ARC Raiders Phantom Targets Part 2: All 6 Objectives

ARC Raiders Phantom Targets Part 2 confused a lot of players who cleared the cargo elevator antenna objective and went looking for it: the game already had a next set of tasks waiting, weeks before the August 18 date Embark's own patch notes attached to it. That's not a bug and it's not early access to unreleased content. It's a labeling mismatch between what the ARC Raiders Wiki calls "Part 1" and what most players, and most YouTube guides, call "Part 2."

This guide covers the 6 objectives players actually mean when they search for Phantom Targets Part 2: three from a stage called Test ARC Parts For Irregular Behavior, and three from Test Multiple Destruction Methods. Both have been completable since August 4. It also covers what's genuinely still locked, and what a community datamine says (unconfirmed) is coming with it.

TL;DR: The Pop Trigger, Wasp Driver, and Leaper Pulse Unit objectives, plus the fire damage, energy weapon, and launcher ammo objectives, have been live since Update 1.40.0 on August 4, not locked until August 18 as widely assumed. Stage 2 rewards 50 Raider Tokens, an Aphelion, a Dolabra, and a Jupiter. Stage 3 rewards 50 Raider Tokens, a Powered Descender, a Horizontal Grip, and a Snap Hook. The genuinely locked content, the ARC Raiders Wiki's own "Part 2" tab, shows nothing except a lock date. A datamine (unofficial) points to a glitched-ARC hunt and a Tick Hunter cosmetic bundle shipping the same day.

Is ARC Raiders Phantom Targets Part 2 already unlocked? (quick answer)

Mostly, yes, and it has been since August 4. What players call "Part 2" in searches, videos, and Reddit threads is actually two stages nested inside the wiki's "Part 1" tab: Test ARC Parts For Irregular Behavior and Test Multiple Destruction Methods. Both went live the same day as the antenna objective from our Part 1 guide. The wiki's own separate "Part 2" tab is real, but it's empty, showing only a lock date of August 18.

Key takeaways

• Stage 2 and Stage 3 are already live. Both unlocked with Update 1.40.0 on August 4, not August 18 as widely reported, including in this site's own earlier coverage.
• Stage 2 needs 3 damage thresholds: 50 damage via Pop Trigger, 500 via Wasp Driver, 1,000 via Leaper Pulse Unit.
• Stage 3 needs 3 destruction methods: 1,500 fire damage, 3 heavy ARC destroyed with energy weapons, 20 Flying ARC destroyed with Launcher Ammo.
• No map restriction on Stage 2 or 3, unlike Stage 1's 3-map limit.
• The real "Part 2" is still blank. The ARC Raiders Wiki's locked tab shows no objectives, only "Locked until August 18, 2026."
• A datamine (unconfirmed) describes a glitched-ARC hunt for "infected parts," plus a separately-bundled Tick Hunter cosmetic set and a new map condition, all tied to the same August 18 date.

Overview: what Phantom Targets actually looks like right now

Phantom Targets is a 33-day Raider Project that Embark's official Update 1.40.0 patch notes confirm runs from August 4 through September 6, 2026. The ARC Raiders Wiki's project page shows the underlying structure clearly once you look at the page's actual tab markup rather than its flattened text: a tab labeled "Part 1" contains three nested stages, and a separate tab labeled "Part 2" is locked.

Here's the part that trips people up. Two of those three nested "Part 1" stages, Test ARC Parts For Irregular Behavior and Test Multiple Destruction Methods, involve exactly the kind of ARC-focused combat objectives that got attached to the "Part 2" label in early coverage, including this site's own. Multiple dated Reddit threads confirm players were already grinding these stages on August 5 through August 10, and at least four separate YouTube guides on how to farm Pop Triggers, Wasp Drivers, and Leaper Pulse Units were published on August 4, the same day Update 1.40.0 shipped. Whatever Embark's internal stage numbering says, this content was never gated behind August 18.

