ARC Raiders: From Scrap to Apex Predator Domination Guide 👑

👋 Introduction: So, You Wanna Be a Raider? (And Not Just a Walking Loot Box 📦)

Welcome to the Rust Belt: What ARC Raiders Is (and Isn’t)

Let’s get one thing straight: ARC Raiders isn’t a game for the impatient. 🚫 It’s not some mindless dash where you just run-and-gun. Set on a lethal future Earth, wrecked by a mysterious robot threat called ARC, this is an extraction adventure that demands more than a quick trigger finger. 🤖 It’s a tough, beautiful, and super strategic game of wits, prep, and guts.

You’re a Raider, a scavenger from the underground home base of Speranza, and you’re heading “topside” to grab what’s left of the world. 🌍 Every run is a high-stakes gamble. You’re dodging deadly, predictable ARC machines 🦾 while also dealing with sneaky, unpredictable human Raiders. 👤

This game rewards the cunning 🧠 over the chaotic 💥. It’s a thinking person’s shooter, where the most important battles are often won before you even fire a shot. The real ARC Raiders experience isn’t just the 30-minute raid; it’s the whole strategic cycle before and after.

This guide is for the “Ambitious Scavenger” 🤓. You’ve survived a few runs, extracted with a backpack full of scrap, and now you’re hungry for more. You see the path to mastery but aren’t sure how to walk it. You want to stop just surviving and start dominating the Rust Belt. This guide is your map. 🗺️ We’re here to break down every system, every mechanic, and every strategy to turn you from prey into the apex predator of this busted-up world. 👑

We’re not just gonna give you a list of “meta” builds. Those change! 💨 Instead, this guide will show you the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ A Raider who understands why a spot is good can find a dozen good spots. A Raider who gets efficiency can build a fortune no matter what. 📈 This is your journey from following the rules to writing ’em.

📜 The Raider’s Creed: Mastering the Core Philosophy of “Scavenge, Survive, Thrive” 🔄

The motto in Speranza is “Scavenge, Survive, Thrive.” Most new Raiders think this is a simple 1-2-3 list. That’s a huge, and often fatal, mistake. 💀 A master strategist knows these aren’t three separate things—they’re one big, interconnected loop. 🔄 Each part feeds the others. True mastery is making this loop spin faster and smoother.

🎒 Scavenge

For an amateur, scavenging is just grabbing everything that’s not bolted down. 🏃‍♀️ For a master, it’s like surgical precision and info-gathering. 🕵️‍♂️ Every box you open, every ARC husk you crack, every corner you check isn’t just for loot—it’s for updating your mental map of the raid. A good scavenge run isn’t just about the value in your bag, but the intel in your head. It’s about calculated risks, knowing where the best stuff is, and knowing when to stop pushing your luck. 🛑 It’s the art of knowing what to take, what to leave, and what to break down on the fly to make room for something better.

🙏 Survive

Survival is the balancing act at the center of everything. You’ve got two big threats:

The ARC 🤖: They’re a known quantity. You can learn their moves, their behaviors, and their weak spots. They’re like a dangerous storm you have to navigate. ⛈️
Other Raiders 👤: These are the real wildcard. They’re unpredictable, greedy, and just as scared as you are.

The art of survival in ARC Raiders isn’t just about managing these two threats. It’s about using one against the other. 🧠 A loud, long fight with a big robot is basically a dinner bell 🔔 for every other Raider on the map. The master survivor learns to use the ARC as a shield, a distraction, or even a weapon against their human enemies. 🤫

💪 Thrive

This is where the real war is won. Thriving isn’t just kicking back and enjoying your loot. It’s the smart, active reinvestment of your resources back in Speranza. 🏠 It’s here, in your workshop, that you lay the foundation for all your future success. 📈 Every piece of scrap, every component, and every Raider Coin is a seed. 🌱

A Raider who spends all their cash on a shiny new gun for the next run just bought a single meal. 🍔

A Raider who invests that same cash into upgrading their Weapon Bench has bought a farm. 🌾

This is the most crucial part of the loop. A failed raid where you die and lose everything can still be a win if you learned a critical lesson. Thriving is about making sure every trip topside, win or lose, makes you stronger and more efficient in the long run. 🚀

🏠 Chapter 1: Your Home Underground: Mastering Speranza 🔧

The Raider’s Den & Workshop: Your Path from Scrapheap to Arsenal 📈

The Raider’s Den is your heart ❤️, your home base. It’s more than just menus; it’s your sanctuary where you turn the chaos of the topside into real progress. 📈 It’s your armory, your lab, and your trophy room.

But the engine room of your Den is the Workshop. 🛠️ This is where the “Thrive” philosophy happens. You turn junk into high-tech survival gear. The Workshop has six main workbenches, each with its own upgrade path and strategic job. Understanding and prioritizing these upgrades is probably the single most important thing for long-term success in ARC Raiders.

Upgrading these benches isn’t just a small step up; it’s a giant leap! 🚀 An early, smart investment in your workshop creates a feedback loop of awesome returns. A Raider who upgrades their benches will quickly outpace one who just crafts gear for the next run. Why? Because high-level benches don’t just unlock better items; they unlock efficiency.

Crafting good heals at a Level 2 Med Station 🩹 means spending less time healing on the surface, which means more time looting.
Upgrading the Refiner 🔄 lets you turn common, easy-to-find materials into the rare parts you need for elite gear, letting you skip dangerous high-risk zones.

