How do you kill a Comet in Arc Raiders?

Embark's own tips article gives three approaches: aggro it from a distance so it opens up and exposes the inner weak point, shoot the armor plating off its sides, or hold your ground while it charges and hit the weak spot from the front. The community wiki confirms that shooting the exposed middle point before detonation destroys the Comet without triggering the explosion. Two to three Seeker Grenades also strip the armor, and the wiki notes they do it without damaging the igniter inside.

What is the Comet's weak point in Arc Raiders?

The core, and every source agrees on that. The community wiki lists the core as the Comet's only weakness, and says the armor shell opens during the charge to expose the innards. Embark's developers describe the same thing from the player side: aggro it from range and it opens up, or strip the side plating to get through. One guide site publishes a core damage multiplier, but no other source repeats that figure.

How do you get the Comet Igniter in Arc Raiders?

Kill the Comet before it self-destructs, then scavenge the core. A Comet that detonates leaves only its ring to search, while one you destroy first leaves two searchable pieces, and the Igniter is in the core. Players often assume the drop rate is bugged when what actually happened is they let it explode and found a metal ring. The wiki lists the Igniter as an ingredient for a Deadline at an Explosives Station 3 and as a required item for the Collision Course quest.

What weapons work best against the Comet in Arc Raiders?

This is genuinely contested. Embark's Oskar says to use automatic weapons, that heavy weapons like the Anvil or Ferro will only get you so far, and that trading armor piercing ammo for a greater fire rate weakens the Comet faster. The community wiki's own ARC tips say the opposite, recommending Heavy Ammo or grenades, and several guide sites call the Anvil, Ferro or Hullcracker mandatory. The one point of agreement is grenades: the wiki puts a Comet's armor at two to three Seeker Grenades.

How much damage does a Comet explosion do in Arc Raiders?

No source publishes a blast radius or a damage number. Embark says only that the explosive range is broad and the impact is strong, and that you do not want to be near a Comet once its self destruction sequence begins. The community wiki and one guide site describe a detonation dropping a fully shielded Raider to roughly a quarter health, so it is survivable but usually fight-ending. In a squad it is worse, because the Comet drives into the middle of a group on purpose.

Arc Raiders Comet Guide: Weak Point, Igniter and Counters

The Comet rolls at you and self destructs. Where its weak point is, what Embark says to shoot it with, and why letting it explode costs you the Igniter.

Category: ARC Machines, Every Enemy · Updated 2026-08-03

The Comet arrived with the Shrouded Sky update, patch 1.17.0. Embark's announcement describes it as "a spherical ARC machine that calmly patrols the surface, until it comes across an unsuspecting Raider. You better not let this one get too close, once it sees you, it will lock on with a frightening focus before exploding with a seismic boom."

It is a rolling suicide bomb, and the whole fight is a race to kill it before it detonates itself.

What you are looking at

The community wiki lists the Comet with Heavy armor and 150 health, one weakness at the core, and one attack, the explosion. Killing it awards 100 XP, with another 200 each for scavenging the core and the ring. Neither Embark nor the wiki tiers ARC machines, so ignore the "medium tier" label two guide sites use. The useful read is that the plating is the problem, not the health pool. No source publishes comparable health figures for other ARC machines, so take 150 as a raw number rather than proof it dies fast.

How you know it is there

The wiki says Comets roam and are "commonly found by larger ARC," matching the guide-site framing of an expendable escort swarming around Bastions, Queens and other high value targets. The wiki's own wording is enough to act on: near a large ARC in open ground, expect one.

One guide site describes a light strip that runs yellow while it is suspicious and red on lock-on, then a stop, a whine and the shell opening. Single unverified source, though the opening matches Embark and the wiki.

How it attacks

There is one attack. It spots you, rolls at you at high speed, closes, and self-destructs in a seismic explosion. Embark says the explosive range is broad and the impact is strong, and that you do not want to be near it once the self destruction sequence begins. No source publishes a blast radius. One guide site is the only place with a damage figure at all, and it is narrower than it gets repeated as: a detonation leaves a fully charged Light Shield at roughly 25 percent, with comparable damage to health. Nobody has published what it does through a heavier shield.

The squad behavior is what actually kills people. Nora, Tech Designer at Embark: "When in a group, spread out. The Comet will try to get in the middle of your squad to inflict maximum damage." The wiki agrees in its own words, that it positions itself to hit the most Raiders at once. Grouping up is the mistake.

The wiki's ARC page says to climb to avoid one if you are ambushed and to dodge sideways before it explodes. Note the wording: climb to avoid, not climb to reset targeting. Steam players disagree over whether elevation prevents the detonation at all.

Where to shoot it

The core. Every source agrees. The disagreement is about how you expose it. Embark gives three routes in one article:

David, Senior Game Designer: "Aggro the Comet from a distance. It'll open up, exposing the inner weak point."
Victor, Game Programmer: "Shoot off the armor plating on the sides."
Victor again, on the high risk version: "Unless of course the Comet is charging... you may be able to attack its weak spot from the front... just don't miss!"

The wiki confirms the mechanic. During the charge the shell opens and exposes the innards, and shooting that middle point before detonation destroys the Comet without triggering the explosion. That is the kill you want every time. One guide site lists a specific core damage multiplier, no other source repeats the figure, so do not build a plan around it.

What to bring, and why sources fight about it

This is the one place where the usual ARC advice breaks down.

Embark's line comes from Oskar, Code and Animation Developer: "Use automatic weapons." "Heavy weapons like the Anvil or Ferro will only get you so far here." On ammo he hedges rather than instructs: "You might find switching the armor piercing ammo for something with a greater fire rate will allow you to weaken the Comet faster."

