when to stop looting. Buried City offers plenty of buildings to explore, but a successful raid is not measured by how many rooms you enter. It is measured by whether you collect useful equipment, manage the risks inside the city, and extract with your haul intact.
