major spoilersReviewed 8/21/2026

E.R.C. Crate and Activator Pen Locations

Direct answer

Pair all thirteen E.R.C. Activator Pens and crates in one playthrough, using chapter checkpoints so a closed area cannot strand an unopened crate.

The live achievement wording requires every qualifying Emergency Relief Crate in one playthrough and excludes DLC. An Activator Pen only enables a crate; picking up the pen is not the completion event.

Thirteen-pair checklist

Chapter 2 — The Wake-Up Call

  1. Registry crate: take the pen near the open container in Study 1, then backtrack to the Registry.
  2. Church mausoleum crate: enter through the broken church window for the pen; use the Star Key at the mausoleum.
  3. Printing House crate: use the A.P.H. Key to reach the basement pen, then open the crate in the lower printing area.
  4. Fire Department crate: move the crane obstruction, collect the pen in the accessible apartment, then return to the Day Room.

Chapter 3 — Akeley Memorial Hospital

  1. Morgue crate: collect the pen from the Prosthetics Lobby restroom before returning to the Morgue.
  2. Reception crate: take the pen in the Wireless Room and backtrack to the Reception bench.
  3. Isolation Wards crate: move the cabinet in the Head Surgeon’s Office area for the pen, then drop into the ward route.

Chapter 4 — Arkham Fish Market

  1. Packing Area crate: cut through the Fishing Shop side door for the pen, then cross the trapped Packing Area.
  2. Cold Storage crate: take the pen from an open Locker Room locker and return downstairs.
  3. Jewelry Workshop crate: after returning the Antikythera, retrieve the Cold Storage pen and open the workshop side-room crate.

Chapter 5 — Subterranean City

  1. Northern cave crate: take the Portal Room pen, then search the dark cave room to the north.
  2. Starting cave crate: pick up the pen on an Upper Storage rock ledge and backtrack to the chapter entrance.
  3. Camp crate: collect the Gallery pen and open the crate inside the large tent before the final transition.

Missable-state warning

Clear each numbered pair before leaving its chapter. If the final crate does not complete the objective, compare the run against the four chapter totals: 4, 3, 3, 3. A pen in the inventory does not prove that its earlier crate was opened.

See the collectibles hub for the other run-long sets and the partial inventory-upgrade guide for the independently verified capacity pickup.

Sources

Reviewed: 8/21/2026