Guides → E.R.C. crates & pens
All E.R.C. Crate & Activator Pen locations
Quick answer: the campaign route contains 13 E.R.C. Crates. Open all of them in one playthrough for Behind Every Crate Man…. Activator Pens are consumed, so collect the nearby pen before opening each crate and do not leave a chapter with an unopened marker.
E.R.C. Crate checklist
| # | Ch. | Crate location | Nearby Activator Pen | Main reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Library Annex, 1F | Beside Corentin after the second-floor scene | Pistol upgrade |
| 2 | 2 | Church graveyard, star-marked crypt | Table inside the broken church window | Inventory upgrade (+2 slots) |
| 3 | 2 | Printing House route, flooded lower area | A.P.H.-key storage room | Inventory upgrade |
| 4 | 2 | Fire Department, upper floor | Apartment hallway beside the Fire Department after moving the red claw | Dream Essence + shotgun ammo |
| 5 | 3 | Akeley Hospital reception | W.C. cubicle near the blue-symbol poster | Shotgun upgrade |
| 6 | 3 | Isolation Wards, room below the floor drop | Nurses Station behind the Head Surgeon's Office | Dream Essence + rifle ammo |
| 7 | 3 | Akeley Hospital morgue | Carry a spare hospital pen; Wireless Room also contains one | Inventory upgrade + ammo |
| 8 | 4 | Fish Market Packing Area | Small room in the Fishing Shop | Dream Essence + ammo |
| 9 | 4 | Jewelry Workshop side room | Locker Room pen or another unused Fish Market pen | Inventory upgrade + ammo |
| 10 | 4 | Cold Storage, beside the Frozen Statue | On the ground beside the Frozen Statue | Dream Essence + grenades |
| 11 | 5 | First cave, left of the entry route | Return after collecting the Upper Storage/Gallery pens | Dream Essence |
| 12 | 5 | Portal Room, second floor | On a crate in the Portal Room | Rifle upgrade |
| 13 | 5 | Large cliffside tent | Upper Storage or Gallery | Rifle upgrade |
Chapter 2 backtracking order
The early game deliberately shows crates before providing their pens. Open the Annex crate immediately. At the church, take the Star Key and climb through the broken window for the pen, then open the graveyard crypt crate. In the Printing House route, use the A.P.H. Key to reach a pen and open the flooded lower-area crate.
The Fire Department crate is opened later: move the crane's red claw, climb into the newly accessible apartment, collect the hallway pen, then return to the Fire Department's upper floor.
Akeley Hospital pens and crates
The W.C. pen opens the Reception crate for the shotgun upgrade. A second pen is in the Wireless Room, and another is behind the Head Surgeon's Office in the Nurses Station. Use the latter two on the Isolation Wards and Morgue crates before leaving the hospital.
Fish Market and Frozen Statue crates
The Fishing Shop pen opens the Packing Area crate. Collect the Locker Room pen for the Jewelry Workshop side-room crate. The final Fish Market pen sits beside the Frozen Statue and opens the crate in the same Cold Storage room. The full prerequisite route is in the Frozen Statue & Heart of Ice guide.
Cold Comfort: open the two backtrack crates
The first cave and cliffside tent crates appear before their pens. Continue through the Columbarium to the Portal Room, take its pen and open the second-floor crate. Upper Storage and the Gallery each provide another pen. Backtrack to open the first cave and cliffside tent crates before activating the final portal.
Achievement not unlocking?
- All 13 campaign crates must be opened in the same run.
- Picking up a nearby loose inventory upgrade is not the same as opening a crate.
- DLC crates neither replace nor complete a missing campaign crate.
- The most common misses are the church graveyard, Fire Department, Morgue, Jewelry Workshop and the two Chapter 5 backtrack crates.
Route and rewards compiled from the GameSpew full walkthrough and cross-checked against the church inventory-upgrade route and our weapons guide, reviewed August 20, 2026.