News Tag: ARC Raiders Items

Cold Snap update, while time-limited, offers a series of content centered around Snowfall map conditions, providing a brief but exciting ARC Raiders experience this winter.

Among all the new content, there are also 6 new quests. Although these are different from other Cold Snap gameplay and should remain in the game permanently, we still recommend completing them as soon as possible to earn rewards.

Below, we will provide you with the main steps to complete these 6 quests.

The Clean Dream

This quest requires you to first travel to Spaceport map and enter the underground tunnels, following the instructions provided by the quest system. The specific steps are as follows:

• Step 1: Find the tunnel entrance in the southwest area of Launch Tower and enter.
• Step 2: Search all interactive containers to find the 4 specific containers required by the quest.
• Step 3: Find and monitor any one of the filtration systems in the tunnel.
• Step 4: Travel to Blue Gate map and then find and enter Maintenance Bunker.
• Step 5: Find the cylindrical purification system in the main room and interact with it.
• Step 6: Find the blueprint on the table in the small room and take a picture.
• Step 7: Return to Speranza and interact with Apollo to submit the quest results.

A Toxic Trail

If you completed the other main quests before Cold Snap update was released, you will find that some of them involved investigating water pollution issues, but these were not fully resolved. A Toxic Trail will bring these to a conclusion.

• Step 1: Travel to Dam Battlegrounds map and find the barrel located in Water Treatment Center. This item previously appeared in Source of the Contamination quest.
• Step 2: Walk around the barrel to trigger and find clues about the source of the barrel.
• Step 3: Continue west to find a truck and take a picture as instructed by the system.
• Step 4: Search the truck to find the final clue about the water contamination incident.
• Step 5: Evacuate from the current map to return to Speranza and receive the next quest.

It's worth noting that when interacting with the truck door, you will obtain Spaceport Warehouse Key, which can help you open locked rooms and find more loot while exploring Spaceport map.

The Stench Of Corruption

As a follow-up quest to A Toxic Trail, The Stench of Corruption is fast-paced and includes combat elements. If you die during combat, you must start over from the beginning. Here are the detailed instructions:

• Step 1: Travel to Departure Building located on Spaceport map.
• Step 2: Follow the quest guidance to find a nearby room and search for clues about the saboteur's identity.
• Step 3: Find and interact with the hazmat suit in the room to obtain Flushing Terminal Key.
• Step 4: Leave the room and enter the underground tunnel in The Clean Dream quest.
• Step 5: Find any Flushing Terminal and interact with it using the key you just obtained to complete the task.

Unlike the regular item rewards of other quests, The Stench of Corruption will give you a unique Warden outfit. If you like, you can wear it to travel to the next quest location.

Paving The Way

The only dangerous part of this quest is the final extraction phase, as there may be other real players near the extraction point. Even if they don't intend to attack you, you may still be accidentally injured.

So, don't let your guard down immediately after completing the task according to the following steps.

• Step 1: Find an ENELICA building on any map, Water Treatment Center in Dam Battlegrounds is recommended.
• Step 2: Find the bulletin board at the main entrance of the building and interact with it to obtain the researcher's notes.
• Step 3: Extract and go to the new map, Buried City, and find the dual apartment buildings in the central area.
• Step 4: In this building, find the apartment room where the researcher who wrote the notes lived, enter it, and find the research data as instructed.
• Step 5: Extract from Buried City to complete the task.

Deciphering The Data

This quest takes place in Spaceport, a location you are already very familiar with. NPC who gives the quest is Shani. Here are all the steps to complete this quest:

• Step 1: Find and enter the main room of Fuel Control building located in the northeast of the map.
• Step 2: Find the terminal in the southeast corner of the room and interact with it using Magnetic Decryptor.
• Step 3: Follow the new quest prompts to the top floor of Arrival Building to find another set of terminal machines, then successfully extract to complete the task.

The most dangerous part of Deciphering the Data is that you may encounter other players on the way to Arrival Building. If you are afraid of conflict, you can bring fewer items beforehand to indicate that you are only there to do the quest.

The Groundbreaking

This quest requires you to travel to Blue Gate map for investigation and item searching. If you are ready to brave the cold weather and potential enemies, please follow the instructions below to start the quest immediately.

• Step 1: Take Blue Gate Communication Tower Key and travel to Pilgrim's Peak, located at the northernmost point of the map.
• Step 2: Enter the building there, find a locked door in the eastern part of the building, and use the key you brought to open it and enter the room.
• Step 3: Search the room for documents and interact with the whiteboard to obtain a photograph of a specific building.
• Step 4: Travel to Abandoned Housing Project in the southwest of the map to trigger a new mission objective to photograph this location.
• Step 5: Take the photograph and safely evacuate; the mission is complete.

Overall, these new missions are not difficult to complete, but they require traveling back and forth between different locations, which is quite time-consuming. Therefore, it's best to complete them all at once when you have free time.

We hope this guide helps you have a better gaming experience. Keep going, Raiders!

On December 16th, ARC Raiders Cold Snap update will bring heavy snow and extreme cold to all maps, presenting raiders with harsh environmental challenges.

Players will need to relearn how to move, survive, and safely evacuate in this challenging environment. Only those who adapt will emerge victorious.

Date

ARC Raiders Cold Snap will launch globally and last for four weeks, ending on Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. Here are the updated times for key global time zones:

• North American West Coast: 1:30 AM PST
• 4:30 AM EST, North American East Coast
• 6:30 AM Brazil BRT
• 9:30 AM UK Time (Greenwich Mean Time)
• 10:30 AM Western European Time
• 6:30 PM Japan Time
• 8:30 PM Australia East Coast Time

Snowfall Mechanism

Outdoors

Snowfall, as a map event, will cover all areas of the map, including Rust Belt, Valley of Blue Gate, Abandoned Spaceport, and Red Lakes. Unlike standard raids, Cold Snap applies continuous environmental stress to raiders. Snowfall is not just a visual effect; it affects your combat, movement, and survival.

Prolonged exposure to the outdoors will cause raiders to suffer frostbite, resulting in continuous health loss. They must enter indoors or receive rapid healing to survive. Frostbite ignores armor, meaning even high-level gear is ineffective, but some instant-recovery items may be effective.

