Arc Raiders: Tips for Beginner Players to Dominate

Arc Raiders offers a thrilling mix of fast-paced combat, strategic teamwork, and immersive environments. For new players, the game can feel overwhelming at first. Learning how to survive and thrive requires more than just quick reflexes. This guide shares practical tips to help beginners get a strong start and improve their gameplay quickly.

ARC Raiders Beginner Guide

1. Understand the Core Loop

• Deploy from the underground city Speranza with crafted, vendor-bought, or FREE gear

• Scavenge the surface for scrap, tech, and schematics

• Fight or sneak past ARC machines and player Raiders

• Fill your Safe Pocket (guaranteed-slot) with the best finds

• Extract via elevators / hatches before the 30-min timer ends or you die and lose everything not in the Safe Pocket

  
  

2. Your First Loadout: Go Free

• Zero risk, zero cooldown. You get a basic shield, SMG, and meds

• 14 inventory slots to stuff loot—perfect for learning maps or finishing early quests

• If you extract, trade the Free-Loadout Augment at the Clinic for a green-tier class mod

  
  

3. Sound = Life or Death

• Everything makes noise: sprinting, breaching doors, even looting. ARC bots and players will converge

• Walk or crouch-walk when nearby threats; save sprinting for open getaways

• Listen for robot servos, player footsteps, and extraction-point klaxons

  
  

4. Loot Smart, Not Everything

• Early runs: grab everything—level up fast, unlock stash slots

• Symbols cheat-sheet

  
  

  – Wrench = crafting part

  – 1-4 bullets = heavy / shotgun / medium / light ammo

  – Plus = heals / shield refill

  – Target = proximity or remote explosive

  – Diamond = sell-only trinket

  
  

• Big tech items (TVs, radios, ARC cores) = multi-material bundles; prioritize when space is tight

  
  

5. Recycling: Don’t Rush It

Items that say “can be recycled” are often work-bench upgrade fodder (e.g., Toasters). Recycle only common (green) parts until you memorize upgrade recipes

6. Skill Tree First Picks

• Mobility: Marathon Runner + Youthful Lungs → more sprint stamina

• Survival: Security Breach → opens special loot lockers

• Conditioning: Gentle Pressure + Proficient Pryer → faster, quieter door breaching

  
  

  You get 75 points total—enough to max two full branches, so plan ahead

  
  

7. Combat Basics

• Shoulder-swap (default X on PC) before every corner-peek—keeps your body behind cover

• Aim for ARC weak points: propellers on flyers, glowing cores on walkers

• Pick your fights: a loud 2-minute bot battle will attract players; sometimes stealth looting and extracting is the real win

  
  

8. Quests & Progression

• Check vendors after every raid—new quests unlock gear, zones, and story beats

• Quest credit is shared in squads (activate panels, kill specific bots, etc.), but items you must turn in need to be in your own backpack on extract

  
  

9. Stash & Economy

• Upgrade stash early; cost ramps quickly

• Sell duplicate weapons / diamonds to build a coin buffer

• Buy better guns only when you can afford to lose them—gear fear kills confidence

  
  

10. You Can Extract While Downed

Crawl into an extraction zone and activate it (or piggy-back on a teammate’s call). You keep whatever is on you—never give up!

TL;DR Checklist Before You Drop

• [ ] Equip Free Loadout or cheap kit you’re willing to lose

• [ ] Bring one heal, one shield cell, 60–90 ammo

• [ ] Mark two nearest extractions on your map

• [ ] Walk until you know the area is clear

• [ ] Fill Safe Pocket first, backpack second

• [ ] Time check: head to extract with 5–7 min left minimum

  
  

Master these fundamentals and you’ll escape the Rust Belt richer, wiser, and ready for tougher raids. Good luck, Raider—see you topside!