ARC Raiders PvP Guide

Welcome, Raiders. Some of you may like it, while others dislike it,  but PvP is a part of this extraction shooter experience. Whatever your feelings regarding this aspect of the game, this ARC Raiders PvP guide aims to help you get better at fighting other players. We’ll cover things like best PvP weapons, tactics, skills, and strategies for different encounter types, and much more. Of course, nothing beats experience, but knowing things in advance also helps, so if you do wish to get better at PvP, keep reading.

If you want better gear for your PvP loadout, you can buy ARC Raiders Blueprints at Skycoach. Just click the link and pick ANY blueprint in the game, which will be delivered to you by our professional gamers. It's 100% safe, legal, and fast. Create the loadout of your dream with Skycoach.

Read our other ARC Raiders guides:

• Spaceport Map Guide
• Workshop Upgrade Guide
• Trials Guide
• Matriarch Boss Guide
• Blueprints Farming Guide
• Stell Montis Map Guide
• Harvester Guide

 

 

ARC Raiders Best PvP Weapons

In this section, I’m going to go over most, if not all, weapons and rank them in terms of their usefulness in PvP. You might not agree with this because you have personal preferences or aren’t used to some of the guns, but that’s fine. This ranking of the ARC Raiders best PvP weapons is based on my personal experience with them, and it’s not much different from what you’ll see in other tier lists on YouTube and other websites. Let’s start with Assault Rifles:

1. Bettina - even after nerfing its rate of fire in the latest patch, here you have a fully-automatic AR that uses heavy ammo. Do I need to say more? It’s like a fully-automatic Ferro. And yes, the per-shot damage is lower, but the DPS is much higher than Ferro's. The only problem with it is that it's kind of difficult to craft. First of all, you need a blueprint for it. Secondly, it’s not exactly cheap to make either. This means that if you lose it, you’re likely going to be slightly bummed out.
2. Tempest - Fully automatic version of Arpeggio. Both are using medium ammo, so it deals great damage, especially since most players are still using Light Shields. But, just like Bettina can be difficult to get your hands on. But once you do, you’re going to own in PvP, even if you’re kind of bad with worse weapons. The advantage it gives you is just too big.
3. Arpeggio - easy enough to find a blueprint and craft, but only shoots in 3-round bursts. Still an upgrade compared to the Rattler. If you teach yourself to use it, it’ll be great to use at any distance.
4. Rattler - the easiest gun to craft, part of free loadouts, uses medium ammo, and has full-auto. All of these make it a good gun in PvP with decent DPS until you run out of ammo and have to reload, which it does one round at a time. I would say it’s a good PvP weapon when you need to practice PvP. Again, the damage it deals is enough to down a player in one magazine, and it will teach you positioning and patience when you need to reload.
5. Kettle - some say it’s good, and I can see the appeal - semi-auto fire mode is easy to control and land shots with. But light ammo and a long reload make it lose to Stitcher, which is an SMG by the way.

It is no surprise that the most expensive weapons in terms of crafting are also the best at what they do, but what did you expect? Most of the time, when it comes to ARs, I stick to the Rattler and Arpeggio, which are both amazing, especially if you upgrade them and add some attachments. BLOG20

Sub-Machine Guns

1. Bobcat - technically, Bobcat is just a better version of the Stitcher. It has a faster rate of fire and zero recoil. So, if you can craft those, use them. In close quarters, on maps like Stella Montis, this thing is going to shred players, and you will likely not need to even reload this thing.
2. Stitcher - while it takes the second place, this one takes my cake for how easy it is to craft one and upgrade it to level 4, then kit it out with simple attachments to turn this thing into a killing machine on Stella Montis. It’s cheap, full-auto, low recoil, and fast rate of fire - everything you want in a gun when enemies are close.

