How to Beat Every Enemy in ARC Raiders

The Principle of Component Destruction

Mastering the art of Part Destruction is critical for survival. This guide breaks down common enemy types and their weaknesses.

Besides other Raiders, the biggest threat in ARC Raiders are the ARC enemies roaming around looking for prey. Each ARC enemy has its own tactics to beat you, so you need to be prepared.

Basic Enemies

Tick

Recommended Weapons: Melee, Any Gun
Enemy Type: Small Spider

Ticks hide on ceilings and walls, then leap onto your face and drain health and shields. They die in one hit from almost anything. If one latches on, hold interact to throw it off.

Pop

Recommended Weapons: Any Gun, Explosives
Enemy Type: Indoor bomber

Pops roll at you and try to explode at your feet for huge damage. Shoot them as they rush you, but if one’s about to blow, you can time a dodge roll to avoid all damage.

Fireball

Recommended Weapons: High Armor Penetration Weapons, Explosives
Enemy Type: Indoor flamethrower

Fireballs roll in, open up, and spray burning fire that lingers. Their armor is thick, so back up, let it open, then melt the core at range. Don’t melee them, because the explosion will burn you.

Support Enemies

Surveyor

Recommended Weapons: Burst Rifles, Explosives
Enemy Type: Outdoor scanner/support

Surveyors scan areas, broadcast your position to ARCs and players, and then try to roll away. While scanning, the exposed core is vulnerable. Burst it down fast before it closes and escapes.

ARC Surveyors run away so fast. Try to stun them with mines to hold them down.

Turret

Recommended Weapons: Rifles, Impact Grenades
Enemy Type: Static indoor sentry

Standard wall-mounted turrets with scanners. Peek from cover, bait a firing cycle, then shoot during its brief reload window. Impact grenades can make quick work of them.

Sentinel

Recommended Weapons: High Penetration Weapons, Impact Grenades
Enemy Type: Long Range Laser Turret

Sentinels lock you with lasers at long ranges and then fire a powerful sniper shot. Break line of sight before the laser turns solid red, then peek while it’s reloading and shoot it. The laser exposes you to other players.

Snitch

Recommended Weapons: SMGs, Fast Midrange Rifles
Enemy Type: Flying alarm

Snitches mark your location and call in Wasps and Hornets if you stay in range too long. Shoot the rotors or exterior plates fast before they can escape. If they’re close enough, a single impact grenade is enough.

Snitches call in other ARCs from the sky when they see you. These ARC reinforcement automatically chases and shoot you.

Aerial Enemies

Wasp

Recommended Weapons: Precision Rifles, Accurate
Enemy Type: Light aerial harasser

Wasps strafe you with sustained gunfire and are especially dangerous during chaotic fights. Destroying two rotors forces a crash and kill. You can one-tap them with impact grenades.

Hornet

Recommended Weapons: Heavy rifles, machine guns
Enemy Type: Stun Drone

Hornets fire slow electric darts that stun you and chunk health. Rolling right before their attack lets you dodge it. Shoot the two exposed rear thrusters to drop it.

Shooting the rotors of the Hornet drone should destabilize their movement and also mess up their aim as it explodes.

Elite Enemies

Leaper

Recommended Weapons: High armor penetration rifles, energy weapons
Enemy Type: Elite Melee Bruiser

Leapers jump huge distances, slam you, and pulse AOE damage. Kite them into buildings or doorways they can’t fully enter. From cover, focus fire on one leg to break it and expose internals. Staying in the open against a Leaper will usually get you killed.

Bastion

Recommended Weapons: Explosives, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers
Enemy Type: Heavy Walking Turret (Elite)

Bastions are slow but have a powerful minigun that deletes shields and HP, so take cover immediately. Its weak points are the yellow kneecaps and the cylinder on its back. One teammate draws aggro while another flanks and shoots the back core. You can also just hide inside a building and take cheap shots, but prepare for a long fight.

Bombardier

Recommended Weapons: Rocket launchers, heavy rifles
Enemy Type: Grounded Artillery Drone (Elite)

Bombardiers are the explosive version of Bastions, equipped with guided rockets; they’re paired with spotter drones that constantly ping your location. Kill the spotter drones first to cut pressure, then use roofed cover and hit the weak points on its back and legs.

Rocketeer

Recommended Weapons: Heavy machine guns, rockets, energy weapons
Enemy Type: Airborne Missile Drone (Elite)

Rocketeers fire high-damage rocket volleys, so never fight one in the open. Find solid cover with a roof. Then, bait a volley, and focus on breaking those front thrusters to drop it; otherwise, prepare to waste a ton of ammo.

Boss Enemies

Queen

Recommended Weapons: Heavy launchers, EMP grenades, High Penetration Rifles
Enemy Type: Raid Boss

The Queen guards the Harvester with adds like Wasps and Rocketeers. She fires homing rockets, sweeps a laser that damages over time, and has powerful melee attacks. Focus on her weak points when exposed, and eliminate her adds first to reduce pressure.

General Combat Tips

Most ARC enemies have weak spots and are also weak/strong to certain ammo types. Fireballs are perfect circles, and Pops have a weird cylinder on the side. This difference is worth noting as Pops runs to raiders to explode, while Fireballs run to raiders and attack with their flamethrower.

ARC Probes call nearby ARCs when you try to breach them. ARC Probes have three separate searchable containers with mostly ARC loot inside.

Remember that different weapons are effective against different enemy types. Always carry a variety of ammunition types to be prepared for any encounter.

Source: This content is officially summarized and adapted from Prima Games.