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Death's Guide on ARC Raiders: 100 Starter Tips & Strats For ARC Raiders "Everything you Need to get Past the Initial Learning Curve" Oct 27, 2025 30 Mins by Death 100 Starter Tips & Strats for ARC Raiders [UPDATE 28 Oct 2025: Updated to reflect the changes to the game as of the Server Slam. Any information is subject to change upon release and future updates.] This guide is based on the 100+ hours Death spent in the ARC Raiders Tech Test 2 and the Server Slam. Death also has 10K+ hours of experience in extraction shooters like Hunt: Showdown 1896 and Escape from Tarkov. Here are 100 tips & strats to get you started in ARC Raiders (2025). GENERAL What is ARC Raiders ? — ARC Raiders is a full-feature extraction shooter with a robust looting system, unique customizable weapons, and intense PvPvE combat. The game is set in an expansive, beautiful world in a distant post-apocalyptic future Earth. AI machines called ARC have wiped out most of humanity, and those that remain have been forced below the surface. You play as a raider from the underground colony of Speranza. You're sent to the surface to scavenge for any remaining supplies to keep the colony going. You'll need to avoid deadly ARC and other human raiders as desperate as you. Use any means necessary to secure the loot you need and extract. It's the ARC's world; we are just playing in it. What is the play loop for ARC Raiders ? —Put simply, you acquire loot and use that loot to acquire even more loot. As an extraction shooter, ARC Raiders accommodates many different play styles. You can play ARC Raiders in trios, duos, or solo. Whether you're looking to kill everyone on the map or stealth your way to riches, how you play is up to you. Playing extraction shooters —If all you've ever played are traditional shooters, extraction shooters can be a bit intimidating, at first. The PvPvE format and gear systems can be a big turn off for newer players. Overcome the learning curve by focusing on if you learn, rather than if you win. Consistent play will improve your skills. Extraction shooters aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay. Don’t force yourself to play something you don’t want to . However, if you want to try the sub-genre, ARC Raiders is a great game to start with. Progression in ARC Raiders —Progression in extraction shooters isn't linear. Leveling, trader quest lines, the skill tree, raider decks are all ways to progress in ARC Raiders . However you define it, building a reliable stash value is an essential component of progression. Extracting is profitable —Apparently extracting in an extraction shooter is a great way to make money. Traders are expensive. Use them in your workshop to augment your loadouts, but remember that extracting is your primary source of wealth and resources. Raider den —Your raider's living space, or raider den, will visually change as you acquire more stash value, gaining more amenities and luxuries. I wonder how far this goes? Your Raider Den gets more luxuries as you build your Stash value. Feats —Feats are challenges which reward Cred, the currency used to level up your Raider Deck, the game’s version of a battle pass. The Raider Deck contains in-game rewards like weapon attachments and cosmetics. You can see available feats in-raid under the Feats tab, or in the top left of the lobby screen. Also, your friends' actions count towards your feats, so work together to finish them quickly. Projects —Project are timed special events that award exclusive cosmetics for those who complete them. The first project in ARC Raiders is the Expedition Project, the game's take on character progression resets, or wipes, similar to what you would find in Escape from Tarkov (2025). Raiders contribute resources to projects over time. Projects are then finalized by a specific date, and then raiders receive their rewards. The timeline for the Expedition Project, ARC Raiders' take on progression wipes. Leveling —Earning XP allows you to level up, which awards you skill points for enabling new skills in the skill tree. You earn XP for almost any action you take in a raid, including scavenging. Search every container and body you find to maximize the XP you earn in a raid. Searching raider bodies awards just as much for downing them. You still earn XP for searching containers your teammates have searched. The skill tree —The skill tree is extremely important. It provides critical buffs to your character's mobility, carrying capacity, survivability, and more. Leveling up the right skills early on can make a big difference in the long run. MOVEMENT Always keep moving —As with all shooters, standing still will get you killed. Move randomly in the four cardinal directions, forward, back, left, and right if you're unaware of the enemy's location. Only stand still if you're in cover or absolutely sure if no one can get an easy headshot on you. Some decisions are better than others. Be ready to adapt. Move faster on ladders —You can climb and descend ladders faster with the shift button. Climbing faster will consume stamina. Descending faster consumes no stamina. Run faster while unarmed —Putting your weapon away allows you to run faster. Stow your guns to zoom in and out of the action. Use this ability to make your rotations faster, but be careful not to run into enemies unarmed. Sliding —The slide mechanic is great for moving down hills fast and coming around corners while shooting, but slides cannot be canceled. You can dodge roll out of a slide, but the inertia-based movement system in ARC Raiders prevents you from stopping in your tracks. Use caution or you may slide into difficult situations. Use caution or you may slide into difficult situations. Environmental Ziplines —You’ll find Ziplines all over the world of ARC Raiders . Use them to get to high ground or enter high-value loot areas. Be careful on Ziplines around teammates. They can easily get knocked off and fall to their death. Yes, I find this hilarious as well. Extracting while downed —You can still activate the extract if you're in a downed state. Also, the animation is pure cinema. Never ever give up. Prioritize stamina skills —Being able to move faster and further than your enemy is a huge advantage in ARC Raiders . Prioritize maxing out youthful lungs and marathon runner first in the mobility branch of the skill tree. If you are having stamina issues, see your doctor or the Skill Tree. Conserve stamina —Even if you max out all stamina skills in the skill tree, take care not to drain your stamina bar, especially in danger areas like open fields and roads. Running out of stamina when in the sight of ARC or other players is usually a death sentence. Always be thinking of escape routes and save enough stamina to use them. Nimble climber —Nimble climber allows you to climb walls and vault railings faster. Max out this skill early and use it to survive dangerous situations. Simultaneous actions —Unlike some other games, ARC Raiders is able to walk and chew gum at the same time. You can perform most actions even if your teammate is interacting with you. For example, if your partner is downed and they're activating the extract, you can revive them at the same time. OPERATIONS Vision during daytime —Seeing into buildings is easier than seeing out during the day. Use cover near windows to avoid being spotted by enemies outside that you cannot see. Get closer to windows to improve your vision. The world of ARC Raiders is intricate, beautiful, and worth exploring. Explore the maps —You naturally learn the world of ARC Raiders as you play, but being more familiar with your surroundings than your enemy is a huge advantage. Explore unfamiliar areas when you have time and look for unlikely flanking routes or firing positions in the high ground. Use them to surprise your foes the next time you're in the area. Solo play —As a solo, the odds are stacked against you. Do what it takes to win. Finish-off downed opponents, disengage for better positioning, third-party fights, or use stealth and deception to ambush enemies from the shadows. Use proximity chat to gain your enemy’s trust and sink a dagger in when the opportunity presents itself. It is just you against the world, so do whatever is necessary to secure victory. The solo life is a dangerous and lonely one in ARC Raiders . Have a backup plan —Mike Tyson once said, "Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth." Set secondary goals to accomplish in raid in case your primary goal cannot be completed. This allows you to get something out of a raid even if it all goes to hell, which it probably will. Teams spawn in waves —Not all players spawn at the same time. Teams enter raids in successive waves at timed intervals. Keep this in mind, since you may have fresh teams arriving at the worst possible time. Spawning early means you can loot high-value areas first, but you will have to fight your way out to the extract. Spawning late means you may miss some of the best loot, but you're more likely to survive. Note the time at the beginning of your raid. dapt to the changing situation —Exercise sound judgment and fire discipline when in contact with the enemy. Hold fire if raiders would have the advantage on you or a member of your team is not combat operational. Use decisive violence of action to gain the initiative and be ruthless maintaining it. Knowing how to act takes time and practice, so value your losses and the lessons they contain. Balance risk and reward —You don't have to kill everything in a raid to make a profit. Yes, the dopamine flows when the bodies start dropping, but extracting with a valuable quest item or a rare weapon will serve you better in the long term. Learn to recognize when it's time to take risks or cut your losses. Cover and concealment —Cover blocks vision and fire. Concealment only blocks vision. Know