The next category is for shotguns. Just like SMGs, they’re great at close-distance combat (and also clearing annoying small ARC enemies). It’s hard to rank shotguns just as much as it was difficult ranking SMGs; there are only two of them, one is easy to craft, and the other one is better but more expensive. So, neither is much better nor worse than the other.

1. Vulcano - a semi-auto shotgun with a magazine reload makes it so nice to use, especially if you’re panicking when enemies get too close. Vulcano has much higher DPS compared to Il Toro just because of how it works.
2. Il Toro - your go-to option for close-range combat. It’s a classic pump-action shotgun. You already know how to use it and what it does. Can two-shot down a player with Light Shield, and you don’t even have to press a button to aim.

As far as ARC Raiders PvP weapon ranking goes, pistols are the most diverse category in terms of what those weapons can do and how they’re used, so let’s get started.

1. Anvil - the heavy ammo handcannon is seen by many as a replacement to Ferro and no wonder - the same amount of damage per shot but 2.5x higher DPS makes it an easy pick. If you upgrade it to level 4, the DPS goes even higher thanks to the increased rate of fire. You still have to land your shots, though, so it takes skill. But as far as pistols go, Anvil is top-tier.
2. Venator - a recently nerfed-to-hell meta gun, a pistol that was never supposed to be so OP in the first place. It uses medium ammo and shoots two bullets at a time. It’s DPS is higher than that of Anvil, which is absolutely insane. It’s kind of hard to get and craft one, and it still takes skill to land shots. Besides, it regularly gets nerfed, so only the second place for the best pistols in PvP.
3. Burletta - this is your typical run-of-the-mill pistol. Some people use it, but it’s not very good in PvP, since it uses light ammo and is semi-automatic. Most prefer Stitcher to it, and so should you.
4. Hairpin - useless in PvP, but can be useful in dealing with ticks, cameras, and other security devices that will give out your position and get in the way during PvP. This is still not enough to justify Hairpin occupying one of two weapon slots.

Battle rifles are made for medium-long range combat, so they can be kind of difficult to use on small maps like Stella Montis or Buried City. Still, every map always has places where long-range combat is the only combat you’re going to be in.

1. Ferro - the best starter weapon that deals lots of damage. This is as close as you’re going to get to a sniper rifle in this category. It is quirky, but is used by new players (for lack of a better choice) and pro players (who know how to use it). It’s best to get used to using it, because it can do virtually anything until your enemies get in your face.
2. Renegade - the badass Renegade is a breath of fresh air after Ferro, with its almost infinitely slow rate of fire. Even though it’s a lever-action rifle, most players find it super easy to use. It has much higher DPS compared to ARs like Tempest and Arpeggio, even though they all use medium Ammo. A weapon of the gods in the right hands.
3. Aphelion - good luck getting that gun. Added in the recent patch, almost no one has it. But for those wondering, it’s a legendary, energy battle rifle that shoots two energy beams at the same time. In theory, it will shred players’ shields and their health bar. But I doubt anyone would dare bring it to a PvP fight.

There’s only one light machine gun in the game, and that’s Torrente. If you want, you can place it somewhere between the Tempest and Arpeggio in the AR category. It is not a bad choice for PvP by any means, especially in close-range encounters. But since it's kind of difficult to find a blueprint for and then craft, it's not something anyone can afford to lose so easily. One thing is for sure - with Torrente, you have a chance to win a 1v3 fight.

As for Sniper Rifles:

1. Osprey - the only true sniper rifle with a proper optical scope that, unfortunately, uses medium damage but deals more damage per shot than Ferro. Weird, but it is what it is. Perfect for any of you sharpshooters out there on big maps - Blue Gate, Spaceport, and  Dam. Haven’t seen these used in Buried City and Stella Montis for obvious reasons.
2. Jupiter - just like the recently added Aphelion, this isn’t a gun you see often used in PvP or at all, for that matter, simply because it’s a hell to find a blueprint for and actually craft it.

