ARC Raiders is a cool game, full of lots of items to loot. But players should lower their guard, as there are many ways to day in the Topside, and none of them are fun to watch. From absolute fails to negligence, players keep tripping with a series of common mistakes that can ruin even the most successful of runs.
Welcome to the ten most brutal mistakes players commit in ARC Raiders: Not even veteran players are exempt from slipping once or twice. But as the says goes: A horse that trips with the same stone twice, is not a good partner. Try not to fall for these failures, and learn from other players' mistakes to become the best Raider in the Topside.
ARC Raiders: Best Tips & Tricks
Master ARC Raiders with these essential tips & tricks for smoother gameplay.
Forgetting About The Game Being A Third-Person Shooter
Rotating The Camera Might Reveal Opponents Hiding Behind Walls
As unfair as this might sound, Third-Person Shooters are not exempt from certain exploits, and veteran players know that rotating the angle of the camera in an extraction shooter that allows for 360º angle views is the same as having the skill to see behind walls.
When enemy players are lurking in certain enclosed spaces, players can take a peek at what's hiding on the other side of a door by slightly rotating the angle of the camera. The same can be said about the player on the other side, so be careful.
Shots To The Head Count As Double Damage
Since Every ARC Enemy Has Its Weak Spot, Raiders Also Have One
This is one of the unwritten rules in ARC Raiders: All enemies have a weak spot that can be exploited to cause severe damage, and sometimes even one-shot them. Now, what no one tells players about, and that is something that most players ignore, is that a shot to the head will obviously deal severe damage to enemy Raiders.
People tend to get oblivious to this and wonder why they were taken down if they were behind ground-level cover. A clue for that is their head popping out from behind the rock. As hilarious as this sounds, this common mistake will cost players a lot of runs before they get used to it.
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Placing Mines And Forgetting Where They Are
Tsk, Tsk. Silly Mistake, But A Common One, Nonetheless
While enjoying the ARC Raiders' merciless PvP map of Stella Montis, one thing is made clear from the moment players set foot on it: It is the best place to lay traps and wait for other players to step on them. And speaking about traps: Tripwires, Mines, and also Noisemakers do not have a friendly fire option.
That means if players forget where they placed a trap, chances are they might fall victim to their own dirty tricks. If, for example, players need to clear out fast because things got ugly (a Shredder spotted them, or several enemy players teamed up against them), they have to be sure there's a clear retreat route behind them.
Forgetting About Grenades Bouncing Over Surfaces
Seen More Than One Player Die Because Of This. Terrible Mistake
Grenades bounce; there's no way to deny this. Be it that they hit the bad angle of a roaming hornet (and don't detonate on contact), or the edge of the hitbox in a small gap in the walls, or simply bounce off a closing door: They will return to sender, and explode in their faces.
Players need to be extremely careful with contact grenades like the Light Impact Grenade or the Blaze Grenade, as they will explode at the minimum contact with any surface. And by any surface that means: Other Raiders (even those on the same team), a piece of junk over the place where players chose as cover, or the remains of a camera/Sentinel still hanging on the ceiling. This is key for those who want to choose the Michael Bay path: don't underestimate the hitboxes, and end up dying foolishly.
Not Locking Doors When You Pass By
It's Like Leaving A Breadcrumb Trail For Enemy Players
Doors have a lockpad on each side, and for a very good reason: you open a door, you close it behind. That's a simple rule that will keep Raiders alive for longer: Close the doors when you pass by.
It is simple and might sound silly, but imagine going around, leaving a trail of smoke for whoever is in the area, looting or hunting for other players. So, close the doors, try to be as stealthy as possible to avoid undesired PvP encounters. If possible, use a doorblocker to make it harder for enemies to follow.
Not Using Noisemakers while Looting High Risk POIs
They Are In The Game For A Reason
Noisemakers are an important tool for avoiding being caught off guard and reacting on time in situations where players don't want to lose all their precious loot. There are places that can only be accessed using precious and rare Keys and Keycards, and these usually have only one entry (but also a few emergency exits).
Placing a Noisemaker near the door will ensure they will be able to hear when someone is coming. But players forget about these useful tools all the time, and get caught looting a High-Risk POI, and are killed with tons of loot on their backpacks. A good way to ruin a perfectly fine run.
ARC Raiders PSA: New Players, Stop Salvaging These Items
Don't salvage some of these items in ARC Raiders; you'll need it later.
Not Carrying Enough Healing Supplies
Don't Do This, It's The Same As Asking To Be Killed
Healing items such as Bandages or Shield Rechargers are of extreme necessity in the Topside, and the second most-scarce type of item. Players forget about carrying enough bandages or rechargers all the time, and that's a silly mistake.
What's worse, most of the time, these players queue on Matchmaking and end up dragging down the whole team, since they never have enough healing items and don't seem to be concerned about crafting more using the In-Round Crafting Skill. Learn from these silly mistakes, don't be that guy.
Forgetting About Ammo Scarcity on the Surface
It Is As Important As Carrying Healing Items
The rule per run is having at least two full slots of ammo per gun. It is a simple rule that will keep players alive, however, some players are stubbornly fixated on the idea of not carrying ammo from Speranza to the Topside.
That's a brutal mistake, since ammo is cheap to craft. The problem is: It cannot be crafted on the Topside. So, instead of crawling around, desperately searching for Raider Caches and Ammo Boxes, the best idea is to have enough ammo to survive at least the first ten minutes.
Ignoring the ARC Armor Penetration of Bullets
Yes, You Can Kill A Leaper With A Stitcher, But It Will Take Awfully Long
Another brutal mistake that even veteran players commit in ARC Raiders, is underestimating the ARC Enemies' plating armor. From the smallest Wasp drone, to the massive Matriarch, each and every PvE enemy has its own armor grade.
Medium and Heavy Bullets have reasonable penetration, and so do their respective weapons. Though not all weapons imprint as much power on the projectiles as needed to overcome ARC Armor. So: Don't try to take down a Leaper using a Stitcher, or a Matriarch using a Hairpin. It is silly, and it will result in a miserably failed run.
Trusting other Raiders Blindly in Solo Runs
The Time For Being Nice Is Over
Trust no one (except for those from the friend list). No Raider has to drop their guards on the Topside, and this is a golden rule, and also the most commonly brutal mistake players will commit all the time.
Trusting a random Raider who says 'Don't Shoot' and 'Team Up?' Is like asking to be shot in the back. True, there are times when the rules of cordiality apply, and players accept working side by side, but 3 out of 5 times, this will result in someone being betrayed in the worst possible moment. Never lower your guard around other players, especially not in Solo Runs.
ARC Raiders
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- October 30, 2025
- ESRB
- Teen / Violence, Blood
- Developer(s)
- Embark Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Embark Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Extraction, Shooter, Third-Person Shooter, Survival