the difference. Fire into suspect concealed positions to root out enemies. Use grenades on suspected positions of cover. Avoid engaging the enemy without adequate cover. Do not fall for the false sense of security that concealment offers. Aim —Obviously, aim is a fundamental skill in shooters like ARC Raiders. Even if you're a God-tier strategic genius who could out-flank Sun Tzu himself, at some point, you will need to shoot the enemy before they shoot you. Aim is a function of reaction time, accuracy, and volume. Work on improving your aim, even if you feel confident about it. Use aim trainers like Aim Labs or even websites like aimtrainer.io . Warm up in the shooting range before your first raid of a session. Make sure that you have a light mouse and a wide desktop area to use it on. Do your research on the best settings for your equipment and setups. Fire positions —The surest way to get downed by your enemy is to keep using the same fire position over and over. Use a fire position once, then move on. Avoid using a fire position that your teammate just used. Only reuse a fire position if enough time has passed or the tactical situation leaves you no other options. Never hold angles in ADS —Holding angles in third person differs from first person. In third person, awareness is more important than beating the enemy to the shot. To effectively hold an angle, stay behind cover, keep your weapon down and reticle in line with where you suspect the enemy to be. When your opponent peeks, move out and take the shot. Corners can block your weapon in ADS if you're not careful. Give yourself time to master this skill if you usually play FPS games. Quick swapping —Switch to your secondary weapon instead of automatically reloading while in close contact with the enemy. Quick swapping allows you to maintain pressure in a fight while reloading gives your enemy a chance to respond. When it's time to reload, find cover and reload your weapons fully. Swapping to your secondary weapon helps you maintain the pressure. If you're an OG Hunt Showdown degenerate like myself, you can map the ‘Q-key’ to next weapon and leave previous weapon empty. Now you can quick swap back and forth like it's 1.3 all over again. Always be rotating aggressively —Seeing around corners in third person perspective allows you to catch enemy raiders off-guard if you position correctly. Inexperienced players tend to hold position when they become aware of an enemy's location. Avoid tunneling on a specific location and aggressively rotate to find new arcs of fire. Never stay in one area too long, or you risk being slowly cut off from other fire positions. Grenade corners before pushing —Third person view allows players to see around and over cover without exposing themselves. Make sure to grenade areas where you suspect enemies to be before pushing to avoid being caught in the open. Avoid danger areas —A danger area is any area that could expose your team to effective enemy fire without cover. Rivers, roads, doors, windows, hallways, and more are examples of danger areas. Coordinate with your team to provide covering fire when crossing danger areas to minimize the risk of a teammate being downed in the open. Team spacing —Maintain distance in open areas. This provides awareness of enemy actions over a greater range and lessens the effectiveness of weapons like grenades and machine guns. Keep closer in buildings. This will allow you to concentrate fire and support your teammates faster. But, never stay too close for too long, as a single grenade could take out your entire team. Always try to keep your teammates in view, no matter the terrain. Stay with your team —Nothing can hinder a team more than someone getting downed while out of position. It's important to take risks, but there's only so much you can do to detect an enemy ambush. If you're unaware of the enemy's location, use caution and stay with your team. Move as a team to concentrate firepower and overcome your foes. Sound traps —Everything in ARC Raiders is designed to make noise and draw attention to players in the environment. Simple things like opening containers, being spotted by security cameras, or going through metal detectors, is intended to alert enemies to your location. Enemy raiders and ARC in your vicinity will investigate sounds they hear. Learn to move quietly and avoid detection. Use what you know to detect enemies near you. Even simple tasks like opening a crate can give your position away. CRAFTING Recycling & salvaging —Right-click an item to recycle or salvage it. Use the materials you get from recycling and salvaging to craft other items in your workshop. You can also salvage items in-raid to condense your inventory. The Workshop —Buying from traders can be expensive. Level up the crafting benches in your workshop to craft items for cheap with the recipes you find in-game. Prioritize the weapons bench for access to better weapons and weapon attachments. Use the basic bench to craft basic healing items like shield chargers and light shields. Unlock the refiner and always ensure that it is crafting valuable items or crafting components before starting a raid. Vendors are very expensive and unfriendly. In-round crafting traits —ARC Raiders was initially developed as a survival game, and some of that DNA has stuck around. There are two traits in the survival branch of the skill tree that allow you to craft items in-raid. In-round crafting gives you the ability to field craft items, while traveling tinkerer unlocks additional items for crafting later on. Use these to augment your free loadout runs and help your team's chances of survival. Tracked recipes —You can track recipes from the workshop to help you find specific items while in raid. The recipes you are tracking are listed on the map below your current quests. You will receive a notification when you loot enough of an item. Items you are tracking will have an eye-icon in the top right-hand corner, as well. Refer to your tracked recipes in game to help you progress your workshop and crafting. Salvaging in raid —You can right-click on items to salvage them for basic crafting components in raid. Do this to save inventory space or deny enemies powerful weapons that you cannot extract with. Carrying capacity —Salvage weapons to free up carrying capacity. Weapons weigh a lot. With basic raider augments, you're limited to about two weapons before you become over-encumbered. Salvage low-tier weapons to free up your carrying capacity. ARC Power Cells and Fabric —Always fill excess slots in your inventory with ARC Power Cells and Fabric as you find them. ARC Power cells can be used to refill shields and will fill 20 charges, which is half of a light shield. If you or your teammate have in-round crafting, you can use the Fabric to make bandages. Fabric restores a small amount of health on its own. RESOURCES Traders —Traders specialize in things like security or selling guns, but two are especially important early game, Celeste and Lance : Celeste will trade basic crafting materials for seeds, smoothing out your crafting requirements. Seeds are light and can be easily salvaged from plants in raid. Use them to get the materials you need, like metal parts, which you will need a lot of. Lance will upgrade free loadout augments into uncommon augments. Bring him any you find to get the Combat Mark I, the Looter Mark I, or the Tactical Mark I. Selling items in your stash.* *Current as of the Server Slam. There are more higher rarity augments to come. Quick selling —Right-click on an item and select sell. No need to visit the traders to look for the best sale price either. Easy. Rarity & value —Higher rarity does not always mean more valuable. Items that stack are sometimes more valuable than higher rarity items that don't. Assess value based on sale price, not the color of the item. Rare isn't always better, do the math before picking up some items. Memorize sale prices —Right-click on things in your inventory and practice memorizing their value between raids. This will help you make faster decisions about what to loot. Memorizing is faster, but if you forget the sale price of an item, your inventory's value is listed next to your raider augment slot. Watch this value change as you pick up or drop an item. Comparing item value —Use sale price and weight to assess the value of an item. Lightweight items that stack are worth more than expensive items that are heavy. If you want to maximize loot during a raid, pay attention to the sale price per kilogram of an item. For example, an Accordion is only worth 667 credits per kilogram, while a full sack of ARC Alloy is worth 1,000 credits per kilogram. Choose accordingly. You can only carry so much, may as well take the most valuable. Max out your Stash early —There are hundreds of items in ARC Raiders , upgrade your stash early will help you sort through them as the come in. Keep your inventory small and diverse —Keep at least one stack of each unique item on hand unless you're certain something is not needed for a quest or crafting. Sell items you have no immediate need for. Scrappy, the Rooster —Scrappy is your pet rooster who ‘secures’ items for you while you are away on the surface. Scrappy does his work while you're online and in a raid, not while you're offline. Level him up early, and don't forget to tell him he's a good boy. Scrappy, the noble rooster and friend. Claim Scrappy's loot —Scrappy works hard for you, but the items he brings you have a limit. Be sure to collect them before your next raid if you're nearing capacity. Use the legend on the map —If you're looking for a particular type of item, the in-raid map can tell you where to find it. Loot has a designated type, like commercial, technological, industrial, and more. The corresponding icons are listed on the map. Go to these locations to find what you need. Hidden raider