The same goes for other boss weapons and legendary guns like Equalizer and Hullcracker. The last one isn’t even made to deal any damage to players at all, while Equalizer is a mini-gun, which, in theory, should be able to shred players, but once again, literally no one is using it.

ARC Raiders Best PvP Gear

As a continuation of the previous section, I went ahead and ranked other gear that can be useful in PvP. The way the game is done is - the more difficult something is to get, the better it is in most cases. With that said, here’s my list of the best augments for PvP in ARC Raiders:

1. Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive)
   This is the ARC Raiders best augment for PvP. It’s expensive, but it gives you everything that matters in PvP: strong shield support, extra grenade capacity, high survivability, and passive health regen. The backpack space and Quick Use slots are enough for any PvP loadout. The drawback is cost, which makes losing it painful, but the PvP advantage is too big to ignore. This is the best all-around PvP augment in the game.
2. Combat Mk. 3 (Flanking)
   This one is the perfect augment for aggressive SMG, pistol, and shotgun users. It gives more Quick Use slots, more backpack space, extra utility slots, and faster weapon equip speed for pistols and hand cannons. That boost alone makes Anvil and Venator much stronger finishers. It is still expensive, but not as terrifying to lose as the Aggressive version because it’s used by lighter, faster builds.
3. Tactical Mk. 3 (Defensive)
   Pure PvP value thanks to being able to use Shield Rechargers while running. This changes time-to-kill and lets you survive fights other players would die in. It has good Quick Use slots, strong mobility, and enough backpack room for a normal PvP kit. Crafting cost is high, but this augment easily pays for itself in trios or long fights.
4. Tactical Mk. 2
   A cheaper, more accessible version of the Tactical tree that still gives real PvP benefits. It unlocks utility slots, gives solid Quick Use slots, and drops smoke on shield break, which can save you in close fights. It’s far less painful to lose than Mk. 3 versions, making it one of the best practical augments for budget PvP players.
5. Combat Mk. 2
   A great mid-tier PvP pick. It has passive health regen, decent Quick Use space, a utility slot, and supports stronger shields than looting augments. It is cheap enough to bring into PvP almost every run and strong enough to make a difference, especially for AR and DMR players who don’t need massive utility setups.
6. Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing)
   A niche augment for players who rely on constant healing, especially in duos and trios. It has fewer Quick Use slots than Defensive, but the revive cloud and healing slot boost make it good for long fights and backline players. It is expensive and less universally useful, so it lands here.
7. Looting Mk. 3 (Cautious)
   Surprisingly strong for PvP because of the auto-adrenaline on shield break and five Quick Use slots. It’s not a combat augment and doesn’t enhance shields as much, but the adrenaline effect can save bad fights and is extremely valuable for solo ambushers and aggressive players. Cheaper than most Mk. 3 combat augments, so losing it doesn’t sting as much.
8. Combat Mk. 1
   A starter-friendly augment that supports stronger shields and has enough Quick Use slots for basic PvP. Not ideal, but better than most lower-tier Tactical or Looting options. Cheap and easy to replace, which makes it a comfortable practice augment.
9. Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor)
   More of a PvE augment, but the huge backpack space and weight limit can help if you like carrying extra ammo, consumables, or traps. It offers some survivability perks but nothing that beats the combat or tactical augments above it.
10. Tactical Mk. 1
    Basic tactical slots and nothing special. Useful for people who want more consumables or grenades early on, but it has limited survivability and low weight capacity, making it weaker for PvP mid- to late-game.
11. Looting Mk. 2
    Great for PvE looting and utility thanks to trinket slots, but offers almost no real PvP survivability. You can use it in PvP if you care more about loot than fighting, but it’s outclassed by anything in the Combat or Tactical trees.
12. Looting Mk. 1
    Only for beginners or players who refuse to use combat augments. It provides enough capacity for early-game looting but offers nothing for actual PvP survivability.
13. Free Loadout Augment - the best option to get experience in PvP and some loot if you win, without the risk of losing your own stuff.

