ARC Raiders Matriarch Boss Guide

In ARC Raiders, the titular ARCs are a bigger threat than the players. Safe to say, this game deserves its E in the PvPvE genre. By now, you’ve learnt how to fight and effectively defeat all bosses. Now there’s a new threat on the horizon. The Matriarch is an endgame boss fight that will leave you shaking from the adrenaline rush. We will talk about strategies, the best places to fight Matriarch, and which loadout to use.

And if you think that the Matriarch is too big a threat or you’re afraid to lose your precious loot, check out our ARC Raiders Matriarch Boost. Our Pros will deal with it in no time, earning you Matriarch cores for an upcoming Aphelion rifle.

Read our other ARC Raiders guides:

• Dam Battlegrounds Map Guide
• Harvester Guide
• Best Weapons Tier List

How to Kill Matriarch in ARC Raiders

Matriarch is an insanely difficult boss fight. That is, if you don’t know what you’re doing. The difficulty stems from the fact that the Matriarch summons other ARCs, including boss ARCs. It also draws attention from the whole map. Not to mention that the Matriarch itself is far from being timid. Let’s cover a couple of things before we give you instructions on how to kill Matriarch in ARC Raiders.

The Matriarch spawns on three maps, with two of them being the most fitting for fighting it. It’s a serious threat, so ideally you want to find a spot with good cover. Here are the maps:

1. Dam Battlegrounds: By far the best spot to kill Matriarch. It spawns on The Breach, just south of Power Generation Complex. It walks around in the open area, connecting the Power Generation Complex with the Control Tower. Many players consider the Pipeline Tower the best place to fight the Matriarch. Players usually occupy the rooftop of the tower, or a small catwalk right below. Further down, we will talk about a strategy to kill it there.
2. Spaceport: Another great location to kill the Matriarch. It spawns right in the middle of the map, next to the Launch Towers. You can get to the top of the Towers and shoot it from there. There’s a low risk of being gangstalked by other players there. Make sure to grab some mines. It’s going to be hard extracting from there, as you can expect campers at the bottom of the tower. Grab Ziplines to get away safer.
3. Blue Gate: Probably the worst location to fight the boss. It has a lot of open areas and little covered territory. Surprisingly, on this map, many raiders agree to fight together against it. We’ve once seen about twenty raiders gang up on the beast.

The Matriarch usually rotates between these maps. Unlike Queen, Matriarch is extremely hostile and will attack you on sight. Watch out for its rockets, as they’re super fast.

Matriarch Abilities

Matriarch has many ways to kill you. It has three missile attacks, a shield, and a summon mechanic. Let’s briefly break them down so you’ll know what to face:

• Gas Missiles: The Matriarch releases multiple rockets that land on your location, releasing a gas cloud. It doesn’t damage your HP, but it does drain your stamina. If you’re out in the open and it follows the Gas missiles with rockets, you’re dead.
• Flashbang Missiles: Matriarch launches the rockets with a very big impact radius. Everyone in it will become temporarily blinded. It’s very annoying, especially when you know that other hostile raiders are nearby.
• Self-Homing Missiles: With what feels like the blink of an eye, these rockets get to you super fast. Two is enough to take you down, even with full medium shields. They also have AoE, so not every cover saves you from them.
• Impenetrable Shield: Matriarch releases a shield, throughout duration of which cannot be damaged. There are no known ways to make it drop faster. While it’s in the shield mode, it continues to attack you. Focus on other ARCs or Raiders when it does that.
• ARC Summon: Probably the biggest threat. It can summon ground bosses, which won’t be that big of a deal with the right position. The main threat lies within the Rocketeer and Bombardier summons. If the Matriarch summons them, focus on them first; otherwise, they won’t let you live.

And that’s it for Matriarch’s abilities. Doesn’t seem much, but with how well-defended it is, killing the Matriarch becomes a real pain. Luckily, with a party, it becomes much easier. We will discuss how to simplify the process further in the next segment.

