Arc Raiders Fireball Burner Guide: Locations, Farming, and Quest Tips

Fireball Burners are a surprisingly important resource in Arc Raiders. They look like another piece of uncommon scrap, yet they double as throwable incendiary devices and are required to finish early quests such as “What Goes Around”. Because Fireballs (the enemies that drop them) spawn inconsistently and mostly indoors, many players stall on these objectives longer than they need to.

This guide walks through everything you need to know about Fireball Burners: what they are, how Fireball enemies behave, the most reliable places to find them across maps, and how to use Burners effectively to finish quests that demand a Burner kill on ARC enemies. The focus is on practical, repeatable methods that minimize wasted runs.

Understanding Fireball Burners and Fireball Enemies

Before you start hunting, it helps to understand both the item and the enemy that drops it.

What Exactly Is a Fireball Burner?

In game terms, a Fireball Burner is:

• Item rarity: Uncommon crafting material.
• Function: Throwable part that creates a small patch of fire on impact, dealing damage over time.
• Primary use: Mostly crafting and quest objectives, with limited value as a pure damage tool.
• Source: Looted from defeated Fireball ARC enemies only.

Fireball Burners behave more like a reusable scrap component that happens to be throwable than a dedicated grenade. You can slot them into a quick-use slot to toss them, but the damage per toss is modest, so they shine when used smartly—especially to secure the last bit of health on an ARC target for quest progress.

Fireball ARCs: Small, Rolling Flamethrowers

Fireballs are compact spherical ARCs that specialize in burning you up at close range. They tend to roll around quietly until they spot you and then unfold to release a jet of flame. Their danger comes less from raw durability and more from how they ambush players in tight corridors.

Common traits of Fireball ARCs:

• Shape and size: Small metal spheres, easy to miss in cluttered interiors.
• Attack pattern: Roll toward you, then open their shell and spray flames in a short cone.
• Preferred terrain: Indoor hallways, narrow rooms, and complex interiors.
• Weak point: The exposed core when the shell opens to fire.

The opening animation is your cue: Fireballs are significantly more vulnerable when their armor plates unfold. If you time your shots to that moment, you can delete them fast, loot your Burner, and move on.

Where Fireballs Spawn: Map-by-Map Breakdown

Fireball enemies appear across several maps in Arc Raiders, but their spawn distribution is not uniform. They are heavily biased toward indoor spaces, particularly in objective-heavy zones like control centers and research facilities. While each raid instance can randomize exact spawns, certain areas consistently offer better odds.

Dam Battlegrounds: Efficient Starter Zone

Dam Battlegrounds is the most forgiving map for players still gearing up, making it an ideal starting point for Fireball Burner farming. It features several interior locations clustered together, allowing you to check multiple Fireball spawn points within a single short route.

Priority locations on Dam Battlegrounds:

• Control Tower: Tight stairwells and corridors where Fireballs often sit in wait.
• Research & Administration: Right next to the Control Tower, offering back-to-back indoor clearing.
• Hydroponic Dome Complex: Dome buildings with straightforward layouts, although higher loot quality can attract other players.
• Water Treatment & Testing Annex: Extra interior spaces to sweep if the tower locations are empty.

Buried City: Metro Runs and Hospital Wings

Buried City sits at a medium difficulty level. Fireballs here are common near key transit and medical areas, which also tend to be natural choke points.

Good places to search on Buried City:

• Metro Entrances: Corridors leading to and from the metro frequently mix small ARCs like Pops with Fireballs.
• Hospital and surrounding blocks: Indoor wards and service hallways, where Fireballs can hide behind corners.
• North-side interiors (e.g., Galleria): Denser ARC presence but also higher risk.

Metro routes are especially useful when you want to combine Burner farming with extraction-focused objectives, letting you kill multiple birds with one stone.

Spaceport / Stella Montis: High-Risk, High-Density

The Spaceport map ramps up difficulty sharply. Fireballs here are usually embedded inside complex, vertical interior areas where you can easily get cornered. This is not recommended if you’re undergeared or still learning to fight Fireballs consistently.

Key spots at the Spaceport:

• Flight Control: Multi-level building with numerous rooms and tight corners.
• Control Tower B6: High-value target for Fireball hunts but expect heavier resistance.
• Large indoor hangars or maintenance bays: Fireballs can appear near entrances and control rooms.

Because this map’s general threat level is high, many players prefer to farm Fireballs on Dam Battlegrounds first and only move to Spaceport once better weapons and armor are unlocked.

Optimal Fireball Farming Routes and Strategies

Fireball spawns are not guaranteed. Even in the best locations, you may have runs where none appear. The key is to design a route that lets you check several high-yield spots quickly while limiting the risk of being overwhelmed.

Recommended Short Route on Dam Battlegrounds

A solid starter loop on Dam Battlegrounds might look like this:

1. Drop close to the Control Tower. Enter from a lower door if possible, clearing floors methodically as you climb.
2. Push into Research & Administration. It’s typically a short walk from the tower; sweep main hallways and side rooms.
3. Head to Hydroponic Dome Complex. Focus on dome interiors; stay ready for other players in high-loot sectors.
4. Check Water Treatment and Testing Annex. Only if earlier buildings were empty and you still need Burners.
5. Extract or reset. Once you have a couple of Burners or you’ve cleared your loop, leave safely to bank them.

This route balances spawn density with travel time. Because the Control Tower and Research & Administration are adjacent, you can often tag at least one Fireball without crossing half the map.

