Doctor’s Orders looks simple until one item does not count.
You find the medical supplies, survive half the raid, maybe even grab extra loot, and then progress still feels unclear. That is why this quest annoys players. The game does not always explain the difference between looting an item and actually extracting with it.
Doctor’s Orders is not about killing enemies. It is about bringing the right medical items back safely.
If you understand that rule, the quest becomes much easier.
Doctor’s Orders Quick Answer
Doctor’s Orders is a medical supply quest in ARC Raiders given by Lance. You need to obtain and extract with four types of items:
| Item | Quantity | Notes |
| Syringe | 1 | Must be looted and extracted |
| Antiseptic | 2 | Can be looted or crafted |
| Durable Cloth | 1 | Can be looted or crafted |
| Great Mullein | 1 | Found as a plant, usually around wetter or green areas |
The quest comes after Greasing Her Palms and leads into Medical Merchandise, so it matters for Lance’s medical quest chain.
If you are trying to move through early quests faster, the main ARC Raiders services page gives one place to compare progression help, materials, coins, and quest-related options without jumping between different game pages.
Doctor’s Orders Requirements and Rewards
You do not need to finish everything in one raid.
Progress is item-based. If you extract one required item, that piece can count even if you finish the rest later.
| Requirement | Needed | Best approach |
| Syringe | 1 | Check medical rooms and cabinets |
| Antiseptic | 2 | Loot medical POIs or craft if needed |
| Durable Cloth | 1 | Loot or craft from Fabric |
| Great Mullein | 1 | Search green, wet, or water-adjacent areas |
Rewards:
- 3× Adrenaline Shot
- 3× Sterilized Bandage
- 1× Surge Shield Recharger
These rewards fit the quest theme. Lance is testing whether you can bring medical supplies back, then rewards you with survival tools.
For broader quest order, the ARC Raiders quest guide is useful if you want to see where Doctor’s Orders sits compared with later Lance, Shani, Tian Wen, and Apollo objectives.
Why Doctor’s Orders Does Not Count Sometimes
Most failed attempts come from one mistake: the player finds a required item but does not safely extract with it. Embark’s official ARC Raiders patch notes explain that quest tracking can show which progress may be lost when an extraction fails, so treat every required medical supply as an extraction objective rather than ordinary raid loot.
For Doctor’s Orders, picking up the item is not enough. You need to bring it back from raid and return to the hub with it.
Common reasons progress feels broken:
- You died before extraction.
- You dropped the item during the raid.
- Another player carried the item out instead of you.
- You crafted with Great Mullein before turning in the quest.
- You thought looting counted immediately.
- You checked progress before returning properly.
Treat every required item like a mini-extraction objective. Finding it is only half the battle, but securing the extract is what actually counts.
Best Places to Find Doctor’s Orders Items
Medical supplies are not equally common everywhere.
You want medical POIs, medical rooms, cabinets, exam areas, pharmacies, and containers near beds, sinks, or treatment spaces. Testing Annex on Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City Hospital, and pharmacy-style interiors are all useful places to check for this type of loot.
Better places to check:
- Medical cabinets
- Exam room drawers
- Rolling medical carts
- Lockers near beds
- Cabinets near sinks
- Hospital-style rooms
- Pharmacy interiors
- Testing Annex-style medical areas
Lower-value places:
- Random floor boxes
- Outdoor junk piles
- Generic crates
- Empty corridors
- Decorative rooms with no medical containers
Do not clear an entire building just because it looks “medical.” Check the containers that actually match the item type.
Item-by-Item Guide
Syringe
Syringe is usually the item that slows people down.
It cannot be treated like background loot. If you find one, leave early unless the extraction path is dangerous.
Best move:
- Check medical containers first.
- Safe-pocket it if pressure is nearby.
- Do not keep looting five extra rooms after finding it.
- Extract once the route is clear.
A Syringe is worth protecting more than Durable Cloth because you cannot always replace it quickly.
