If you have been following our guides about farming oil and explosive compounds, you probably have a ton of resources to make Wolfpacks. However, the main bottleneck stopping you from mass production is ARC Motion Cores.

We will not be scraping by with 1 or 2 cores a raid. We have a strategy that allows you to hit about 28 Motion Cores in a single 8 minute raid.

The Gold Standard: Prospecting Probes Event

The best time to farm is during the Prospecting Probes event. When you see this on the map, you have to go.

How do you think this is the best method? Unlike the most standard raids that have cores in boxes occasionally, this event has a constant spawn of probes. These probes have Motion Cores, Arc Alloy, and Circuitry in them.

The Plan

On maps like Buried City and Blue gate (which we like to call our favorites), we immediately go to the middle. Probes spawn more frequently in the middle.

This is how this loop works.

1. Kill the Guardian: There is usually an important enemy, like a Bastion, Bombardier, or Leaper, that blocks the value probes. You need to kill them quickly.

2. Control the Space: After the important enemy dies, you can spawn the probes and res them safely.

3. Breach and Loot: Open the probes. Watch out for the fact that breaching a probe can aggro an ARC or spawn some Hornets and Wasps.

Tip: Don't skip the Guardians. The Bastion and Bombardier usually drop a lot of Arc Alloy or raw Motion Cores. If you have the bullets, kill them.

Recommended Loadout

Since your gear can improve how efficient you will be, this is the most recommended:

Trailblazers: you need these to melt a Bastion or Bombardier quickly. You don't want to spend too much time fighting one enemy when probes are falling.

Hull Cracker: Not required but recommended. High-end juiced probes may release Hornets or Wasps upon being breached. A Hull Cracker takes out the bugs in two shots, allowing for a quicker and safer run.

Extraction Hatch: Speed is everything. We take a hatch to guarantee the quick extraction as soon as we fill up, rather than running across the entire map and losing the loot to vultures.

The Math: 28 Cores in 8 Minutes

It's all about the numbers, and we have done the numbers for a recent run to show why this works. We spent around 8 minutes in a raid, and this is what we extracted:

• 18 Raw Motion Cores Looted directly from probes.
• 83 Arc Alloy. Looted directly or scrapped from Circuitry.

how does Alloy help?

You can refine Arc Alloy into Motion Cores. The conversion rate is approximate 8 Alloy per Motion Core.

83 Alloy ÷ 8 = ~10 Extra Motion Cores.

Total Haul: 18 (Raw) + 10 (Refined) = 28 Motion Cores.

A Wolfpack requires 2 Motion Cores, so that single 8-minute run provided enough materials to craft 14 Wolfpacks. That's not efficiency you can achieve with regular looting.

Offline Probes: What is the Backup Plan?

The Prospecting Probes event is not 24/7. If you use event timers (Metaphorge is a good site for these) and see the event is down, consider the next best options.

1. Electromagnetic Storm

This is probably our second favorite method. During an Electromagnetic Storm, you get to run around breaching probes and Couriers.

The Upside: The Couriers and storm probes yield a good amount of Arc Alloy.

The Downside: You will get less raw Motion Cores than you would from the Prospecting event, but the Alloy yield makes it worth your time.

2. Bastion Hunting

If no events are active, you can go for the brute force method. Load into any raid and go Bastion hunting.

The Strategy: Kill the Bastion, loot it, and extract.

The Yield: Bastions drop Alloy with a really good rate and have a decent chance to drop Motion Cores. While the yield is worse than the probe event, it is a lot more consistent.

Methods Overview

Because each of the three different methods requires a unique expenditure of energy, the table below outlines the main features of each.

Important Looting Tips

Circuitry is Gold: Never leave Circuitry behind. Outside of the raid, each piece of Circuitry scraps into 2 Arc Alloy. A stack of 10 Circuitry is essentially 2.5 Motion Cores.

Chemicals Bonus: This farm is also excellent for chemicals. The coolants you find in probes scrap into massive amounts of chemicals, which you will need for other crafting recipes.

Watch for Vultures: In solo play, killing a Bastion rings a dinner bell for other players. If you kill a big target, loot it fast. If you see someone else kill one, you could try to steal it, but asking politely sometimes works too (though rarely!).

FAQ

Q: Do I need a Hull Cracker to farm probes effectively?

A: No, you can use an Anvil or your primary weapon. However, the Hull Cracker makes dealing with the Hornets that spawn from high-tier probes much faster, which increases your cores-per-minute efficiency.

Q: Which map is best for the Prospecting Probes event?

A: We prefer Buried City first and Bluegate second. The terrain in these maps allows for easier navigation around the center where the probes cluster.

Q: How would I find out when the event starts?

A: Events run for a few hours at a time. We suggest you use community tracking websites or Discord bots to time your play sessions to the event for the most profit.

Q: Is it worth it to loot the Bombardiers/Bastions during the Probe event?

A: Yes. It is true that the Guardian enemies give good loot, just try not to spend too much time or ammo if you are not well geared.

Conclusion

Farming Motion Cores can be easier than most think. With prioritizing the Prospecting Probes event and knowing the value of refining Arc Alloy and Circuitry you can get enough materials for a week's worth of Wolfpacks in an hour of play.

Farming Major Threats, keeping track of Dropping Probes, and counting your refined materials is smart, especially since Motion Cores tend to stack and you might have more than you realize.

Good luck on the drop!