ARC Raiders Beginner Guide: How to Survive Your First 10 Raids

I died seventeen times before my first successful extraction in ARC Raiders. Seventeen. And honestly? Every one of those deaths taught me something — usually that I was being an idiot.

ARC Raiders is Embark Studios' PvPvE extraction shooter, set on a retro-futuristic Italian coastline after robotic ARC units drove humanity underground. You play a Raider who ventures to the surface to scavenge, fight, and extract. Simple concept. Brutal execution. The game won Best Multiplayer at both The Game Awards and DICE Awards for a reason — the tension is real, and the stakes are always high.

Here's what I wish someone had told me before my first drop.

Don't Pick Fights You Can't Win

Your first five hours should be about learning, not winning gunfights. ARC Scouts are the only things you should be shooting at. They're small flying drones with about 80 HP, and a Marksman Rifle headshot drops them in one hit. More importantly, they use 7.62 ammo — the most common type in the game, found in every house and office.

ARC Soldiers are a different story. 300 HP, aggressive flanking behavior, and they call reinforcements when damaged. If you hear that distinct clanking sound, either have an EMP grenade ready or start walking the other way. And ARC Heavies? 800 HP, slow but devastating, with a thumping footstep you can feel through the floor. Don't even think about it solo in early game. The Walker — 2,000 HP, siren warning — is a squad-level threat only.

One thing I noticed after about twenty hours: sound is more reliable than sight. Every ARC unit has a unique audio signature. Scouts buzz. Soldiers clank. Heavies thump. Walkers have that unmistakable wailing siren. You can hear what's around the corner before you see it. Crank your headphones.

Electronics Are Everything

Seriously. Every weapon mod, every scanner upgrade, every meaningful progression step costs Electronics. You need 15 for your first weapon mod, 20 for the scanner upgrade, and it only goes up from there.

The best farming loop I've found: Residential District to Office Complex to Radio Tower. That triangle takes about 15 minutes and reliably yields 30+ Electronics. Houses have 1-3 each. Offices have 2-5. The Radio Tower has 2-3 on a good run. Extract, reset, do it again.

Mechanical Parts are your second priority — they're in garages, factories, and vehicles, and you need them for armor repairs and tool upgrades. Ammo Components come third, from military checkpoints and bunkers. Don't waste inventory space on food and water early on. You'll find enough to survive.

Weather Is Your Co-Pilot

The dynamic map conditions system is one of those features that sounds like marketing fluff until it saves your life. Rain reduces ARC detection range by roughly 40% and completely masks your footsteps. I do every high-value raid during storms. Night raids give you about a 30% detection reduction. Fog cuts visibility both ways — you can't see them, they can't see you beyond 30 meters.

Check the weather forecast at base before deploying. It's not decorative. It's tactical.

Squad Dynamics

Three-player squads are the standard. You can queue solo or duo, but underground raids really want three people minimum. Drones spawn in groups of five down there, and getting swarmed solo is basically a death sentence.

Designating roles helps a lot. One person runs Marksman for long range and scouting. One runs Assault for mid-range suppression. The third goes Support — carrying extra meds, ammo crates, and handling revives. Communication matters more than aim. Call out every ARC unit you spot, every sound you hear, every extraction route you're considering.

The Extraction Mindset

This is the part that trips up new players. You don't win by killing everything. You win by extracting with better gear than you entered with. Stealth saves ammo and armor durability. Fighting every ARC patrol you see just burns resources.

Multiple extraction methods exist — elevators, metro stations, secure hatches — and knowing where they are matters more than knowing where the loot is. The Match Journey system chronicles every run, so you can review what went wrong after a failed extraction.

Keep 25% stamina in reserve for emergencies. Never sprint yourself dry. ARC Soldiers are faster than your walking speed but slower than your sprint. That quarter-bar of stamina is the difference between extraction and losing everything.