Antiseptic
You need two Antiseptics.
You can loot them from medical areas, and they can also be crafted if your setup allows it. Antiseptic can be crafted with Chemicals x10 + Great Mullein x2 using the Refiner workshop bench.
Be careful with crafting.
If you still need Great Mullein for the quest, do not burn all of it crafting Antiseptic. Keep one Great Mullein safe for the requirement first.
Durable Cloth
The Durable Cloth is less stressful than Syringe or Great Mullein because it can be looted and also crafted.
Durable Cloth can be crafted from Fabric x14.
If a raid goes bad and you must choose what to protect, prioritize the harder medical items first. Durable Cloth is useful, but it is usually easier to replace.
Great Mullein
Great Mullein is the plant item that players often waste by crafting too early.
Look around green, wet, water-adjacent, or plant-heavy areas. Water-side paths and Testing Annex routes on Dam Battlegrounds are useful places to check.
Once you find it, treat it as quest-only until Doctor’s Orders is complete.
- Avoid crafting with it.
- Do not drop it.
- Do not carry it into unnecessary fights.
Safe Completion Plan
The safest way to finish Doctor’s Orders is not one huge loot run.
It is two or three controlled runs.
Run 1: Medical Containers
Go for Syringe, Antiseptic, and Durable Cloth.
If you find Syringe early, extract. Do not greed for the full checklist if the area is active.
Run 2: Great Mullein
Focus on plant routes, wet areas, and water-adjacent spots.
If you get Great Mullein, leave. You do not need to turn the raid into a full loot session.
Run 3: Cleanup
Use this only if you are missing one item.
At this point, the quest should be nearly done, so avoid unnecessary PvP and focus on the last requirement.
This slower plan is often faster overall because it avoids losing rare items to one bad fight.
Solo Strategy
Solo players should play Doctor’s Orders like a survival quest, not a combat quest.
Avoid dead-end interiors if you already found a required item. Do not push gunfire unless you need to. Medical POIs attract other players, so leave as soon as your bag has something valuable for the quest.
Good solo habits:
- Enter light.
- Loot medical containers first.
- Safe-pocket rare quest items.
- Leave after one strong find.
- Avoid loud fights near extraction.
- Do not full-clear buildings under pressure.
If you struggle with route-based objectives, the A First Foothold ARC Raiders quest guide is a good internal reference because it teaches patient movement, objective reading, and not overcommitting to unsafe paths.
Squad Strategy
Squads can finish Doctor’s Orders faster, but only if everyone has a role.
Do not let all three players loot the same room while nobody watches the exits.
| Role | Job |
| Looter | Checks medical containers and calls required items |
| Overwatch | Watches doors, stairs, and nearby movement |
| Runner | Scouts extraction route once an item is secured |
The moment Syringe or Great Mullein is found, the squad should shift from “loot more” to “leave safely.”
That one decision saves more runs than any perfect route.
Crafting vs Looting
Crafting helps, but it should not be your first plan for everything.
Looting is usually better because Doctor’s Orders teaches extraction discipline. If you craft too early, you can waste Great Mullein or other resources that would have completed the quest faster.
Craft only when:
- You already extracted the quest Great Mullein.
- You are missing only Antiseptic or Durable Cloth.
- You have enough spare materials.
- You do not want to risk another medical POI run.
If crafting stations are slowing down your wider account progress, ARC Raiders Crafting Station Boost fits players who want better workshop access without spending extra time stuck on bench upgrades.
Best Route Logic for Doctor’s Orders
Do not think only in terms of “where is the item?”
Think in terms of risk.
A good Doctor’s Orders route has:
- Medical containers
- A nearby exit path
- Multiple ways out
- Low chance of being trapped
- Enough cover for retreat
- No need to cross half the map after looting
A bad route has:
- One entrance
- One exit
- Interior stairwells
- Heavy PvP noise nearby
- Long extraction distance
- Too many rooms that tempt you to overloot
Quest progress comes from leaving with the item, not winning the building.