caches —There’s hidden loot all over the map if you know what to look for. You can find hidden raider caches by looking for the interaction prompt that appears when you get close. The caches also emit a ticking sound during a special event. Loot them fast, or, well… I'll let you figure that out. Field Crates contain valuable loot if you can open them. Field Crates & Field Depots —Field Crates you find on the map can be opened at nearby Field Depots. If you're close by a Field Depot, you'll see the symbol for it on your map. Read th e tooltips —It may seem obvious, but a lot of players miss vital information right in front of them. The tooltips in ARC Raiders are very detailed and tell you what an item is and what it can be used for. If you don't know what to do with an item, look in the tooltip and save yourself some time. Inventory status icon —It’s not always necessary to open your inventory to see if it's full. Picking up an item activates an indicator under your reticle, showing you the status of your inventory. Empty slots have nothing in them. Gray slots have a stackable item with more room. White slots are completely full. Blinking slots indicate where the item you just picked up was placed. Learn to read this indicator to spend less time in your inventory menu and more time scanning for enemies. EQUIPMENT Loadouts are unrestricted —There’s no restriction on the type of weapons or equipment you can take with you into a raid. You can even take backup equipment. Having a full shield in reserve or another weapon can give you the initiative in a fight. Unfortunately, this is incredibly expensive and leaves little room for the loot that you find. Use with caution. Use your flashlight —Thanks to the glory that is Unreal Engine 5, bright and dark areas in ARC Raiders can greatly obscure your vision. Some areas and buildings are incredibly dark, so use your flashlight to illuminate campers sitting in corners with shotguns. Always carry at least a light shield —Light shields have no movement reduction, and they're relatively cheap to craft. You can also equip them without having to have a raid or augment. Always carry Ziplines —Use Ziplines to flank unsuspecting enemies in high ground or create escape options when backed into a corner. Always try to carry at least one. Ziplines cannot be recovered once placed, meaning enemies can use them to counter-flank if you don't cover them with mines or observation. Carrying a spare barricade also provides some creative solutions to this problem. Always heal first —In ARC Raiders, shields mitigate damage. They're not an extra health bar. It is possible to be downed with shields remaining, so your health is more important than your shields. Always heal first before refilling your shields. "I'm just gonna take a nap right here. This is fine." Keep meds in safe pockets —Meds and shield chargers can be expensive, especially in the early game. Keep these in your safe pockets until you find more valuable items to replace them with. Shield movement reduction —Some shields reduce your movement speed. Heavy shields reduce your movement speed by 15%. Medium shields reduce it by 5%. Light shields have no movement speed reduction. Shields give protection to the detriment of movement speed. Raider augments —There are four basic types of raider augments, looting, combat, tactical, and free loadout augments. Each of these varies in the type of shield that you can equip, the number of quick use slots, and their weight limits. You cannot swap raider augments while in a raid. Raider augments must be equipped and unequipped in the lobby. If you find a raider augment that's better than the one you have, you must extract with it to use it next time. Consuming items in raid —Food like Expired Pasta can be consumed for a small amount of health. Fruit like Lemons can be consumed for a small amount of stamina. And items like ARC Power Cells can be used to charge your shields if you find yourself in a desperate situation. Gain access to locked areas —If it's locked up, it's probably valuable. Use key cards to open doors to high-value loot areas or enter by other… ‘methods.’ Raider keys —Raider Keys are very valuable items. They allow you to extract from raider hatches, which are much faster and less risky than normal extracts. Carry one in your safe pockets whenever you deploy with valuable loot. Raider Hatches only open for a short time, so enter immediately to avoid being left behind. These keys are extremely valuable. WEAPONS Low-tier weapon proficiency —Being effective with low-tier weapons will help you immensely in the early game when you're getting your stash built up. Find a cheap gun that fits your play style and learn to love using it. Rely on it like an old friend when the going gets tough. Lower tier guns may be outmatched against higher tier weapons, but they will still down players if you maneuver correctly and hit your shots. Upgrade your weapons —You can use crafting materials to improve your weapons and get more power from them. Upgrade them if you can afford it. Level IV low-tier weapons are highly effective against most enemies. Upgrade them when you can. Ammunition —Take a lot of ammo. You're useless without ammo. Try and fill the first row of your loadout's inventory with just ammo. Always fill excess slots in your inventory with ammunition you find in raid. There's no excuse for running out of ammo. The right ammo is key when dealing with the ARC threat. Pool your ammo reserve —Carrying weapons that use the same type of ammo allows you to pool the ammo reserve, giving you more flexibility in a fight. If you take weapons of a different ammo type, like a rifle and a shotgun, make sure you take enough ammo for both so that you don't run out. Durability —Weapons and shields deteriorate with use or when damaged. Make sure you repair your equipment regularly or it will fail to function in raid. Upgrade items to reduce their durability wear when possible. The practice range —The practice range is a great place to experiment with the game's mechanics before you go into a raid. Items or weapons you use in the range will not be consumed or lose durability. There are practice dummies you can beat up on to your heart's content. Basic weapons, attachments, and equipment are available in the range for you to experiment with. Weapon ballistics —Generally, the travel time and bullet drop for the weapons in ARC Raiders is not too punishing. It is noticeable enough to require your attention, however, especially at long range. Use the practice range to get a feel for each weapon when you have time. Adopt a custom crosshairs that allows you to gage these factors on distant or moving targets. Camera swapping —Third person places the camera behind your character above their shoulder. Make sure to swap from left to right as needed to avoid overexposing your body to the enemy. Map this ability to a button you can always press and let it become second nature like crouching, jumping, or sprinting. No friendly fire —Tragically, there is no friendly fire in ARC Raider s. You must find other methods to kill your teammates. Yes, I am very sad about this as well. Melee when possible —Your Raider's hammer is a versatile tool that allows you to travel on Ziplines, breach doors, and open containers. Use it to maintain stealth and save ammo by killing small ARC within reach and disabling sou nd traps. When all else fails, pull out your hammer and charge at your foes. It takes several swings to down an enemy raider with a hammer, but it's exceedingly rewarding when you can pull it off. Put skill points into sky clearing swing and fly swatter in the skill tree to increase your melee damage on drones and turrets. COMMS Communicate quickly & effectively —Hearing the audio in fights is vital, so keep comms as clear as possible. Do not unnecessarily backseat your teammates or offer complaints and excuses. Communicating while downed —When you're downed, your primary objective is to remain silent and find a safe location where you can be revived. Only communicate with your team to convey crucial information that they absolutely need to know. Once you've reached a safe area, observe potential flanking routes. If the tactical situation allows, eliminate downed opposing players who are reporting on you to their team. Use proximity chat —Spontaneous organic interactions with other players are some of the most memorable moments you can have in gaming. Use proximity chat to your advantage. Form ad hoc teams in the heat of battle, or take pressure off your team by getting enemy teams to fight one another. Disable proximity chat if it becomes a distraction to your gameplay. Mute overly toxic people immediately and never become toxic yourself. Enemy callouts —If you spot an enemy, ping their location and communicate the following to your teammates. Description of the enemy, direction and method of travel, weapons, probable intentions, and your actions and recommendations. Here's an example of a good call out: Enemy callouts convey crucial information in a timely manner. Not all of the above information may be necessary, especially if time is short. Use your judgment. Good call outs take practice, so give yourself time to become proficient. The ping system —You can ping pretty much everything in ARC Raiders . Your character will give a contextual voice line when you ping almost anything while in a raid. You can ping items in the world, consumables, weapons, ARC, buildings, other raiders. You can ping items in your inventory. You can even ping empty slots in your inventory by right clicking on them. Ping other pings to confirm that a ping, your teammate is pinged, has been pinged. Use the ping wheel to provide more context to your pings. The ping system in ARC Raiders is robust and detailed. SETTINGS Sort out your settings —Get comfortable with your settings in the practice range