Candle Holders in Arc Raiders aren’t just decorative-they’re a rare resource tied to specific zones and enemy patterns. This guide pinpoints the best farming routes, drop sources, and spawn intervals so you can build up your supply faster and with less trial and error.
Now that you actually need them, you likely haven’t come across a single one in a dozen runs. So goes the life of the raider. When you need an item or crafting material the most, it feels as elusive as an Anvil blueprint. In this guide, we’ll walk through how and where to find Candle Holders in Arc Raiders for the Flickering Flames project.
Arc Raiders Candle Holders farming locations
Candle Holders can be farmed in Arc Raider zones with abundant enemy patrols and accessible supply caches, including the central ruins and nearby industrial sites where chests and dropped loot frequently spawn.
To find Candle Holders, you’ll need to search boxes, containers, shelves, cupboards, cabinets, cases, and stashes in areas marked as containing Residential loot where they spawn randomly. Here are the best spots on each map. Note that Spaceport and Stella Montis don’t have any Residential loot areas, so avoid these two maps.
- Dam Battlegrounds: Ruby Residence and Pale Apartments.
- Buried City: Grandioso Apartments, Santa Maria Houses, and Red Tower.
- The Blue Gate: Village, Ruined Homestead, and Raider’s Refuge.
Candle Holders are an Uncommon Residential loot, meaning they are rarer than say Toasters or Empty Wine Bottles. It will likely take you half a dozen raids to find the three needed for the event. We recommend avoiding a Free Loadout so that you can stash them in your Safe Pocket.
You can increase your chances by diving into any of the three maps above with the Cold Snap modifier active. This increases loot value and, in my experience, ups the chances of Candle Holder spawns. I’ve had particularly good results at Ruby Residence and Pale Apartments on Dam Battlegrounds with Cold Snap active.
What is the Flickering Flames project in Arc Raiders
The Flickering Flames project in Arc Raiders is a limited-time, multi-stage item donation project tied to the Cold Snap event and winter festival in Speranza.
Core idea
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It runs alongside the Flickering Flames event and reward track but is its own project: you donate specific items in set quantities in exchange for Merits, Raider Tokens, utilities, and some unique rewards.
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Donated items are permanently consumed and progress is per-account (not shared), so once you turn something in, you cannot get it back.
Structure and stages
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The project has five stages/steps (often named around “Candlelight”), and you must complete them in order; the next stage only unlocks once the current one is fully done.
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Each stage asks for four specific materials (things like Candleberries, Candle Holders, Empty Wine Bottles, Durable Cloth, Plastic Parts, mushrooms, frying pans, music albums, etc.).
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Across all five stages, you need a large total of Candleberries (around 260 in most breakdowns), so the project effectively turns your event farming and stash hoarding into a structured scavenger hunt.
How it works moment to moment
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You collect the required items during raids (Cold Snap maps in particular), then “donate” them in the Flickering Flames project menu in Speranza.
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Each individual turn-in gives an immediate reward (Creds, Merits, Raider Tokens, or utility items), and completing a stage grants an extra set of stage rewards on top.
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Because Merits from the project also advance the Flickering Flames event reward track, progressing the project and playing the event normally effectively double-dips your time investment.
Duration and timing
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Flickering Flames is time-limited: it runs during the Cold Snap update window (mid-December 2025 to January 13, 2026, in most schedules). After it ends, unfinished stages lock and unclaimed project rewards are lost.
Why it matters
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It is one of the fastest ways to convert successful raids and good stash management into guaranteed progression: Merits for cosmetics, Raider Tokens, useful tools (like Trailblazers, Vita Spray, Snap Hook), and a few unique cosmetic/gear rewards.
If you want, I can break down each stage’s exact item list and rewards in a compact table so you can see what to save and when to turn it in.
Where to farm Candleberries efficiently in Arc Raiders
Candleberries are tied to the Cold Snap weather modifier and Nature loot, so the most efficient farming focuses on Cold Snap Dam Battlegrounds and a short outdoor loop.
Key rules for Candleberries
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They only spawn when Cold Snap is active on the map selection screen; if Cold Snap is not shown, you will not find any Candleberries that raid.
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They appear on bushes in vegetation zones outdoors and inside certain baskets or Raider caches, not in random indoor shelves.
Best map and main hotspot
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Best overall map: Dam Battlegrounds, thanks to many vegetation zones and easy extractions.
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Top hotspot: Western swamp / western vegetation region near South Swamp Outpost in Dam Battlegrounds. This area consistently spawns multiple Candleberry bushes and has relatively low ARC density.
A very efficient loop many players use:
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Queue Cold Snap Dam Battlegrounds.
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Drop as close as possible to the western swamp / western vegetation belt near South Swamp Outpost.
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Sweep the treelines and swamp shrubs in a tight circle, grabbing every bright red Candleberry bush you see.
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Hit any visible baskets or Raider caches on the way; these can drop 3-6 Candleberries at once.
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Extract as soon as the loop is clear; bushes do not respawn mid-raid, so it’s more efficient to re-queue than to wander.
Other good spots (when Dam isn’t available)
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Buried City – Marano Park and outer vegetation zones: Decent density with fewer players, but lower total berries per run than Dam Battlegrounds.
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Blue Gate – Trapper’s Glade, Olive Grove, greenery near Checkpoint/Highway Collapse: Multiple bush spawns along treelines and fields.
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Spaceport – Staff Parking Area: Lowest density but fastest in-and-out extractions; good if you want short, low-commitment runs.
Event track and “passive” farming
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Bushes give only one Candleberry each, so relying only on plants can feel slow for Flickering Flames totals.
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A large chunk of what you need can come from Flickering Flames/Gathering Candleberries event reward milestones, which grant big bundles as you earn XP/Merits just by playing.
Simple strategy recommendation
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Prioritize Cold Snap Dam Battlegrounds western swamp with a light or free loadout, loot bushes plus baskets, then extract early and repeat.
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Supplement that with normal event play to push the Flickering Flames reward track, which can give you well over a hundred Candleberries without dedicated farming.