The best Raiders aren’t just the best fighters; they’re the best project managers, and the Workshop is their main project. 🤓

Here are the six core workbenches:

🔫 Weapon Bench: Your arsenal’s foundation. Craft and mod all your guns and attachments here. Upgrading unlocks better blueprints and mods, making you more lethal.
🛡️ Equipment Bench: Your home for defense and utility. Craft shields and augments here. Augments are super important—they decide your backpack space and tactical slots.
🩹 Med Station: The key to staying alive. Craft healers, shield rechargers, and combat stims. A good Med Station keeps you in the fight longer.
💣 Explosives Bench: For when you want to make a LOUD statement. Craft grenades, mines, and other boom-booms. Great for clearing rooms and hitting ARC weak spots.
🛠️ Utility Bench: The strategist’s best friend. Make deployable barricades, door blockers, and the super-valuable zipline tool. These let you control the battlefield and create escape routes.
🔄 Refiner: Your economic engine. This is so important. It lets you process basic materials into the advanced stuff you need for high-level crafting. A maxed-out Refiner makes you self-sufficient.

Use these tables as your “shopping list” 🛒 for raids. Stop looting randomly and start hunting for the exact parts you need to level up!

Workshop Upgrade Blueprint 🗺️

Weapon Bench Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	20x Metal Parts, 30x Rubber Parts
2	3x Rusted Tools, 3x Mechanical Components, 8x Wasp Driver
3	5x Rusted Gear, 3x Advanced Mechanical Components, 3x Sentinel Core

Equipment Bench Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	30x Plastic Parts, 40x Fabric
2	3x Power Cable, 3x Electrical Components, 8x Tick Pod
3	5x Industrial Battery, 3x Advanced Electrical Components, 3x Rollbot Part

Med Station Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	50x Fabric, 8x ARC Alloy
2	8x Syringe, 5x Antiseptic, 3x Snitch Scanner
3	5x Rusted Shut Medical Kit, 10x Antiseptic, 3x Bastion Part

Explosives Bench Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	50x Rubber Parts, 6x ARC Alloy
2	5x Synthesized Fuel, 5x Explosive Mixture, 8x Fireball Burner
3	5x Laboratory Reagents, 10x Explosive Mixture, 3x Rocketeer Core

Utility Bench Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	50x Plastic Parts, 6x ARC Alloy
2	16x Wires, 3x Electrical Components, 6x Hornet Driver
3	5x Fried Motherboard, 3x Advanced Electrical Components, 3x Bison Driver

Refiner Upgrades

Level	Requirements
1	75x Metal Parts, 3x ARC Motion Core
2	3x Toaster, 8x ARC Circuitry, 10x Fireball Burner
3	5x Motor, 20x ARC Motion Core, 1x Queen Reactor

🤝 The Art of the Deal: A Deep Dive into the Trader Economy, Quests, and Reputation

The economy of Speranza is a living system run by a few key folks. These traders aren’t just shopkeepers; they’re your quest-givers 📜, rare-good-suppliers 💎, and progress-gatekeepers ⛩️. Building a relationship with them is just as crucial as upgrading a workbench. You’ll be chatting with Celeste (the leader), Shani (security), Tian Wen (gunsmith), Apollo (gadgets), and Lance (medic). Each has unique stuff and quests that build trust and unlock better gear.

You’ve gotta get fluent in the currencies:

💰 Raider Coins: The main cash. You use this to buy items and fund big upgrades (like a bigger stash!).
✨ Trinkets: Items with a little diamond icon. They do nothing but sell for a quick pile of Coins. Sell ’em!
🎖️ Cred: Earned from daily/weekly challenges (Feats). You use this to move through the Raider Decks (the battle pass).
💎 Raider Tokens: The premium currency for cosmetics. No pay-to-win stuff here, confirmed. 👍

Here’s the BIGGEST MISTAKE new Raiders make: thinking traders and crafting are two equal ways to get gear. 🚫 WRONG!

Crafting an item is almost always cheaper and more resource-efficient than buying it. This leads to a huge realization:

The main reason to have Raider Coins isn’t to buy finished guns, it’s to buy time and bypass the grind. 🧠

Think about it: You finish a quest and get a few thousand Coins.

The Newbie: Buys a new gun from Tian Wen. 🔫
The Master Strategist: 🤓 Sees they’re 3 “Power Cables” short of upgrading their Equipment Bench. They use their Coins to buy the common materials from Celeste, refine them, and finish the workbench upgrade.

The newbie got one gun for one run. The strategist permanently unlocked the ability to craft advanced shields and augments—gear that would’ve cost a ton more to buy. The rich Raider isn’t the one who buys the best gear; it’s the one who uses their wealth to unlock the means of production faster than everyone else. 📈

🐔 Scrappy the Rooster: How Your Feathered Friend Funds Your Empire

In the dark, grim world of ARC Raiders, your best friend is a chicken. 💖 Yep, Scrappy, the rooster in your Den, is a small but vital part of your economy. This feathered buddy is a passive material generator. passively passively passively He automatically finds basic resources for you while you’re topside. When you get back (win or lose!), Scrappy will have a little cache of materials like Metal Parts, Fabric, and Plastic waiting for you. 🎁

At first, it’s not much. But Scrappy’s real value is his upgrade potential! 📈 By finding specific items in the world and giving them to him, you can boost his scavenging skills. He’ll start finding more stuff and rarer stuff.

Scrappy’s Upgrade Path

Level	Requirements
Level 2 (Forager)	1x Dog Collar, 1x Torn Blanket
Level 3 (Scavenger)	5x Lemons, 5x Apricots
Level 4 (Treasure Hunter)	8x Prickly Pear, 8x Olives, 1x Cat Bed
Level 5 (Master Hoarder)	12x Apricots, 12x Mushrooms, 3x Very Comfortable Pillow

The strategy here is simple: this is a zero-risk, compounding investment. 💰 Every other way to get loot involves going topside and risking death. Upgrading Scrappy just costs you the time to find his trinkets, and his returns are guaranteed. A max-level Scrappy gives you a constant, reliable stream of common materials. This 🆓 passive income lets you focus your active scavenging time on hunting for rare parts and blueprints.