to avoid distractions in your first raid. Make sure your sensitivities are set for your mouse, remap your key binds as desired. Controller players, you're on your own on this one. Get your setting sorted before you start raiding. Custom crosshairs —You can customize your crosshairs in the settings menu. I use a bright green dot with a black outline. The human eye can see more variations of green than any other color, so bright green makes it less likely that I'll lose my reticle in visual noise like foliage. Maximize your field of vision (FOV) —Awareness in combat is essential. Widen your FOV to see more of the battlefield and find enemies in your peripheral vision. Quick use hotkeys — ARC Raiders uses a hybrid of a selection wheel and hot keys for your consumables. To use a consumable quickly, press your quick slot use key and then the corresponding number from three to six. You can always select the last item you used quickly by pressing on your quick slot key once. Hopefully, we get the option to remap these keys in a future patch. ARC ENEMIES Deal with ARC or it will deal with you —ARC should never be underestimated. Before starting any engagement, take a moment to assess the ARC threat first. If possible, quietly eliminate ARC in the area so that they don't become an issue during a fight. Some ARC are more deadly than opposing players. Never take them for granted. ARC will call for reinforcements —Deal with ARC quickly to avoid being overrun. If you're spotted by a snitch, you only have a few seconds to destroy it before it drops ARC on your location. Never linger in an area too long after engaging ARC. ARC has a tendency to swarm and can easily overwhelm your team. Cut off their limbs —ARC enemies are intricately designed, and use physics for their mobility. Destroying a limb or a thruster will be destabilize them for a short period of time, giving you the opportunity to deal damage to the main body. ARC are terrifying and deadly, just how we like it. ARC deaggro while downed —ARC enemies are mean and powerful, but they seem to be nice enough to stop attacking if you go into a down state. They will attack teammates coming to revive you, however. Use caution when assisting downed allies. ARC armor —Ammo varies in its effectiveness against ARC armor. Light ammo is the least effective, while energy ammo is the best. Always have a way to deal with ARC or you risk being overrun. No matter your primary weapon, carrying a heavy ammo secondary, like an anvil, isn't a bad idea. Fear —Games like ARC Raiders are designed from the ground up to make you feel fear and ramp up the tension. Focus on relaxing in tense situations, more than on whether you win or lose. Over time, this will give you more control over your actions in fights. Control your fear, but don't get rid of it entirely; fear can be fun, even addictive. The excitement that accompanies fear is why most people play extraction shooters in the first place. MINDSET Gear fear —Among the worst types of fear is gear fear. Having good gear gives you an advantage, but valuing it too much creates a mental block known as gear fear. Gear fear will hinder your performance, so don't reinforce this behavior by hoarding your good equipment. Try to take in your best gear on a regular basis. This will make you more effective when using it, but most importantly, you'll be accustomed to losing it. All of your gear is borrowed. Get the most utility out of it while you can, then pass it along to the next person. In the long run, overcoming your gear fear will enhance your progression and profitability. That Torrente in your inventory needs to go for a walk every so often. Get over losing quickly —The odds are stacked against you in ARC Raiders , so don't exaggerate losses. When you lose, try to learn from it and move on quickly. Dwelling on a loss distracts your focus from the things you can control, like doing better next raid. Never criticize your teammates —Literally, the whole world is against you in ARC Raiders . You're gonna lose at some point. Blaming anyone for a loss is a waste of time. Most people tend to be hard on themselves. Reminding people of their mistakes is destructive to teams and friendships. If you lose, say, "Good try," and move on. Accept that you will die, often — ARC Raiders is a hard game. You can do everything right and still lose. You'll be fighting lots of enemies, deadly ARC, and even your own incompetence at times. Don't sweat it if you don't extract a lot when starting out. The game is designed to be difficult and punishing. Focus on getting better, having fun, and as your skills develop, the wins will come. Enjoy this ride — ARC Raiders is potentially the best extraction shooter we will ever have. Play at your own pace and enjoy this game without worrying about stats or rankings. It's not a race, and rushing through the content will only frustrate you in the end. Savor this experience. This is a fun one. The real fun is the friends we made along the way. These tips should be enough to get you started in ARC Raiders, but ultimately how you play the game is entirely up to you. Don’t take anything here too seriously; it’s more important that you play in a way which is the most fun for you. Remember to check out the full length video version of this guide on YouTube. Good luck and I’ll see you on the other side, Raiders. ARC Raiders 2025 Track Name 00:00 / 31:45 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send 100 Starter Tips & Strats For ARC Raiders Everything you Need to get Past the Initial Learning Curve Guide

Articles from GameswithDeath Article Feature Guide Impressions News Opinion Review Oct 29, 2025 10 Days of ARC-Mas All the Details for Death's ARC Raiders Launch Streams Article 2 Mins by Death Oct 27, 2025 100 Starter Tips & Strats For ARC Raiders Everything you Need to get Past the Initial Learning Curve Guide 30 Mins by Death Oct 9, 2025 THE EXPEDITION PROJECT REVEALED Embark Finally Details their Voluntary Wipe System for ARC Raiders News 4 Mins by Death Sep 23, 2025 Embark Drops Huge ARC Raiders News Preorders are Finally Available and Server Slam Announced News 1 Min by Death May 26, 2025 It Just ****in’ Works ARC Raiders carries the hopes of a stunted and underestimated genre Impressions 7 Mins by Death Nov 29, 2024 Immersive Playthrough Details All the Mods and Details for Death's Immersive CP2077 Run Feature 2 Mins by Death Apr 14, 2025 Death's Anime Watchlist 死のアニメ視聴リスト (This is Japanese!) Article 2 Mins by Death May 24, 2025 A Welcome Return to Basics Death's Complete Review for Doom: The Dark Ages Review 9 Mins by Death Dec 23, 2024 Post Malone Enters the Bayou Murder Circus is a Different Kind of Collaboration Opinion 10 Mins by Death First Prev 1 Page 1 Next Last

Death's Article on ARC Raiders: 10 Days of ARC-Mas "All the Details for Death's ARC Raiders Launch Streams" Oct 29, 2025 2 Mins by Death Hello, Graveyard! Here's the plan for ARC Raiders launch week (and a half). Embark is opening the servers at 5:30 AM EST, so we'll be on at 4:30 AM EST to make sure we are ready to go. (Yes, 4:30 AM EST. Of course, I'll be up. How dare you suggest otherwise!) Death's 10 Days of ARC-Mas plan for the visually inclined. I'll be joined through out the week by some other amazing content creators and friends of the channel. Remember to check out the 100 Starter Tips & Strats guide on YouTube and here on the website, so you are prepared to go topside yourself. Also check out the short guides on TikTok , Instagram , and follow on all socials. Get some rest. This is going to be an amazing week! See you on the other side, Raider. ARC Raiders 2025 Track Name 00:00 / 01:04 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send 10 Days of ARC-Mas All the Details for Death's ARC Raiders Launch Streams Article

Everything about GameswithDeath Who is Death? Death, the Grim Reaper himself, (also known as @GameswithDeath on all platforms) is death incarnate. When not guiding souls to the afterlife, Death writes, edits, and streams, offering his unique, irreverent opinion on all things gaming. You can find Death (@GameswithDeath) on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, TikTok and this site, GameswithDeath.com. What kind of games does Death play? Death is mainly focused on extraction shooters like ARC Raiders, Hunt: Showdown, and Escape from Tarkov. He also enjoys other genres like ARPGs and Souls-likes. I like numbers. Okay. Death is in the Top 0.34% of all streams on Twitch. He also has +1.1M hours watched and +100 CCV average on Twitch. He has+5.0M views on TikTok and has a combined +100K followers across all platforms. Who has Death worked with? Death has done sponsored content for Techland, Crytek, Evasion, Next Studios, Sharkmob, and The Night Library. What else has Death done? Death created Monday Night Hunts and the Bayou Bowl , the largest and most prestigious esports competition for Hunt: Showdown . Death is partnered with Twitch and Crytek. Death has been honored in Hunt: Showdown with an official weapon skin, Death's Levy and helped design the Mountie hunter skin. He has also raised over +$6,500 for various charities. Why did Death take [INSERT DEAD CELEBRITY NAME HERE] from us? Death does NOT make the decision to take a soul. His job is to lead them to the afterlife. Certainly, [DEAD CELEBRITY] was a very special, unique, one-of-a-kind person. There was just no one who could stand-in or be a placeholder for [DEAD CELEBRITY]. They will be missed. Is Death, Grim from that Billy and Mandy show? No. Death is a completely original entity. He has no idea who those people are, but assumes that they are very nice. Stop asking about them. If I sub/support, do I get to live longer? Yes, you will live longer if you sub/support Death. You will live much longer. 100% guaranteed. If you die sooner than you would have, just ask for a refund. "Are there any questions?"