Matriarch Weak Points

Matriarch has pretty much the same weak spots as Queen. Some of them are more efficient to focus than the others, but we’d recommend just bomb it away with a Hullcracker. The weak points of Matriarch are:

• Legs: Same as with many big ARCs. If you are able to break the leg armor, you’ll be able to break it and make the ARC less mobile. This is not ideal for Matriarch as it doesn’t move around that much. You’ll also make it harder for yourself to target other weak spots.
• Frontal Armor: Matriarch has two big plates in front of it. It’s right underneath its horn, looking like two eyes, or, well, two nostrils. When you break them, there will be a core-looking thing right behind them. Shooting it will take it down much faster.
• Head Core: Try to take an upper position, while the rest of the team distracts Matriarch. This will allow you to shoot the biggest weak point. There’s a circular hole in its head, protected by a layer of armor. Destroying it will help you kill it the fastest. Still, we wouldn’t recommend it as it would mean splitting up with your party. Considering how many raiders are walking around, not the best idea.

And that’s it for the Matriarch’s weak spots. It doesn’t have as much health as the Queen, but it is much more dangerous. Targeting its weak points isn’t as useful as with other ARCs. As we said, just blast it with Hullcracker or Jupiter.

Matriarch Rewards

Matriarch has a lot of expensive and useful loot. Honestly, it’s not really worth it to destroy it just for this loot, as you can easily farm it from other ARCs or even locations. The Matriarch rewards worth farming are Matriarch Reactors. They’re Legendary materials that are needed to create Aphelion, a new energy rifle. Unfortunately, this rifle hasn’t been found yet. Many players think that the blueprint for Aphelion is hidden somewhere on Stella Montis. If you’re curious about that map, check out our ARC Raiders Stella Montis map guide.

Top Loadout for Matriarch Boss Fight

As you already understand, the Matriarch is no joke, so don’t expect to casually down it on your way to extraction. Killing it requires the right approach, which makes you more vulnerable to other threats. Here, we’ve picked the top loadout for a fight with Matriarch:

Going in is really dangerous, as to kill the Matriarch, you’ll need one of the most expensive weapons in the game. To add to it, the best weapons to fight Matriarch - Hullcracker, and Jupiter - are usually only effective against ARCs. This is a very dangerous raid, so be sure to prepare well. Maybe go in a couple of times just to observe how other players do it. BLOG20

Matriarch Tips & Tricks

Now we are going to share a couple of advice related to the strategy. Fighting the Matriarch requires heavy preparation. Having even the slightest advantage in the battle can go a long way. Let’s go over the Matriarch fight tips & tricks:

• Always Look for Higher Ground: As Obi-Wan said, “It’s over Anakin, I have the high ground”. Matriarch is much easier to fight when looking down on it. No matter the map, always try to take a higher position.
• Consider All Possible Flanks: If the place you’ve found has many areas where enemies can come from, it’s a bad place. Always look for nice, tight spots that are easy to protect.
• Have an Escape Route: Killing a Matriarch is only half the challenge. Getting away with the loot is the second part of it. Think about which places can potentially be camped. Sometimes, the fastest route is not the best one. Players know that people take raider hatch escapes, so watch out for campers there.
• Have a Guardian Player: There’s always gotta be one player who will take care of the ARCs. If you’re playing in a group of three, 2 players should target the Matriarch. The third one should cover your back, watch the flanks, etc.
• Make Test Runs: Pick up a free loadout and just observe what players are doing. Sometimes, players are so occupied with fighting each other, you may even loot a part of the Matriarch yourself. 
• Practice Shooting: Hullcracker and Jupiter require some getting used to. Hullcracker’s grenades shoot in an arch, and Jupiter charges before making a shot. Practice on the target range before jumping into the raid.

That’s it for the advice. One last thing we can add is to fight Matriarch on the maps you know well. Don’t jump into the raid where you don’t know the player spawns or hot zones. Having an idea of what to expect significantly reduces stress.

Conclusion

Now you’re certainly ready to take on the Matriarch. It’s a very tough, long, and dangerous boss fight. But the feeling of defeating such a hulk is sometimes worth more than the loot you get from it. Try it, fail, repeat, and win. Get ready to craft Aphelion, then return to the Matriarch to style on it. That’s it for today’s Matriarch boss guide. More guides on ARC Raiders to come, so stay tuned!

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