Because the map is covered in snow, gathering materials becomes much more difficult, so to combat frostbite, you should carry significantly more healing items than usual. Consider discarding some ammunition to make room for extra medical supplies.

Furthermore, the radar will malfunction after a few minutes, and the icy ground will make movement unsteady, both increasing the difficulty of combat and exploration. You can move short distances between buildings, but try to avoid lingering in open areas, as you'll leave footprints in the snow, making you vulnerable to being tracked by other players! Being suppressed by players outdoors will put you at a significant disadvantage.

Additionally, the different map layouts in Snowfall will have varying impacts on each map.

• Dam Battlegrounds: More open areas, limited shelters, requiring route planning and sufficient ARC Raiders items.
• Buried City: More indoor space, more frequent PvP battles.
• Spaceport and Blue Gate: A more balanced distribution of open areas and shelters, giving an advantage to players who can effectively manage movement between buildings.
• Stella Montis: Already a popular PvP map, Snowfall may further intensify PvP.

Shelter

Entering indoor areas will immediately stop frostbite. You can use items to restore health here. Buildings, underground spaces, and enclosed structures can all serve as safe zones during Snowfall event.

Of course, these safe zones will attract more other players than usual, and some squads may cluster together. You can cooperate for warmth or engage in combat to become the last survivor in the shelter.

If your map frequently sees PvP, the longer you stay in the shelter, the more dangerous it becomes. You should make full use of this time to rest and then venture out again.

Flickering Flames Event

Launching alongside Cold Snap is Flickering Flames event, a progress-based event. Players accumulate progress by gaining XP, with 1,000 XP equaling 10 Merits. However, new players must complete a total of five rounds of Arc Raiders to unlock the event, although this does not require successful extraction.

Flickering Flames has 25 tiers, rewarding players with gear, cosmetic items, and Raiders tokens. You're on a raid. You can progress using any source of XP, or you can avoid Snowfall map and accumulate progress on regular maps. You can gain XP by:

• Defeating large ARC enemies.
• Completing trials.
• Successfully extracting with valuable loot.

Candleberry Banquet Project

This update introduces a new project, Candleberry Banquet Project. Players need to collect Candleberries that spawn outdoors. The more Candleberries you successfully collect, the higher your Candleberry Banquet completion rate will be.

Candleberries can be used to craft candles, juice, tea, stews, perfume, and more, and these items may have mechanics that resist cold wave damage.

Furthermore, you'll earn Merits as you progress through Candleberry Banquet Project. This program is somewhat similar to a battle pass; as you progress, you'll earn rewards such as cosmetic items and Raider Tokens.

New Raider Deck

The release of the new Raider Deck has been slightly delayed, and it will be unlocked on December 26th and will be available to players for free.

The new Raider Deck features a Goalie-themed outfit inspired by old world clothing. It also includes a new raider tool skin, the hockey stick. This Raider Deck is permanent and won't disappear, so you can unlock it at any time. However, it's unconfirmed whether accumulated Raider Deck Points will carry over to the new deck.

Before the new Raider Deck update, this update also includes new portable, playable interactive items, an Acoustic Guitar, a gold-mask-style Mist Horn Set, futuristic Solar Panel Gadgets, and possibly even warming items to protect against the cold.

Snowfall transforms Arc Raiders into a true survival experience, where environmental awareness is just as important as combat skills. Use your tactics and items to adapt to winter warfare. The frozen wastelands of Speranza await your challenge, so Raiders, stay warm and survive!

Almost every game available on multiple platforms is expected by players to offer cross-play functionality, as this means you can more easily play with friends and won't be restricted by device changes.

The demand for cross-play is even stronger for multiplayer online games, such as the recently popular ARC Raiders. Its PvPvE nature and support for two-player/three-player matchmaking highlight the importance and fun of playing with friends.

Fortunately, this game, available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, fully supports cross-play! If you don't know how to enable cross-play, or are unsure whether you should enable it, don't worry, we'll provide you with a helpful guide!

Preparation Before Enabling Cross-Play Feature

First, it's important to note that ARC Raiders does not support cross-platform ownership in most cases. For example, if you want to play the game on both PC and PS5, you must own ARC Raiders on each platform, respectively.

The only exception is Microsoft Store. If you obtain ARC Raiders there, you can unlock both Xbox and PC versions directly.

In addition, you must ensure you have a fixed Embark ID and link that ID to your current device account on the new platform. This will ensure that your existing game account progress and all earned ARC Raiders items are synchronized to the new platform when you log in.

How To Enable Or Disable Cross-Play?

Cross-play is enabled by default when you play ARC Raiders on any platform. So, as soon as you enter the game and start matchmaking, you may encounter players using other devices, and you and your friends can team up without restrictions.

If you haven't added your friends to your friends list yet, you can find and add them by entering their ID in the relevant search box in the game. Then, find them on the list and invite them to team up.

If for various reasons, such as potential imbalances in the combat environment due to different devices, you want to disable cross-play, it's possible. The specific steps are as follows:

• 1. Find the main menu and open the settings menu located in the lower right corner.
• 2. Find and open Gameplay tab.
• 3. Find Online section.
• 4. Find Cross-play option and click to disable it.
• 5. To re-enable it later, simply follow the steps above again.

Pros And Cons Of Cross-Play Functionality

The most obvious benefit of this feature is the significant reduction in matchmaking wait times. For players busy with work or studies, every minute in a game is precious relaxation time.

Furthermore, it not only provides convenience for teaming up with friends but also allows you to more flexibly choose your gaming device according to your needs, without being limited to either a controller or keyboard and mouse.

On the other hand, players using different devices often have certain overall tendencies, such as being more aggressive or more friendly. Cross-play means you might be matched with any type of teammate or enemy, increasing the excitement of the game.

However, because of this, the probability of encountering cheaters will become higher when cross-play is enabled, especially if you are a PS5 or Xbox player, as there are more cheaters on PC.

From an operational experience perspective, both the visual design and controller usage habits of ARC Raiders are more friendly to PC players. Therefore, if your opponents are from PC and you are not, you will inevitably feel a subtle unfairness.

