ARC Raiders Belly of the Beast Quest Walkthrough Guide

Belly of the Beast is widely considered one of the toughest quests in the Frozen Trail update. It is given by Shani and sends you inside the Fallen Emperor — the giant downed ARC vessel on the west side of Pendola Pass. The quest gate alone requires crafting a key item most players have never seen. Inside is a randomized dungeon with multiple Hydras, environmental hazards, and a Vaporizer waiting in the final vault. This guide covers everything from the prerequisite quest to the moment you extract with the Legendary loot.

Key Takeaways

• Quest comes from Shani — unlocks after completing Sizing Things Up (from Celeste)
• You need an Emperor Gateway Conduit to open the Fallen Emperor — craft it or use another Raider’s
• Get the Conduit blueprint by farming Damaged Emperor Relays on Pendola Pass under the Redirection condition
• The Fallen Emperor is on the west side of Pendola Pass
• The dungeon has randomized room order every run — learn each room, not a fixed route
• Bring a Hullcracker for the Hydra fights and a Snap Hook for the hazard rooms — both are essential
• Five rooms inside: poison chamber, triple-Hydra room, laser room, maze, main vault
• Final vault has a Vaporizer and 5 containers to search — extract with the Legendary item
• Rewards: Snap Hook, Pendola Pass Observatory Key, 3x Shield Recharger, 3x Sterilized Bandages — plus Amplification parts and a Legendary from the vault

Prerequisites — Complete Sizing Things Up First

Belly of the Beast is not available until you finish Sizing Things Up, a Celeste quest that also takes place on Pendola Pass. Once that is done, Shani’s quest log updates with a single, deceptively short objective: “Enter the Emperor.” Everything that follows is what that line actually means.

For Celeste’s Pendola Pass quests that lead into this chain, see our Sizing Things Up walkthrough.

Step 1 — Get the Emperor Gateway Conduit

The Fallen Emperor’s circular gateway stays permanently sealed until someone carrying an Emperor Gateway Conduit opens it. You do not necessarily have to craft one yourself — if a squadmate or any other Raider on the map has a Conduit and opens the gateway, you can walk through behind them. But you cannot rely on that, so here is how to get your own.

Get the Emperor Gateway Conduit

How to Get the Emperor Gateway Conduit Blueprint

This is a mini-quest in itself. You need to be on Pendola Pass under the Redirection map condition — that is the specific condition that activates the Emperor Relays. Normal raids will not work.

1. Load into Pendola Pass when the Redirection condition is active
2. Find and loot Damaged Emperor Relays scattered around the map — each one can drop Emperor Beacons
3. Use an Emperor Beacon to spawn a Harvester Payload — a breachable container that appears on the map
4. Clear and loot the Harvester Payload — it can drop the Emperor Gateway Conduit blueprint plus the three crafting materials
5. Take everything back to your Workbench and craft the Conduit

Crafting the Emperor Gateway Conduit

The Harvester Payload drops the same three components you need to craft the Conduit:

• 1x ARC Plated Coupler
• 1x ARC Conductive Coupler
• 1x ARC Insulated Coupler

The blueprint is a chance drop, not a guaranteed one. Expect to farm multiple Harvester Payloads before the blueprint appears. This is a PvPvE fight — other Raiders on the same Redirection map are farming the exact same relays and Payloads as you.

For more on the Harvester Payload and how to loot it efficiently, see our Harvester loot guide. For the Conductive Couplers specifically, our ARC crafting guide has farming routes.

Step 2 — Enter the Fallen Emperor

With a Conduit crafted (or a squadmate carrying one), load into Pendola Pass and head west across the map to the Fallen Emperor. The structure is the giant crashed ARC vessel — it is hard to miss. The large circular gateway at the entrance opens when the Conduit carrier interacts with it.

Before you step inside, two important things:

• Do not touch the electrical parts near the entrance — they deal damage before the first fight even starts
• A Hydra spawns right at the first doorway — have your Hullcracker ready before you walk in

Kill the entrance Hydra, then step through into the next room. This completes the first internal objective: “Find where the power comes from.” From here, shoot the yellow buttons to call the elevator. Note the quirk: the lift travels downward, so you need to step off at each upper level and climb up to the next platform manually. Do not ride it all the way down — that is the wrong direction.

Breach the containers along the way for Amplification parts.

