ARC Raiders and extraction shooters for complete beginners
ARC Raiders is a "pay to play" live-service PvPvE third-person extraction shooter released in October 2025 by Embark Studios.
Core concepts
- Live-service is a type of game that is played online and evolves throughout its lifetime. The longevity of a game is determined by many factors, but having a healthy player base is key. The best example of a live-service game is World of Warcraft, an MMORPG.
- PvPvE is an amalgamation of two multiplayer modes; player versus player and player versus environment/enemy. In other words, it's a multiplayer game in which you will compete against other players and in-game bots (known as ARC in this universe), though it isn't necessarily what you could call a competitive game (e.g. Counter-Strike, Battlefield, Call of Duty - if you’re familiar with them).
- An extraction shooter is a genre in which players (rumoured to be between 15-20 in this game) join a map, try to survive (e.g. by fending off enemies) and eventually “extract” (i.e. leave) within a certain amount of time (up to 30 minutes also in this game), all while obtaining items of random value (i.e. "loot", used to fulfil quests and craft better items afterwards), randomly scattered across a map and found on defeated enemies. This is the core gameplay loop, also known as a "raid".
Gameplay details
- ARC Raiders is experienced in squads of 1-3 players. Multiplayer squads can be made up of your friends or random players of a similar level. Match making attempts to group by squad size so in most cases solo and squad play will be separate.
- Bots are always threats but players can freely choose to be friend or foe (fortunately friendly fire if off and squad mates cannot attack you using projectile weapons); this is the main draw of the game and where the tension lies.
- If you are "knocked out" in a raid, everything you've looted is lost including what was originally in your loadout, save for your safe pocket (which is only available with certain backpack augments).
Player progression
- As with other live-service games, you obtain experience points by simply playing (even if you have a mediocre raid) and by fulfilling quests given to you by traders. After reaching a certain experience point threshold you obtain a new level.
- Experience points can be used towards traversing a three-branch skill tree which unlocks more abilities as you progress. As with most live-service games, skill progression is a slow grind.
- Players are also presented with challenges known as "Feats". Completing them earns you "Creds" (another in-game currency) which you can exchange for cosmetic upgrades.
- While microtransactions are present, these are purely cosmetic - ARC Raiders is not pay to win.
Beginner tips
- Use the free loadout until you feel comfortable with the core game loop and can extract consistently. This especially helps with gear fear.
- If and when you decide to go on a raid with a custom loadout, it's best to have one weapon type to deal with enemy raiders and another for ARC.
- While not immediately apparent, traders can exchange gear for coins or items. For example, the Free Loadout augment (which you keep after a successful extraction when using a, well, Free Loadout) can be traded for any of the MK. 1 augments at the Clinic.
- Expand your stash whenever you can, especially early on - you'll run out of space pretty quickly.
- Check out ARC Stashers or the ARC Raiders Cheatsheet if you don't know whether to sell or recycle your loot.
Personal opinion
ARC Raiders is a confronting game, one that leads you to continuous reflection. It is a game that lures you in with its gorgeous levels, immersive soundscapes and approachable gameplay, all while constantly testing your awareness, perseverance and mettle, mainly through the PvP aspect. Unlike other multiplayer games where player interaction and intention is mostly defined by the game itself, ARC Raiders is actually a sandbox hidden in plain sight and encounters are fluid to a point where they can completely sucker-punch genre newcomers. A pacifist play style in particular may clash with how ARC Raiders is played, making it more difficult to get over the sting of unprovoked/unwarranted hostility, all the while giving you little to no choice but to begrudgingly accept that all forms of play are valid (as long as they don't involve cheating or using exploits), especially when there are some you don't agree with. But in spite of this I continue to do raids; the highs can be extremely high and every extraction is rightfully earned. I look forward to seeing what Embark can do to improve the experience, understanding that they won't be able to create a game that caters to all audiences.
Thoughts on gameplay
- I feel any form of non-friendly PvP results in a slight thematic disconnect with the whole "humanity banding together to survive" backdrop - but this is a game, after all.
- Non-friendly PvP encounters become more frequent as you level up, especially when you're in a squad of 2 or 3. It pretty much becomes the norm and PvE moves to the backburner. I cannot confirm if this is balanced by some match making criteria (i.e. player aggression). Admittedly, non-friendly PvP does mix things up...
- At higher levels, looting another player will prove to be more valuable than randomly looting the map.
Other resources
- Loot Piñatas - Devs, Live from TwitchCon: A glimpse into ARC Raiders' development and vision, straight from the horse's mouth.
- The Evolution of ARC Raiders: Great series produced by noclip, documenting the game's development.
- STELLA MONTIS | ARC Raiders Cinematic Tour: A perfect example how all maps, including Stella Montis, ooze with with atmosphere at every corner.