Should You Enable Cross-Play?

Based on our analysis of the pros and cons of this feature, you can decide whether to enable cross-play based on your preferred gaming device and skill level.

If you are a PC player, you can keep this feature enabled by default, because generally speaking, console players are less likely to disrupt the game environment or cheat, and playing with more players of different styles can help improve your skills faster.

If you are a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S player, we recommend that you only enable cross-play when you are very familiar with the mechanics and controls of ARC Raiders, or when you need to team up with friends using different devices.

However, it's important to note that disabling cross-play will inevitably reduce the number of online players, which will increase matchmaking wait times, especially during off-peak hours. Therefore, if you want to avoid this, it's best to always keep this feature enabled.

Will ARC Raiders Be Available On More Platforms?

Considering the multiplayer online PvP elements of ARC Raiders, it is clearly not suitable for handheld devices like Switch, but playing on mobile devices should be feasible, as several shooting game series like PUBG and Call of Duty already have mobile versions.

However, considering that ARC Raiders is a relatively new game, even if there are plans to expand to new platforms, it will likely be a long time before they are implemented. The current focus of the game is still on perfecting its core content.

It's worth noting, however, that compared with many other online multiplayer games that still haven't implemented full cross-play, or whose cross-play features are buggy, ARC Raiders has done a great job from the start.

That's all the information for today. Later today, ARC Raiders will release Cold Snap update, allowing you to play with friends on other devices in new map variations and participate in new events! Stay tuned!

Released at the end of October, ARC Raiders was a dark horse in the gaming world this year. Within a month, it attracted millions of loyal players, and based on its performance in November, it won 2025 TGA Best Multiplayer Award!

Whether a game is fun or not doesn't depend on game media reviews; the number of players faithfully reflects this. So how did ARC Raiders manage to beat Battlefield 6, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and other multiplayer games in just one month to become the king of multiplayer games in 2025?

Top-Tier Visuals And Audio

In recent years, many games have proven the excellence of Unreal Engine 5 in terms of graphics. Games like Black Myth: Wukong and Expedition 33 boast incredibly stunning visuals. ARC Raiders also uses UE 5 to create cinematic-quality graphics, making it difficult for even the most discerning gamers to find fault.

Unreal Engine 5's optimization issues often lead to game stuttering or very high system requirements. ARC Raiders, by selectively using engine features, ensures excellent performance, allowing players to consistently enjoy a smooth gaming experience.

The development team is at the forefront of the industry in art design and graphics. They extensively use photogrammetry to scan realistic vegetation, rocks, and debris, creating extremely realistic environments. This is why each map feels incredibly realistic and has its own unique design and gameplay.

The excellent art style adopts a Cassette Futurist or Retrofuturist aesthetic, somewhat similar to the style of Aliens or early Destiny, but more grounded.

Their use of color is bold and fearless; not only do different maps have unique color schemes, but day-night cycles also create drastically different atmospheres.

Audio is one of the core game mechanics, crucial in both PvE and PvP, where even the slightest sound can reveal location. ARC Raiders inherits the sound trap concept from Hunt: Showdown, requiring players to manage their own sound footprint.

From the rustling of leaves and the whistling of bullets to the distant roar of giant robots, these sounds are richly layered, providing the richest, most informative, and most gameplay-friendly soundscape of 2025, demanding that players engage with the game through their ears. This outstanding audio design makes other games pale in comparison after playing the game.

Excellent Map Design

Map design is a crucial element of an excellent extraction game. It can't be like PUBG, which simply presents you with a vast map, leaving players to shoot each other in low buildings or open fields – a perfunctory approach.

The distribution of resource points, the location of extraction points, and the cover needed for engaging enemies in the game all require careful design. ARC Raiders seamlessly integrates these requirements with the game's style.

Maps like Spaceport and Burie City are not only large enough but also three-dimensional enough to be explored from top to bottom, yet also fraught with hidden dangers. But when you emerge from an abandoned house and suddenly see an open basin or field, you'll likely feel genuinely pleased.

Excellent Enemy Design

ARC Raiders' animations aren't preset; they're generated from AI models. Robots adjust their movements in real-time based on injuries (like losing a propeller), such as relearning to fly.

Leaper's animations are particularly outstanding; its limbs interact with the terrain geometry with 100% accuracy, appearing both terrifying and comical in the game. After being generated by AI, the animations are then refined by animators for artistic and playability aspects.

The enemy AI in ARC Raiders is highly intelligent, unlike enemies in traditional games that have fixed behavior patterns or patrol ranges. Once you're detected, they'll relentlessly pursue you.

This makes combat unpredictable and risky; even a low-level Wasp robot can cause the situation to spiral out of control. ARC Raiders' enemies are divided into indoor and outdoor enemies; small indoor robots pose a threat while you're looting.

Outdoor enemies are the real challenge, possessing greater firepower. Many enemies have armor plating, requiring specific ammunition or explosives to penetrate before effective damage can be inflicted. It's these enemies that make each game exciting.

Excellent Game Operation

ARC Raiders boasts a rich content library, including a mission system, skill tree, workshop upgrades, and blueprint collection. Even experiencing just 80% of the content can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Furthermore, the development team is incredibly diligent in updating and fixing the game, adjusting and fixing it almost weekly, and steadily releasing new maps to keep the game fresh. If they can maintain this pace, ARC Raiders might just be Best Ongoing Game at 2026 TGA.

Shortcomings

However, ARC Raiders is not without its flaws. After a honeymoon period with players lasting over a month, some issues must be examined.

ARC Raiders' lengthy quest system, consisting of 60 missions, is tedious. 90% of the missions simply require players to go to a location and interact by holding down the E key, which can easily become monotonous later on.

While the cosmetics are of high quality, they lack the freedom to mix and match. Players are essentially limited to pre-set outfits and colors, with only limited adjustments to inventory and headwear, resulting in a homogeneous character appearance.

The game's inventory and crafting systems are widely considered the worst parts by the community. Players must constantly switch between different crafting benches and traders to manage resources, a tedious and time-consuming process. Even with maximized stash space, it quickly fills up, making item management a burden.