Don’t neglect Scrappy! That’s just leaving free money on the table. 🐔💰

👤 Chapter 2: The Raider Within: Forging Your Playstyle 💪

The Three Pillars of Survival: A Philosophical Guide to the Skill Trees 🌳

In ARC Raiders, you’re not just defined by your gear; you’re defined by your skills. The skill tree is how you grow your character long-term. You spend XP from raids to get all kinds of passive bonuses. 📈 These skills are split into three branches—Conditioning, Mobility, and Survival—and each one is a different philosophy for how to live in the Rust Belt.

A master Raider doesn’t just pick skills that “seem good.” They invest in a tree that boosts their chosen playstyle. 🧠

💚 Conditioning (The Art of Not Dying)

This green tree is all about resilience. It’s for the Raider who plans for the worst and knows that being able to take a punch (or ten) is what wins fights. This tree gives you a bigger margin for error.

Focus: Toughness 💪, weight management 🏋️‍♀️, and survivability.
Key Skills: Survivor's Stamina (faster stamina regen after taking big hits), Back on Your Feet (passive health regen after almost dying ❤️), Used To The Weight (move faster with heavy shields), and Security Breach (breach doors and lockers faster 🔐).
Vibe: You’re the brawler, the tank. You’re gonna be the last one standing. 😤

💛 Mobility (The Art of Not Being Where the Bullets Are)

This yellow tree is all about control through movement. 💨 It’s for the Raider who believes the best way to win a fight is to decide where it happens. Superior positioning is your ultimate weapon. This tree turns the map into your playground.

Focus: Speed 🏃‍♂️, stamina efficiency 💨, and traversal 🤸.
Key Skills: Youthful Lungs (more max stamina), Marathon Runner (sprint costs less stamina), Slip and Slide (faster, longer slides), and the game-changing Vaults on Vaults on Vaults (vaulting costs no stamina! 😮).
Vibe: You’re the skirmisher, the flanker. You strike from nowhere and vanish. 🥷

❤️ Survival (The Art of Getting Rich)

This red tree is all about efficiency. 💰 It’s for the Raider who knows the 30-minute raid timer is your real enemy ⏱️ and every second saved is a victory. This tree is about maximizing your profit on every single run.

Focus: Faster, quieter, and more profitable scavenging.
Key Skills: In-Round Crafting (a must-have! Craft bandages and ammo in the field 🔧), Looter's Instincts & Silent Scavenger (loot faster and quieter 🤫), Broad Shoulders & Stubborn Mule (carry more stuff! 🎒).
Vibe: You’re the strategist, the logistician. You’re winning the long war by building an overwhelming economic lead. 🤑

🗺️ Blueprint for Success: Foundational Builds for Every Raider Archetype

While you can mix and match skills, it helps to have a clear path when you’re starting. These builds are “starter packs” for three core playstyles. Here’s a good way to spend your first 30 skill points to get a powerful, focused start. ✨

1. “The Ghost” 👻 (Solo Stealth Specialist)

Philosophy: Avoidance is victory. Get in, get the good stuff, and get out without ever being seen by other players.
Core Trees: Survival & Mobility
Strategy: Use speed 🏃‍♀️ to hit low-traffic areas. Use quiet-looting skills 🤫 to grab stuff fast. If you’re spotted, use your massive stamina pool to disengage and vanish. 💨 Perfect for solo players who hate PvP and love profit. 💰

2. “The Juggernaut” 🦾 (Aggressive PvP Dominator)

Philosophy: The best defense is a loud offense. You seek out fights, confident you can outlast anyone.
Core Trees: Conditioning & Mobility
Strategy: Use your huge stamina pool to aggressively sprint, slide, and reposition in fights. 💥 Your Conditioning skills let you absorb damage and regen at critical moments, turning the tables. This is for players who see other Raiders as walking loot boxes. 👊
Note: The original guide calls this “Juggernaut” but the build itself focuses on Conditioning and Mobility, which is more of a “Brawler” or “Skirmisher.” We’ll stick to the guide’s table!

3. “The Hoarder” 🎒 (Economic Powerhouse)

Philosophy: Every raid is a business trip. 📈 Maximize the profit margin. You’re a master of logistics, built to carry everything.
Core Trees: Survival & Conditioning
Strategy: Focus hard on skills that increase carry weight (Broad Shoulders) and reduce penalties for being over-encumbered (Stubborn Mule). 🎒 You can stay on the surface longer and haul out way more loot. Unlocking Security Breach 🔐 early gets you into the best-locked loot rooms. This is for the long-term planner who knows wealth is the real power. 🤑

Archetype Skill Progression (First 30 Points)

Level	“The Ghost” (Solo Stealth)	“The Juggernaut” (Aggressive PvP)	“The Hoarder” (Economic Powerhouse)
1-5	5 pts into Revitalizing Squat (Survival)	5 pts into Youthful Lungs (Conditioning)	5 pts into Broad Shoulders (Survival)
6-10	5 pts into Silent Scavenger (Survival)	5 pts into Marathon Runner (Mobility)	5 pts into Stubborn Mule (Survival)
11-15	5 pts into Looter’s Instincts (Survival)	5 pts into Proper Breathing (Conditioning)	5 pts into Youthful Lungs (Conditioning)
16	1 pt into In-Round Crafting (Survival)	1 pt into Carry the Momentum (Mobility)	1 pt into In-Round Crafting (Survival)
17-21	5 pts into Marathon Runner (Mobility)	5 pts into Used To The Weight (Conditioning)	5 pts into Used To The Weight (Conditioning)
22-26	5 pts into Youthful Lungs (Mobility)	5 pts into Slip and Slide (Mobility)	5 pts into Revitalizing Squat (Survival)
27-30	4 pts into Agile Croucher (Survival)	4 pts into Fight or Flight (Conditioning)	4 pts into Proficient Pryer (Conditioning)

🎒 Loadout Philosophy 101: Gearing Up for a Purpose, Not a Funeral

A huge mistake is thinking there’s one “best” loadout. That kind of thinking leads to “gear fear” 😱 (being too scared to use your good stuff) and makes you inflexible.

