PC Gamer released an interesting feature this week titled, “Arc Raiders' basic weapons are way too strong, and it's starting to overshadow even its legendary guns”. In it, the author argues the gear chase is just not satisfying enough and high-tier legendary weapons like the Aphelion are not worth the effort. He concludes, “epics [should] get a slight buff to their overall lethality and durability to give them a tangible edge over their lower-rarity counterparts.”

This would be true, if ARC Raiders (2025) were a traditional looter shooter. In other games, weapons generally fall on a curve where higher rarity means more power; but this is not the case in ARC Raiders, especially in PVP. 

Low-end weapons like the Stitcher, Venator, and Renegade are easy to acquire while legendary weapons like the Equalizer and Jupiter are overly expensive for the relative power they provide. Epic weapons, like the Bettina, seem to lack a real application outside of being every other blueprint found in game.

So what is going on here and should Embark just buff the higher-tier weapons as many are suggesting? 

The current weapon power curve makes little sense, until you realize there’s are actually two power curves at play—one for PVE and another for PVP—which, by design or happy accident, make ARC Raiders a social experiment masquerading as an extraction shooter. 

The PVE weapon power curve makes sense because ARC Raiders was initially developed as a looter shooter/survival game, PVP was layered on later. Weapon effectiveness against ARC generally follows what is found in the game’s tooltips; Low-end light ammo weapons are less effective against ARC compared to high-end energy ammo weapons, which are highly-effective against ARC; this is a relic from the earlier versions of the game. 

The PVP weapon power curve is much different; it peaks sooner, with weapons like the Venator and Renegade, then quickly drops off as you get into the higher-end weapons. Even common weapons like the Stitcher, are extremely effective, with the right upgrades and attachments. These dueling power curves mean players must choose loadouts based on what they find more threatening, ARC or other Raiders. 

Given ARC Raiders’ post-apocalyptic trust-no-one narrative is more like The Walking Dead (2010) than it is anything else, this is what one would expect. ARC Raiders has established a gameplay framework where AI enemies, ARC, are almost a dangerous as the other human players; but, this delicate balance has some real vulnerabilities, which are slowly becoming apparent. 

One month after launch, players have mostly overcome the ARC learning curve. At launch, ARC were a real threat, because no one knew how to defeat these massive and scary robots. This meant players were more likely to work together, and it wasn’t uncommon for raider to aid one another and cooperate to bring down larger enemies. 

Now, one month after launch, the ARC problem has mostly been solved. Player cooperation has become extremely rare, with players, choosing to seek out PVP instead. ARC are quickly being been relegated to being an annoyance at most, for players who have put more than 100 hours in the game. 

The lack of ARC threat is why most Queens and Matriarchs go undefeated in duos and trios; the rewards are just not worth it. No one wants to bring 100K worth of gear into the game just to lose it to a free-loadout Andy waiting in the shadows to pounce.

Players are demanding PVP buffs to PVE weapons like the Bettina and Equalizer, because the threat they are intended to address is not really a threat anymore. Their demands are a signaling, the only part of the game holding their attention is the PVP.

Applying buffs or nerfs so the power curve for all weapons scale is the same no matter the situation, would destroy the delicate interplay between PVP and PVE, which is what makes ARC Raiders so engaging and unpredictable. 

No, the real solution to keeping high-end gear relevant in ARC Raiders, is to give it a reason to exist. Embark needs buff ARC—and buff them soon. 

That said, increasing AI power carries unique and consequential risks. Improving AI in ways which feel cheap and transparent, like just adding more damage, a higher rate of fire, or a larger health pool, risk alienating players, as much as an unfulfilling gear chase. Fighting ARC needs to be as compelling and engaging as fighting other players; not easy to accomplish. 

Thankfully, Embark's use of machine learning technology may be uniquely positioned to address this problem.

Spend any decent amount of time in ARC Raiders and players may develop a sense ARC are actually holding back. ARC have been restrained in several key ways: ARC's awareness range is actually very short and can be easily avoided, if careful; ARC will deaggro relatively quickly if you break LOS long enough; and their weak points are generally obvious, giving players a fighting chance when cornered. 

Loosening some of these restraints may part of the solution, but ARC have displayed much more potential for engagement in how they reason, even if reasoning is not really happening. (It’s not really happening… right?). 

ARC do things which AI in other games just don’t do; Bombardiers will move to angle shots through narrow passages; Rocketeers will search areas they think you are in, not just stop at the last place the saw you; Leapers will… well they’re just terror personified, if you know, you know. It is this kind of unique behavior Embark should lean into to keep the ARC threat as engaging as fighting other players. 

The possibilities for creatively using this technology are endless; ARC could stalk players like animals stalking prey, waiting to strike at the perfect time; ARC disguised as a teammate could mimic their voices and lure Raiders away into an ambush; ARC could even develop vendettas against specific players, reappearing to finish a previous engagement, from another raid. 

Overall, the game doesn’t need better PVP weapons, there are plenty already. Embark needs to give players a reason to use these weapons by building on the creative ways ARC already behave; this would maintain the incredible balance between PVE and PVP, which the studio has landed on. 

Here’s the link to the original PC Gamer article. See you on the other side, Raiders.