The skill descriptions in the skill tree are vague and misleading. Many skills are useless or illogical, and there is actually an optimal skill point allocation path, leading to similar builds for all late-game players and eliminating the possibility of diversity and specialization.

Despite its flaws, it remains a masterpiece among all extraction shooters of 2025, and Best Multiplayer Award is well-deserved. If the developers can address the game's quality issues and continue to provide new content, it has the potential to become a timeless classic.

To maximize weapon potential and enhance gameplay, almost every shooting game goes beyond simply giving you a gun; it allows you to customize and improve those weapons through attachments.

This principle also applies to ARC Raiders. Like most game items, attachments can be obtained through looting, trading with merchants, and crafting in the workshop.

However, regardless of the method chosen, farming attachments requires resources and involves risk. Therefore, to conserve effort, you should equip your weapons with the best available attachments and avoid those that are difficult to obtain or craft.

Below, we will provide a brief overview of the attachment system and recommend the best attachments for all currently available weapons in ARC Raiders.

All ARC Raiders Attachment Types

Each weapon in the game has four attachment slots: Underbarrel, Muzzle/Barrel, Magazine, and Stock. Each attachment slot offers different types of attachments and their effects, as follows:

Underbarrel:

• Vertical Grip: Reduces vertical recoil.
• Angled/Horizontal Grip: Reduces horizontal sway.

Magazine: Increases magazine capacity; rarer magazines increase it more.

• Extended Light Mag
• Extended Medium Mag
• Shotgun Mag

Stock:

• Stable Stock: Reduces recoil and spread recovery time.
• Lightweight Stock: Improves aiming and switching speed.
• Padded Stock: Reduces vertical and horizontal recoil and spread.

Muzzle/Barrel:

• Suppressor: Reduces gunshot noise.
• Compensator: Improves accuracy.
• Muzzle Brake: Reduces recoil.
• Extended Barrel: Increases bullet velocity.
• Shotgun-specific chokes and suppressors.

It's important to note that we've only listed "types." The actual number and functions of attachments within each type will have further subdivisions, which you'll need to determine yourself while playing the game.

Weapons And Their Best Attachment Options

Each ARC Raiders weapon uses different types of ammunition, resulting in differences in penetration power and suitable combat scenarios.

In addition to attachments, all weapons can be upgraded to improve their performance, up to Rank IV. We'll introduce the most suitable attachments for each gun based on these characteristics.

Anvil

Theoretically, you could fill every attachment slot on every weapon, but practically speaking, this is a waste of time - not every slot is necessary for the current weapon.

As a weapon with high damage and rate of fire, to maximize Anvil's potential, you need to focus on its accuracy; the compensator is the best choice for this.

Hairpin

As a free weapon available from the start of the game, there's no need to invest time in Hairpin, and it can only equip magazine-type attachments.

Burletta

The advantage of this weapon is its high rate of fire, and the more skilled you are, the higher the rate of fire ceiling becomes. However, a faster rate of fire also means a faster ammo consumption rate, so we recommend using the maximum capacity magazine.

Venator

This is a weapon with very pronounced strengths and weaknesses. While its damage output and rate of fire are attractive, its recoil is significant, and its magazine capacity is insufficient.

Therefore, if your budget allows, you can improve Venator in these two aspects. However, if you can only focus on one aspect, we recommend prioritizing any extended medium mag.

Stitcher

The main problem with this weapon is its strong horizontal and vertical recoil. While you can improve this by upgrading the weapon itself, it's still necessary to add a muzzle brake or vertical grip to mitigate even more recoil.

Bobcat

Bobcat's strengths and weaknesses are basically the same as Stitcher's, so you can improve this submachine gun using the same methods as improving Stitcher.

Rattler

Overall, this is a less frequently used weapon because it doesn't have any outstanding advantages and has many alternatives. Therefore, like Hairpin, there's not much need to upgrade it. If you really want to improve it, you can equip a muzzle brake to reduce its recoil.

Arpeggio

The weapon's weakness lies in its long firing interval, which can make you vulnerable to enemy attacks in combat. Therefore, it's recommended to equip it with stable stock to ensure more consistent fire.

Osprey

This weapon has two upgrade options: using lightweight stock to increase aiming speed, and using an extended barrel to increase rate of fire. Of course, it's better if you can obtain both simultaneously.

Torrente

Torrente's main drawbacks are its slow rate of fire and excessive recoil. You can choose attachment types based on your specific needs to address these issues.

Renegade

If this is your primary weapon, it's best to choose attachments based on the specific combat situation, or simply equip two at once. First, add an extended barrel for long-range combat; second, use a compensator to improve accuracy in close combat.

Bettina

This gun has decent total damage output, but its effectiveness in combat will be further enhanced by increasing the rate of fire with a Kinetic Converter. Alternatively, equipping it with a horizontal grip is also a viable option, as it makes it more stable.

Tempest

The problem with Tempest is its high recoil, making it difficult to control, especially for beginners or players unfamiliar with fully automatic assault rifles. Therefore, it's best to add a muzzle brake attachment and upgrade Tempest to the highest level.

More Tips

If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the above weapon list isn't exhaustive. This is because some weapons don't have attachment slots, such as Equalizer, while others are already powerful enough that not adding attachments to save time is acceptable.

That concludes our introduction. We hope it helps you play ARC Raiders!

After understanding the above, if you urgently need certain attachments, the faster option is to buy safe ARC Raiders items at IGGM! We can provide both the attachments themselves and related blueprints!

The detailed requirements and rewards for ARC Raiders Expedition Project have been announced, but feedback from the player community indicates that Expedition’s content is not entirely satisfactory. Many players are hesitant, unsure whether to participate.

The criticism of ARC Raiders Expedition is not unfounded, and it is indeed quite immature and is having some negative impacts on the game.

The Design Philosophy Of Expedition Project

To maintain the long-term viability of a game and avoid data bloat, games like Escape from Tarkov use mandatory, periodic server resets. This allows players to start over and prevents the game from losing its vitality. These resets typically do not offer rewards and are part of the core gameplay loop.