A master Raider knows a loadout is just a set of tools for a specific job. 🎯 Before you deploy, ask yourself: “What’s my main goal for this run?” Your answer should pick every piece of gear you bring.

Here are a few purposeful loadouts:

The “Scrap Run” Loadout 🗑️:
- Goal: Farm common materials with minimal risk.
- Gear: A cheap, common weapon (like the Kettle), a basic shield, and minimal heals.
- Why: Your investment is low. Even if you die, the few materials you gathered are probably worth more than the gear you lost. This is your workhorse loadout for funding workshop upgrades. 💰
The “ARC Hunt” Loadout 🤖:
- Goal: Take down specific, tough ARC units for their rare parts.
- Gear: High-penetration weapons that use Heavy Ammo (like the Ferro or Anvil) 💥. Utility slots filled with explosives.
- Why: This is a high-investment, high-reward run. You’re bringing the right tools to crack open those robots. 🎯
The “Raider Hunt” Loadout 👤:
- Goal: PvP. 💥
- Gear: A flexible mid-range weapon (Tempest, Rattler) and a strong close-quarters option (Il Toro shotgun). Gadgets are key: Tagging Grenades (to see enemies 🎯), Door Blockers (to control fights 🧱), and Ziplines (for epic flanks 🧗‍♀️).
- Why: You’re kitted out for versatility and lethality against other players.

And remember: you can always play, even if you’re broke!

The “Free Loadout” 🎁 option is an amazing, forgiving mechanic. It gives you a totally random, totally free set of gear for a run. You can’t use your secure Safe Pocket, but anything you extract with is yours to keep. 🤝

Don’t see the Free Loadout as a sign of failure. See it as a strategic tool for risk-free economic growth. ❤️

🗺️ Chapter 3: A Tourist’s Guide to the Apocalypse: Mastering the Maps 🌆

The topside is a dangerous and varied place. ARC Raiders has four distinct maps, each with its own challenges, loot, and vibe. 🏞️ Knowing the terrain gives you a huge advantage. Knowing the map flow—where the good loot is, where the ARC patrols, where the exits are—is key to winning.

Maps are also split into color-coded zones:

🤍 White: Low-density, pretty safe. Good for scrap runs.
🧡 Orange: Better loot, more ARC. Moderate risk.
❤️ Red: The best gear. Swarming with elite ARC and other players also looking for the best gear. High risk, high reward.

The Maps

Dam Battlegrounds 🏞️: Probably your first map. A mix of forests, swamps, and ruined buildings. Great for learning! The forests give you cover for stealth 🤫, and the buildings are great for intense close-quarters fights.
Buried City 🏜️: A haunting, sand-blasted desert ruin. This map is all about verticality and tight, winding paths. Think collapsing malls and spooky hospitals. 🏥 Rooftops are great for sniping, but you’re also super exposed. Success here means you need great map awareness.
Acerra Spaceport 🚀: A giant, rusty industrial maze of launchpads and hangars. This map has super long sightlines (sniper’s paradise! 🎯) but also tons of cover to sneak around. Great for finding high-tech parts for your workshop.
Blue Gate 🏔️: A mountain map with extreme contrasts. You’ll go from wide-open snowy fields to small towns to spooky, tight tunnel systems 🚇. Fights can change from a 200m sniper duel to a shotgun fight in a tunnel real quick. There are also rumors of a new mystery location here… Stella Montis… 🤫

🎧 Reading the World: Mastering Situational Awareness, Sound Cues, and Environmental Clues 🧠

In ARC Raiders, information is your most valuable resource, and the world is always broadcasting it. The amazing sound design isn’t just for vibe; it’s a core gameplay mechanic. 👂

A novice hears a bunch of noise. 🤯 A master hears a language. 🧐

Gunshots 💥: Don’t just hear “danger.” Deconstruct it. Was that the heavy BOOM of a Ferro (a sniper)? Or the BRRT of a Bobcat (close-quarters fight)? Was it one shot, then silence (an ambush)? Or a long, drawn-out battle (a perfect time to third-party 😉)?
ARC Cues 🤖: The robots tell you what they’re doing. Their scanner lights are key:
- 💙 Blue Light: Just chillin’, on patrol. Easy to-sneak by.
- 💛 Yellow Light: Alerted. It heard or saw something and is searching. Be careful!
- ❤️ Red Light: Full-on aggression. It sees you and it’s coming to attack. Run or fight!
Environmental Clues 🗺️: The world talks, too.
- 🐦 Birds: A flock of birds suddenly flying from a forest? Someone just ran through there.
- 🟥 Red Flare: A red flare shooting into the sky? A Raider just got fully killed (not just downed). That means their gear is up for grabs… if you’re feeling brave.

Learning to listen 🎧 and watch 👀 lets you see threats and opportunities before they even happen.