After picking your augment, the next thing that matters is your shield. Shields in ARC Raiders do not block all incoming damage until they break. They only reduce damage by a percentage, which means your health is always taking chip damage. Because of that, the ARC Raiders best shields are not the ones with the highest numbers. Instead, the best shield in PvP is the one you can reliably craft, recharge mid-fight, and not feel terrible losing. This also connects to how fast different shield rechargers work. A Light Shield can be refilled in one quick use, while Medium and Heavy shields require more time or more items. Keep that in mind when reading the ranking below.

1. Medium Shield
   This is the best PvP shield overall because it hits the perfect balance between survivability, mobility, recharge speed, and crafting cost. It has enough shield charge to survive Bettina, Tempest, and Bobcat bursts, but doesn’t slow you down nearly as much as the Heavy Shield. It also works perfectly with common rechargers, only requiring two quick-use recharges or a single surge shield charge. Most importantly, it’s affordable enough that losing it doesn’t ruin your day, and anyone with a decent augment can equip it. Medium Shield is the practical PvP standard across all skill levels.
2. Light Shield
   This is the best PvP shield for new players, budget loadouts, solo ambushers, and aggressive SMG/shotgun builds. It fully recharges with a single shield recharger, which is huge in close-range fights, and it maintains full movement speed with no slow penalty. While it has low capacity and the worst damage mitigation of the three, these drawbacks don’t matter if you play fast and rely on quick heals and stims. More importantly, Light Shields are cheap, easy to craft, and safe to bring into any PvP run without worrying about the cost. For many players, especially on small maps, Light Shield is the most realistic option.
3. Heavy Shield
   On paper, this looks like the best defensive shield: highest mitigation, highest capacity, and huge durability. In practice, the movement speed reduction and crafting price make it the least used shield in PvP. It also takes too long to recharge unless you bring expensive surge reloaders, and losing one is painful. Heavy Shields have a place in coordinated trio fights on long-range maps, but outside those situations, they slow the player down just enough to make them easy targets. Because PvP in ARC Raiders is fast and often involves repositioning, Heavy Shield falls to the bottom of the ranking despite having the strongest numbers on paper.

Before ranking grenades and gadgets, we have to start with the restorative items because these directly decide whether you win a second fight after the first one. ARC Raiders PvP almost always involves back-to-back engagements, so anything that heals you fast enough to fight again is automatically worth more than slower or expensive heals. Heal-over-time items are common early on, but they lose value fast once you learn proper cover usage and fight reset timing. With all that in mind, here is the ranking of restorative Quick-Use items for PvP.