ARC Raiders Expedition Project does not adopt this classic design. Instead, it makes resets optional, allowing players to participate voluntarily rather than being forced into a reset.

Its design aims to serve hardcore and semi-hardcore players, allowing them to actively reset their progress after experiencing all content and maintain a sense of freshness, while allowing casual players to retain their progress without being forcibly reset.

Drawbacks Of Expedition Program

Reward Mechanism

Expedition Program’s reward mechanism was initially designed to attract players, especially with the attractive rewards of extra skill points and storage space. However, this backfired, influencing player choices.

This is because these rewards are long-term benefits, and this turned what was originally an optional reset for a select few into a goal that all players wanted to achieve. Some casual players, unable to complete the program due to time constraints, developed a fear of missing out, feeling left behind.

This resulted in Expedition Program becoming a periodic goal that all players had to prepare for, appearing approximately every 8 weeks, rather than just a tool for a select few to reset their progress. Besides the dissatisfaction of casual players, it also amplified the advantages of hardcore players.

Overly High Value Setting

To obtain 5 skill points, players needed to have a total stash and currency value of 5 million coins before resetting. This led players to avoid using high-level equipment for raids in the weeks leading up to the reset, instead repeatedly using free loadouts to play and immediately selling all acquired equipment to hoard money.

Even players with over 100 hours of playtime haven’t accumulated enough coins, and only very dedicated players have likely achieved this.

On the other hand, each expedition only rewards 12 extra Stash, which provides a very small boost. Temporary buffs like 10% repair speed, 5% experience bonus, and 6% more materials from Scrappy are considered too insignificant, especially since materials are already plentiful after Scrappy reaches level 5, and the extra 6% won’t provide a significant improvement after the reset.

Deteriorating Game Experience

Another issue is that expeditions discourage players from using high-level gear near the end of the season, forcing them to rely on low-tier gray gear to avoid losing assets and potentially falling short of the 5-million-coin requirement. This completely kills the fun of the traditional end-of-season.

Ideally, players should enter matches with gear, try to evacuate for profit, and then upgrade their gear. Before the reset, everyone would use their best gear to enjoy the game, but now everyone wanting to participate in expeditions must hoard ARC Raiders items, making the game experience conservative and dull.

Blueprint System Penalty

Blueprints are currently the most time-consuming collection element in ARC Raiders, with 74 different types. However, due to their extreme rarity and random acquisition, most players haven’t collected them all. Most blueprints players possess are common and duplicates.

An Expedition reset means players will lose all collected blueprints and must start the lengthy collection process from scratch. This penalty deters any long-term dedicated player.

However, it’s not impossible to save blueprints after a reset. You need to find a friend who isn’t participating in Expedition Project, give them your blueprints, and have them return them to you during the first raid after the reset. This might be a bit cumbersome, but it can allow you to quickly restart after Expedition Project.

Ambiguous Information

Due to this being the first reset, some information about Expedition Project is still somewhat unclear. It’s currently unknown whether the caravan progress of players who don’t participate in the reset will be retained for the next cycle. It’s unclear whether the rewarded skill points are immediately granted or unlocked later, and this will impact the player’s gaming experience.

Which Players Should Reset?

Players who have completed all quests and reached the maximum level can participate in Expedition, as they have already experienced the endgame content of their current phase. If you want something new, you can also choose to participate in Expedition, as each reset’s game progression, blueprint acquisition order, and quest completion order can offer new experiences.

If you are only level 20 to 40 and your crafting station is not fully upgraded, it’s best not to rush into participating in Expedition. At least wait until the later stages of the game before considering it.

Despite the flaws in Expedition, the developers are actively adjusting the game and are willing to listen to player feedback, so these issues should be resolved in the future.

ARC Raider has started a new week of trials. This week's trials are a bit more difficult, and with the Expedition event approaching, they've become even more dangerous. However, no player would pass up the loot from three-star trials.

Most of the 5 trial missions in week seven require combat, so choosing the right map and equipment will make it easier to achieve three stars.

Destroy Ticks, Fireballs, And Pops

• Recommended Map: Stella Montis

These three types of enemies aren't very threatening, and you can take them down with any weapon. The main challenge is finding them.

The most recommended map is Stella Montis, as it contains many enclosed indoor areas, making it easy to encounter them. It's recommended to play under Night Raid or Electromagnetic Storms conditions for double points.

In Robotic Sandbox, take advantage of high ground and use Jolt Mines or deployable cover to block doorways and shoot safely from windows. You can also head to Rocket Assembly and gradually clear out enemies inside and below the building, starting from the third floor. Business Center is only a backup option, as it's a PvP hotspot.

It's recommended to bring Anvil sniper rifle with a suppressor. It can one-shot Fireballs and Popps. It's best to equip it with Anvil Splitter attachment, as it's effective not only against AI but also allows you for one-shot headshots to eliminate fully healed opponents in PvP combat.

Also, while completing missions on this map, you can loot indoor ARC Raiders items to progress towards the 5 million coins needed for the expedition.

Search Supply Drops

• Recommended Map: Dam Battlegrounds

You need to find 3 Supply Drops to achieve three stars in the trial. Each map has drop locations, and their locations are generally fixed. If you can't find them, climb to a higher vantage point and look for yellow signal markers.

The most recommended map is Dam Battlegrounds, because this map has 22 fixed supply crates, and you can use tools to locate them. Since the mission only requires you to search the crates, you don't need to call in airdrops yourself, so airdrops called in by other players can also be searched and scored.

Try to traverse the map quickly solo, avoiding areas with dense flares, and move quickly after searching a point. For weapons, mid-to-long-range weapons like Renegade are recommended, as they are suitable for map engagements and effective against AI. It's also best to carry some smoke grenades and a Barricade Kit for encounters, and have enough ammunition.

Damage Wasps

• Recommended Maps: Dam Battlegrounds or Spaceport

Wasps can appear anywhere on the map. You only need to eliminate seven or eight Wasps to achieve three stars, and it will be faster on maps like Night Raid or Electromagnetic Storms. Simply occupy a safe high ground position with a wide field of view and target Wasps you see.