This guide covers Stage 2 and Stage 3 in full, since that's what most players searching "Phantom Targets Part 2" actually need done. If you haven't finished the antenna objective yet, the cargo elevator antenna guide covers that first step, including which of the game's extraction points qualify.

Embark's own Phantom Targets promotional art leans into the project's tracking-and-surveillance framing, a fitting visual for an event built around identifying and testing ARC weak points.

Step-by-Step: clearing Stage 2, Test ARC Parts For Irregular Behavior

Stage 2 asks you to deal damage to any ARC enemy using three specific thrown items, one damage threshold per item. All three items are proximity-detonated charges, not weapons you aim and fire, and all three are crafted exclusively from machine-drop materials.

1. Craft or find Pop Triggers, Wasp Drivers, and Leaper Pulse Units. These are the same Level 3 Workshop materials covered in the ARC Raiders workshop upgrade items guide: Pop Trigger drops from killing Pop units, Wasp Driver from Wasps, and Leaper Pulse Unit from Leapers. Container loot doesn't produce any of them. You need actual kills.

2. Deal 50 damage to any ARC using Pop Triggers. Pop Triggers are the hardest of the three to land, based on how players who've cleared this stage describe them: small, fast to detonate, easy to lose track of after throwing. The trick that keeps coming up is funneling a Shredder into a tight space (a small room off Stella Montis's medical building is one spot people named specifically) and launching the trigger through a doorway or pipe opening so it detonates close.

3. Deal 500 damage to any ARC using Wasp Drivers. Toss a Wasp Driver under a Rocketeer (players commonly call this unit "Bombardier") and it registers hits in the hundreds per detonation. A few players piled multiple drivers together and set one off with a nearby trigger item, clearing the whole threshold in a single engagement instead of one throw at a time.

4. Deal 1,000 damage to any ARC using Leaper Pulse Unit. This is the slowest of the three to grind through sheer numbers, since 1,000 damage against most ARC health pools takes multiple detonations. Thrown under a Rocketeer, a single Leaper Pulse Unit lands 400 or more damage per hit by most accounts, so two to three good throws clears it. Actual Leaper machines work too. Spaceport's central tower area is a spot where multiple Leapers spawn close together in one raid.

5. Track progress in the Phantom Targets project menu. Each threshold updates independently, so you don't need to finish one before starting another in the same raid if you're carrying all three item types.

GODEEPER: Pop Trigger, Wasp Driver, and Leaper Pulse Unit aren't just Phantom Targets tools. They're also mandatory Workshop Level 3 crafting materials. See exactly which stations need them and how many. ARC Raiders Workshop Upgrade Items Guide →

Step-by-Step: clearing Stage 3, Test Multiple Destruction Methods

Stage 3 shifts from thrown ARC-part charges to your actual loadout: fire damage items, energy weapons, and launcher ammo. This is the stage that gave rise to the "shifts toward ARC-focused combat" framing in earlier Phantom Targets coverage, since all three objectives require dedicated gear choices rather than opportunistic item throws.

1. Deal 1,500 fire damage to ARC enemies. Four items count toward this: Blaze Grenade, Firefly Burner, Fireball Burner, and Flame Spray. Fire damage ticks over time rather than landing in one hit, so this threshold clears fastest against ARC types that stay in the burn zone instead of retreating, like Ticks and Pops rather than mobile fliers.

2. Destroy 3 heavy ARC using energy weapons. The qualifying targets are Bastion, Leaper, Vaporizer, or Rocketeer, in any combination. The qualifying weapons are Aphelion, Dolabra, Jupiter, and Equalizer, all Legendary-rarity energy weapons covered in the ARC Raiders weapons tier list. The machine type guide breaks down each target's weak points if you're not confident identifying Bastion versus Rocketeer at range yet, and the Vaporizer boss guide covers that specific fight if you haven't run it before.