1. Vita Shot
   This is the strongest raw heal for PvP because it restores 50 HP in one burst, giving you a full fight reset in a single use. You can combine it with stims or medium shield rechargers to re-enter fights almost instantly. The use time is long, but it is still the fastest way to “get back to 100” in ARC Raiders if you have 2–3 seconds of safety. Expensive, but worth it for its reliability.
2. Shield Recharger
   Best shield-restoring item for any shield except Heavy. Light Shield: full restore. Medium Shield: half restore. The job is simple, the use time is short, and it lets you instantly return to the fight. ARC PvP strongly favors players who can quickly refill their shield after a duel, and this is the most efficient item for that purpose. Cheap, reliable, and mandatory on every loadout.
3. Herbal Bandage
   This is the most balanced early- and mid-game healing item. Heals 35 HP over 10 seconds, has a fast use time, and stacks extremely well with Light Shield resets. It costs almost nothing, is easy to craft, and does enough healing to save you in close-range ambushes when used behind cover. For players who don’t want to risk expensive heals, this is the best value healer in PvP.
4. Sterilized Bandage
   This is a “premium Herbal Bandage.” Heals 50 HP over time with the same fast use animation. It’s expensive and not something you want to lose often, but it gives nearly the same total healing as Vita Shot in a safer, staggered form that can be used mid-fight. On big maps or trios, it becomes extremely valuable. Ranked below Vita Shot due to cost.
5. Surge Shield Recharger
   This item fully restores a Medium Shield and partially restores a Heavy one, but the long use time makes it risky in active fights. It’s best used in trios after your team wipes one squad and expects another to push. Cost is medium, usefulness is situational, and the long animation keeps it from being a top-tier PvP item. Still, it’s the only realistic way to fully restore a Medium Shield with one item.
6. Bandage
   The cheap beginner option that still has real PvP value early on. Heals 20 HP over time with a fast use animation. You can stack multiple for quick recoveries, but the total healing is too low once players start using Tempest, Bettina, or Renegade. Still decent if you have nothing better, especially in early or budget loadouts.
7. Vita Spray
   Insanely strong healing throughput (10 HP per second), but the cost is absurd for PvP and the channeling requirement makes it nearly impossible to use in real engagements. Only viable in long-range fights or if your team holds a strong defensive building. Too expensive and too hard to use to rank higher.
8. Defibrillator
   Useful in trios, but irrelevant in solos. Revives teammates fast but provides almost no healing advantage outside revives. If you're playing 3-man PvP this can be worth carrying, but as a restorative item it provides the least combat advantage. Ranked low because it heals only after you’re downed, not during active PvP.

Now, let’s talk about the ‘nades. Grenades isn’t something you can afford to bring on every raid, but if we’re talking about a complete loadout, you have to know which ‘nades are better. Hence, this list of the ARC Raiders best grenades:

1. Heavy Fuze Grenade
   This is easily the strongest grenade for real PvP. It deals high damage, has a large blast radius, and works in every scenario where you need to push a player behind cover or force them out of a building. It’s reliable, fast enough to punish, and cheap enough to craft consistently.
2. Shrapnel Grenade
   A cheaper alternative that still does enough damage to break shields or finish low-health enemies. The explosion timing feels natural, and the radius is good enough for indoor fights. A very strong choice when Heavy Fuze Grenades are too expensive.
3. Blaze Grenade
   Even though the damage over time is low, the fire zone forces players to move. Throwing one into a doorway, stairwell, or container makes enemies reposition, which is often all you need to win a gunfight. Great for breaking defensive holds.
4. Smoke Grenade
   This doesn’t deal damage, but it’s incredibly useful. Blocking a sightline can let you revive a teammate, escape, reposition, or push through open areas safely. On large maps, and especially in trios, smoke grenades can win fights before bullets are even fired.
5. Li’l Smoke Grenade
   A cheaper and smaller smoke option. The radius is small, but it still helps block vision long enough to heal or disengage. Not as strong as the full smoke grenade, but useful when you need a fast, low-cost way to break line of sight.
6. Light Impact Grenade
    It deals low damage, but it’s fast, cheap, and simple to use. It can break a Light Shield, interrupt a heal, or help finish someone who’s trying to retreat. It’s not a great fighting tool, but it’s a fine backup grenade.
7. Snap Blast Grenade
   On paper it hits hard, but the delay and sticky mechanic make it unreliable in fast PvP. Players usually move out of the way before it goes off. It’s better for PvE or for throwing into predictable positions before pushing.
8. Trailblazer
   This grenade is too inconsistent in PvP. The gas trail and delayed explosion are more suited for ARC machines than players. Fun to experiment with, but not something you want to rely on during gunfights.
9. Trigger ’Nade
   As a grenade, it’s too slow and too easy to dodge. Players will almost always react before you detonate it. It works better as a trap, but once you start using it like one, you realize there are actual traps that do the job better. Very low PvP value as a throwable. BLOG20
10. Showstopper
    The stun duration on Raiders is too short and doesn’t deal any damage, which makes it unreliable. You need to be very close to capitalize on it, and most fights are over or ruined before the stun even matters. Any damage grenade is a better choice.
11. Tagging Grenade
    The effect is too slow and too weak for a PvP fight. The delayed tag gives you information, not killing power, and players move too unpredictably for the tag to help you land a kill. Mostly a scouting tool.
12. Seeker Grenade
    This grenade targets ARC enemies instead of players, making it effectively useless in PvP. Unless you’re trying to drag ARC machines into the fight, it has no real purpose here.

