10 Major Mistakes You Need to Avoid in Arc Raiders

Scavenging, looting, fighting, and extracting is the gameplay loop for ARC Raiders. While it sounds simple enough, it’s easier said than done. To effectively survive the dangers of the Rust Belt, you need to avoid careless mistakes. With that being said, here are 10 major mistakes you should avoid in ARC Raiders.

1 Improper Positioning and Shoulder Swapping

ARC Raiders is a third-person extraction shooter, which means you get a better view of your surroundings. This also means the rival Raiders have the opportunity to get the drop on you. This is where positioning comes into play. Don’t pick fights headfirst if you’re not in cover. When you push towards someone behind cover, either use Grenades or pre-fire with a long-ranged weapon to take down their Shields, then move from cover to cover, and get closer.

Shoulder swap also ties into positioning in ARC Raiders. It means switching your aim from left to right. This offers an advantage for viewing both sides from your cover to watch out for enemies rushing you, or scope out their locations from behind cover. It’s important to swap shoulders when you’re in a cover to switch either left or right, depending on where the enemy is, and start shooting instantly if they’re close.

2 Not Knowing Which Item Heals

Image Credit: Embark Studios

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is being unaware of which items heal in ARC Raiders. Most players think of Bandages, Defibrillators, or Vita Shots when it comes to healing. But did you know that Fabric and Power Cells can also heal you during moments of crisis? You’ll obtain these two healing items by killing ARCs throughout the Rust Belt.

Fabrics are basically Bandages, but worse, while Power Cells recharge your Shield, similar to how Shield Rechargers function, but replenish only half of it. While these two items aren’t as good as your staple healing items, they’ll often save you when you have no healing items and aren’t in a position to obtain any. So, when you kill ARCs, make sure to loot them for Fabrics and Power Cells to get both your Health and Shield back up in no time.

3 Not Prioritizing Which Items to Loot

Image Credit: Embark Studios

When you’re starting in ARC Raiders, it’s common to grab whatever items you can find, valuable or not, and bring them back to Speranza Base. However, the more you progress through the game, the more you should focus on specific items you need to loot. Not every item has value, and you want to prioritize the ones you need to craft. Check which items can be recycled into valuable crafting components and other resources, then determine which ones to bring back to base and which ones to leave behind.

When it comes to guns, you need to obtain them from Weapon Cases all around the maps to level up and get better in ARC Raiders. Weapons count towards your in-game progression, and the more you loot guns from the Weapon Cases, the more you’ll level up. These Cases hold valuable weapons, so make sure to hunt them down and prioritize them in every location.

4 Not Tweaking Your Settings Properly

Image Credit: Embark Studios

ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter; you don’t need the highest visual fidelity to enjoy the game. In multiplayer games, FPS should take the main stage, with visual fidelity settings such as Effects, Texture, Shadow, and the like taking the backseat. You should optimize your settings to get the maximum FPS and overall performance in the game.

Graphics Settings such as Foilage, Global Illumination Resolution, Post-Processing, and Anti-Aliasing should be set to low, while Brightness and View Distance should be set to high. This not only improves your performance and offers a smoother extraction experience, but also allows you to detect more players before they detect you, giving you an upper hand on both Raiders and ARCs in ARC Raiders.

5 Not Using Movement Properly

Image Credit: Embark Studios

ARC Raiders has a plethora of movement tech tied to either the Skill Tree or animations. During firefights, try to dodge and roll after your shots since it’ll give you downtime to plan the next shot, and make you harder to hit from your opponent’s perspective. Using your movement effectively during fights allows you to stay in it longer. Another tip to remember is moving unarmed when traversing the Rust Belt.

When you’re parkouring through rooftops, holster your weapon for quicker movement. Finally, slide cancelling is important for two things: it preserves Stamina and helps you travel distances quickly. Secondly, it makes it harder to get hit by rival Raiders and ARCs. So, using movement effectively is a big part of ARC Raiders’ gameplay loop.

6 Not Knowing Which Items to Recycle and Sell

Image Credit: Embark Studios

Recycling items or selling them is a core aspect of ARC Raiders. Knowing which items you should recycle and which ones you should sell to earn some Raider Coins is important. You might accidentally sell an item that needs to be recycled, like a Dog Collar. Once you sell that item, you need to find it once again on your expeditions through the Rust Belt.

Every recyclable item will have a “Recyclable” tag above it. If that’s not clear, read their descriptions to find out which crafting component it can be recycled into. Not every item needs to be sold. The ones without the tag can be sold. Otherwise, recycle them to break down unwanted items into valuable resources, get crafting components, and clear your stash at Speranze Base in ARC Raiders.

7 Ignoring Range Matchups

Image Credit: Embark Studios

In ARC Raiders, ignoring range matchups during fights can lead to innumerable deaths. This means that you need to fight fire with fire. When the battle is long-ranged, equip a sniper or any long-ranged weapons to deal with either the ARCs or the rival raiders. If they get the drop on you or are up close, switch to your shotguns and unload.

Pulling out your shotgun when you’re out in the open is just asking to be killed. Similarly, don’t force close-range fights with mid-range ARs or snipers; that’ll give your enemies an upper hand. Always use the correct weapons depending on your ranges, and know which guns will dominate them. Learn your ranges before you deal with strangers on the Rust Belt in ARC Raiders.

8 Ignoring Quests at Speranza Base

Image Credit: Embark Studios

While ARC Raiders is a PvPvE extraction shooter, there are quests you need to complete to get more XP, valuable resources, weapons, and more. Due to the thrill of these Raids, most players ignore the quests you can pick up from Speranza Base denizens. The more you complete quests, the more you’ll obtain better rewards, and the better you’ll get at topside battles.

Secondly, always check on traders at Speranza Base to accept new quests, obtain rewards by completing previous quests, and for further upgrades to your arsenal. Completing objectives on the surface not only benefits you, but also the traders and the base as a whole. So, be sure to check what quests are available and pick them up to finish them during your expeditions on the Rust Belt.

9 Not Knowing How Shield Works

Image Credit: Embark Studios

Players might consider Shields as a part of their health, like a bonus health in ARC Raiders. However, that’s certainly not the case. Shields do not serve as a bonus health; rather, they reduce incoming damage from enemies during fights. When you’re running Medium or Heavy Shields, your movement might take a beating, but incoming damage will be reduced significantly.

When you’re fighting someone who has Medium or Heavy Shields equipped, don’t just spray your weapon. Rather, use burst weapons like shotguns at close range to deal max damage and take down their Shields instantly. High DPS weapons can make quick work of high-tier shields if you’re aiming right instead of spraying blindly, so learning how Shields work is very effective during battles in ARC Raiders.

10 Not Using Your Mic During Extractions

Image Credit: Embark Studios

If you want to live, use your mic in ARC Raiders, especially if you’re playing solo. It’s as simple as it gets. Throughout the Rust Belt, you’ll face both rivals and friendly Raiders. When extracting back to Speranza Base, things will get dicey if you don’t make it to the extraction point in time. If players are already inside the point and you’re a few seconds away, you can use your mic to hold off on starting the extraction until you’ve reached.

Now, not everyone will be merciful on the Rust Belt, and chances are, the Raiders are more hellbent on killing you and taking your loot instead of the ARCs. However, you can use your mic in tough situations to either get them to let you live or extract together from the extraction point and form an unlikely alliance. It’s a multiplayer game, so you’ll see things like this more than you expect.

How has your experience with ARC Raiders been so far? Share your thoughts and opinions on the extraction shooter in the comment section below.

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