🏃‍♀️ The Great Escape: A Masterclass on Extraction Strategy and Timing 🏁

You can loot the whole map, but it means nothing if you don’t extract. 💰 Getting your loot home is the whole point. ARC Raiders gives you two main ways to escape:

📢 Public Extractions: These are marked on your map (elevators, subway tunnels, etc.). You have to call them in, which starts a timer ⏰ and makes a LOUD, MAP-WIDE noise. This alerts all nearby ARC and every other Raider to your exact spot. These zones often become total bloodbaths in the final minutes. 💥
🤫 Raider Hatches: These are single-use, instant extraction points. They’re quiet and fast. 💨 BUT, you need a Raider Hatch Key to open one. These keys are rare, but you can craft them or buy them. The tactical advantage is huge. They let you skip the chaos of a public extract.

Mastering extraction is about “extraction calculus” 🤓. It’s a constant risk-vs-reward check. The number one rule, echoed by all veterans, is simple:

“Extract early, extract often.”

Greed 🤑 is the #1 killer in the Rust Belt. The urge to check “just one more building” has cost players fortunes. Know what your haul is worth and decide if it’s worth the risk of losing it all.

Pro-Tip: Always try to keep a Raider Hatch Key 🔑 in your Safe Pocket (the secure pouch you don’t lose on death). It’s the ultimate insurance policy. If you find an amazing blueprint, or you’re the last one alive in your squad, that key is your guaranteed ticket home. 🎫

🤖 Chapter 4: Deconstructing the ARC: A Hunter’s Guide to the Machines 🎯

The ARC Bestiary: A Complete Analysis of Every Machine’s Weaknesses

The ARC are the relentless robot threat. They’re a whole zoo of deadly machines. 🦾 While they’re tough, they’re not invincible. Every ARC unit is a machine with predictable behaviors and, most importantly, exploitable weaknesses. 🎯

A Raider who just sprays bullets 💥 will waste ammo, attract other players, and die. A Raider who fights smart 🧠—targeting weak spots—can take them apart.

General Rules:

Heavy ammo is best for breaking their armor.
Aim for the glowing red bits! 🎯 These are usually sensors, thrusters, or joints.

Here’s your cheat sheet for hunting ARC:

ARC Weakness & Exploit Matrix

ARC Unit	Threat Level	Primary Attack	Key Weak Points	Recommended Ammo	Strategic Exploit
Tick 🐜	Low	Melee (Leap)	Body	Any / Melee	A single heavy melee swing or a few shots. Save ammo, just smack it!
Wasp 🦟	Low	Projectile	Thrusters/Rotors	Light / Melee	Shoot the rotors. You can also mantle on top of it and melee it once!
Snitch 📢	Low (High Priority)	None (Calls Reinforcements)	Body/Sensors	Any	KILL ON SIGHT! 🎯 If it screams, it summons more bots.
Pop 💥	Moderate	Self-Destruct	Core (when exposed)	Any	Keep your distance. When its hatch opens, shoot it twice.
Fireball 🔥	Moderate	Flamethrower	Core (when firing)	Heavy / Medium	Lethal up close! Bait its flame attack, then shoot the exposed core.
Rollbot 🌀	Moderate	Ramming Charge	Core (when transmitting)	Heavy	It’s vulnerable when it stops to transmit. Hit the core!
Hornet 🐝	Moderate-High	Electric Shock (Stun)	Rear Thrusters	Medium / Heavy	Super annoying. 😫 Shoots its rear thrusters to stop it from zipping around.
Sentinel 🛡️	High	Projectile	Shield Generators, Core	Medium / Heavy	It has a big shield. Destroy the generators on the outside first, then hit its body.
Rocketeer 🚀	High	Rocket Barrage	Thrusters, Underside Core	Heavy	A deadly flying threat. Stay in cover! 🧱 Listen for the missiles. Shoot its glowing red core underneath.
Leaper/Bison 🦬	High	Destructive Leap	Leg Joints, Eye	Heavy / Explosives	Do not get close! 🚫 Shoot its leg joints to cripple it, then aim for its single glowing eye. 🎯
Bastion 🐘	Very High	Heavy Projectiles	Rear Plate, Joints	Heavy / Explosives	A slow, heavy tank. Its front armor is almost invincible. You must flank it and shoot the glowing parts on its back.
Bombardier 💣	Very High	Mortar Barrage	Upper Chassis, Joints	Heavy / Explosives	Works with Spotter drones to rain explosives. 🌧️ Stay mobile and attack it right after it fires.

👾 Behemoth Brawling: Advanced Strategies for Tackling Giants like the Queen 👑

Roaming the surface are bosses the size of buildings. 😱 The most famous one is the Queen, a colossal ARC unit that guards a thing called the Harvester. Taking this thing on is a massive job. A solo player or even one squad will get deleted. 💥

Beating the Queen is a multi-stage battle that tests the entire lobby.

🤝 The Social Contract: The first challenge isn’t the Queen, it’s the other Raiders. The fight will attract everyone. You must use proximity chat 🗣️ and emotes 👋 to signal a temporary truce. But be careful… this alliance is fragile. The second the Queen dies, it’s gonna be a chaotic free-for-all for the loot. 😬
🐜 Add Management: The Queen doesn’t fight alone. She summons waves of smaller bots. These must be the priority. If you let them build up, they’ll drain everyone’s ammo and health.
🎯 Weak Point Focus: Like all ARC, the Queen has weaknesses. The fight is all about targeting and destroying specific parts (like her leg joints) to cripple her and expose her main core. This needs coordinated fire from everyone.
🏃‍♀️ Survival: The Queen has devastating attacks (mortars, lasers, EMPs). Keep moving! Use cover and be ready to dodge.

Beating the Queen is a true endgame challenge. She drops some of the rarest crafting parts in the game, like the Queen Reactor 💎 you need for top-tier workshop upgrades.

🧠 Weaponizing the Enemy: How to Turn the ARC Threat into Your Greatest PvP Asset

The average Raider sees the world as You vs. ARC. 🤖

The master strategist sees a three-way dance: You vs. ARC vs. Other Raiders. 👤

The highest level of play is about manipulating this triangle. Turn the AI into your own personal, weaponized army. 🦾 How? Loud noises attract both ARC and players. This is the key.

