Stop turning a three-plank objective into an all-night loot grind. In Arc Raiders, planks matter for Outpost construction and furniture, but your immediate requirement should decide how you collect them. Before spending anything on ARC Raiders Items, check whether you need three planks for progression or a larger reserve for decorating. Those are different jobs, and treating them alike wastes time.
Step 1: How many planks do you need for the Outpost
The Outpost building-material section requires three planks alongside five sheet metal, ten ARC Alloy, and three Advanced Electrical Components. Check your stored materials before heading topside. A raid dedicated to wood makes little sense if the actual bottleneck is an electrical component you still need to craft.
Planks weigh 0.1 each and appear in stacks of one to three within the Outpost material pool. That means a single suitable find can cover the initial wood requirement, but eligible containers don't promise that result. Set a collection target before deploying: three for construction, then a separate amount for furniture you actually intend to build.
Step 2: Should you buy planks from Celeste
Celeste sells planks and sheet metal for three assorted seeds per item. For the initial construction requirement, buying both costs 24 seeds. My recommendation is straightforward: use the purchase option when finishing this stage is your only objective and you have the seeds available.
| Material | Quantity needed | Seeds per item | Total seeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planks | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Sheet metal | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Both materials | 8 | 3 | 24 |
The downside is spending seeds rather than collecting materials during another objective. Looting becomes the better fit when you're already visiting suitable buildings or want furniture supplies beyond the construction minimum. Don't confuse a displayed marketplace median of zero seeds with Celeste's actual purchase price.
Step 3: Where should you search for planks on Pendola Pass
Start with Old Town if your route allows it. Its 665 possible plank spots form the largest listed concentration on Pendola Pass, ahead of Commissary Supermarket at 231 and Researcher Lodgings at 160. These numbers describe eligible storage, not guaranteed material spawns, so use them to choose a search area rather than predict your haul.
Work through adjoining houses instead of crossing the map between isolated containers. Kitchen cupboards, kitchen benches, wardrobes, console chests, medical drawers, Venetian drawers, and stacking boxes are useful targets. I could be wrong, but a compact circuit through several houses looks more practical than chasing the highest container count regardless of your starting position.
Step 4: Which containers should you skip while farming planks
A room's theme isn't enough. Refrigerators and small desk drawers are excluded from the residential plank pool, while commercial cash registers, freezers, and fridges are also excluded. Eligible storage can roll roughly 100 different items, so even a correct container can leave you empty-handed.
Search several eligible containers within one building before moving to the next.
In shops, prioritize stacking boxes and cafe cupboard drawers over food-storage appliances.
In offices, check filing-cabinet drawers, desks, and office trash bins.
Once you reach your planned quantity, shift toward extraction instead of extending the raid for optional wood.
Don't turn a materials run into a full-building clear by habit. Extra containers create more chances, but extra distance also means more time carrying what you've already found. Your target quantity gives you a stopping rule.
Step 5: How do you collect planks and sheet metal together
Old Town and Commissary Supermarket support a mixed-material route. Old Town has 525 possible sheet-metal spots, while the supermarket has 960, including 828 shelf spots. Search eligible furniture for planks, then inspect shelves and other loose-loot surfaces for metal as you move through the same area.
Keep the search patterns separate in your head: wood sends you into drawers and cupboards; metal also rewards checking tables, chairs, sofas, and shelving. Combining those checks is more efficient than planning two independent trips. But don't force a supermarket detour after collecting everything your project needs.
Step 6: What should you do after collecting three planks
Submit the building materials through the Outpost tab outside a raid. If progression hasn't reached that section, the earlier research objective involves taking a camera to Ruined Homestead on Blue Gate and photographing a farmland house. Later, the building-site safeguard section requires 800 damage to flying ARC enemies and 300 damage to Bullies, with 15 planks included in its rewards.
That later reward is a reason not to overfarm furniture supplies before finishing construction. Also, don't destroy furniture expecting a dependable plank return: the recovery descriptions conflict, so inspect the displayed breakdown result first. Complete your current material requirement, keep ARC Raiders BluePrints buy browsing separate from your construction checklist, and put your next raid toward the remaining Outpost objective.