Step 3 — Clear the Dungeon Rooms

The Emperor has a randomized room order. Every run can send you through the rooms below in a different sequence. Learn what each room requires so you can handle whatever comes next.

The Poison Chamber

As you drop in, the walls begin closing in and the floor fills with poison that stops you from sprinting. This room will kill you if you freeze. Pull out your Snap Hook and grapple straight across to the far side immediately — do not try to run through the poison.

The capsule-shaped containers on the far side are safe to loot. Avoid the orange containers — they explode when opened. Grab what you need from the safe ones and move.

The Harvester Payload Room — Triple Hydra Fight

This is the hardest room in the dungeon. Grapple back up from the closing-wall area, climb the ladders, and you reach the room where the Harvester Payloads enter the Emperor. Up to three Hydras can spawn here, each triggered when it enters your line of sight.

The key to surviving this room: do not trigger all three at once. Move carefully, pull them one at a time where possible, use cover between shots, and burst each one down before advancing. Your Hullcracker’s explosive payload deals over 50% more damage to ARC armor plates in Frozen Trail, making it the right tool here. Take cover between bursts — the Hydra’s triple weapons can handle entire squads if you stand in the open.

The Purple Laser Room

The lasers here deal fire damage. The safe way through: jump while running to clear them and reach the elevator on the far side. Do not try to walk through standing still. Exit through the opening door into the next section, which leads into a narrow circular tube you descend carefully — the drop at the bottom deals heavy fall damage, so do not just jump down.

The Maze Room

Watch for Pops and Fireballs as you navigate to the exit. Keep moving and do not get pinned by clusters. The far side opens into another narrow tube, but this time you need to climb all the way up using your Snap Hook. There is no shortcut here — hook your way up and keep going.

The Main Vault — Vaporizer and the Legendary

The final room is the main vault where the Payloads sent to the Emperor are stored. Drop down and the giant door opens. Be ready for a Vaporizer to spawn — it attacks with a laser and can have an energy shield, so clear it before you start looting.

Once the Vaporizer is down, search five containers in the vault. They are loaded with Amplification parts. One of the containers holds the Legendary quest item (community trackers confirm the Emperor Modulator as a required pickup). Loot it, then move through the large door, drop down, and slide to the extraction point. Extract from Pendola Pass and return to Shani in Speranza to turn in the quest.

Belly of the Beast Quest Rewards

Turning in the quest to Shani after a successful extraction gives you:

• 1x Snap Hook
• 1x Pendola Pass Observatory Key
• 3x Shield Recharger
• 3x Sterilized Bandages

The bigger prize is everything you carry out of the vault. The Amplification parts from the Emperor feed the new fifth-tier Amplified Weapons — the Emperor is one of the key endgame farming sources for them alongside the Frigate. See our Amplified Weapons guide for the full breakdown of what those parts unlock.

Tips for Completing Belly of the Beast

• Pre-farm the Conduit in a dedicated session — do not try to craft the key and clear the dungeon in the same run. Get the blueprint and materials across one or two Redirection raids first, then go in ready.
• Go with a squad if you can — randomized rooms, triple Hydras, and a Vaporizer make solo runs brutal. A squad splits aggro, handles revives, and covers the vault more safely.
• Snap Hook is mandatory — the poison chamber cannot be cleared without it. Bring one no matter what.
• Hullcracker for Hydras — the 50%+ bonus damage to ARC armor plates in Frozen Trail makes it the best tool for this dungeon.
• Safe Pocket your Legendary loot — anything not in a Safe Pocket is dropped on death. After all the work it takes to reach the vault, do not lose the item before you extract.
• Pull Hydras one at a time in the triple-Hydra room — do not rush in and trigger all three simultaneously.
• Jump through the laser room — never try to walk through standing still.
• Watch for orange containers in the poison room — they explode on interaction and can kill you in a room that already wants you dead.

Related Guides

Belly of the Beast is the progression capstone of the Frozen Trail update. These guides cover the content around it:

• Boarding the Frigate Quest Walkthrough — Celeste’s Frigate quest that runs parallel to this chain
• Tracks of the Beast Quest Walkthrough — Shani’s earlier Pendola Pass quest
• Hydra ARC Enemy Guide — weaknesses, attack patterns, how to kill them efficiently
• Amplified Weapons Guide — what to do with the Amplification parts you farm here
• Pendola Pass Map Guide
• Complete ARC Raiders Quest List

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