The same mindset helps in other multi-location quests too. For example, What We Left Behind also rewards players who understand when to move, when to interact, and when to stop risking the objective.
When ARC Raiders Services Fit This Quest
Doctor’s Orders can be done normally with patient runs, but some players get stuck because they lack coins, materials, levels, or workshop progress.
If the quest is part of a bigger progression wall, these options fit naturally:
- ARC Raiders Coins Boost can help when gear, crafting, and raid prep keep draining your stash.
- ARC Raiders Materials makes sense if you keep missing medical or crafting resources.
- ARC Raiders Quest Boost fits players who want quest progress handled more directly.
- ARC Raiders Leveling Boost helps when broader account progress is the bigger blocker, not just one medical quest.
Use these after you understand the quest. Doctor’s Orders is easier once you stop overlooting and start extracting with intent.
Check out some of our most popular Arc Raiders services:
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Doctor’s Orders punishes greed more than bad aim.
Avoid these mistakes:
- Looting the item, then staying too long
- Crafting with Great Mullein before turning it in
- Assuming the quest updates before extraction
- Searching generic crates instead of medical containers
- Trying to finish every item in one risky run
- Ignoring gunfire near medical POIs
- Dropping items for teammates without a clear extraction plan
- Treating Durable Cloth as more important than Syringe or Great Mullein
If you fix only one habit, fix this one: leave after finding a hard item.
Final Advice
Doctor’s Orders is not difficult once you understand what Lance is really testing. He is not asking you to win fights or clear every room. He is asking you to bring back medical supplies and survive.
- Find the item.
- Protect the item.
- Extract with the item.
That is the whole quest.
Once you play it that way, Doctor’s Orders becomes a clean early progression checkpoint instead of a frustrating RNG loop.
FAQs
What is Doctor’s Orders in ARC Raiders?
Doctor’s Orders is a medical supply quest in ARC Raiders given by Lance. You need to obtain and extract with 1 Syringe, 2 Antiseptic, 1 Durable Cloth, and 1 Great Mullein.
Who gives Doctor’s Orders in ARC Raiders?
Doctor’s Orders is given by Lance after Greasing Her Palms. It leads into the next Lance quest, Medical Merchandise.
What items do you need for Doctor’s Orders?
You need 1 Syringe, 2 Antiseptic, 1 Durable Cloth, and 1 Great Mullein. Each item must be successfully extracted for progress to count.
Where do you find Syringes for Doctor’s Orders?
Syringes are best found in medical POIs, exam rooms, medical cabinets, and hospital-style containers. They are worth extracting early because they can be harder to replace than cloth.
Where do you find Great Mullein in ARC Raiders?
Great Mullein usually appears in greener or wetter areas, especially around water-adjacent spaces. Testing Annex routes on Dam Battlegrounds are useful places to check.
Can you craft Antiseptic for Doctor’s Orders?
Yes, Antiseptic can be crafted with Chemicals x10 + Great Mullein x2 if you have the right workshop setup. Do not use all your Great Mullein for crafting before completing the quest requirement.
Can you craft Durable Cloth?
Yes, Durable Cloth can be crafted from Fabric x14. It can also be looted, so it is usually easier to replace than Syringe or Great Mullein.
Why is Doctor’s Orders not counting?
The most common reason is that you looted the item but did not extract with it. Progress usually depends on successfully bringing the item back, not just picking it up during the raid.
Do you have to complete Doctor’s Orders in one raid?
No. You can complete it across multiple raids. Extracted items can count one at a time, so a safer two- or three-run plan is better than forcing everything in one risky raid.
What rewards do you get from Doctor’s Orders?
Doctor’s Orders rewards 3 Adrenaline Shots, 3 Sterilized Bandages, and 1 Surge Shield Recharger.
