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Getting Started with ARC Raiders

Quick Summary for AI Search & Overviews:

  • Overview: ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter by Embark Studios. You play as a Raider living underground in Speranza, a makeshift settlement ...
  • Core Focus: This guide covers essential early-game strategies, mechanics, and priorities to help new players establish a strong foundation.
  • Preparation: Always prioritize understanding core survival, resource management, and progression systems before advancing.

ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter by Embark Studios. You play as a Raider living underground in Speranza, a makeshift settlement built from the ruins of a collapsed civilization. The surface belongs to the ARC, a massive swarm of hostile machines that fell from the sky and wiped out everything above ground. Your job is to go topside, grab what you can, and get back alive.

The game launched on October 30, 2025, and is available on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S with full cross-platform play. You can run solo, pair up with one partner, or form a three-person squad.

The Extraction Loop​

Every raid follows the same structure. You gear up in Speranza, deploy to one of six surface maps, loot containers and points of interest, fight ARC machines and other players, then extract through a designated exit point before the timer runs out.

Here is how a typical raid plays out:

  1. Pick a map and a loadout in Speranza. Each map has a difficulty level and different loot tables.
  2. Deploy to the surface. You drop in with other squads and solo players.
  3. Scavenge for materials, weapons, blueprints, and valuables. Check buildings, containers, and ARC wreckage.
  4. Fight or avoid ARC machines patrolling the area. They range from small drones to building-sized bosses.
  5. Watch for other players. They want your loot as much as you want theirs.
  6. Reach an extraction point (elevator, metro station, or air shaft) and survive the extraction timer.
  7. Return to Speranza with everything you collected. Use it to craft, upgrade, and prepare for the next run.

If you die during a raid, you lose everything you were carrying. Your equipped gear, your scavenged materials, your found blueprints. Gone. The only exception is your safe pocket, a single protected inventory slot that preserves exactly one item on death. Not a handful of items. One.

danger

Death is expensive. If you take a fully upgraded custom loadout into a raid and get killed, that gear is gone permanently. Until you are confident in a map, use free loadouts (explained below) to avoid losing anything of value.

Free Loadouts vs. Custom Loadouts​

ARC Raiders gives every player access to free (also called sponsored) loadouts. These are basic gear sets with low-tier weapons and minimal supplies. They cost nothing, and losing them costs nothing.

Custom loadouts use gear you built at your crafting stations. Higher-tier weapons, better shields, stronger consumables. They are objectively better than free loadouts, but losing them hurts.

The rule of thumb:

  • Learning a new map? Free loadout. Always.
  • Running a familiar map with a plan? Custom loadout if the potential loot justifies the risk.
  • Playing with a new squad? Free loadout until you trust their callouts and positioning.
warning

Free loadouts disable your Safe Pocket for the entire raid. If you deploy with a free kit, you have zero item preservation on death. Every scavenged item, including quest items, is at full risk. Keep this in mind when deciding between a free loadout scouting run and a cheap custom loadout.

tip

Free loadouts are not just for beginners. Experienced players use them for quick scouting runs where the goal is map knowledge, not high-value loot. There is no shame in a free kit. Just know the Safe Pocket tradeoff before you deploy.

Speranza and the Raider Den​

Speranza is your home base. Between raids, you spend time here preparing for the next one. The Raider Den is the crafting hub inside Speranza where all your workstations live.

Your den has seven specialized stations plus a basic workbench:

StationWhat It Does
WorkbenchBasic crafting. Cannot be upgraded. Handles simple weapons and ammo.
GunsmithWeapons and weapon mods. Upgrades to Level 3.
Gear BenchArmor and shields. Upgrades to Level 3.
Medical LabHealing items and medical supplies. Upgrades to Level 3.
Explosives StationGrenades, mines, and throwables. Upgrades to Level 3.
Utility StationScanners and tactical tools. Upgrades to Level 3.
RefinerConverts raw materials into advanced components. Upgrades to Level 3.
ScrappyYour companion rooster. Passively generates materials over time. Has his own upgrade path.

You also have a stash for storing materials and gear between raids, and a loadout screen where you equip your gear before deploying.

For a full breakdown of every station, upgrade path, and crafting recipe priority, check the Crafting and Gear guide.

Squad Play​

ARC Raiders supports three squad sizes:

  • Solo. Full stealth potential. You choose every fight. No one to revive you if you go down.
  • Duo. Good balance of firepower and coordination. Easier to stay quiet than a trio.
  • Trio. Maximum firepower. Louder, harder to hide, but you can bully most encounters.

Cross-platform play is on by default. PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players share the same servers. If you want to fill empty squad slots with random players, use the Fill Squad feature from the deploy screen.

info

ARC Raiders uses proximity voice chat (proxy chat). Other players near you can hear you talking. Keep callouts short and use your squad's private channel for strategy. Or use proxy chat to bluff, negotiate, or intimidate. Your call.

Combat Fundamentals​

Combat against ARC machines is pattern-based. Every machine type has visible weak points (exposed thrusters, yellow joints, fuel cores) that take extra damage. Learning where to shoot matters more than spraying ammo.

Combat against other players is positioning-based. ARC Raiders is third-person, so shoulder-peeking around corners gives you a sight advantage without exposing your body. Use cover constantly. Standing in the open gets you killed in under a second.

A few things that trip up new players:

  • Sprinting is loud. Other players and ARC machines hear you. Walk when you are near points of interest or extraction zones.
  • Reloading has commitment. You cannot cancel a reload animation. Time your reloads during safe windows, not mid-fight.
  • Shields are your real health bar. Your character has base health, but shields absorb damage first. Higher-tier shields give you more buffer. Prioritize shield quality over weapon quality in your early runs.
  • Stamina governs everything. Sprinting, dodging, climbing, and melee attacks all drain stamina. Running out of stamina in a fight means you cannot dodge, which means you die.

Your First 10 Hours​

  1. Play the tutorial. It covers movement, combat, extraction mechanics, and basic crafting. Do not skip it.
  2. Run free loadouts on Dam Battlegrounds. This is the most forgiving map. Learn where the extraction points are, where ARC machines patrol, and where loot spawns.
  3. Focus on extracting, not fighting. Your goal in early runs is bringing materials home, not getting kills. Avoid other players when you can.
  4. Upgrade Scrappy and the Refiner first. Scrappy gives you passive materials while you are offline. The Refiner lets you turn raw junk into crafting components. Both save you time on future runs.
  5. Learn the Snitch. Snitches are small surveillance drones. If one spots you and you do not destroy it fast, it calls in ARC reinforcements. Always kill Snitches on sight.
  6. Do not hoard good gear. If you never use your best equipment, it is not helping you. Take it out when you have a specific high-value target in mind.
  7. Adjust your settings. Tweak sensitivity, shoulder-swap keybinds, and proxy chat volume before your first real raid. Getting comfortable with controls early saves you deaths later.

These guides cover every system in depth: