ARC Raiders has been out for quite some time now, but that doesn’t mean that those pesky Arcs are any less deadly. Many players still find themselves struggling against even basic enemies like Wasps, as their damage can actually be quite surprising, and even a few seconds in the line of fire can be enough to take down even veteran Raiders. However, there are some behaviors that can very easily be exploited, allowing players the opportunity to gun down those flying foes or take advantage of a small window on a larger one.
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Some tricks are pretty obvious and just require a slight playstyle shift, while others are a bit more obscure, requiring some extensive game knowledge to fully make use of. Whatever the case, it is important to use any trick in the book, as not only can taking out an Arc net players some valuable resources, but knowing how to approach each fight can be the difference between death and a successful extraction.
Flyers Struggle Indoors
Colliding With Walls And Anything Else Nearby
Details:
- Can be easily killed by kiting them through doors and small openings
- Flyswatter allows a single melee hit to kill hornets and wasps
Hornets and Wasps can be some of the more annoying Arcs that players face during a raid. They are incredibly quick, hard to hit, and can pack a bunch if underestimated. In general, they can be pretty easy to take out with some well-placed shots to the thrusters, but there is actually a way easier way of dealing with them that doesn’t require firing a single bullet.
The Flyswatter skill allows players to take them out with a single melee hit, and while this is easier said than done due to the enemies flying around, luring them into a building can be a great way of dismantling them before things get too dicey. Also, the flyers have a tendency to collide with doorways or other structures, as in a lot of cases, they will struggle to find a clear path to the player without running into an object or two. Players can easily make use of this behavior both for dodging and attacking, as despite being pretty intelligent, the Arc still can’t figure out how to keep themselves steady at times.
Wind-Up Attacks
Time To Target The Thrusters
Details:
- Long stationary period during wind-up
- Cooldown to allow for repositioning
Something that a lot of Arcs have in common is a similar wind-up pattern, where they first scan for a target, aim in, and prepare to fire. Hornets, Wasps, Sentinels, and more all follow this same approach, but the actual time taken for the first shot to fire can actually be quite long in a lot of situations, especially if the enemy is far away, which gives players the chance to lay down some fire well before the Arc has begun its assault.
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More importantly, though, when enemies like Hornets are preparing this attack, they are almost always perfectly still, which makes taking out those thrusters even easier. A good habit of getting into is aggroing an enemy and watching as they ready their weapon, strategically positioning near cover in case the player needs to dodge, and just before they start the wind-up, shooting their weak spots and watching the bot explode into a cloud of smoke.
Aggro Swapping
Using Teammates Well
Details:
- Using teammates to target weak spots from behind
- Forcing the Arc to miss shots by constantly swapping
One specific enemy behavior that is specific to fighting larger ground-based Arcs is the rate at which the enemies are able to target players. Once an Arc has been shot at, it will turn its attention in whatever direction the bullets came from, but it won’t immediately start shooting as it has to lock onto a target first before any damage can actually be dealt.
This small window is a great chance for players to work together and target the weakspots from behind, as the Arc will only focus its attention on that first instance of damage and then rotate to the next one afterwards. One player can poke their head out and get it to rotate, while the other unloads into the Arc. Repeating this a couple of times can remove almost all of the challenge, whilst also helping players save their grenades and bullets for the next one.
Rotations
Abusing The Slow Turns
Details:
- Turrets’ rotation can be heavily abused
- Targeting Arcs from behind up close with no danger
Many enemies in ARC Raiders function very much like a gun on a swivel. Bastions turn their heads to meet players, Sentinels will rotate to target those behind it, and in general, basically every other Arc will turn its attention to whatever direction it is being targeted from. But the turret enemies themselves are even more exploitable, as because they cannot physically move, their vision is significantly limited and they can only turn to face enemies at a certain rate.
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Certain Sentinel locations that are placed on the ground can actually be taken out with melee weapons alone, so long as the player continues to spin around it over and over until it is dead. Other larger ones, like Bastions, can also be kited around in 360-degree motions, letting players dish out damage at the same time as avoiding the lumbering robot’s line of fire, purely because the Arc just simply cannot keep up with the player’s movements.
Weak Points Between Attacks
Patience Is A Virtue
Details:
- Weak points are often obscured while firing
- Downtime gives players the opportunity to deal serious damage
Weak points are one of the most important pieces of information that players need to know in the game. Every Arc has a specific spot that can be targeted for bonus damage, regardless of whether the player is using heavy penetrating weapons or not, and these spots can often be quite tricky to target, particularly on fast-moving or flying enemies.
But some Arcs actually give players a chance to target these spots after attacking, like Hornets, where their thrusters become more exposed after firing off stun, and even the Queen, where players can make use of its slower time to recover in order to target the joints on its legs or body. In general, the Arc almost always pause between movements and attacks, and they will even position themselves in a way that reveals the weaker segments of their body, so players should study how they move around closely in order to benefit from these small windows.