Gadgets are not mandatory by any means, but a few of them absolutely have PvP value when used correctly. Still, most of them are pretty useless. Nevertheless, here’s how I would rank the ARC Raiders best gadgets:

1. Barricade Kit
   The only gadget that reliably helps in actual PvP. You can instantly drop it to block enemy fire, create cover while healing, protect a revive, or force enemies to peek from predictable angles. Works anywhere and requires no setup time. Simple and consistently useful in real fights.
2. Door Blocker
   Still solid if you’re defending one of the few rooms where it works. It delays pushes long enough to heal or reposition, but most locations have multiple entry points so it isn’t always dependable. Useful, but situational.
3. Noisemaker
   Only useful if ARC are nearby to detect Raiders, but in those areas it actually gives you valuable information about flanks or pushes. Weak in pure PvP zones, but at least it performs when conditions allow.
4. Flame Spray
   At least this can disrupt a close-range rush or punish someone entering a room. It’s not amazing, but it does real damage, creates space, and works in tight interiors. More useful than the mobility gadgets, but still niche.
5. Remote Raider Flare
   Originally seemed like a bait tool, but since it only works outside, is easy to misread, and doesn’t guarantee anyone will see it or react, it ends up being barely useful. Indoors it does nothing, and in many PvP locations players won’t even look. Mostly a gimmick.
6. Snap Hook
   Looks powerful, but the slow equip time, aiming delay, hook travel time, and being fully exposed while mid-air make it almost unusable in real PvP. It’s great for PvE movement, terrible for gunfights.
7. Zipline
   The weakest PvP gadget. Takes too long to set up, is extremely visible, and makes anyone riding it free target practice. It's strictly a traversal tool, not something you ever want to use during or near a PvP engagement.

Important Skills for PvP

Some skills are made for PvP. Not all useful PvP skills are about staying alive; some give you various advantages when you take damage. It’s best you see for yourself, in this table, I’ve listed ARC Raiders best PvP skills:

Obviously, you don’t have to get them all unlocked to be good at PvP, you just pick whichever seem to be the most useful to you. Oh, and don’t ignore the “In-round crafting” skill or the more advanced “Traveling Tinkerer” skill from the Survivor tree. These are essential no matter what build you’re doing.

 

Best PvP Build in ARC Raiders

Based on everything I’ve listed and ranked so far, this is the ARC Raiders best PvP build. It focuses on staying fast, aggressive, and consistent through multiple fights thanks to its skill setup and the chosen loadout. It uses mobility, shield efficiency, and reliable weapons to control the pace of every encounter. If you want a setup that works in any PvP situation and keeps you alive longer than most players expect, this is the best mix of gear and skills.

Here is the full loadout for this build.

This ARC Raiders PvP loadout guide gives you strong ranged pressure, reliable sustain, and the tools to push enemies or disengage when needed.

Skills for This Build

The table below lists the skills you should take at max level. These nodes give you the biggest advantages in PvP and avoid anything that only helps with looting or crafting.

You can add optional nodes like Calming Stroll, Minesweeper, or Good As New if you have spare points or want more comfort.

Here is how this setup works together.

This build provides nonstop movement, high stamina recovery, and quick rolls that make you extremely hard to hit. The shield movement penalty is reduced to the point where Medium Shield barely slows you down, and the strong AR or SMG options let you pressure players at any distance. The Quick Use lineup gives you fast healing, fast shield recovery, and one of the best grenades in the game, along with a Defibrillator that stays safe if you carry it in your pocket.

