ARC Raiders
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ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail out forSince Oct 8, 2026

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Beginner's Guide

In your first hours of ARC Raiders, take free loadouts onto Dam Battlegrounds, avoid ARC instead of fighting it, keep what you find in your Safe Pocket, extract early, and spend your first Coins on stash space. Most of what you carry is lost when you die, so learn the maps before you risk good gear.

In your first hours of ARC Raiders, the guides agree on a short list: go in on a Free Loadout, start on Dam Battlegrounds, stay away from ARC, put the best thing you find in your Safe Pocket, and leave the raid alive even with a small haul. Everything you carry outside the Safe Pocket is lost when you die Topside, as KeenGamer puts it (Dec 2025), so the early game is about learning the maps cheaply. This guide takes those hours in order, with each tip credited to the outlet that gave it and dated, because the game changes weekly: most press guides predate Frozen Trail (update 2.0, Oct 8, 2026), and the notes below say where it moved something. How a round runs is on How a Raid Works; playing alone is on Solo Guide.

Quick facts

First map Dam Battlegrounds, open by default, low difficulty (TheGamer, Feb 2026)
Free gear Free Loadout tab on the pre-match screen, with no Safe Pocket
Raid length 30 minutes (launch-era guides, Oct and Nov 2025)
Squad size Up to three Raiders
Solo Set Fill Squad to Off, then Play
Lost on death All you carry except your Safe Pocket
Forced wipes None; Expeditions are opt-in and paused until early 2027
Current version 2.3.0, Oct 27, 2026

Sources: TheGamer, Feb 27, 2026; PC Gamer, Oct 31, 2025; Game Rant, Oct 18, 2025; Game Rant on extraction, Oct 31, 2025; Shacknews, Nov 6, 2025; Embark's fifth Expedition post, Aug 21, 2026; Embark's 2.3.0 notes, Oct 27, 2026.

1. Set up before your first raid

Set your keys and graphics options first (Controls and Settings). Decide about voice: proximity chat is on B on PC and D-pad Down on console by Shacknews's launch list, and strangers hear it, which is often how you avoid a fight. Decide whether to squad up. A full squad is three Raiders, and for solo you set Fill Squad to Off. Since update 1.36.0, Jul 7, 2026, Embark tracks your playstyle separately for solo, duo and trio rounds, so trying one size does not change who you meet in another.

2. Go in on a Free Loadout

The Free Loadout is the free tab on the pre-match screen: a randomized weapon, consumables and throwables, with only the Free Loadout Augment guaranteed, per PC Gamer (Oct 31, 2025). Losing it costs you nothing. Its main drawback is no Safe Pocket, per Game Rant (Oct 2025). KeenGamer also recommends it for low-risk recovery runs whenever you are broke (Dec 2025). Two conditions refuse it: Night Raid and Close Scrutiny have had a "No Free Loadout" rule since 1.33.0, Jun 16, 2026, and Embark said on Jul 7 that it was looking at expanding it. Kits are on Best Loadouts.

3. Start on Dam Battlegrounds

KeenGamer calls Dam Battlegrounds the map for learners, with smaller patrols and low-tier containers (Nov 2025), and TheGamer lists it as open by default and low difficulty. TheGamer's Feb 27, 2026 unlock counts were Buried City after 6 rounds, Spaceport after 12 and The Blue Gate after 18; check them in game, since the map selection screen was reworked in 2.0. The rest are on Maps.

KeenGamer's map colors tell you the risk: white zones are low risk, orange hold better loot and ARC patrols, red are the most rewarding and most dangerous, and it advises chaining white and orange before you try red.

4. Avoid ARC, then learn it

GamesRadar+ says to avoid ARC early rather than fight it (Dec 2025). Noise is the reason: Game Rant warns that Hornets, Wasps and Rocketeers draw other players to you (Nov 2025). When you must fight, KeenGamer's order is Wasps first, then Hornets from the side. Each machine is on ARC Enemies.

5. Loot with a purpose

Vendor prices are fixed and there is no player market, so judge loot by value per slot (KeenGamer, Dec 2025). Items carry a rarity color, gray, green, blue, purple, orange from lowest to highest. Do not sell humble items such as Batteries and Rusted Gears yet: GamesRadar+ notes quests want them later. Sell Trinkets, marked with a diamond symbol, which TheGamer says have no crafting use. Once you have a real kit, use the Safe Pocket: keys, trinkets and upgrade items fit, weapons do not (Game Rant, Oct 2025). Since 2.0 a dropped quest item can hurt you, too: selling or losing one such as the Equatorial Sundial could leave Clean Hands impossible to finish, a known issue still listed at 2.3.0.