The community wiki's own ARC tips row says the opposite: "Heavy Ammo or Grenades recommended." One guide site goes further and calls the Hullcracker, Ferro or Anvil mandatory, and a second recommends the same three alongside heavy grenades.

The honest read, offered as a read and not a fact: the exposed core window is short, so shots on target beat penetration per shot, which is why Embark points at fire rate. Nobody has published per-ammo figures against the Comet, so if heavy ammo is what you have loaded, use it. See loadouts.

Grenades are the one thing everybody agrees on. The wiki says 2 to 3 Seeker Grenades strip the armor without damaging the igniter, and Steam players call them cheap to craft and recommend them more often than anything else. One site reports a Wolfpack one-shotting a trailing Comet and a Showstopper stunning it long enough to shoot the core, both unverified.

The mistake that costs you the loot

Letting it explode. Unanimous across sources, and it is a loot problem as much as a survival one.

A Comet that self-destructs leaves only its ring to search. One you kill first leaves two searchable pieces, and the core is the one holding the Comet Igniter. Players regularly assume the drop rate is bugged when what happened is they let it detonate and found a metal ring.

The Igniter is the reason to fight one at all. The wiki lists it as an ingredient for a Deadline at an Explosives Station 3, alongside Explosive Compounds and ARC Circuitry, and as a required item for the Collision Course quest. The rest of the drop table runs ARC Alloy, Crude Explosives, ARC Coolant, ARC Thermo Lining, Explosive Compound and Advanced ARC Powercell, so check items and keep or sell first.

Where it spawns

It arrived in patch 1.17.0, announced in Embark's Shrouded Sky content post. The patch notes themselves cover the new Hurricane condition but never name the Comet. One guide site wrongly credits Flashpoint.

Guide sites consistently name four maps: Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, The Spaceport and The Blue Gate. Whether it also appears on Riven Tides or Stella Montis is contradicted between sources, so we are not calling it. The current roster is on maps.

Two conditions repeat across those sources. Comets spawn outdoors only, in open areas with sky access, never indoors. Hurricane weather raises the spawn rate but is not required, and nobody quantifies the increase.

When to leave it alone

Kill it before you engage what it is guarding. The wiki and a guide site both say experienced Raiders clear Comets before engaging the targets they escort, and it is the strongest reason to fight one. The logic is plain enough: you do not want one closing on you while you are committed to something bigger.

If it is alone, in the open, and you do not need an Igniter, walking away is defensible. Steam players complain openly about the difficulty to reward ratio, because speed plus armor makes a pre-detonation kill hard.

The one non-negotiable: in a squad, spread out before you shoot. See guides and ARC AI for the rest of the roster.

This is a fan-made companion site, not affiliated with Embark Studios. Quotes come from Embark's own Firefly and Comet tips article, everything else from the community wiki, player-run guide sites and the Steam forums, with every disagreement flagged.

Frequently asked questions

How do you kill a Comet in Arc Raiders?: Embark's own tips article gives three approaches: aggro it from a distance so it opens up and exposes the inner weak point, shoot the armor plating off its sides, or hold your ground while it charges and hit the weak spot from the front. The community wiki confirms that shooting the exposed middle point before detonation destroys the Comet without triggering the explosion. Two to three Seeker Grenades also strip the armor, and the wiki notes they do it without damaging the igniter inside.
What is the Comet's weak point in Arc Raiders?: The core, and every source agrees on that. The community wiki lists the core as the Comet's only weakness, and says the armor shell opens during the charge to expose the innards. Embark's developers describe the same thing from the player side: aggro it from range and it opens up, or strip the side plating to get through. One guide site publishes a core damage multiplier, but no other source repeats that figure.
How do you get the Comet Igniter in Arc Raiders?: Kill the Comet before it self-destructs, then scavenge the core. A Comet that detonates leaves only its ring to search, while one you destroy first leaves two searchable pieces, and the Igniter is in the core. Players often assume the drop rate is bugged when what actually happened is they let it explode and found a metal ring. The wiki lists the Igniter as an ingredient for a Deadline at an Explosives Station 3 and as a required item for the Collision Course quest.
What weapons work best against the Comet in Arc Raiders?: This is genuinely contested. Embark's Oskar says to use automatic weapons, that heavy weapons like the Anvil or Ferro will only get you so far, and that trading armor piercing ammo for a greater fire rate weakens the Comet faster. The community wiki's own ARC tips say the opposite, recommending Heavy Ammo or grenades, and several guide sites call the Anvil, Ferro or Hullcracker mandatory. The one point of agreement is grenades: the wiki puts a Comet's armor at two to three Seeker Grenades.
Where do Comets spawn in Arc Raiders?: The Comet was introduced in patch 1.17.0, the Shrouded Sky update. Guide sites consistently name four maps, Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, The Spaceport and The Blue Gate, while whether it appears on Riven Tides or Stella Montis is contradicted between sources. Those same sources agree it spawns outdoors only, in open areas with sky access, and that Hurricane weather raises the spawn rate without being required for one to appear.
How much damage does a Comet explosion do in Arc Raiders?: No source publishes a blast radius or a damage number. Embark says only that the explosive range is broad and the impact is strong, and that you do not want to be near a Comet once its self destruction sequence begins. The community wiki and one guide site describe a detonation dropping a fully shielded Raider to roughly a quarter health, so it is survivable but usually fight-ending. In a squad it is worse, because the Comet drives into the middle of a group on purpose.