ARC Raiders Weapon Amplification Guide

ARC Raiders Weapon Amplification Guide Quick Overview:

• Weapon Amplification is a level 5 weapon upgrade that offers powerful boosts or unique features. So far, the game allows 15 different weapons to be amplified.
• Amplification features branching perk trees, making some powerful upgrades incompatible with each other.
• Amplifying a weapon requires using a special item called an Amplification Module, which is placed in a special weapon socket.

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What are Weapon Amplifications in ARC Raiders?

Added with the Frozen Trail update, Weapon Amplification is a new system that enables players to upgrade their weapons to a fifth quality level, which offers some powerful boosts or completely new features. The devs state that the main goal here is to add more late-game personalization and variety.

Each Weapon Amplification is designed to provide a modification tree with at least two different chains to choose from. It works just about how you would expect:

• Picking a perk in a chain enables you to pick the next one in the same chain.
• Some chains are exclusive, locking you out of alternative Amplification chains.

So, with some weapons, you have to stick with what fits your playstyle best and fully commit to it. It is worth noting that the Amplification trees are currently rather small, with just two to three chains featuring one or two perks each on average.  

However, the Amplifications themselves range wildly. Some of them seem to be just reasonable upgrades of the existing weapon — say, improving the reload speed. Others are there to completely rebuild the weapon — like turning a traditional pistol into an SMG.

Finally, some options are there to repurpose the gun rather than directly upgrade it — like turning the weapon’s projectiles into tracking shots that allow you to see your enemies for a short time. Maybe you would prefer having that on certain maps, for example.

How to Amplify a Weapon

First of all, Amplifying a weapon requires a level 4 Gunsmith and a level 4 Research Workstation in your Outpost, which might take you some time — after all, Weapon Amplification is mostly an endgame feature.

You will also need an Amplification Module — a new item that can be added to a special socket in your gun. There are two ways to get one: the Frigate and the inside of the fallen Emperor on Pendola Pass. The modules come in five different tiers (Mk. I to Mk. V) corresponding to weapon rarity. There is no difference in drop rate, so there is no point in trying to find a specific one. 

The process of amplifying a weapon is straightforward. You open the Gunsmith's Weapon Upgrades tab, choose your weapon, and press Amplify.  The only trick here is that Amplification perks themselves require some initial research effort as well as materials. Once you've Amplified your gun, it will also be repaired. Remember that there is no way back — Amplification changes your weapon forever, with no respec options.

Weapon Amplification List

So far, ARC Raiders allows you to amplify 15 different weapons, but the team aims to add more guns to this list in the future. If you ask me, I'd say 80% of the upgrades feel great and add a lot of variety and personalization to the game, while the other 20% are somewhat repetitive or just not particularly well-balanced. Overall, the idea is awesome, and I can't wait to see more of these Amplification perks added in future updates. 

Anvil

Anvil offers only two perks to choose from, but both are very impactful. Anvil Splitter is already familiar to most players, and if you’re all in on the idea of making Anvil a decent shotgun, then you can still do it. You’ll have to deal with the expected consequences of reduced accuracy and lower damage at longer distances, though.

​Your other option, however, seems like a better deal overall. X-Rounds turn your bullets into explosive rounds that deal a lot more damage to both raiders and ARC, at the cost of some extra recoil as well as reduced bullet velocity. As soon as you get used to it, though, you’ll probably stick with X-Rounds because of their overall usefulness in PvE.  

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch (Exclusive)	X-Rounds: Adds an explosive compound to the projectile, dealing slightly increased damage to Raiders and significantly increased damage to ARC armor plating +5 Base Damage 33% Increased Damage vs Arc Armor 10% Reduced Headshot Damage Multiplier 30% Increased Vertical Recoil 30% Increased Horizontal Recoil 50% Reduced Bullet Velocity
Bottom branch (Exclusive)	Anvil Splitter: Replaces the Anvil’s bullets with rounds that split into four weaker projectiles +3 Projectiles Per Shot 30% Reduced Based Dispersion 90% Reduced Dispersion Recovery Time 40% Increased ADS Dispersion 70% Reduced Projectile Damage 40% Reduced Headshot Damage Multiplier

Aphelion

All of the amplifications for Aphelion are centered around making it shoot more projectiles reliably while setting targets on fire. It does come at the cost of reduced base damage and increased recoil, but the benefits still outweigh the downsides, and the fact that you can get all the upgrades makes it particularly nice.