Both Dam Battlegrounds and Spaceport have relatively tall buildings. You'll need to climb to the top of these buildings and clear out Wasps to make them respawn faster. You can carry a fully durable Osprey sniper rifle, and its damage and range are quite good.

If you want a higher points, you can enter maps with Hidden Bunker event. It lasts for 40 minutes and includes a double score modifier, and there are a large number of wasps.

Damage Bastions

• Recommended Maps: The Blue Gate or Spaceport

You only need to kill one or two Bastions to achieve three stars, and their main weak points are the yellow joints on their legs and the yellow core on their backs. There are more Bastions on Spaceport and Bluegate maps.

You can first use Hullcracker to remove the fortress's armor, then attack with high-DPS weapons like Anvil and Wolfpack Grenades. Additionally, smoke grenades or showstoppers are effective against Bastions, but Deadline mines no longer instantly kill Bastions, so don't waste them.

Damage Queens Or Matriarchs

• Recommended Map: Any map containing these two bosses

To achieve three stars, you need to deal enough damage to the bosses and destroy them. Matriarch has less health than Queen and is less likely to be overwhelmed by players, making it a more recommended target.

You can use a snap hook to jump to the top of Matriarch, break its top armor plate, and then place Deadline mine directly on the exposed core to detonate it.

Each Deadline mine deals approximately 3000 damage, and players can obtain one per day. To maximize damage per round, you can bring up to three mines into the battle in your safe pouch.

Due to the boss's high difficulty, it's recommended to bring a Defibrillator so your teammates can revive you after placing mines, or revive you to save usable mines. Then use Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor) to prevent bleeding to death after being knocked down, and carry plenty of smoke grenades to escape player combat on the way to the boss.

Be aware that the risk of being ganked by players is high in the outer areas of the boss area. Players are usually more friendly near the boss's core area, and you can cooperate. However, after defeating the boss, be extremely careful of attacks from rat players from the outer areas.

This is how to complete Week 7 trial. If you want to complete the trial and escape safely, remember to prepare items that can handle both PvP and PvE, and always be wary of other players' ambushes.

ARC Raiders is arguably one of the best extraction games of the year, attracting a large player base. However, increased player numbers also mean fiercer competition.

With more frequent PvP events, this creates opportunities for rat players. You certainly don't want to be ambushed and killed near the extraction point while carrying a full load of loot. So let's look at how to deal with rats in the game.

How To Identify Rats?

While most players in ARC Raiders are friendly, they can turn into enemies at any time. Especially when playing solo, judging other players' intentions is crucial, so never easily trust strangers.

Observe Equipment

Shields

You can determine a player's shield level by the number of bulges on their back. The lowest value shield is green, followed by blue, while epic shields are usually purple. Since rats also die frequently, they won't be carrying high-value ARC Raiders items, making players with green shields the most suspicious.

Weapon

Similarly, players using basic weapons without attachments, such as Ferro, Rattler, and Kettle, may be using free kits and intend to steal loot from bosses or ambush you while you're looting.

Players wielding high-damage player weapons like Venator, Volcano, or even IL Toro should also be viewed with caution. Even if they don't attack immediately, they know how to efficiently eliminate other players.

Observe Behavior

Rats' equipment may not be precise, but their behavior is undeniable. Be wary of players lingering on the fringes of combat, away from the center of the firefight, and never put yourself in a position where you might be backstabbed.

Most rats tend to linger on the periphery of the battlefield, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush. These opportunities usually occur when you are distracted or vulnerable, and they frequently ambush you while you are dealing with ARC enemies or looting.

Therefore, you need to conduct a risk assessment and choose between being attacked by ARC enemies and being attacked by players. Generally, you should prioritize ARC enemies because their behavior is more predictable. However, even poorly equipped players are more threatening than most ARC enemies in the game, so even if they seem friendly, remain highly vigilant if their behavior is suspicious.

How To Avoid Being Ambushed By Rats?

Common Rat Spots

Each map has several excellent ambush locations, which are the most favored by rats.

Buried City

The corridors and numerous bunkers in the underground subway stations are perfect ambush points. The unique subway station at the southernmost end of the map has a multi-level structure with many excellent hiding spots. Many players use the zip line leading directly to the bottom, making them easy targets for rats. It is recommended to use the paths next to the zip line, systematically explore downwards, and check for traps or players along the way.

Dam Battlegrounds

In the control tower, especially near the elevators leading to the top and locked doors, rats may ambush from the top, elevator shaft, or bottom. If you encounter this, use the ledges on the side of the elevator shaft or the roof above the main floor door to fight back.

Stella Montis

At Seed Vault extraction point, when you use a snap hook to reach the high points of the ductwork, you are very vulnerable to ambushes. Whether you are solo or in a squad, be extra careful at this extraction point.

The Blue Gate

Reinforced Reception window above the lobby often hides rats ready to ambush anyone entering. And the locker room on the right side of the underground safe zone is rich in loot and is also a notorious rat spot. They can climb onto the tops of lockers, door frames, and other small ledges to gain unexpected attack angles.

Spaceport

The small towers along Launch Towers wall are only accessible via a zipline from bottom to top. The tops offer ample cover, allowing players to easily hide and quickly eliminate rats.

Avoid The Rats

Sometimes you need to forgo your favorite loot spots or tempting opportunities, just like avoiding places where rats are common in real life. You also need to avoid high-risk extraction points. If many players are looting near certain extraction points, it's best to leave early to secure your loot.

Additionally, before map bugs like those in Stella Montis are fixed, it's best to avoid key points of interest with high-value items. If you encounter players at extraction points who are overly excited about your arrival, remain suspicious. Sometimes the best option is to watch them, slowly back away, move to another extraction point, or wait for player activity to subside before acting.

Specific Countermeasures

Tagging Grenades

Tagging grenades are an effective tool for countering hide holes. They mark ARCs and other players within their blast radius. You can craft them at the utility station using Electrical Components and Sensors. Carrying just one or two is effective for detecting suspicious locations.

Sound Control

The sounds of jogging, running, opening containers, breaching doors, and shooting in ARC Raiders travel incredibly far, and skilled rats are adept at pinpointing the source and location of these sounds. Therefore, when approaching a rat location, remember to maintain a low sound profile, scout first, then loot.