Everything you take is built around avoiding mistakes, winning trades, and keeping fights under your control. It works on every map and in any team size.

ARC Raiders Best Settings for PvP

How good you are at PvP in ARC Raiders also depends heavily on movement tech, weapon swap timing, and maintaining control under pressure. Most players struggle not because the mechanics are difficult, but because their keybinds force them to reach across the keyboard, lose movement flow, or misclick during fights. These ARC Raiders PvP settings fix that by placing every essential action on fast, low-travel inputs so sliding, rolling, swapping, and peeking can be performed instantly.

1. Crouch Toggle → Side Mouse Button
   This gives instant access to sliding at any moment without lifting fingers off the movement keys. Slide-into-peek shots, slide-grenade drops, and slide setups all become easier and more consistent.
2. Dodge Roll → Second Side Mouse Button
   Having roll on the opposite thumb button allows you to chain slide → roll → ADS smoothly. It also enables swap-roll quickdraws, roll-dodging to break aim, and fast directional disengages.
3. Shoulder Swap → Middle Mouse Button (Scroll Click)
   Switching camera shoulder while maintaining strafing is essential for peeking corners safely. Middle-mouse placement puts it exactly where it can be hit without interrupting movement.
4. Weapon Swap → Mouse Wheel Up (Weapon 1) / Mouse Wheel Down (Weapon 2)
   Immediate swaps with no finger repositioning. This makes swap-roll tech reliable, letting you instantly bring up your shotgun or SMG while moving. Because the scroll wheel is repurposed, the flashlight moves to the keyboard.
5. Flashlight → 1
   A simple relocation so the weapon wheel can be used for swaps. Flashlight usage doesn’t need fast access, so this keeps it safely out of the way.
6. Ping → 2
   Easy to reach without cluttering crucial movement or combat keys. Useful for squads without interfering with PvP muscle memory. BLOG20

If these keys look uncomfortable, don’t change them. The idea behind these is to make you consider rebinding some of the more important actions to easily-reachable keys, if you’re playing with a mouse and keyboard.

PvP Techniques

This is a casual game when it comes to its gameplay. In other words, it doesn’t have any sort of advanced simulation of movement or anything like that. This means that players have long discovered a bunch of tech that they use in PvP. Here are some of the most known.

Fast Weapon Swap Roll Technique

This technique cancels the slow weapon swap animation by rolling while switching. Start the weapon swap, then immediately perform a dodge roll in any direction. When the roll finishes, the new weapon is already equipped. This keeps you mobile, harder to hit, and ready to fire without losing momentum.

Grenade Drop Slide Tech

Instead of throwing a grenade forward while running, drop it under yourself mid-slide. Slide first, release the grenade while your character is low to the ground, then roll forward to create instant distance. Enemies chasing you run directly into the explosion, giving you time to re-challenge or escape.

Slide-Roll Shotgun Burst Technique

For shotguns, this combines slide movement, aim preparation, and a roll cancel. Slide into the fight, aim during the slide, fire, then roll immediately to break enemy tracking. You can also reverse it by sliding backward and rolling away after firing. This creates unpredictable angles and short exposure windows.

How to Break Enemy Aim with Rolls

If you get caught off-guard, rolling toward the enemy is often better than rolling away. Rolling into them disrupts their tracking and forces a turning animation. This gives you a tiny window to ADS and return fire while their aim recovers. It is especially useful when low on health or already taking damage.

Peak Shooting Basics for ARC Raiders Shotguns

Shotguns reward short, controlled exposes. Lean out only as long as it takes to fire one shot, then instantly return behind cover. Repeat this rhythm with tight movement. Because shotguns burst hard at close range, keeping exposure frames short allows you to win uneven fights as long as you avoid sustained damage.