The only issue here is that you will probably have to spend quite some time in order to unlock all of the Aphelion’s perks, meaning that it won’t reveal its full potential as quickly as some other weapons.

Amplification Branch	First perk	Second Perk
Top branch	Bigger Mag: +6 Magazine Size
Mid branch	Charged Burst: +2 Max Projectiles in Burst +2 Magazine Size -2.5 Base Damage 60% Increased Vertical Recoil 60% Increased Horizontal Recoil	Increased Burst: +2 Max Projectiles in Burst
Bottom branch	Incendiary Rounds: Sets targets on fire when hit +5/s Burn Damage +2s Burn Duration

Bettina

Bettina, being among the best PvE weapons in the game, poses a very interesting question: would you like to keep your fully automatic weapon with the benefit of an almost doubled mag size, or are you willing to sacrifice both of these features for a lot of extra damage?

​I think that Bettina’s Amplifications are among the most interesting because of how crazy and distinct they are, and I can see both paths being absolutely viable.  

Amplification Branch	First perk	Second Perk
Top branch (Exclusive)	Bigger Mag: +15 Magazine size
Bottom branch (Exclusive)	Semi-Auto: +3 Base Damage 20% Reduced Max Shot Dispersion 20% Reduced Fire Rate	X-Rounds: +3 Base Damage 25% Increased Damage vs ARC Armor 20% Increased Vertical Recoil 20% Increased Horizontal Recoil 30% Reduced Bullet Velocity -4 Magazine Size

Burletta

Burletta shows off just how crazy the Amplifications can be. Even something like Burst Fire is going to overhaul your entire play pattern, but Full-Auto is just a nuts option that will make this weapon feel like an entirely different beast. If this is how Embark chooses to proceed with the game, we will all end up with more guns per gun, which is all I could ever ask for.

Amplification Chain	First perk	Second Perk
Top chain (Exclusive)	Burst Fire: Makes the weapon fire in a burst +2 Projectiles in Burst	Increased Burst: +2 Projectiles in Burst +3 Magazine Size
Mid Chain (Exclusive)	Full-Auto: Makes the weapon fully automatic 60% Increased Fire Rate -2 Base Damage 60% Reduced Headshot Damage Multiplier 50% Increased Vertical Recoil 50% Increased Horizontal Recoil 100% Increased Dispersion Recovery Time 50% Increased Base Dispersion 50% Increased ADS Dispersion
Bottom Chain	Sprint Shooting: Allows weapon to be comfortably fired while sprinting

Canto

Canto Amplification is branched between mobility and accuracy, which is a fairly unique choice among other Amplified weapons. You can either move slower, but apply Burn through very precise (head)shots, or run all around the place and apply Burn without sacrificing your positioning.

This one feels like a matter of personal preference, but I urge you to try out Carbine Conversion simply because it feels a bit too good at the moment. Shooting your whole magazine without basically any recoil or spread feels like borderline cheating, even if it actually isn’t and is balanced by all the other aspects of Canto.  

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch (Exclusive)	Carbine Conversion: Improves the stability and accuracy of the weapon
Mid branch	Incendiary Rounds: Sets targets on fire when hit +5/s Burn Damage +2s Burn Duration
Bottom branch (Exclusive)	Sprint Shooting: Allows weapon to be comfortably fired while sprinting

Equalizer

Equalizer Amplification provides you with a baseline +30 mag size with an extra choice between Ramping Damage and Anti-Weak Point. The former increases your damage as long as the laser remains in contact with the enemy, while the latter significantly reduces your damage against ARC armor while heavily boosting your damage against weak points.

Essentially, Ramping Damage feels like an overall safer choice since you don’t sacrifice anything, and the task of keeping the laser on target consistently is very easy to accomplish with larger ARC enemies. However, Anti-Weak Point might be really good as long as you’re proficient enough with the weapon and your own positioning. Part of me wishes these perks weren’t mutually exclusive so that you would be nudged toward playing a hyper-precise version of the weapon.  

