Rory Norris, Guides Writer

(Image credit: Future)

Last week I was: teaming up with players in Arc Raiders, and blasting the mean ones.

This week I’ve been: clearing out my stash and filling it up just as quickly by engaging in more PvP.

I’ve praised Arc Raiders a lot since launch, perhaps above all else because it’s finally an extraction shooter that’s forgiving and welcoming for a wider audience, even as a fan of the genre’s traditionally hardcore roots. However, there’s a degree to which Arc Raiders’ obsession with a fair playing field is its own worst enemy, and it unfortunately strikes deep into its core: the gear system just isn’t all that exciting.

The confusion I’ve seen from people wondering what they’re supposed to do after they’ve unlocked everything and completed all the quests should have an easy answer: get better loot, kill things, eventually lose it, and do it all over again. But high-end loot isn’t a satisfying and rewarding chase.

Firstly, the abundance and strength of free loadouts mean there are a lot of players risking literally nothing in PvP match after match, while those bringing in gear have a high chance of losing it all. On the flip side, there’s also no reward to killing a player who’s using a free loadout because…they don’t really have any loot worth taking. You see this a lot with people on the sidelines when fighting elite Arc like the Matriarch, waiting to backstab those who actually came prepared.

But this isn’t the root of the issue; it’s merely a consequence of it. What’s really letting the loot system down is that higher-quality weapons aren’t actually all that much better than their common counterparts, so why bother?

Player interactions (whether friendly or hostile) are the true heart and soul of the game, but it’s still an extraction shooter, and to be a good extraction shooter, loot needs to matter.

When it comes to the best guns in Arc Raiders, you’ll hear the Stitcher, Anvil, Venator, and Hullcracker mentioned every time. Of these, the Stitcher is effectively free, and the Anvil and Venator are easy enough to craft, buy, and repair. The Hullcracker is an epic so it’s the only one that’s even remotely hard to come by and maintain, and it’s only useful against Arc machines, not players. That said, you can buy one regularly from Tian Wen.

Why is it that I’d almost always rather take an Anvil, Stitcher, Venator, or Ferro compared to higher-rarity, more expensive options like an Osprey, Bettina, Tempest, or Bobcat. In cases where these options are better, it’s only marginally and not worth the effort put into obtaining them and the psychological damage of losing them.

And then there’s the legendaries, the most disappointing of them all. Presumably to stop players with legendary weapons from wiping the servers, these top-tier guns are basically only upgrades when fighting Arc machines. They’re niche.

It’s an interesting approach, having the most prestigious weapons angled specifically at PvE, but it also means the power of these items doesn’t match their rarity and the effort put into earning them. I’ll only ever pull one out of the stash if I know I’m planning on taking down an elite Arc, and even then, I’d need to bring a secondary weapon for PvP.

Even the new Aphelion legendary battle rifle, while powerful, isn’t strong enough to make me want to take down the Matriarch to get it compared to just using a Stitcher, Anvil, or Venator on repeat.

Arc Raiders has proven that player interactions (whether friendly or hostile) are the true heart and soul of the game, but it’s still an extraction shooter, and to be a good extraction shooter, loot needs to matter.

I think it’s only a matter of time, perhaps after the first Expedition cycle, until players truly feel the loot system has fallen short, when they’ve either completed all the quests and upgrades or simply had enough of it and are more focused on climbing the loot ladder.

My hope is that epics get a slight buff to their overall lethality and durability to give them a tangible edge over their lower-rarity counterparts, just enough to encourage players to search them out and use them in the field—I’m not asking for power creep. A map or mode with a barrier to entry, such as a kit worth over a certain amount in value, could also help avoid power creep against fresh raiders.

Add on to that more legendaries in the future that are aimed specifically at PvP, and Arc Raiders can still straddle the fine line between casual shenanigans and intense extraction shooting.

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