Communication Hideout is a Shani quest in ARC Raiders that takes place around Red Tower in Buried City. To finish it, you need to find the missing battery cell, use it on the generator, and then boot the antenna terminal. It also needs to be done in one round, while extraction is generally not required for the quest itself to count.
If this quest feels annoying, that is normal. Most players do not get stuck because the steps are hard. They get stuck because one small part of the chain gets missed. The cleanest way to handle this quest is to think of it as one simple run: tower, battery, generator, terminal.
Before You Start
There are two things worth knowing before you move:
First, this is not a free-search mission. You should not wander around Buried City hoping the quest will solve itself. The route is specific, and the order matters. Second, this is widely treated as a one-round quest, so do not plan to split it across multiple runs.
That alone fixes a lot of confusion.
The Quest in One Line
If you want the short version, here it is:
Go to Red Tower, find the missing battery, install it in the generator, then use the antenna terminal in the same run.
Mission Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Quest Name | Communication Hideout |
| Quest Giver | Shani |
| Prerequisite | Lost In Transmission |
| Area | Buried City |
| Main Landmark | Red Tower |
| Required Sequence | Battery → Generator → Terminal |
| One Round Needed | Yes |
| Extraction Needed | Usually no |
Reference coverage ties Communication Hideout to Shani and lists Lost In Transmission as the earlier quest connected to it.
The Fastest Way to Clear Communication Hideout
1) Lock onto Red Tower first
Do not start with random buildings. Start with Red Tower. That is the main landmark for the whole quest. If you are not properly centered around Red Tower, the rest of the objective chain becomes much harder than it needs to be.
This sounds obvious, but it matters. A lot of wasted time comes from players starting the search too wide.
2) Search for the missing battery cell
The battery is the first real objective gate. Until you find it, nothing else matters. Current guides treat this as one of the main pain points, and some use nearby visual landmarks to make the location easier to identify, including things like a boarded-up kiosk and a palm tree near the search area.
The best approach is simple:
- stay close to the Red Tower route
- search carefully instead of rushing
- do not move on until you are sure the battery step is done
If you pick the search area too wide, this step starts feeling much harder than it really is.
Helpful ways to stay on track and avoid wasting time during the quest:
3) Take the battery to the generator
Once you have the battery, the next move is the generator. This is not just a waypoint. It is a required interaction. You need the battery step to register, then the generator step to register, before the quest can move to the terminal properly.
Some route descriptions place the generator near a subway entrance, which is useful if you are trying to confirm you reached the right spot.
If the generator does not update, stop there. Do not keep pushing forward. Go back and make sure the battery step was actually completed.
4) Move to the antenna terminal
After the generator is powered, go to the antenna terminal and boot it. This is the final action in the chain. Some players get stuck here because the route can feel less direct than the earlier steps, especially if the path changes height or leads upward.
That is why this part is easier if you stay strict with the route:
- follow the path from the generator
- do not free-search nearby areas
- look for the actual terminal interaction, not just the general location
If your earlier steps were done correctly, the terminal should close out the quest.
What Usually Goes Wrong
This is where most players lose progress.
You find Red Tower, but not the battery
That usually means your search is too broad. Pull back and work the immediate route more carefully. The battery is part of the quest chain, not a random deep-map scavenger hunt.
You reach the generator, but nothing updates
That usually means the battery step did not register properly. Recheck the earlier interaction before wasting time on the terminal.
You reach the terminal area, but the quest does not finish
Getting to the area is not enough. The terminal itself has to be used. If that still does not work, recheck the full chain from the start.
You left the run and came back later
That can break the quest flow because this is widely treated as a one-round objective. If the chain stops making sense after leaving, that is the first thing to suspect.
Do You Need to Extract?
Usually, no.
Current walkthrough coverage says extraction is generally not required for Communication Hideout to count as completed. That is an important detail, because many players assume the quest failed just because they did not exfil right away.
Still, that does not mean extraction is useless. It only means extraction is not normally the quest condition. If your run is healthy, getting out safely is still the smart choice.
So the practical answer is:
- quest completion: usually does not need extraction
- safe run management: extraction can still be worth doing afterward
Keep the Route Simple
The easiest mistake with this quest is overthinking it. You do not need to turn it into a big exploration session. The cleanest version of the quest is:
Red Tower → battery → generator → terminal
If you keep that order in mind, the whole mission becomes much easier to read and much easier to recover if something goes wrong.
For players who are trying to keep broader objective progress moving after quests like this, progression-focused help such as ARC Raiders Expedition Project is the most natural fit from a progression angle.
Useful options to make your overall progression easier in ARC Raiders:
Is It Worth Checking Rewards?
Rewards are not the main reason most players search this quest. Most people want the route, not the payout. Since reward details are not presented consistently enough across sources, the better approach is to stay focused on completion unless you have direct in-game confirmation of the exact reward result.
What really matters is that finishing Communication Hideout keeps your quest chain moving instead of leaving your progression stuck behind one unclear objective.
If your goal is broader account progress after cleanup quests like this, ARC Raiders Leveling Boost is the only other service-style page that fits this topic naturally.
Quick Answers
Who gives Communication Hideout?
Shani gives the quest, and reference coverage connects it to Lost In Transmission as the prerequisite.
Where does it happen?
It takes place in Buried City, with Red Tower as the key landmark.
Does it need to be done in one round?
Yes, current guide and reference coverage treat it as a one-round quest.
Do you need to extract?
Usually no, although extracting afterward may still be the safer move for your run.
Final Take
Communication Hideout is not really a hard quest. It is a strict quest. Once you stop treating it like a loose search mission and start treating it like one fixed route, it becomes much more manageable.
Stay on the sequence:
Red Tower, battery, generator, terminal.
That is the cleanest way to finish it.