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch (Exclusive)	Ramping Damage: Gradually increases the Equaliser’s damage while its laser remains in contact with a valid target
Mid branch (Exclusive)	Anti-Weak Point: Deals increased damage to ARC weak points, but deals less damage to ARC armor plating 67% Increased Damage vs ARC Weak Points 60% Reduced Damage vs ARC Armor
Bottom branch (Exclusive)	Bigger Mag: +30 Magazine Size

Hairpin

Hairpin is a good representative of the Exclusive Amplification design, making you stick to a certain set of choices and always missing out on some other opportunities. You can use Hairpin as a cool scouting tool, or you can focus on dealing more damage through the Burn mechanic, but not both. My only hope is that one doesn’t turn out to be massively more useful than the other because I want to see some actual variety in my games.

Amplification Chain	First perk	Second Perk
Top Chain (Exclusive)	Incendiary Rounds: Sets targets on fire when hit +5/s Burn Damage +2s Burn Duration
Mid Chain	Semi-Auto: 150% Increased Fire Rate 20% Reduced Headshot Damage Multiplier 40% Increased Per-Shot Dispersion	Sprint Shooting: Allows weapon to be comfortably fired while sprinting
Bottom Chain (Exclusive)	Tracker Rounds: Replaces the bullets with tracker rounds that briefly reveal the position of targets they hit +5s Tracking Duration

 

 

Hullcracker

Hullcracker’s Mag Reload is quite a gift from Embark, and I’m very thankful for it. The other perk, Incendiary Grenades, is also extremely nice thanks to the spreading fire effect. Heavily reduced projectile velocity can be an issue, though, especially when you have to deal with small flying targets, but It’s not like Hullcracker is a weapon of choice against these anyway.

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch	Incendiary Grenades: Adds an incendiary compound to the projectile, causing it to spread fire when detonating on ARC +11.25/s Burn Damage +5s Burn Duration 40% Reduced Projectile Damage 50% Reduced Projectile Velocity
Bottom branch	Mag Reload: Removes the need to reload one projectile at a time

Il Toro

I’ve only got to try a fully Amplified Il Toro for a bit, but it genuinely felt broken (complimentary). More Reload is obviously a great overall beneficial perk that compensates for the weapon’s drawback, but all the craziness truly lies in Slug Rounds. What do you mean you can get a significant damage boost on top of 200% increased ARC armor damage?

​The fact that there is no perk exclusivity here makes it amazing, and you only need two perks to get to the full power level. I wish I had more time with this thing, and I strongly recommend you try it out yourself.

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch	More Reload: Increases the number of bullets loaded at a time, reducing reload time +1 Shells Loaded at a time
Bottom branch	Slug Rounds: Replaces the normal shotgun shells with a single large projectile that deals massive damage -8 Projectiles Per Shot 900% Increased Projectile Damage 200% Increased Damage vs ARC Armor 40% Reduced Base Dispersion 50% Reduced Bullet Velocity

Jupiter

Most Jupiter Amplifications are focused on increasing its convenience and reliability without directly affecting its damage output or other attributes. It’s quite cool for a precision-based weapon because it makes it way easier to use, and more players will get to do some nice shots with it.  

However, I can’t help but imagine a world where the opposite is true, and Embark came up with a completely busted upgrade path with some heavy drawbacks to push players’ skill to its limit. Oh, well, maybe we’ll get something like that in the future.  

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch	Bigger Mag: +5 Magazine size
Mid branch	Scoped: Adds a scope to a weapon, allowing it to be fired from a scoped view
Bottom branch	Straight Bolt: Allows cycling the bolt while the scope is enabled

Kettle

Kettle’s Amplifications basically force you to choose between PvP and PvE, and I really dislike this idea. Essentially, you can either destroy Raider shields with your fully automatic gun, or shoot some explosive projectiles to devastate ARC enemies. This is extremely binary in the worst way imaginable, because it’s not really a meaningful choice with interesting drawbacks — you just choose who you want to kill and fully commit to it.

Also, by now you’ve probably noticed just how often we see X-rounds added to weapons through Amplification, and that’s one of the very few gripes I have with the current iteration of the system. I hope Embark will come up with some other interesting upgrades in the future.