Instead of avoiding that big Bastion robot, why not shoot it once to make it patrol towards the enemy squad you’ve been stalking? 😉
See an enemy hiding in a building? Find a Snitch drone 📢 nearby and shoot it. It’ll call in a fresh wave of bots right on their head. This drains their ammo and reveals their position. 🎯
Use gadgets like the Lure Grenade 💣. It’s made for this! Throw it to pull an ARC patrol away from you… or to pull them into an enemy’s fortified spot.
Being chased? Sprint through an area full of Ticks 🐜. The chasers will have to slow down or take damage, giving you time to escape or set an ambush.

The ARC aren’t just an obstacle. They’re a tool. 🛠️ They are a walking, shooting environmental hazard that you can aim at your enemies.

👤 Chapter 5: The Most Dangerous Game: Outsmarting Other Raiders 🥷

The PvP Mind Game: To Fight or Not to Fght? A Guide to Engagement Calculus 🤔

Every time you see another Raider, you have a choice: fight 💥 or not 🏃‍♀️? A novice just reacts. A master calculates. You’re running a rapid “engagement calculus” to see if a fight is worth it. The goal isn’t to win every fight; it’s to only take fights that help you, win or lose.

Before you pull the trigger, run this mental checklist:

🎒 Gear Disparity: What am I carrying? What are they likely carrying? Don’t pick a fight with a three-person team in purple armor when you’re on a scrap run. That’s just silly.
❤️ Resource Status: How’s my health, shield, and ammo? Starting a fight with half a mag and no bandages is a bad idea, even if you have better gear.
🏞️ Positional Advantage: Who has the better ground? Do I have cover? An escape route? Is the enemy caught in the open? Never push an enemy who has the high ground.
💎 Loot Value: What’s in my backpack? If it’s full of common junk, who cares? If you just found a legendary blueprint, DO NOT FIGHT. The risk is way too high.
🤖 External Threats: Where are the ARC? Are there other fights nearby? Starting a loud duel right next to a Bastion is asking for trouble.

By running this checklist, you stop being a reactive shooter and start being a proactive strategist. 🧠 Sometimes the best move is to fight. Sometimes it’s to follow them. And often, the best move is to just slip away unnoticed. 🤫

A Trinity of Tactics: Mastering Aggressive, Defensive, and “Rat” Strategies

PvP in ARC Raiders isn’t just one thing. It’s a spectrum, but most strategies fall into three types. Mastering all three—and knowing when to switch—is the key.

The Aggressive “Hornet” Style 🐝:
- You’re the predator. You control the game with relentless pressure. 💥 You use your better gear and aim to overwhelm. You’re always pushing, always flanking.
- Weakness: You’re exposed. Your aggression can get you ambushed or third-partied.
The Defensive “Stray Dog” Style 🐶:
- You’re the guardian. 🛡️ You’re a master of area-denial. You find a powerful spot (a building, a choke point, an extraction) and you fortify it. You use Barricades and Mines 💣 to force enemies to fight on your terms. You don’t look for fights, but you finish the fights that come to you.
- Weakness: You’re immobile. A patient enemy can just go around you or wait you out.
The Stealth “Rat” or “Stray Cat” Style 🐀:
- You’re the opportunist. You never take a fair fight. 🚫 Your weapons are sound, patience, and surprise. You move slow, you listen, you track people. You only attack when the odds are massively in your favor (an enemy fighting ARC, a solo player looting, etc.).
- Weakness: You’re vulnerable if you get caught in a straight-up, head-on fight.

The true master Raider can switch between all three. 🥷 You might play as a Rat 🐀 for 20 minutes, then switch to a Hornet 🐝 when you see a vulnerable target, and then become a Stray Dog 🐶 to defend your loot while you wait for extraction.

🗣️ The Social Experiment: A Guide to Prox Chat, Temporary Alliances, and Inevitable Betrayal 💔

ARC Raiders doesn’t have clans. Instead, it has proximity voice chat 🗣️. This one feature turns every encounter with another player into a complex, tense social negotiation. 😰

Mastering this social game is an advanced skill. It starts with emotes 👋 and voice lines (“Don’t shoot!”). A “Let’s team up!” can stop a fight before it starts and create a temporary alliance. 🤝 These pacts are often born of need—two solo players teaming up to survive, or multiple squads calling a truce to kill the Queen.

BUT… a verbal promise means nothing. 🤫 The tension comes from knowing that your new “friend” could shoot you in the back at any second. This creates an amazing meta-game of trust and deception.

🧠 Read the Room: Is the other player’s voice calm or panicked? Are they being clear or shady?
💪 Establish Dominance: Sometimes the safest truce is one you start from a power position (e.g., talking to them while you’re aiming at them from a hidden spot).
👀 Never Turn Your Back: Ever. Even in an alliance, keep your distance. A healthy dose of paranoia is a survival trait.

This system creates unforgettable stories of teamwork and backstabbing. It’s awesome.

🔫 Chapter 6: The Tools of the Trade: An Arsenal Deep Dive 💣

From Pea Shooters to Powerhouses: A Complete Weapon Breakdown 📊

Your guns are your tools. The ARC Raiders arsenal is a diverse mix of scavenged guns, old tools, and high-tech weapons. Each one has a specific job. Understanding the data 📊 behind them is the first step to mastering your loadout.

