The fastest way to get Arc Raiders planks isn't necessarily a raid. When sorting through ARC Raiders Items for Outpost upgrades, separate the three planks needed for construction from the larger supply you'll want for furniture. Celeste's seed trade handles the first problem directly; targeted container runs make more sense once you're collecting materials for several recipes.

Step 1: Check how many planks your Outpost needs

Start with your project screen, not your inventory wishlist. The Outpost building-material stage requires three planks alongside three other resources, so collecting extra wood won't finish the objective if you're missing electrical components.

If you haven't reached construction, the earlier objective involves taking a camera to the Ruined Homestead on Blue Gate and photographing a farmland house. That awards the Advanced Camera blueprint; the area can contain a Leaper, Bastion, or Bombardier, so don't treat the photography task as a risk-free errand.

Step 2: Buy planks from Celeste with assorted seeds

Celeste sells each plank for three assorted seeds. Your three-plank construction requirement therefore costs nine seeds, while buying all three planks and five sheet metal costs 24 seeds because both materials share that price.

For a small, fixed requirement, I'd take the predictable purchase over another search session. Check the trade before spending your seeds, and don't confuse the displayed zero-seed marketplace median with Celeste's price: those figures describe different things.

Step 3: Find planks in Old Town containers

If you're saving seeds or gathering furniture supplies, Old Town on Pendola Pass is the strongest starting point by listed container count. It has 665 possible plank spots, compared with 231 at Commissary Supermarket and 160 at Researcher Lodgings; those are eligible locations, not guaranteed drops.

Search kitchen cupboards, kitchen benches, wardrobes, closets, and console chests.
Check medical drawers, Venetian drawers, large desk drawers, suitcases, and TV units.
At commercial locations, inspect stacking boxes, filing-cabinet drawers, cafe storage, and office desks.
Skip refrigerators, freezers, cash registers, and small desk drawers when planks are your sole target.
Finish searching one building's eligible storage before moving to the next, provided nearby activity allows it.

Plank-capable storage can draw from a pool of roughly 100 items, so an empty-handed cupboard search doesn't mean you're in the wrong area. The useful advantage is container density: more eligible searches per building means less travel between attempts, not a guaranteed payout.

Step 4: Collect sheet metal on the same route

Don't make two separate material runs when one route can cover both objectives. Old Town lists 525 possible sheet-metal spots, while Commissary Supermarket lists 960, making the supermarket a useful follow-up if your plank requirement is already covered.

The search pattern changes with the material. Open eligible furniture for planks, then inspect shelves, tables, sofas, kitchen units, and other loose-loot surfaces for sheet metal; both materials weigh 0.1 each and can appear in Outpost-material stacks of one to three.

Step 5: Submit your Outpost materials and finish the combat objective

Access the dedicated Outpost tab outside a raid to handle Stage 2. If Advanced Electrical Components are your remaining bottleneck, each requires three wires and two electrical components at an upgraded Refiner, meaning three crafted components need nine wires and six electrical components.

The subsequent building-site safeguard objective requires 800 damage to flying ARC enemies and 300 damage to Bullies. Its rewards include the Hotel Chair design, 15 planks, and five durable cloths, so finishing progression gives you another plank supply before you commit to extended furniture farming.

Step 6: Check furniture recipes before farming extra planks

Once construction is covered, choose the furniture you actually want and work backward from its recipe. A listed stringed musical instrument requires six planks, for example; a concrete target is more useful than filling storage without a spending plan.

Furniture recovery needs extra care. The plank entry says recycling and salvaging aren't available, while separate furniture breakdown details list plank returns; I could be wrong, but that conflict makes recovery too uncertain to budget around without checking the displayed result yourself.

What mistakes waste time when farming Arc Raiders planks

Don't mistake map counts for drop rates, search excluded containers out of habit, or keep farming after you've met your immediate requirement. The construction target is only three planks, and the later 15-plank reward changes how much extra gathering you need.

What should you do after collecting your Arc Raiders planks

Secure three planks and five sheet metal, finish the remaining construction requirements, then pursue the safeguard reward before planning another wood run. If you also intend to buy ARC Coins for separate goals, keep that decision apart from this material plan: Celeste's listed plank trade uses assorted seeds. For your next session, prioritize finishing the Outpost over collecting furniture supplies you can't yet use.