Death's Impressions on ARC Raiders: It Just ****in’ Works "ARC Raiders carries the hopes of a stunted and underestimated genre" May 26, 2025 7 Mins by Death Like most who played the recent Tech Test 2 for ARC Raiders (2025) in late April of this year, the weeks without raiding the surface of the Rust Belt have been painful. ARC Raiders was truly some of the most fun I have had playing a multiplayer shooter in years. Thankfully, Mrs. Death was away during the Tech Test. In all, the Tech Test lasted about 120 hours, and I managed to play just over half of that time, with roughly 62 hours in total. On my third day of streaming ARC Raiders (on twitch.tv/GameswithDeath , by the way. Feel free to drop a follow, appreciate it.) and after praising the game for the hundredth time, a viewer asked, “What do you like about this game so much?” I read the question and sat silent for no short amount of time; I was eventually forced to confess that I didn’t know how to answer their question. While I could blame a lack of sleep for my non-answer, I still had a hard time formulating a response, days later. ARC Raiders is an extremely fun game—it may be the most fun I have had playing a video game this decade, definitely this year—but why? What was it about this game that was hitting so right? After watching the now infamous IGN ARC Raiders Preview video , I’ve found my answer. For the unaware, a few weeks ago IGN released a preview of ARC Raiders that was, let’s say, not well received. Some commenters described it as a ‘hit piece’ paid for by Bungie, who has stumbled out of the gate with their new extraction shooter, Marathon (2025). Leaving aside conspiracy theories, the preview didn't fawn over ARC Raiders as the rest of the community had, calling it, “the most ‘it’s fine’ game we’ve played in a while.” While I disagree with the unnecessarily sarcastic tone used by Jared Petty, the author of the preview, he is correct; ARC Raiders is “…unabashedly tied to its progenitors” and isn’t doing anything new. Many of ARC Raiders' mechanics are similar to mechanics that have been utilized in extraction shooters and battle royales for years: complex inventory systems, progressive missions, and resource-generating hideouts are drawn straight from Escape from Tarkov (2017); the third-person gunplay harkens back to Fortnite (2018); the shield system and some of the movement mechanics are identical to Apex Legends (2019); and even the passive skill tree has some abilities that are the same in Hunt: Showdown (2018). Every location was incredibly beautiful and fully optimized. While it is valid to point out what ARC Raiders has in common with its influences, it's wrong to suggest that these similarities are simply unimaginative imitation. ARC Raiders doesn't shine because it is copying the best of what came before; it shines because it is doing all of these things well, all at once. Despite being around for almost a full decade now, the extraction shooter genre has yet to see its ‘killer app.’ Escape from Tarkov , Hunt: Showdown , and Dark and Darker (2024) are the genre’s most successful examples, but none of these have seen widespread adoption beyond a core fanbase. All of these games have also been plagued by problems ranging from shoddy development, rampant cheating, unreliable servers, poor quality-of-life, questionable UI design, IP disputes, horrible sound design, dubious marketing practices, and any number of bugs that have not been fixed in years. Like most things, ARC Raiders is better with friends. In contrast, my experience with ARC Raiders was nearly flawless. Forming a group was painless. I never had to worry about servers or ping, and loading into a match was nearly instant. In-game, the gunplay was gritty and intense; hit registration felt great; the sound design was incredible; directional audio was accurate; and the AI was unique and terrifying. The maps are massive and detailed, with elevations I have never seen in a multiplayer game before. My computer never dropped below 180 fps on maximum settings, even on the game’s largest map, Spaceport, which is larger than any Hunt map and Streets of Tarkov combined. ARC Raiders tweaks the mechanics it has borrowed to fit its own flow: Energy shields cut incoming damage, but are not an extra health bar. They lengthen the time-to-kill without turning foes into indestructible bullet sponges; portable zip lines let you create flanking paths up to the game's skyscraper-sized structures, so the level design can go far more vertical than most shooters. The visuals add to the satisfying combat. Not everything was perfect, of course; a selection wheel for equipment is cumbersome and unnecessary for PC, the inventory management needs more refinement, and there are balancing issues with weapons like the Torrente and Anvil. Yet, in my sixty hours of playtime, the game only crashed once, and I got stuck in some geometry for a minute or two. There will be issues as the game evolves, but overall, ARC Raiders was as technically perfect as any game I have ever played, and this was during a so-called ‘Tech Test.’ Until now, being involved in extraction shooters has meant putting aside reasonable demands for baseline quality and, I'll say it, your self-respect as a consumer. For nearly a decade, being a fan of this genre has felt like ordering the best cut of steak in a restaurant, only to be told that you have to eat it in the back alley, in the rain, next to a dumpster. Finally, there's a place that not only wants us to eat inside, but in the VIP section with some first-class service. I made friends with the first two players I encountered... the dude on the right didn't make it. Unlike those of us willing to debase ourselves, there is more than just the user experience hurdles one must overcome to get that sweet extraction shooter adrenaline rush. The casual shooter fan has innate dislike of the genre's format because it abandons the traditional power-fantasy formula, typical of franchises like Call of Duty and Halo . Instead of making the player feel like an unstoppable hero, they start them weak, make them work for every upgrade, and punish mistakes by taking those hard-earned rewards away. That constant fear of losing gear feels brutal—especially to players used to the instant gratification provided by traditional shooters. This is the reason why no extraction shooter has crossed into the mainstream, in spite of the compelling experiences they deliver. Even as more studios invest in the genre, it remains to be seen if a mainstream breakout will ever happen, but if it is ever going to, we need a flagship game that finally respects its players and has the polish to make it appealing. Performance issues on low-end hardware could kill the experience for many players. (Source: IGN ARC Raiders Preview, "ARC Raiders Is the Most ‘It’s Fine’ Game We’ve Played in a While") In fairness to Mr. Petty, his preview is useful, even important. It is clear that he doesn't play these types of games regularly. His gameplay experience on a rig struggling with Unreal 5, reflects what many casual players will face. Unlike cel-shaded, low-spec titles such as Overwatch (2016), Fortnite , and Marvel Rivals (2024), ARC Raiders demands real horsepower; seeing it through his hardware bottleneck and inexperience is a valuable reality check, not just for the developers, but for those of us who want to promote the genre beyond its current boundaries. I already know what genre die-hards, like myself, think; what matters is how the uninitiated casual audience, like Mr. Petty, will react once the game is fully released. Embark is targeting this audience, backing the game with full PS5 and Xbox support. The casual experience is something that the developers will need to get right if they want ARC Raiders, and the extraction shooter genre at large, to be fully realized. To finally answer the question about why this game is so good, I'll just say that ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter that may not be doing much new, except for the most fundamental thing any game should—it just works as fucking intended! It is the first game that finally has a real chance of realizing the genre’s promise, something I've been hoping for, for nearly a decade. I patiently await its release.💀 ARC Raiders 2025 Track Name 00:00 / 01:04 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send It Just ****in’ Works ARC Raiders carries the hopes of a stunted and underestimated genre Impressions