Study this table to see where each weapon shines. 🎯

The Raider’s Armory: Complete Weapon Statistics

Weapon Name	Type	Rarity	Ammo Type	Damage	Magazine Size	Effective Range	ARC Damage	Strategic Niche & Veteran’s Tip
Anvil	Hand Cannon	Uncommon	Heavy	40	6	51.3m	Strong	A high-skill, high-reward pistol. Rewards headshots 🎯. Punishes misses.
Arpeggio	Burst Rifle	Uncommon	Medium	–	–	Medium	Moderate	A precise 3-round burst rifle. Great for mid-range.
Bettina	Assault Rifle	Epic	–	High	–	–	Very Strong	Slow-firing but hits like a truck. A battle rifle.
Bobcat	SMG	Epic	Light	–	–	Close	Weak	A close-quarters buzzsaw. 💥 Melts unarmored targets.
Burletta	Pistol	Uncommon	Light	–	Low	Close	Very Weak	A basic sidearm. Better than your fists, barely.
Equalizer	Energy Beam	Legendary	Energy	–	–	Long	–	A unique energy beam. Can be inconsistent but powerful.
Ferro	Break-Action Rifle	Common	Heavy	40	1 (5 total)	53.1m	Strong	The one-shot-one-kill king. 👑 Amazing anti-Raider & anti-ARC tool. Reloads after every shot.
Hairpin	Bolt-Action Pistol	Common	Light	–	Low	Medium	Very Weak	Silenced pistol for stealth 🤫. Damage is poor.
Hullcracker	Grenade Launcher	Epic	Launcher	–	1	–	Extremely Effective	The ultimate tool for big ARC 🤖 or flushing Raiders out of cover 🧱.
Il Toro	Pump-Action Shotgun	Uncommon	Shotgun	–	High	Close	Weak	Classic shotgun. Devastating in tight hallways. Useless at range.
Jupiter	Bolt-Action Sniper	Legendary	Energy Clip	–	Very High	Very Long	Strong	High-tech sniper. ⚡ Projectile is super fast, making it easier to hit moving targets.
Kettle	Semi-Auto Rifle	Common	Light	10	20	28m	Weak	An excellent starter gun. 💖 Precise and ammo-efficient. Weak vs armor.
Osprey	Bolt-Action Sniper	–	Medium	–	8	Long	Moderate	A more forgiving sniper than the Ferro. Faster follow-up shots.
Rattler	Assault Rifle	Common	Medium	9	10	51m	Moderate	A great all-rounder, but its base mag is tiny (10) and reloads 2 rounds at a time. 😬 Mag upgrades are a MUST.
Renegade	Lever-Action Rifle	–	Medium	High	10	Medium-Long	–	A powerful marksman’s rifle. Rewards headshots.
Tempest	Assault Rifle	–	–	–	30	Medium	–	A classic, reliable, easy-to-use assault rifle. A top-tier all-rounder. 👍
Torrente	LMG	Uncommon	Medium	–	Large	Medium	–	Has a massive magazine. Great for suppressing enemies or clearing ARC.
Venator	Pistol	–	–	–	2	Close	–	A reliable two-shot sidearm. A great finisher.
Vulcano	Semi-Auto Shotgun	Epic	Shotgun	–	Very High	Close	–	A rapid-firing shotgun. 💥 Rewards aiming for the head.

🔧 Modding for Murder: The Ultimate Guide to Weapon Attachments and Customization

A base gun is just a starting point. The Weapon Bench 🔫 lets you craft and add attachments that can totally change how a gun performs. You craft these with scavenged materials.

Attachments are all about trade-offs. They’ll boost one thing (like stability) but hurt another (like aim speed).

🤫 Silencers: One of the most powerful attachments. A silenced gun makes it very hard for distant ARC and players to find you. Invaluable for stealth. 🥷
📈 Extended Magazines: Simple, but so good. Turns guns with tiny mags (like the Rattler) from a liability into a reliable workhorse.
💪 Grips and Stocks: These control stability. A Vertical Grip reduces vertical recoil (easier to spray). A Stock helps you get accurate follow-up shots faster.
🎯 Barrels and Muzzles: These affect your bullets. An Extended Barrel can make your bullets fly faster (easier to hit moving targets).

The art of modding is about fixing a gun’s biggest weakness, or leaning hard into its biggest strength. ✨

The Unsung Heroes: Mastering Shields, Augments, and Tactical Gadgets 🛡️

Your gun is important, but your gear is what wins fights.

🛡️ Shields: Your #1 line of defense. This is your regenerating health bar. It absorbs damage before your real health gets touched. The quality (green 💚, blue 💙, purple 💜) drastically changes how many hits you can take. Never, ever raid without a shield.
🎒 Augments: This gear determines your backpack size and, more importantly, your “augmented slots” for heals 🩹, grenades 💣, and gadgets 🛠️. This choice shapes your whole build. Do you want more space for loot? Or more slots for grenades?
🛠️ Tactical Gadgets: These are the tools that let you outsmart people. 🧠
- 🧗‍♀️ Ziplines: An essential mobility tool. Create new paths, get to high ground, or make a fast escape. A good zipline is an ambush nobody sees coming.
- 🧱 Barricades & Door Blockers: Defensive tools. A Barricade gives you cover in the open. A Door Blocker stops an enemy from pushing into your room.
- 🎯 Lure Grenades & Tagging Grenades: Info warfare! A Lure Grenade tricks ARC 🤖. A Tagging Grenade reveals hidden enemies 👤.

Mastering all your equipment, not just your gun, is what makes you a true tactical master.

🚀 Chapter 7: Advanced Raiding and The Long Game 🌌

The Lone Wolf’s Handbook: A Guide to Thriving as a Solo Player 👤

While ARC Raiders has squads of three, it’s an amazing experience for solo players. The game even tries to put solos in lobbies with other solos. 👍 But thriving alone requires a totally different mindset.

Your greatest strengths are stealth 🤫 and unpredictability 👻. You have no one to revive you, so a straight-up fight is a bad idea.

