Once you start dropping into Arc Raiders on a regular basis, you realise pretty fast that your gear matters more than your reactions. A clean shot does not help much if you brought the wrong ammo type or a gun that cannot handle armour, so people who last more than a few runs usually spend time planning their loadout and even checking out different ARC Raiders Items before queueing up. The line between walking out stacked with loot and watching your backpack vanish on extraction often comes down to a few choices you made back in the hangar.



Most players start on the safe side with Assault Rifles. The Kettle is usually your first real workhorse, semi‑auto and light ammo, good for learning recoil and pacing shots without wasting bullets. After a while it feels a bit soft, so people move to the Tempest because it hits that sweet spot: medium ammo, flexible at mid range, not too punishing if you miss. When you begin running into heavier enemies, the Bettina makes more sense, since the heavy rounds chew through health and armour when you need things to just fall over. If you like holding down the trigger and making noise, the Rattler throws a ridiculous amount of lead forward, which is great for panic moments but burns ammo fast.



Charging straight in does not always work, especially when ARC constructs or other squads are dug in. That is when Battle Rifles and Snipers start to look a lot more attractive. The Ferro is a classic pick: bolt‑action, slow, but the armour punch is huge, so you can crack open tougher targets before they push your team. Some players lean into energy gear instead and hunt for the Aphelion, which fires in bursts and tends to drop from harder encounters, so it feels like a reward for taking risks. If your squad wants proper overwatch, the Osprey sniper lets you delete threats from way out, sometimes before they even tag you on radar, though you really feel every missed shot when ammo is low.



Eventually a fight gets messy and someone ends up in a hallway or inside a bunker, so a good secondary matters more than people think. A Bobcat SMG in your back pocket gives you quick handling and a bit of forgiveness when you are surprised around a corner. Shotgun fans usually swear by the Il Toro because the burst damage is wild in tight rooms, and it can flip a losing trade in one pull if you are close enough. Players who prefer to anchor a fight rather than sprint around tend to pick LMGs like the Torrente, since it spits rounds for ages and lets you pin down another squad while your mates move up or reposition for better angles.





Sidearms look boring on paper, but they save runs. The Anvil heavy pistol feels slow but slams hard when your primary is dry, so it is worth keeping loaded. When you want to stay quiet, or just like playing stealthier routes, the Hairpin does the job without waking the whole map. Every now and then you get lucky and see a Legendary like the Jupiter sniper, and that is the kind of drop you build a loadout around, because its range and impact change how bold you can play. Over time you start to learn what fits your style and what is just taking up space in the locker, and some players even use sites like RSVSR to sort out extra currency or items so they can test new setups faster without grinding the same missions on repeat.