Death's News on ARC Raiders: THE EXPEDITION PROJECT REVEALED "Embark Finally Details their Voluntary Wipe System for ARC Raiders" Oct 9, 2025 4 Mins by Death Embark Studios has finally released details on their progression reset system for their upcoming third-person extraction shooter, ARC Raiders (2025). Progression resets, also known as ‘wipes,’ are a mechanic that originated in the lengthy beta development cycle for Escape from Tarkov (2025), the grandfather of all extraction shooters. In order to test new content, Tarkov’s developers forced their player base to reset their accounts and begin again with fresh characters. While progression resets are common in betas, wipes in Tarkov provided secondary benefits that have become key features of the genre. Progression in extraction shooters is different than other loot-focused shooters, like Destiny (2014). Persistent inventories, or stashes, allow players to accumulate a lot of powerful gear, if they put in the effort. As time passes, the player base inevitably becomes divided between hardcore players, who stomp servers with the best gear in the game, and casual players who sabotage themselves by going outside or having a social life. While wipes alleviate these issues, at least for a short time, communities remain divided on the benefits of wipes, especially, global wipes, in which players have no choice, but to lose their progression. Some players appreciate them because they equalize the playing field and everyone explores the new content from the same perspective. Others deride them because they force players to forfeit any gear advantages they managed to obtain, keeping them perpetually behind more dedicated players. The official teaser photo for building your own R2-D2... I mean The Expedition Project. Source: arcraiders.com/en/news/expedition-project/ Embark is seeking to avoid these pain points by introducing a voluntary reset system called the Expedition Project . Instead of instituting forced global wipes, Embark is giving players the option to reset their character’s progress for exclusive rewards, if certain conditions are met. Here’s how Expeditions will work: At level 20, players unlock a new feature called Projects. Projects are events which are only open for a specific time. The first major Project, the Expedition Project, runs for eight weeks. During this time, players complete the Project by contributing materials, such as Metal Parts, Steel Springs, etc. If a Project is unfinished when the time expires, all progress carries over. After finalizing the Expedition Project, your character resets and they lose all levels, skills, items, and crafting; they will keep any cosmetics, achievements, and previously purchased content. For convenience, you will skip any tutorials and onboarding after a reset. The timeline for the Expedition project. Looks like we are all getting fresh characters for Christmas this year. Source: arcraiders.com/en/news/expedition-project/ The first Expedition Project opens on launch day, October 30th, and closes on December 14th. Raiders then have five days to finalize their projects with completed caravans departing on December 21st. In order to entice players to participate, Embark is offering the following incentives: “Permanent account unlocks for each Expedition completed.” (It is unclear what these are at this time.) Exclusive cosmetics and cosmetic-based progression rewards. Account “buffs” that scale with repeated resets. (It is also unknown what these are at this time.) Sequential completions of the Expedition Project increase the magnitude of these buffs, up to a limit. Embark promises any “buffs” will not provide combat advantages, but instead will give quality of life (QoL) improvements, cosmetics, bragging rights, and smoother progression. Virgil, the design director for ARC Raiders, writes, “Completing a reset should never give a player a power or combat advantage over anyone who has not completed a reset.” Embark’s stated goals for the Expedition Project are to allow casual players to retain their progress without forced wipes and provide highly engaged players with a fresh replay experience with rewards that encourage their time investment. More projects are likely to be added with future updates. [You can read the official post on the Expedition Project on the ARC Raiders website .] Embark has provided a lot of detail on this new feature, but some big questions remain. What exactly are “permanent account unlocks?” What will the “buffs to be applied during the following expedition cycle” do? What does smoother progression mean for players who have reset? And how big is the time commitment required for completing the Expedition Project? The requirements for what could be many sub-systems for the Expedition Project. Three stages of construction for the Core System of The Expedition Project. Overall, this new approach to a somewhat divisive system looks promising. Embark is definitely trying to provide features the community is requesting. No doubt, there will be a lot of feedback as the Expedition Project is implemented and the game evolves. Some players, like myself, are looking forward to having a goal to work towards once the game is released. At the very least, Embark is demonstrating they are shifting their focus to the health of the game beyond its October 30th launch. ARC Raiders is shaping up to be a fully realized product with a healthy future ahead of it, something rarely seen in the extraction shooter genre. ARC Raiders 2025 Track Name 00:00 / 03:55 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send THE EXPEDITION PROJECT REVEALED Embark Finally Details their Voluntary Wipe System for ARC Raiders News

Death's Feature on Cyberpunk 2077: Immersive Playthrough Details "All the Mods and Details for Death's Immersive CP2077 Run" Nov 29, 2024 2 Mins by Death If you are like most gamers, you have a lot of games you have purchased but have yet to play. I read somewhere recently that roughly 30% of purchased games are never played. (I may be making this up, so don’t quote me on it.) As I have revealed in other writings on this site, I have hundreds of games in my Steam library that remain untouched. (I am fully aware that Steam sales are a problem. I am working on it.) The one game that I constantly promise myself that I will play but never get around to is Cyberpunk 2077 (CP 2077) . I don’t intend to rehash the details of CP 2077 ’s abysmal launch here. We all collectively experienced the justified outrage together long ago, and this game's horrible launch is probably the largest factor in why I have been hesitant to really sink my teeth into it. However, for reasons that I don’t really need (or want) to explain, I found myself with a sudden urge to ignore one dystopia in favor of another. Over the last month, I have put more than 200 hours into CP 2077 , and I just can’t put it down. I plan on going into more detail on why this game is so compelling in some later articles and videos. I will probably do a full-on review of the game, but for now, I will give you the TLDR and say that CP 2077 is one of the greatest RPGs I have ever played. There is so much to this game in terms of themes, writing, gameplay, etc., that I still have a lot more I want to experience before I start writing. There’s a huge mod scene that I am continuing to explore, and there are ARGs and mysteries that are ongoing… there’s a lot. So, instead of doing all of this behind the scenes, I am going to stream a modded version of the game with the intention of making it as immersive as I can. Some examples of how CP2077 can be made to look: Here is a full list of all the mods (both visual and gameplay) and the relevant settings I will be using. All of these mods are available on Nexus mods, with the exception of Dreampunk, which is available from NextGen Dreams on Patreon: Dreampunk 2.0 – A visual tone mapping mod that delivers photorealistic visuals. Dreampunk does have some limitations and issues. It can make brighter scenes look incredibly washed out and darker scenes way too dark. I am going to try to mitigate these issues by controlling the weather and keeping it raining most of the time. The mod makes the game look very realistic, but if it causes crashes or other issues, I will have to remove it. Weathermancer – A mod that allows me to set the in-game weather. Using this in conjunction with Dreampunk 2.0 to deliver the visuals. Always First Equip – A mod that randomly performs weapon inspection animations. Disable W-S Keys to Select Dialog Options – A mod that does what it says. Environment Textures Overhaul – ETO 1.1 2K – A mod that increases the details of in-game textures. I switched to Surfaces mod for 4K textures. Surfaces - Various 4K Texture Packs. I play with a 1440p monitor, so the 4K textures may be overkill, but if any issues arise, I will go back to ETO 2K. Fast Travel