🎧 Master the Soundscape: Listening is more important than shooting. Sound is your #1 source of intel. Use it to move between conflicts and stay hidden.
🐀 Embrace the Rat: This is your life now. Move slow. Use cover. Never take a fair fight. You are a predator of opportunity. Patience is everything.
🏃‍♀️ Hit and Run: When you do attack, make it fast and brutal. Get the kill, get the loot, and get out. Lingering is how you die.
🗣️ The Social Gambit: Prox chat is a huge risk, but a huge reward. A “friendly!” callout can turn a 1v1 into a 2v0. But again… trust no one. 😬
🔑 The Escape Plan: Always know your exit. Always have a Raider Hatch Key in your Safe Pocket. It’s your “get out of jail free” card.

Playing solo is an intense, heart-pounding thriller. Every extraction feels like a massive win.

💸 The Zero-to-Hero Hustle: How to Succeed with Nothing But a Free Loadout and a Dream 💰

Everyone goes broke eventually. 😥 A string of bad runs can wipe your stash. This is where the “Zero-to-Hero” hustle begins, and your best friend is the Free Loadout system. 🎁 It gives you free, random gear so you can always deploy.

Mastering the art of rebuilding from nothing is a core skill. It kills gear fear. 🚫😱

🆓 Embrace the Free Loadout: Your goal isn’t glory; it’s survival and profit.
🗑️ Low-Risk Scavenging: Deploy to a safe map (like Dam) and stick to the White zones 🤍. Loot common materials (metal, plastic, fabric). Avoid all fights. See someone? Just leave.
🏃‍♀️ Prioritize Extraction: The goal is to extract with something. A backpack with a few stacks of scrap is a 100% profit. Do not get greedy.
✅ Complete Simple Quests: Grab those easy quests from traders for a quick injection of cash and XP.
🔧 Invest, Don’t Spend: Don’t use your first earnings to buy a gun. Use it to invest in your Workshop. Craft a cheap “Scrap Run” loadout (Kettle, basic shield, one bandage).
🔄 Rinse and Repeat: Keep doing this until you have a solid stash of materials and a reliable starting kit. Then you can start taking more risks.

This disciplined hustle can take you from zero to hero in just a few hours.

🔄 The Expedition Project Explained: Why You Should Burn It All Down and Start Again 🚀

The long-term endgame of ARC Raiders is a super cool system: The Expedition Project. This is a voluntary, seasonal character wipe (a “prestige”) where you reset your progress in exchange for powerful, permanent, account-wide benefits. 📈

This system is a brilliant fix for the extraction genre. It fights gear-stagnation and destroys gear fear. 🚫😱

Here’s how it works:

It’s an 8-week (about 60-day) cycle. 🗓️
Once you hit Level 20, you can start contributing resources to the Project.
If you finish, you can choose to “depart,” which wipes your character. 💥
What you LOSE: Your level/skills, your entire stash, all your blueprints, your Raider Coins, and all your workshop upgrades. It’s a true fresh start.
What you KEEP/GAIN: All your account stuff (cosmetics, premium currency, etc.). BUT you also earn powerful rewards for your next character:
- ✨ Bonus Skill Points: Start your next run with a bunch of skill points!
- 📦 Increased Stash Space: A permanent buff. This is huge.
- 🚀 Stacking Progression Buffs: Things like bonus XP gain and a better Scrappy 🐔. These buffs can stack if you do it over and over!

This system redefines “endgame.” The goal isn’t to hoard a billion dollars. The goal is to get so good at the game that you can confidently wipe your progress, knowing you can do it all again, faster.

The ultimate flex in ARC Raiders isn’t a full stash. It’s showing off the stacked, permanent buffs you earned from burning it all down and rising from the ashes, time and time again. 🔥

🌌 Beyond the Horizon: A Look at Stella Montis, Future Content, and the “10-Year” Plan

The developers have been clear: they see ARC Raiders as a “10-year game.” 🗓️ They plan to evolve this world for a long time. They haven’t given a strict roadmap because they want to be flexible and respond to what the community wants. 🤝

But we’ve got hints!

🏔️ Stella Montis: A new, mysterious location has been mentioned. How do we get there? No one knows… yet. 🤫 It’s likely a future content update.
🤖 New ARC: They’ve hinted at new robots, maybe even bigger and scarier than the Queen. 😱
⛈️ Dynamic World: The game already has systems for “special conditions” like Night Raids 🌙, Electromagnetic Storms ⚡, and Harvest Seasons. Expect these to create new and exciting world events.

The ARC Raiders we have at launch is just the beginning. It’s a foundation for a world that’s going to grow and change for a decade. 🚀

✅ Conclusion: You’re a Raider, Now Go Act Like One 💪

The journey from a newbie in Speranza to a master of the Rust Belt is long. You’re gonna lose gear. You’re gonna have amazing escapes. You’re gonna learn a lot.

This guide gave you the blueprint. 🗺️ True mastery isn’t a gun or a loot route. It’s a way of thinking. 🧠

It’s knowing that preparation in the Den is more important than reflexes in a fight. It’s the ability to hear a distant gunshot and turn it into a smart plan. It’s the wisdom to know when to fight 💥, when to run 🏃‍♀️, and when to turn your enemies against each other 🤖.

Above all, it’s embracing the idea that progress isn’t what you have, it’s what you learn. The Expedition Project is the ultimate test of this.

You have the knowledge. The principles are clear. The rest is up to you.

The Rust Belt is waiting. Go forge your legend. 🚀

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan work, all trademarks and copyrights for Far Cry 3 belong to the developer Embark Studios & publisher Embark Studios.

Find the game here! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1808500/ARC_Raiders/