In ARC Raiders, the Bastion Cell is an Epic-tier, non-craftable component that you only get by defeating Bastion enemies, the heavy armored robots that patrol many maps.
Rarity: Epic
Sell Value: ~3,000–5,000 credits
Stack Size: 3 per inventory slot
Cannot be crafted directly — unlike many other materials, you can’t make Bastion Cells at a bench.
So when people ask if you can make them — the short answer is no. You have to earn them by killing Bastions.
How They Really Fit Into Crafting
The single most important use for Bastion Cells is upgrading your Gear Bench to Level 3, which unlocks higher-tier recipes and overall progression.
For that upgrade you need:
6× Bastion Cell
3× Industrial Battery
5× Advanced Electrical Components
Once you hand in the six Bastion Cells, your Gear Bench goes from Level 2 to Level 3 — unlocking more complex items you can craft and boosting overall workshop efficiency.
This matters because Gear Bench Level 3 is often a bottleneck in progression. Players simply can’t craft certain higher-end weapons or parts until that upgrade is done.
Farming Bastion Cells: The Real Deal
Getting six of these things can be a grind. Bastion enemies are not common “rats in the bushes” — they’re large, mobile minibosses with heavy guns and thick armor.
Where Bastions Usually Appear
Bastions spawn in wide-open areas or near key ARC machine hubs across core zones like:
Dam Battlegrounds
Buried City markets and tunnels
Spaceport hangars and vehicle maintenance areas
Stella Montis industrial sections
They aren’t guaranteed to show up every run, so plan your run routes or events around likely spawns to maximize your chances.
Combat Tips To Kill Them Faster
Aim for weak spots: hitting the yellow leg joints or the rear canister deals significantly more damage.
Use heavy explosives: grenades and mines cut through their armor faster.
Team up if possible: Bastions have around 2,000 health and can chew through solo players.
Players often report drops like 3–9 cells per Bastion, though there’s variance — you can get more loot if you destroy all searchable wreckage thoroughly.
What About Extra Cells?
Once your Gear Bench is upgraded, Bastion Cells have no further progression use. You can:
Sell them for credits, which is useful if you’re low.
Recycle them at the workshop for useful mats, though recycle returns were reduced in a recent patch.
Some players hoard them out of habit — but unless you need them for specific projects, it’s often best to convert them into credits or components.
Quick Case: Why You Might Grind More Than You Think
The game requires hundreds of distinct items to fully upgrade everything — and Boss-tier drops like Bastion Cells are a small but critical fraction of that total.
That’s why, even if you’re good at killing Bastions, you might still need multiple runs to get the six you need plus backups if you mis-spend one or lose it on extraction.
Side Note: Supply & Demand in the Community
If you’re ever looking up how to U4N, buy arc raiders blueprints xbox, it shows there’s real interest in trading and accessing information about ARC Raiders progression mechanics — not just how to farm cells but how to tie that into broader crafting and loadouts.
Bottom Line
Bastion Cells are rare drops, not craftable.
Their main use is upgrading the Gear Bench to Level 3.
You get them by killing Bastion enemies — which requires planning and firepower.
After progression use, you either sell or recycle extras.
If you want, I can also break down the exact number of runs you might need on average to reliably hit those six cells with minimal waste.