to Any Fast Travel Point – A mod that allows me to fast travel to any fast travel point from anywhere on the map. Improved Environmental LODs – A mod that loads in more detail at a distance for better visuals. Limited HUD – A mod that limits the appearance of HUD elements. I am limiting the appearance of HUD elements as much as possible. They will only appear when I use ocular zoom or in combat. Smarter Scrapper – A mod that automates scrapping weapons and equipment since the vanilla implementation of the inventory system is tedious. Advanced Control Mod 1.2.3 – An advanced mod that allows for movement controls like lean, scroll wheel speed adjustment, and more. Smooth Movement 1.1 – Tweak-XL Version – A mod that makes movement less jittery and allows for smoother control. The vanilla version of CP 2077 doesn’t do movement well; this fixes that. Unlock Me the Mods 2.1 – A mod that allows weapon mods to be removable. Not being able to move mods from one weapon to another is just annoying. Walk by Default 2.0 – A mod that readjusts the walking and jogging speeds in the game. Zoomable Scopes 1.4 – A mod that makes scopes zoomable because they are not for some reason. Simple Flashlight – A mod that gives V a flashlight to use because I get scared in the dark. Enable_Advert_Animations – A mod that animates all the billboard ads. Ragdoll Physics Overhaul 2.0 BETA - A mod that improves the physics of ragdoll effects. Better Vehicle First Person - A mod that improves player perspective while driving in first-person. Other Settings – No enemy indicators or health bars. No crosshairs. Driving is in first-person only. AHK script that lets me swap the first two weapons only because Hunt has ruined me. Playstyle Details – Very Hard difficulty, Male V, Net Runner build, smart/tech weapons, first-person driving only, save scumming at a minimum, and any % or whenever I feel like stopping. I will be streaming the run on twitch.tv/GamewithDeath until it is finished. Enjoy, Chooms. Cyberpunk 2077 2020 Track Name 00:00 / 01:04 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send Immersive Playthrough Details All the Mods and Details for Death's Immersive CP2077 Run Feature

Death's Article on : Death's Anime Watchlist "死のアニメ視聴リスト (This is Japanese!)" Apr 14, 2025 2 Mins by Death Until recently, Japanese anime existed only on the periphery of my entertainment world, with only very short excursions via a must-play video game or Studio Ghibli film. For the last two decades, I have engaged almost exclusively with only Western video games, comics, or movies. Anime and other media from Eastern sources have had little of my focus, despite their undeniable quality. Up until a few months ago, my literacy with anime was only enough for me to dodge an awkward conversation about Attack on Titan (2013) or Cowboy Bebop (1998) with someone who was really excited about it. Everything I knew about anime and manga was confined to the shallow education I received in the late 1990s and early 2000s, from anime like Akira (1988), Ghost in the Shell (1995), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), and manga like Dominion (1985), Appleseed (1985), and Battle Angel Alita (1990). Movies like Akira and Ghost in the Shell received my attention because of their adult subject matter, intricate plotlines, and striking visuals were just so diffrent from anything I was engaging with in the West. The dark ruminating subject matter fit my nihilistic Gen X world view, but it only got my attention when Western mainstream media got boring enough or The X-Files (1993) was out of season. This is not to say that there weren't opportunities to engage with anime. Among my friend group, a cohort of disenchanted, anti-establishment, SoCal punk rock fans who had no idea just how good they had it back then, it wasn’t uncommon to find anime DVDs alongside CD collections containing Nine Inch Nails , Bad Religion , NOFX , and Face to Face in our bedrooms and apartments. But beyond the few works above, I just never did. Any and all engagement I had with anime ended somewhere in the mid-2000s. During this time, anime’s advancement in the West was still being stifled by the 'aNiMaTioN iS fOr KiDs' stigma that has now mostly ebbed, thankfully. The only anime that really gained traction in the West were those actually aimed at kids like Sailor Moon (1992), Pokémon (1997), and Dragon Ball Z (1989); none of which appealed to me. As the last two decades or so passed, the situation drastically changed. I was sort of aware of anime’s growing influence during the 2010s by way of a lot more people in my orbit mentioning it, but I never fully comprehended how much it has absolutely taken over. With the exception of Japanese games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) or Dark Souls (2011), I have not engaged with entertainment from the East in any meaningful way at all. Until the pandemic, that was. During the COVID isolation, my entertainment consumption greatly increased. After exhausting the usual sources of Western media, I happened across Castlevania (2017). Castlevania is an American-produced animation series funded by Netflix and is based on the Japanese video game series of the same name. But since it is produced here in the West, you can't technically call it an anime. Castlevania 's art style was influenced by Ayami Kojima , the renowned artist of the Konami video game series. The thing that I found so compelling about Castlevania wasn't just its incredible art style, which I completely fell in love with, but I was facinated by the fact that this was an American animation product that was trying to be Japanese! Something had truly shifted in the world of entertainment and I had missed it. The Steady Rise in TV Anime Titles from 2000 to 2016, Peaking in Recent Years. [Note: There's a longer conversation that should be had about the implications of Japanese anime (and by extension Japanese culture) becoming mainstream in the West. The ascendance of Japanese cultural soft power as it has happened in the last ten years is incredibly interesting, but it is too broad a subject to discuss here. Another time, perhaps.] As the pandemic continued, I started watching more anime, this time directly from Japanese sources. I viewed Attack on Titan (2013), Cowboy Bebop (1998), and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022). In January 2025, I fully committed by purchasing a Crunchyroll subscription, giving me access to more anime than I could possibly watch in a lifetime. However, it seems I'm determined to try; since the start of 2025, the only streaming services I've used are Crunchyroll and the anime sections of Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max. While discussing my new anime obsession on stream with chat (you can view that VOD here ), we ended up creating a shared watchlist here . (It's also accessible via the main page menu bar under アニメ.) The watchlist is divided into four categories: reviewed, watched, on deck, and no interest. An anime is placed in the no interest list if it fails to capture my attention. I allow a series two episodes to make an impression. If it doesn't, that's the end of it. Sorry, not sorry. I am going to provide short reviews of all the anime that I have watched since the 1990s to now, which is surprisingly achievable since there are not a lot of them. I don't really have a goal for this project, but it should make for an interesting journey since I am really diving into a whole new world for the first time. I have also been inspired to learn Japanese from this as well... more on that later. Have your say or give me an additional watch recommendations in the comments below this article or come by twitch.tv/GameswithDeath to let me know what you think. Enjoy and see you on the other side.💀 N/A Track Name 00:00 / 01:04 Link Copied! Share Send Send Send Send Death's Anime Watchlist 死のアニメ視聴リスト (This is Japanese!) Article