3. Destroy 20 Flying ARC using Launcher Ammo weapons. Hullcracker and Rascal are the two qualifying weapons. Twenty kills is the steepest number in either stage, and Wasps (the most common flying type across every map) are the fastest way to rack it up, since they die in fewer hits than Hornets or Fireflies.

4. Bank rewards after either threshold clears, whichever finishes first. There's no requirement to complete Stage 3's three objectives in order.

Energy Clips gate two of these three objectives (the energy weapons in step 2 all use them), and they don't drop reliably outside Red zone containers. If you're not already stockpiling Energy Clips for other reasons, budget a session specifically for Red zone runs before you start this stage, rather than hoping to find enough clips mid-grind.

GODEEPER: All four Stage 3 energy weapons, Aphelion, Dolabra, Jupiter, and Equalizer, are ranked against the rest of the game's arsenal with PvE-specific notes on Energy Clip cost. ARC Raiders Weapons Tier List →

Stage 2 and Stage 3 rewards

Stage 2, Test ARC Parts For Irregular Behavior, pays out 50 Raider Tokens plus one each of Aphelion, Dolabra, and Jupiter, according to the ARC Raiders Wiki's project tracker. Getting a free Legendary energy weapon roll from a project objective is a meaningfully better return than most players will craft or find organically this early into a season, and all three happen to be the exact weapons Stage 3's energy weapon objective needs.

Stage 3, Test Multiple Destruction Methods, pays out 50 Raider Tokens plus a Powered Descender, Horizontal Grip, and Snap Hook. The Powered Descender is an Epic-rarity gadget for controlled descent, first added back in the Riven Tides update; getting a free one here saves a real crafting cost if you haven't built one yet.

Embark's own promotional banner for the store update cycle that shipped Update 1.40.0, the patch that actually unlocked Stage 2 and Stage 3 on August 4.

What's actually locked until August 18 (the real Phantom Targets Part 2)

Here's where the honest answer gets less specific. The ARC Raiders Wiki's own "Part 2" tab, the one genuinely gated behind a lock icon, contains nothing except the text "Locked until August 18, 2026." No objectives, no rewards, nothing datamine-confirmed on the wiki itself as of this writing.

A separate community datamine, discussed on r/ArcRaiders and sourced to files found via the third-party tracking tool Metaforge, describes four things said to be shipping August 18 alongside Update 1.42: a real further Phantom Targets track described as fighting "glitched ARC" enemies for "infected parts," a cosmetic outfit reward tied to finishing it, a separately-sold Tick Hunter cosmetic bundle (the same promotional art on this page), and an unspecified new map condition. A referenced "phase 6" project whiteboard image apparently points toward Embark's already-announced Frozen Trail expansion, due October 8.

None of this is confirmed by Embark. Commenters in the same datamine thread flagged the item names as likely placeholders, and Embark has changed reward items between datamine and live release before. Treat the glitched-ARC framing as the most probable shape of the real Part 2, not a guaranteed final version.

Tips

Carry all three Stage 2 items on every raid until you clear the stage. Pop Trigger, Wasp Driver, and Leaper Pulse Unit are all lightweight, and since each objective tracks independently, there's no reason to farm them one at a time across separate runs.

Don't burn Energy Clips on other loadouts until Stage 3's energy weapon objective is done. All four qualifying weapons share the same ammo pool, and it's the tightest resource constraint in either stage.

Riven Tides rewards Stage 2 farming specifically. Multiple players named it for both Shredder encounters (Pop Trigger) and general ARC density, letting you work on more than one Stage 2 threshold per raid without map-hopping.

Ignore Stage 1's 3-map restriction once you're on Stage 2 or 3. Neither later stage lists a map requirement, so run whichever zone you're most comfortable in rather than defaulting back to Dam Battlegrounds, Spaceport, or Riven Tides out of habit.