Take Corners Slowly

Raiders expect players to rush into seemingly safe areas, indicating they are unprepared, allowing rats to freely fire and ambush. Therefore, remember to turn corners slowly and carefully check your environment. This allows you to detect threats, gather information, and adjust your strategy before encountering enemies.

Rat players are a more threatening enemy than ARC, and with the start of the expedition, there may be even more rats on the map, so remember to stay vigilant and actively avoid potentially risky locations.

In any game that requires you to use weapons to fight, as long as your character has the potential to level up, the available gear will inevitably have its own tier system, allowing you to continuously acquire and use more powerful weapons through upgrades.

In the shooting game ARC Raiders, all weapons are divided into 5 tiers, each with a corresponding color, from lowest to highest:

• Common (White)
• Uncommon (Green)
• Rare (Blue)
• Epic (Pink)
• Legendary (Gold)

However, there is currently a problem in the game: the combat effectiveness differences between some weapons of different rarities are not significant.

It's worth noting that the rarer the weapon, the harder it is to obtain as a drop or craft in the workshop. If you go through a lot of trouble to get a gold-tier gun, only to find that it's not much better than your epic gear, you'll be very disappointed.

Based on this, we will select some weapons for further comparison to confirm this point and analyze the impact of this situation.

Stitcher VS. Bobcat

These two weapons are both submachine guns. Stitcher is common rarity, while Bobcat is epic. Both are quite popular in their respective tiers. They both use light ammunition, and the actual combat effectiveness comparison is as follows:

• Bobcat deals 6 damage per bullet, while Stitcher deals 7 damage per bullet.
• Bobcat's time to kill is approximately 1.4 seconds, and Stitcher's is approximately 1.7 seconds.
• Bobcat requires 20 bullets to kill an enemy wearing light armor, while Stitcher requires 17.
• Bobcat's reload time is 3.53 seconds, and Stitcher's is 1.56 seconds.
• Bobcat's equip time is 0.96 seconds, and Stitcher's is 0.9 seconds.

Although Bobcat, as a higher-tier gun, has an advantage in bullet damage and firing speed, it's not much better than Stitcher in other aspects, and is even slower in some areas. Frankly, the difference in time to kill between 1.4 seconds and 1.7 seconds is almost negligible.

However, Bobcat has more room for improvement; after upgrading, it gains benefits such as reduced maximum bullet spread, faster reload time, reduced recoil, and increased durability. Stitcher, on the other hand, has fewer upgrade options.

Awkwardly, if you have a level 4 Stitcher and a level 1 Bobcat, the latter isn't necessarily stronger overall. A reasonable equipment upgrade system shouldn't allow a level 4 common weapon to be better than a level 1 rare weapon.

Furthermore, testing reveals that even a level 4 Bobcat only has a slightly shorter or equal reload time compared to a similarly leveled Stitcher, and doesn't perform better in other aspects.

While Bobcat can fire more bullets at longer distances, something Stitcher can't do, you won't be using a submachine gun for long-range shooting most of the time; that's not their optimal use.

So, if a difference of a fraction of a second isn't important to you, then Stitcher and a level 1 Bobcat are essentially the same, and we even recommend using Stitcher more often because it's faster and easier to craft.

However, even if you choose the best weapons, it's difficult to win solely with them. Other equipment, tactics, and the help of teammates are equally important, because combat is not just a duel between guns; many factors are involved.

The good news is that if you want to save time and effort and get all these best configurations at once, ARC Raiders gaming services for sale on IGGM can do it! And you can now enjoy an 8% discount by using code ARC8!

Kettle VS. Tempest

These two weapons are assault rifles, and their rarity difference is the same as the previous two weapons (Kettle is a lower-tier common weapon). Let's look at their basic stats comparison:

• Kettle uses light ammunition, Tempest uses medium ammunition.
• Kettle deals 10 damage per bullet, and so does Tempest.
• Kettle's time to kill is 1.56 seconds, Tempest's is 1.46 seconds.
• Kettle requires 12 bullets to take down an enemy wearing light armor, and so does Tempest.
• Kettle's reload time is 3.67 seconds, Tempest's is 3.83 seconds.
• Kettle's equip time is 1.26 seconds, Tempest's is 1.46 seconds.

Overall, it can be said that the time to kill for these two guns is almost identical; that slight difference won't have much impact in ARC Raiders.

Regarding upgrades, Kettle can receive improvements to bullet speed, reload time, and durability, while Tempest's enhanced attributes are horizontal recoil, reload time, and durability.

If you plan to craft them in the workshop using blueprints, Tempest blueprint is definitely harder to find, and it requires more and rarer materials than Kettle, and is also more difficult to repair after wear and tear.

What Consequences Will This Lead To?

The above is just a part of examples; there are many similar situations in ARC Raiders. While at first glance this seems to allow you to get a better weapon experience with less effort, in the long run it leads to chaos and unfairness.

As your character improves, you naturally want better weapons, but if high-level weapons aren't good enough, you're likely to gradually lose the motivation to improve yourself, or even stop playing the game altogether.

Furthermore, this may also lead to an inability to judge the enemy's abilities and level based on their weapons in PvP battles, resulting in a lack of logic and system in PvP experience, turning it into a true "free-for-all," which is not a good thing.

How To Change This?

The reason these guns are so similar is mainly that the time it takes to kill with them is very similar. Considering that player characters in ARC Raiders have relatively weak defenses, the developers could try allowing shields to absorb more damage.

This would increase your survivability, preventing battles from ending too quickly, thus allowing more room for differentiation in weapon design, making the differences between them more apparent.

That's all for this introduction. Considering that ARC Raiders is a new game, we can certainly give it more patience and wait for it to gradually fix its flaws and provide you with a sufficiently good weapon experience.

Whether in PvP or PvE, skills in ARC Raiders are incredibly useful, but the total number of skill points is limited, and some advanced skills require a significant investment of points in the same skill tree to unlock.

With Expedition about to begin, some players will choose to reset their levels, items, and skill points from scratch. To avoid wasting skill points, you need to choose the most effective skills from the three skill trees.

