Prison AZ3 Map Guide#
This page covers two distinctive Operations maps: Tidal Prison — a tight indoor melee environment with the game’s harshest close-range punishment (a boss melee hit is an instant execution); and AZ3 — a special map with radiation debuffs and fishable waters. It ends with the key points for Zero Dam’s Eternal Night difficulty, completing the “non-standard raid” trio.
Tidal Prison#
Boss: Fallen Prince Raven#
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Weapon | .357 revolver |
| Escorts | Ahsarah death-row guards |
| Core mechanic | Melee hits execute instantly |
Raven is the apex of indoor threat among the five bosses: the .357 revolver’s one-shot threat stacks with the attritional death-row guards, and his melee hits execute instantly — not heavy damage, deletion. The prison’s corridors and room structure amplify his close-range value exactly.
Prison Environment and Tactics#
| Environment | Counter |
|---|---|
| Indoor corridors | Hold mid-range and control corner sightlines |
| Close encounters | Never trade blows with Raven at melee range; opening distance is the top priority |
| Death-row guards | Clear them first to cut interference, but mind your positioning while doing so — don’t let Raven flank you |
The prison is an “amplifier for Engineer and Support value”: Sineva’s full-body shield with rear protection and Shepherd’s sonic traps pay off hugely in corridors; conversely, pure-mobility operators (Swift’s roll) can still eat an execution indoors for lack of space. Operator picks: see Operator Unlocks and Team Comps.
Extraction and Gear#
Prison extraction and container details follow in-game reality; the general extraction rules (10-second regular / lever / paid closes once 4 players have paid) are in Extraction Points and the Extraction Loop. Raven’s drops plus the prison containers form the map’s main income sources — the revolver itself (.357 caliber) is also a capturable special weapon.
Raven Engagement Details#
The complete decision chain for fighting Raven:
- Confirm position: revolver fire and the death-row guards’ movements are your two locator signals.
- Hold mid-range: the .357 revolver’s one-shot threat remains lethal at mid-range; shoot from cover.
- Never facehug: melee hits execute instantly — any “rush in to finish him” move is a deletion button.
- Guards first, boss second: once the death-row guards are down, Raven loses his flank anchor — but keep your positioning from turning your back toward Raven while clearing them.
Prison container and extraction point layouts follow in-game reality; the .357 revolver Raven drops is itself a high-value capture target.
AZ3 Map#
AZ3 is a regular map with unusual properties; official and community sources confirm two things:
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Radiation effect | The map carries a Level-2 radiation debuff |
| Fishing | One of the three fishable waters (alongside Zero Dam and Longbow Valley) |
After the S11 fishing system launched, AZ3 became one of the three “fishable” maps — fishing unlocks at Operations Level 17 (see Longbow Valley 2.0), and catches can be listed on the Flea Market. For economy players, AZ3’s positioning is “the casual fishery inside a radiation zone”: the radiation debuff raises the cost of regular looting, but the water income line is completely unaffected.
On AZ3’s launch season and backstory: this research pass found no reliable sourcing, so the page speculates nothing — defer to in-game reality.
Radiation Playbook#
Level-2 radiation makes pre-entry protection a hard requirement. General principles:
- Check the radiation zones’ coverage and plan routes to avoid or cross them.
- Set meds and injectors for short “hit-and-run” raids to cut exposure time.
- Fishing runs have a clear goal — water, Flea Market, extraction; a three-stage route is the safest.
Zero Dam · Eternal Night Difficulty#
Zero Dam’s night raids (Eternal Night difficulty) deserve their own note, because they rewrite the dam’s most dangerous variable:
| Variable | Daytime Raid | Eternal Night Raid |
|---|---|---|
| Saeed’s firepower | Standard loadout | May carry the M250 / QJB201 |
| Visibility | Normal | Severely limited |
Two iron rules for Eternal Night raids:
- Suppressor builds first — in the dark, gunfire is a beacon (gunsmith ideas in Builds and Attachments).
- Plan the admin building for a heavy-firepower boss — night Saeed’s M250 / QJB201 suppression is nothing like daytime; trading fire head-on equals donating your gear.
Eternal Night is also a “listening game”: with visibility down, audio information (footsteps, doors, radio) doubles in value — acoustic-scout operators like Echo fit best.
Per-Raid Cheat Sheet#
| Map | Top Threat | Income Core | One-Line Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidal Prison | Raven’s melee execution | Revolver and prison containers | Hold mid-range the whole raid |
| AZ3 | Radiation debuff | Fishing trade line | Three-stage route, in fast and out fast |
| Zero Dam Eternal Night | Night Saeed’s heavy firepower | Large safes / hacker computers | Suppressor + sound discipline + no head-on admin-building fights |
Economic Perspective Summary#
These three non-standard maps together show how varied Operations income sources can be: the prison pushes “risk pricing” to the melee-execution extreme, AZ3 trades a debuff for a casual fishing income line, and Eternal Night Dam reshuffles the same map’s value distribution with visibility alone. The same map assets are a completely different business under different rules — the map-level footnote of “winning has no single definition” in the extraction genre.
— Wubian, NTGame Editorial