Source: Embark Studios (official screenshot via Steam)
The ARC Raiders best weapons list looks very different now than it did at launch. The Frozen Trail update, Live Update 2.0 on October 8, rebalanced the whole sandbox, added two new guns, and moved old favorites up and down the ranks. This tier list reflects the game as it stands after Hotfix 2.4.1 on November 5, and neither Store Update 2.4.0 nor that hotfix changed a gun, so these rankings should hold until Embark's next balance pass.
One note before the list: PvE and PvP want different things. A gun that melts ARC machines can still lose every duel with another Raider, and the best loadout is usually one weapon for each job. The tiers below weigh both, and the notes call out where a gun shines on only one side.
ARC Raiders Best Weapons: The S Tier
Anvil. The hand cannon is the strongest practical pick in the game right now. Frozen Trail moved it from Uncommon to Rare while keeping its power, which tells you how Embark rates it. It hits for 40 damage a shot with serious armor penetration, and it handles ARC and Raiders alike. The catch is the blueprint, which drops from caches, so getting one is luck. Once you have it, the craft is cheap for what it does.
Dolabra. The Legendary energy shotgun is the most expensive S tier gun and the most fun. It has two fire modes, a hipfire spread and an aimed beam, and it cannot be upgraded at a workbench. That sounds like a drawback until you use it: it ships complete, and it deletes things at close range in both PvE and PvP. Save it for raids where you can afford to lose it.
Ferro. The budget king. This Common break-action rifle costs almost nothing to craft, hits for 40 a shot, and reaches out to long range with pinpoint accuracy. It is the best value pick in the entire game, and the gun to carry when you cannot afford to lose your loadout. Upgraded Anvils and Renegades outscale it eventually, but nothing else gives you this much for this little.
Bettina. The Epic assault rifle got one of the biggest buffs in Frozen Trail: base damage up from 14 to 16, roughly 33 percent more damage against ARC armor, around 40 percent less bloom, and about 30 percent faster dispersion recovery. It is the automatic-fire answer to armored machines, and it holds up fine against players too.
A Tier: Strong Picks With a Catch
Renegade. The Rare lever-action battle rifle is the long-range answer. It has a big headshot multiplier once upgraded, and it makes most snipers redundant. If you like holding angles and picking fights on your terms, this is your gun.
Jupiter. The Legendary bolt-action sniper carries the most headshot damage in PvP, in Embark's own words from its February notes. It is expensive and slow, and it demands good aim, but nothing else punishes a mistake from across the map like it does.
Vulcano. The Epic semi-auto burst shotgun is a close-range monster. Rooms decide raids, and the Vulcano owns rooms. Keep it for interiors and extraction fights, not open fields.
Venator. The pistol that Embark's own data once called one of the best-performing weapons in the game. It is light, fast, and far better than a sidearm has any right to be. A great backup that sometimes becomes the main event.
B Tier and the New Guns
Tempest and Kettle sit here as solid all-rounders that never embarrass you but rarely win a fight on their own. Hullcracker is the best anti-ARC launcher in the game, and a poor dueling weapon, so bring it for machine-heavy raids and leave it home for PvP nights.
Frozen Trail added two new guns worth knowing. The Bantam is a heavy-ammo hand cannon with a unique hip-fire mechanic and strong damage against both ARC and Raiders. The Stiletto is a cheap light-ammo battle rifle that works as an early-game stand-in for the Renegade. Neither cracks the S tier yet, but both are worth a blueprint slot.
What Fell Off
Stitcher took the hardest nerfs in Frozen Trail: base damage down from 7 to 6.5, the headshot multiplier cut from 2.5 to 1.75, and per-shot dispersion raised by roughly 50 percent. It is still usable, but it is no longer the default. Rattler and Aphelion sit in the same boat: fine guns that other options now do better. Hairpin brings up the rear and is only worth carrying until something better drops.
How to Spend Your Crafting Materials
Blueprints are the real gate in ARC Raiders, not materials. The craft is usually cheap once you have the recipe, so do not burn a raid chasing a gun you cannot build yet. Live Update 2.3.0 on October 27 changed the blueprint drop system so Dolabra, Bobcat, Equalizer, Jupiter, Tempest, and Vulcano blueprints can appear under any major map condition, which makes the hunt fairer than it was.
Practical order: craft a Ferro first, because it costs almost nothing and stays useful all season. Chase the Anvil blueprint through caches while you play normally. Save Legendary materials until your bench can support them, and never take a Dolabra into a raid you cannot afford to lose. If you are still learning the maps, our Frozen Trail beginner guide covers first raids and extraction basics, and the Season 6 Week 5 trials guide has the current challenge routes.
Rankings will move again when Embark ships its next balance patch. Since 2.3.0 the studio has shipped fixes roughly every three weeks, which points to the next round landing around November 17. Until then, Anvil, Dolabra, Ferro, and Bettina are the guns to build around. Independent tier lists from Everything Edinburgh and Epiccarry land in the same place on the top four, which is a good sign the meta has settled.
