I didn't even touch Celeste's Journals for a while because every deployment felt like a tournament. Kettle Rifle spam. Holiday cheaters. You'd load in thinking you'd do a little questing and end up crawling to extract with nothing but a bandage and regret. Lately it's calmer, though. Balance tweaks helped, and the worst exploit crews are getting wiped out. So I went back to "Back On Top" and the journal double-grab, and yeah—if you want to keep your kit steady while you practice routes, it doesn't hurt to buy Raider Tokens and stop treating every failed run like a financial crisis.
The problem isn't finding the items. It's the rule: both journals, same deployment, same extract. Die with one and you've basically done nothing. Extract with one because your buddy's screaming "go now" and you've still done nothing. Most routes online push you through the centre of Dam Battlegrounds like it's a Sunday stroll. It isn't. Sightlines are nasty and, sooner or later, a patient shooter will pin you in that concrete bowl. You'll feel it fast: the safest path is almost never the straight one.
Drop toward the southern flood zones and work the edges. The first journal is in the main swamp building, back room, sitting on a bunk bed. Simple location, messy surroundings. ARC patrols love that area, and gunfire echoes like mad, so I treat it like a stealth section. Suppressed SMG, quick checks, doors closed behind you. Don't hang around to "clear the building" unless you enjoy bleeding resources. Grab the page, take a breath, then move like you were never there.
Here's the part people miss: don't walk the main road north. Near the south generator there's an underground maintenance tunnel with a locked grate. Pop the lock, drop in, and you skip the central dam kill box entirely. It's not magic—you can still get chased—but it flips the odds. The tunnel spits you out much closer to North Ridge Outpost, and that alone cuts the exposure time in half. When you surface, pause. Listen for footsteps. If it's quiet, you're golden.
The second journal is tucked inside an office tent, sitting on a desk at North Ridge Outpost. It's high ground, so assume someone's watching angles and don't silhouette yourself on the ridge. I usually slide in, loot it, then rotate immediately toward West Evac instead of picking fights. If you're low on meds or ammo, back off and reset rather than forcing hero plays. And if you're the type who'd rather spend time learning the stealth lines than grinding mats, a lot of players use U4GM for currency and item services so their loadouts stay consistent while they practice this exact mission loop.