Common Mistakes

Assuming Stage 2 and 3 are locked because Part 1's own reporting said Part 2 unlocks August 18. That framing, including this site's earlier coverage, was accurate to what was officially confirmed at the time but got overtaken by what actually shipped. Check your in-game project tracker before assuming a stage isn't available yet.

Throwing Pop Triggers at long range. They're a proximity-detonation item, not a grenade meant for direct hits. Get closer than feels comfortable, or the detonation radius won't tag the target at all.

Selling Powered Descenders, Horizontal Grips, or Snap Hooks before checking if Stage 3 still needs them. All three are Stage 3 rewards, not crafting inputs, but players used to recycling anything unfamiliar have accidentally vendored reward items mid-project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ARC Raiders Phantom Targets Part 2 unlocked yet? The 6 combat objectives most players mean by "Part 2" (Pop Trigger, Wasp Driver, Leaper Pulse Unit, fire damage, energy weapons, launcher ammo) have been live since Update 1.40.0 on August 4. The wiki's actual locked "Part 2" tab still shows no content as of this writing.

What are Pop Triggers, Wasp Drivers, and Leaper Pulse Units in ARC Raiders? They're thrown, proximity-triggered charges crafted from ARC machine drops. Toss one near an ARC unit and it detonates on approach, dealing damage without a direct gun hit.

How do you get Pop Triggers, Wasp Drivers, and Leaper Pulse Units? They only drop from killing the matching ARC type: Pop, Wasp, and Leaper machines respectively. Container loot doesn't produce them, so you need actual kills on White or Orange zone runs.

What are the Stage 2 and Stage 3 rewards in Phantom Targets? Stage 2 (Test ARC Parts) gives 50 Raider Tokens plus one Aphelion, one Dolabra, and one Jupiter. Stage 3 (Test Multiple Destruction Methods) gives 50 Raider Tokens plus a Powered Descender, Horizontal Grip, and Snap Hook.

What is actually locked until August 18 in ARC Raiders? The ARC Raiders Wiki's own Part 2 tab shows only "Locked until August 18, 2026" with no revealed objectives. A community datamine points to a further glitched-ARC objective track, but Embark hasn't confirmed specifics.

Do Phantom Targets Stage 2 and Stage 3 require specific maps? No. Unlike Stage 1's antenna objective, which is limited to Dam Battlegrounds, Spaceport, and Riven Tides, Stage 2 and Stage 3 have no listed map restriction. Players have completed them on Blue Gate, Buried City, and Stella Montis too.

Related Reading

• ARC Raiders Anti-Cheat: Kernel-Level Testing Begins: ARC Raiders anti-cheat testing begins with kernel-level detection, targeting cheats that EAC alone can't catch.
• ARC Raiders Other Raiders: Survive Player Encounters: ARC Raiders other Raiders guide: how to avoid, outmaneuver, and survive contested extractions. Extraction types
• ARC Raiders Endgame Guide: Trials, Expeditions & Season 4: ARC Raiders endgame starts at purple loadout: Trials scoring thresholds, Season 4 challenge breakdowns, Expeditions,
• ARC Raiders Best Solo Loadouts: Weapons, Gear & Tips: ARC Raiders best solo loadouts: ranked weapon, armor, and gadget picks for surviving White, Orange,
• ARC Raiders Loot Guide: What to Keep, Sell, or Scrap: ARC Raiders loot guide: which materials to keep for crafting, which to sell for vendor

References

• ARC Raiders on Steam: official store page
• Store Update 1.40.0 official patch notes: Embark Studios' announcement confirming Phantom Targets and its August 4 to September 6 timeline
• Phantom Targets - ARC Raiders Wiki: stage objectives, reward items, and the locked Part 2 tab referenced throughout this guide
• How to Deal Damage with Leaper Pulse Unit, Pop Triggers & Wasp Drivers: GosuNoob's guide video, published August 4, one of several independent confirmations these objectives were live day one
• ARC Raiders cargo elevator antenna guide
• ARC Raiders workshop upgrade items guide