6. Get out alive

A close, blurred helmeted head at left; a figure in an orange jacket stands in a bright doorway at the back of a metal building.
A Raider in a helmet watches another Raider in orange at the door of a corrugated metal shed in an official Steam store screenshot of ARC Raiders Embark Studios

Leave with a small haul rather than die with a big one. Raids last 30 minutes by launch-era guides (Oct 2025; Embark's posts do not state the length). An elevator call sets off a loud alarm that draws ARC and players, so KeenGamer says to clear the area first and not to use the same exit twice in a row. A Raider Hatch has no alarm but needs a Raider Hatch Key, which Shani sold in Game Rant's Nov 2025 guide. See Extraction and Raider Hatches.

7. Back in Speranza

Recycle duplicates at home: it returns more than salvaging in the field, and field salvage is only for when you are overweight (KeenGamer, Nov 2025). The same guide says to upgrade Scrappy early, since higher ranks bring back better materials. TheGamer's spending order is stash expansions first, then the Gun Shop (Feb 2026); the maximum stash is 328 slots without Expedition bonuses, since 2.0. Crafting and benches are on Crafting and the Workshop and Stash; traders on Speranza and the Traders; earning on Money Making Guide.

8. Follow the quests

Quests carry the story, since the game has no traditional campaign, per Game Rant, and they give new players a reason to visit each map. Start with Main Questline. PC Gamer's advice for later is to finish The Major's Footlocker for the Hullcracker even if you plan to reset (May 2026).

9. Spend your first skill points

The skill tree was revamped in 2.0, so advice written before Oct 8, 2026 names old skills. In the new tree, KeenGamer's Oct 8, 2026 build calls In-round Crafting the root skill, which lets you craft Topside. See Skill Tree and Best Builds.

10. Treat other Raiders as a choice

Not everyone shoots. Embark's matchmaking makes it more likely, not guaranteed, that you meet Raiders who play as you do, and it counts the fights you start, in a test begun Jul 28, 2026. Game Rant's warning stands: never turn your back, even on a "Don't Shoot" emote. More on PvP Guide and Matchmaking. In Embark's introduction, a Raider says ammo is cheap and trust is expensive.

Mistakes guides warn about

  • Fighting every machine. It is loud and draws Raiders (Game Rant, Nov 2025).
  • Walking toward flares. They can mark a downed Raider, a Supply Drop or a trap (Game Rant).
  • Breaching probes when you are weak. Game Rant says the noise carries about 1 km.
  • Selling crafting scraps. Quests ask for them later (GamesRadar+, Dec 2025).
  • Leaving your flashlight on. It shows your position from outside a building (Game Rant).
  • Bringing your best gun before you know the map. A free kit teaches the same routes at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do first in ARC Raiders? Take a Free Loadout onto Dam Battlegrounds, avoid ARC, and practice extracting. Then spend your first Coins on stash space, as TheGamer advises.

Which ARC Raiders map is best for beginners? Dam Battlegrounds: it is open by default, and both TheGamer and KeenGamer call it the low-difficulty start.

Is ARC Raiders hard for new players? The penalty is the hard part, since death in ARC Raiders costs everything outside your Safe Pocket. Free Loadouts remove that risk while you learn.

Can you play ARC Raiders alone as a new player? Yes. Set Fill Squad to Off, then Play. Solo gets no built-in compensation such as a free revive, Shacknews notes.

Is ARC Raiders pay to win? Embark says no: in ARC Raiders Raider Tokens buy cosmetics, and the Premium Pass has no gameplay items (Oct 8, 2026).

Does ARC Raiders wipe progress? ARC Raiders has no forced wipes. Expeditions are opt-in resets, and Embark says they return in early 2027.

Sources

Moments

Arc Raiders- Ultimate Beginner’s Guide (Top Gameplay Tips You Need to Know!)

Legacy Gaming

  1. In your first hours of ARC Raiders, the guides agree on a short list: go in on a Free Loadout, start on Dam…
  2. The Free Loadout is the free tab on the pre-match screen: a randomized weapon, consumables and throwables, with only…
  3. GamesRadar+ says to avoid ARC early rather than fight it (Dec 2025). Noise is the reason: Game Rant warns that…
  4. Leave with a small haul rather than die with a big one. Raids last 30 minutes by launch-era guides (Oct 2025; Embark's…
  5. Recycle duplicates at home: it returns more than salvaging in the field, and field salvage is only for when you are…

What to Keep, Sell, & Recycle in ARC Raiders! (Max Workshop, Scrappy, & More)

Above

  1. Vendor prices are fixed and there is no player market, so judge loot by value per slot (KeenGamer, Dec 2025). Items…

The Actual BEST Arc Raiders Skill Tree Perks (Frozen Trail Update)

Fallout Plays

  1. The skill tree was revamped in 2.0, so advice written before Oct 8, 2026 names old skills. In the new tree…

Introduction to ARC Raiders | ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders

  1. Not everyone shoots. Embark's matchmaking makes it more likely, not guaranteed, that you meet Raiders who play as you…

Photos

A close, blurred helmeted head at left; a figure in an orange jacket stands in a bright doorway at the back of a metal building.

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See also

Last updated Oct 30, 2026 by the Vi.ki team. Page text CC BY-SA 4.0.

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