Mobility Skill Tree

Mobility Skill Tree greatly enhances movement and survivability, which you'll need most during exploration. Therefore, prioritize investing in this skill tree. It's recommended to invest 16 or 17 points to gain core benefits, then move on to other skill trees. It's not recommended to invest more than 17 points in this tree to pursue high-end skills unless you have a very large number of skill points.

Priority Investing Skills

• Marathon Runner: Reduces stamina consumption for running, climbing, vaulting, and rolling.
• Youthful Lungs: It can directly increase maximum stamina, and it's the only skill in the game to provide this effect.
• Carry the Momentum: After rolling while sprinting, you can continue sprinting for a short time without consuming stamina.
• Calming Stroll: Quickly restores stamina while walking, useful for efficient map traversal or recovering stamina after taking cover.

Secondary Investment Skills

• Nimble Climber: Only slightly increases vaulting speed at level 5, usually requiring only 1 point to unlock the skill tree.
• Slip & Slide: It's only effective when sliding downhill, and even at max level, the improvement is minimal due to low usage frequency.
• Sturdy Ankles: Reduces fall damage; while useful, it's not essential and depends on how often you fall from heights.
• Effortless Roll: At level 3, it grants an extra roll. At levels 4-5, it reduces the stamina consumption per roll.
• Crawl Before You Walk: Increases crawling speed when knocked down, very useful while waiting for rescue or using Survivor Mark III.
• Vigorous Vaulter: Prevents the penalizing long animation when vaulting obstacles with zero stamina.
• Off The Wall: Increases the backward jump distance when hanging on an edge. It's useful in certain terrains, but not very practical in everyday situations.

Advanced Skills

• Vaults on Vaults on Vaults: Completely eliminates the stamina consumption of vaulting. It requires an investment of 36 points in Mobility Skill Tree to unlock.
• Vault Spring: Allows jumping at the end of a vault, maintaining momentum and covering greater distances. Also requires a 36-point prerequisite skill investment.

Survival Skill Tree

After investing in Mobility Skill Tree, it's recommended to switch to Survival Tree for better survival and logistical capabilities. Initially, invest 15 points for Suffer In Silence and Good As New, then invest more points later to unlock Security Breach.

Priority Investing Skills

• In-Round Crafting: One of the best skills in the game, allowing you to craft critical items like bandages and shield chargers directly on the map.
• Looter's Instinct: Significantly increases the reveal speed when looting items, improving efficiency and safety. It is recommended to max out at level 5.
• Looter's Luck: Has a chance to reveal twice ARC Raiders items at once when looting, with a trigger rate of approximately 25% to 33%.
• Broad Shoulders: Increases maximum carry weight by 2 points per level, comprehensively improving carry capacity in each match. A worthwhile investment in the late game.
• Traveling Tinkerer: Allows you to create traps and directly craft Raider Hatch Keys using materials found on the map.
• Security Breach: Allows you to break Security Lockers on the map; requires 36 skill points invested in Survival Skill Tree.

Secondary Investment Skills

• Agile Croucher: Increases crouching movement speed, and level 5 increases speed by 10%.
• Revitalizing Squat: Increases stamina regeneration speed while crouching to the same rate as while standing, which is useful for stealthy players.
• Silent Scavenger: Reduces the distance noise travels while looting; its practicality is limited since looting itself is not very noisy.
• Suffer In Silence: Reduces noise emitted when severely wounded; can sometimes be a lifesaver in PvP and PvE, but is not commonly used.
• Good As New: Increases stamina regeneration speed while receiving healing. Its effect is short-lived and may be occasionally useful.
• Three Deep Breaths: While it doesn't increase stamina regeneration speed, it shortens the time between running out of stamina and being able to act again.
• Stubborn Mule: Reduces the impact of being overweight on stamina recovery. Being overweight is a dangerous state, so investing too much in this is not recommended.
• Old Raider's Scraps: Has a chance to give you double the amount of items when looting, but the exact probability is unknown.
• Minesweeper: Allows you to defuse nearby bombs and mines, but since most mines in the game have proximity fuses, they detonate as soon as you get close.

Conditioning Skill Tree

Conditioning Skill Tree provides specific combat and defensive buffs. If you're not focused on PvP, you can invest in this skill tree last.

It's recommended to max out Gentle Pressure and Proficient Pryer first, then invest in Used To The Weight. Then select Unburdened Roll and A Little Extra to unlock Loaded Arms. Remaining skill points can then be invested in Fight Or Flight.

Priority Investing Skills

• Loaded Arms: Halves the weight of all equipped weapons, greatly improving carrying capacity and overall experience. Requires an initial investment of 18 points in this skill tree.
• Gentle Pressure: Reduces the sound range of breaching doors and opening crates by 4 meters per level, up to 20 meters at max level.
• Proficient Pryer: Significantly increases breaching door and crate opening speed, approximately 1/3 faster at max level than without the skill.
• Fight Or Flight: Restores a significant amount of stamina when attacked by other players.
• Unburdened Roll: After your shield breaks, the next roll does not consume stamina, extremely useful in combat.

Secondary Investment Skills

• Used To The Weight: Reduces the movement speed penalty from shields.
• Effortless Swing: Increases your maximum number of melee attacks.
• Downed But Determined: It can prolong the time it takes for you to bleed to death after being knocked down, giving you time to wait for the evacuation elevator.
• Turtle Crawl: Reduces damage taken while crawling down, occasionally a lifesaver.
• Flyswatter: Allows you to deal extra melee damage to drones at very close range, but its use is limited.

Not recommended.

• Blast Born: May reduce the hearing impairment caused by explosions, but its usefulness is minimal.
• Sky-Clearing Swing: Primarily effective only against Wasps and Hornets, possibly ineffective against Rocketeers, etc.
• A Little Extra: it has a chance of obtaining extra basic materials when breaching doors or dismantling ARC units, but requires too many skill points.
• Back On Your Feet: Only restores your health when it's around 5% and only lasts 15 seconds, making its recovery effect very poor.

The above is about ARC Raiders recommended skills from the three skill trees. The expedition will begin soon, and if you plan to reset your progress, you can allocate your skill points according to the skills listed above.