General Tips for Consistent Fireball Farming

• Prioritize indoor nodes. Fireballs rarely appear outdoors. If you’re wandering open ground, you’re probably wasting time.
• Use audio cues. Listen for mechanical rolling or flame bursts from behind doors and corners.
• Stay mobile. Don’t linger too long in each room; Fireballs are small enough to miss on first glance.
• Accept RNG. Some raids will simply be dry. Start a new instance instead of overcommitting to a dead run.
• Bank surplus Burners. Store extras in safe storage between raids so a bad run or death doesn’t set you back to zero.

How to Defeat Fireballs Without Getting Torched

Loot only matters if you survive. Fireballs are simple enemies, but the environment amplifies their threat: tight corners, blocked lines of sight, and multiple ARCs in compact rooms. A bit of discipline goes a long way.

Reading Fireball Behavior

Fireballs operate on a fairly predictable loop:

1. They patrol or idle in an interior space.
2. Upon detecting you, they roll quickly in your direction.
3. Once in range, the shell segments open up.
4. A burst of flame sprays in a short arc, dealing fire damage over time.

Your best window to kill a Fireball is when it’s in step three—just as the shell opens. That’s when its inner components are exposed and incoming damage is amplified compared with hitting the closed shell.

Tactical Steps to Kill Fireballs Safely

• Bait the attack: Let the Fireball roll towards you, but maintain just enough distance to step sideways or backward when it opens.
• Wait for the shell to open: Resist the urge to panic fire while it’s fully armored.
• Blast the exposed core: As soon as you see the opening animation, dump shots from a high-damage weapon (a strong rifle or similar).
• Use cover intelligently: Pillars, door frames, and machinery can block line-of-sight if you need to duck out from the flames briefly.
• Clear other small enemies first: Pops and other minor ARCs can distract you at the worst time; eliminate them before pulling a Fireball into line-of-sight if possible.

Many players prefer a high-damage, single-target weapon for Fireballs—something that can burst the core quickly once exposed, minimizing the time spent under threat.

Getting Fireball Burners and Managing Your Stock

Once you kill a Fireball, you still need to loot it properly. A surprising number of players rush off the moment the explosion animation finishes.

How Fireball Burners Drop

• Origin: Fireball Burners drop exclusively from Fireball ARCs. Other enemies do not provide them.
• Appearance: On the ground, they resemble a standard uncommon recyclable or crafting material.
• Quantity: Often one Burner per Fireball, though loot variance can occur.

Walk up to the defeated Fireball and interact with the loot pile as you would with any fallen ARC. Check your inventory afterward to confirm that a Burner was added, especially when you are farming for quests.

Inventory Tips for Burners

• Keep at least one in reserve: Store a Burner in safe storage once you find it, so you always have a backup for future quests or mishaps.
• Slot one into quick-use: When you’re actively working on a Burner-based quest, keep a Burner ready in your quick slot so you can use it immediately.
• Don’t rely on Burners as main damage tools: Their damage output is modest; they’re best used situationally, not as primary ordnance.

Using Fireball Burners to Complete “What Goes Around” and Similar Quests

Several quests in Arc Raiders, starting with “What Goes Around”, ask you to destroy an ARC enemy using a Fireball Burner. This requirement can be confusing because Burners don’t behave like typical grenades and rarely one-shot enemies. The secret is to treat them as finishing moves, not openers.

Step-by-Step: Securing a Burner Kill

1. Equip a Burner in a quick-use slot. Enter the raid with at least one Burner ready for immediate use.
2. Find a vulnerable target. Choose a small, low-health ARC such as a Tick or Pop rather than a heavy unit.
3. Weaken the enemy first. Shoot the target until its health is very low, but do not kill it with bullets.
4. Swap to the Burner. Select your Burner quickly while keeping line-of-sight.
5. Throw accurately. Aim to land the Burner directly on or immediately next to the weakened ARC so it stands in the fire.
6. Let the fire finish it off. Do not add extra bullet damage once the enemy is burning; the kill must be credited to the Burner.

Once the ARC dies from the fire damage, the quest should update, and you can return to your quest giver (like Apollo) to claim the reward. You only need to do this successfully once for that specific objective, but keeping spare Burners ready will help if you miss the first attempt.

Common Mistakes That Prevent Quest Completion

• Killing with bullets by accident: If the final damage source is your gun, the quest will not progress even if the target touched the Burner fire.
• Choosing a tanky enemy: Heavier ARCs may survive the Burner’s damage over time, forcing you to kill them with other weapons and failing the condition.
• Throwing too far: Some ARC enemies move out of the fire quickly if the Burner doesn’t land close enough.
• Forgetting to equip the Burner: Carrying a Burner in your inventory without assigning it to quick-use leads to missed opportunities in fast fights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I craft Fireball Burners?

No. Fireball Burners are not craftable in Arc Raiders. They only drop from Fireball ARC enemies as uncommon recyclable materials. If you run out, you must farm more Fireballs.

Do Fireball Burners count as grenades?

Mechanically, the game treats Burners as recyclable materials that can be thrown, not as conventional grenades. They behave similarly to a weak incendiary grenade in practice, but they won’t appear in your grenade slot; instead, you assign them to quick-use inventory.

Where should I farm Fireballs if I’m new to the game?

Start on Dam Battlegrounds. Focus on the Control Tower, Research & Administration, Hydroponic Dome Complex, Water Treatment, and Testing Annex. These areas have good Fireball potential with more manageable overall difficulty than Buried City or the Spaceport.

How many Burners do I need for “What Goes Around”?

You only need one successful Burner kill on an ARC enemy for that quest, but having several Burners on hand offers insurance in case your first attempt fails or the enemy dies to bullet damage instead.

Are Fireballs ever found outside buildings?

It’s uncommon. Across the main maps, Fireballs spawn almost exclusively indoors in tight hallways and small rooms. Outdoor encounters are rare exceptions, so you should focus on interior nodes for consistent farming.