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch	Anti-Shield: Redistributes damage to prioritize breaking shields faster. 100% Increased Damage vs Raider Shields -2 Base Damage
Mid branch	Full-Auto: Makes the weapon fully automatic, at the cost of accuracy and stability. 15% Increased Fire Rate 20% Reduced Headshot Damage Multiplier 30% Increased Vertical Recoil 30% Increased Horizontal Recoil 30% Increased Max Shot Dispersion
Bottom branch (Exclusive/Not compatible with other perks)	X-Rounds: Adds an explosive compound to the projectile, dealing slightly increased damage to Raiders and significantly increased damage to ARC Armor plating. +6.5 Base Damage 400% Increased Damage vs ARC Armor 15% Increased Vertical Recoil 15% Increased Horizontal Recoil 30% Reduced Bullet Velocity 20% Reduced Fire Rate -4 Magazine Size

Osprey

Osprey is a bit weird, because its Tracker Rounds heavily punish you by substantially reducing Bullet Velocity. To my taste, shooting these felt really bad, and the Anti-Weak Point felt like a far more reliable choice.

Another weird thing here is that the in-game tooltip states that the perk is supposed to reduce damage against ARC armor, but there are no exact numbers provided. I didn’t get to shoot a lot with Osprey, so I cannot tell if there is supposed to be any damage reduction against armor or if Embark intended to only improve the damage against weak points.

As for the Straight Bolt, this perk seems to be the standard for Amplified precision weapons, and I’m fine with it, even if it loses a bit of charm when it’s stuck on every weapon of this kind.

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch (Exclusive)	Tracker Rounds: Replaces the bullets with tracker rounds that briefly reveal the position of targets they hit +5s Tracking Duration 60% Reduced Bullet Velocity
Mid branch (Exclusive)	Anti-Weak Point: 100% Increased damage vs ARC Weak Points
Bottom branch	Straight Bolt: Allows cycling the bolt while the scope is enabled

Rascal

The cool thing about Amplified Rascal is that you get to enjoy launching grenades that actually fly fast, all while being on the run yourself, and that is genuinely a unique niche in the game. This gives Rascal a lot of personality, and this is exactly what I want to see from any type of weapon upgrades added to ARC Raiders in the future. Oh, and you get Incendiary Grenades as well, which is extra cool, but not that exciting.

Amplification Branch	Perk
Top branch	High Velocity: Increases the velocity of the projectile fired 100% Increased Projectile Velocity 50% Reduced ADS Dispersion
Mid branch	Sprint Shooting: Allows weapon to be comfortably fired while sprinting
Bottom branch	Incendiary Grenades: Adds an incendiary compound to the projectile, causing it to spread fire when detonating on ARC +11.25/s Burn Damage +5s Burn Duration 40% Reduced Projectile Damage 15% Reduced Projectile Velocity

Rattler

Having an option to get faster reloads is huge for Rattler, and it’s quite a cool workaround that affects its small magazine in an interesting way. You still have to deal with it, it’s just that dealing with it is not as debilitating. However, if you hate the magazine size to the point that you don’t even bother using Rattler, the devs give you a fresh new option — sacrifice half of what makes the gun efficient to increase your magazine size by 40 — which is a lot.

So far, these types of perks are my favorites, because they genuinely feel impactful and force you to adapt. If it weren’t for these, Amplifications would feel like a shallow addition that would only keep you in the game for a short while.

Amplification Chain	First perk	Second Perk
Top Chain	More Reload: +2 Bullets Loaded at a time	Drum Mag: +40 Magazine Size, 50% Increased Vertical Recoil, 50% Increased Horizontal Recoil, 30% Increased Max Shot Dispersion, 30% Increased Base Dispersion, 30% Increased ADS Dispersion, 10% Reduced ADS Speed ​
Bottom Chain	Incendiary Rounds: Sets targets on fire when hit +5/s Burn Damage +2s Burn Duration

Renegade

Renegade is an example of a different approach from the development team. There aren’t any particular choices that require you to make any sacrifices to significantly change your experience with the gun. Instead, Amplifying Renegade simply means making it a bit more useful and convenient thanks to improved reload time — which was one of its key weaknesses — and a new scope.

That said, the difference between using a scoped weapon versus shooting without it is quite noticeable from a personal perspective, even if the in-game numbers that dictate Renegade’s behavior aren’t affected by it in any way. I definitely recommend checking it out and not shelving it for the future.

Amplification Chain	Perk
Top Chain	More Reload: +1 Bullets Loaded at a time
Bottom Chain	Scoped: Adds a scope to a weapon, allowing it to be fired from a scoped view

 

 

Read our other ARC Raiders guides:

• Reward Pass
• Nomadic Envoys
• How to Upgrade Scrappy

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