Death's Opinion on Hunt: Showdown 1896: Post Malone Enters the Bayou "Murder Circus is a Different Kind of Collaboration" Dec 23, 2024 10 Mins by Death Hunt: Showdown 1896 (2018) has had a remarkable year, with 2024 standing out as one of the most pivotal in its history. Following the ambitious 2.0 relaunch this summer, the six-year-old live service game experienced its fair share of highs and lows. While persistent UI and technical issues dampened what was otherwise a well-received relaunch, Crytek continued to produce an impressive amount of new content for its flagship title. For Hunt's fourth and final event of the year, patch 2.2, the developers have delivered an update that lives up to its hype, both in scale and notoriety. If you haven’t been extract camping at Scupper Lake for the past year, then you are probably aware that this event is a collaboration between Crytek and music megastar Post Malone, aptly dubbed Post Malone’s Murder Circus . The event features a colorful turn-of-the-century traveling circus, complete with fortune-telling machines, and creepy clowns, inspired by Post’s interesting style. This collaboration marks only the second time that Crytek has partnered with an IP outside Hunt ’s homegrown universe, the first being the inclusion of Ghostface as a Hunter DLC in October of 2024. Ghostface's inclusion in Hunt sparked debate within the community about what does and does not “fit” within the game's universe, with some fans lamenting that Hunt had entered its “Fortnite arc,” claiming that Crytek's original hardcore, gritty vision was gone forever. The addition of Ghostface highlighted the risks of branding deals between video games and outside IPs. Cross-brand collaborations in gaming have a checkered history, often resulting in cringe-worthy partnerships that embarrass everyone involved. Difficulties most frequently occur when the celebrity’s enthusiasm for the game is oversold to the fan base. While Keanu Reeves gave a stellar performance as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), CD Project Red compounded the game’s disastrous launch by insisting that Reeves loved playing the game, only for the star to come out later and deny the studio’s assertion. Will Smith’s endorsement of the zombie survival mobile game Undawn (2023) resulted in derision for him and the game’s developers. After the game’s release, it became apparent that he was only interested in a quick pay cheque, and his involvement was mostly due to his past films like I am Legend (2007). Celebrity collaborations with video games often leads to mixed results. Gamers are notorious for being extremely sophisticated consumers and are more likely to react negatively to marketing campaigns that rely on fluff rather than concrete details about a game’s features and innovations. It follows then that Hunt fans would have questions about how genuine Post Malone’s involvement is and what this adds to their experience. While most of the initial reception for the collaboration has been good, there are some that see Post as just another celebrity tourist looking for name recognition and promotional revenue. But, considering everything known about this collaboration, Post Malone’s Murder Circus may actually be more organic to Hunt than any previous event to date. The details of how this partnership was finalized will probably never be revealed, but its genesis definitely began months ago on Hunt ’s servers. Early in 2024, Post was spotted playing Hunt with Khalamity, a Crytek Partner and Twitch streamer who has been playing the game since early access. In a summary video [1] posted to Khalamity’s YouTube channel, he and Post play several matches together, with Khalamity lending his experience as Post learns the game. During the session, the duo secured several victories, with a few key clutch moments from Khalamity and some juicy headshots from Post himself. They would play again a few more times in the following weeks. While playing with a Twitch streamer is not evidence in itself of an authentic affection for the game, Post’s stated passion for Hunt is supported by the amount of time he has accumulated. In a recent interview with Hunt ’s Game Director, Scott Lussier, [2] Post states he was introduced to the game by his friend and revealed that he has over 400 hours in Hunt . Given the intensity of his touring schedule and other demands, 400 hours is a massive amount of time. Throughout the rest of the interview, Post adlibs responses to questions about the game, displaying an intimate knowledge of its mechanics that could only come from lived experience. When questioned about his skill level, Post states that he has never achieved a six-star ranking and then wisely dismisses K/D as a reliable statistic for assessing skill in Hunt . Post explains, “There’s two ways to play. You either play the game, or you can sit in a bush and have a high K/D.” The most undeniably relatable moment of the interview came when Scott asked, “What is the worst way to lose a hunter?” and Post quipped back without hesitation, “Disconnecting.” Crytek also released a video [3] of Post reacting to the contents of the battle pass for the Murder Circus event. Putting aside the incentives for Crytek to frame his reactions in the most positive way possible, Post’s feedback in this video is not a result of creative editing. His reactions display genuine wonder, the same that any gamer would display when seeing cool stuff in a video game they love, especially when it is inspired in their honor. The look on Post’s face is more akin to a kid opening a Super Nintendo on Christmas morning, than it is a celebrity cynically playing it up for the cameras. Post's reactions to the event's battle pass were that of a fan, not a compensated endorser. Post’s passion for Hunt isn’t surprising, given that he is a well-known gamer with myriad interests. He is a huge fan of Magic: the Gathering and in 2023, purchased the ‘One Ring’ card from Magic ’s Lord of the Rings set for a reported $2 Million. [4] He also has his own series of cards in MTG itself. [5] Post even credits gaming for influencing his music career. In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview, Post stated that he was inspired to play guitar because of the video game Guitar Hero (2005). [6] Gamers are right to call out collaborations that are nothing more than paper-thin attempts to capitalize on brands whose connections are tenuous at best and exploitative at worst. However, in the case of Post Malone and Hunt , anyone accusing him of being a tourist clearly has not been paying attention. As an event, Post Malone’s Murder Circus works to a surprising degree in terms of style and theme. Post, a fan of tattoos and body modification, visually belongs more in Hunt ’s 19th-century zombie apocalypse than here in the 21st Century. His music, which swings from light and hopeful to gritty and dark, has enough range that it does not feel too out of place in Hunt ’s aesthetic. (Maybe there’s a Hunt -inspired song coming in the future, who knows.) The choice of casting Post as the ringmaster of a circus is fitting, given his performance career. It also provides Crytek the opportunity to explore the themes of traveling circuses, which were a popular form of entertainment in rural areas of the U.S. during the era. The theme works so well that if Post’s name was taken off the event there are probably very few players who would think something was out of place. Crytek's transition of Post into the game did require much modification. Overall, Post Malone’s Murder Circus isn’t the typical Video Game/Insert Celibrity Name Here collaboration that gamers are so used to seeing. Like in his music career, Post possesses a unique talent to fit a variety of genres while still maintaining his authenticity. His love of the game itself, coupled with just how easily he fits into Hunt’s universe, makes this event less a collaboration than it is a homecoming, one that the community can fully embrace without feeling pandered to. Post Malone’s Murder Circus is a fun event that originated from the most Hunt place it could, a fellow hunter, who just happens to be Post Malone. Patch 2.2 is available now, and the event runs until February 10th, 2025. See you on the other side. References: [1] Khalamity, Apr 22, 2024, I was carried by Post Malone in Hunt: Showdown , https://youtu.be/kxr88ueBvGE?si=qx_uhmxIJ3ZT7-2M [2] Hunt: Showdown, 20 Nov 2024, Q&A with Post Malone , https://youtu.be/CywILj8E8rM?si=nrJvFL9dhrCApihX [3] Hunt: Showdown, 9 Dec 2024, Post Malone Reacts to Battle Pass , https://youtu.be/C8QtvOcVey8?si=yi8lbykZpc512YC9 [4] Kain, Erik, 3 Aug 2023, Post Malone Just Bought The Most Expensive ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Card Of All Time , https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/08/03/post-malone-bought-the-one-ring-magic-the-gathering-card-for-a-cool-2-million/ [5] Wizards of the Coast, Accessed 22 Dec 2024, Secret Lair x Post Malone: Backstage Pass , https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/en/product/772015/secret-lair-x-post-malone-backstage-pass [6] Weiner, Jonah, 17 Nov 2024, Post Malone: Confessions of a Hip-Hop Rock Star , https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/post-malone-confessions-of-a-hip-hop-rock-star-116218/ Hunt: Showdown 1896 2018 Track Name 00:00 / 01:04 Link Copied! 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