ARC Raiders PvP Tactics

As for the ARC Raiders PvP tactics, nothing beats the experience, as I keep repeating. Still, here are some tactics or just good habits to pick up and keep in mind when you are fighting other players.

Post-Fight 20-Second PvP Safety Window

After wiping a team, do not loot immediately. Spend about twenty seconds healing, scanning angles, repositioning, and preparing for the next push. Third parties arrive fast on most maps, so staying alert during this window often determines survival more than the previous fight.

How to Commit to Fights in Multi-Team Situations

When a second team enters a fight, hesitation is what kills players. Pick one team and commit. Push fast and delete them before the pinch collapses on you. Delaying even a few seconds leads to getting sandwiched. Winning the first engagement quickly gives you space to recover before the third party hits.

Predicting Enemy Routes and Flanks

Movement patterns in ARC Raiders are easy to predict because players rotate toward open paths, stairs, corners, and rooftops. If you lose visual contact, assume they are circling for a flank rather than running away. Always reposition one corner ahead to cut their angle and establish a better line of sight.

Healing Under Pressure and Using Rolls for Survival

Healing mid-fight means combining movement with timing. Use rolls to break aim right before starting a heal. When a grenade lands near you, roll away instantly to avoid taking chip damage that interrupts the heal. You want to complete the animation safely, then re-engage with full mobility and a restored shield bar.

ARC Raiders PvP Tips & Tricks

PvP in ARC Raiders isn’t only about raw mechanics or perfect aim. Small habits, tiny optimizations, and micro-decisions often decide fights long before the first bullet hits you. These are simple ARC Raiders PvP tips that don’t require skill, experience, or advanced tech — just awareness and consistency. Each one prevents common mistakes and gives you more control during chaotic encounters.

1. Heal Behind Hard Cover, Not Soft Cover
   Not all cover is equal. Thin wooden crates, railings, and cloth tents don’t fully block bullets. Make sure you heal behind metal walls, cargo containers, or thick concrete so you don’t get chipped through objects that only look safe.
2. Always Reload Before Climbing or Vaulting
   You can’t shoot while climbing or vaulting, and getting stuck mid-animation with an empty magazine is an easy way to die. Make it a habit to top off your weapon before you commit to any traversal movement.
3. Pre-Aim Common Rat Angles Before Entering Rooms
   Most ambushes happen in predictable spots — corners behind doors, stairwell shadows, roof ledges, and generator rooms. Quickly third-person peek these angles before stepping in so you don’t walk face-first into a shotgun.
4. Use Loud Environmental Sounds to Reposition
   Explosions, ARC roars, turret bursts, and shredders stomping all create noise windows where your footsteps become almost inaudible. These are perfect moments to push, flank, or escape without being tracked.
5. Avoid Fighting With Low Stamina
   Low stamina heavily weakens your movement, dodge rolls, and ability to reposition. If your bar is yellow or red, take two seconds to recover before re-engaging. You’ll win more fights simply by never dueling while exhausted.

These tips might seem small individually, but stacked together, they remove a lot of the hidden disadvantages players accidentally create for themselves. Used alongside your chosen weapons, skills, and loadout, they make your PvP approach cleaner, safer, and much more consistent, and they form the foundation of ARC Raiders how to get better at PvP progression.

Conclusion

This marks the end of my PvP guide for ARC Raiders. I’ve tried to cover everything I could think of that matters about this aspect of the game. I think PvP is pretty fun, just like the rest of the game. It’s light, casual, but it can be high-stakes too. Such is the nature of extraction shooters. In this game specifically, it’s easier to get over the fear of losing your gear because you can just grab a free loadout, go to Stella Montis or Buried City and have plenty of fun dunking on other players. Whether you come out the other side with their loot or not doesn’t even matter because you will return to Speranza a little bit more experienced and a little less scared of encountering hostile players. I just hope that this guide has helped you with that as well.

F.A.Q.