New Player Guide for Arc Raiders

Per the wiki, a first Arc Raiders raid is on Dam Battlegrounds, the lifts close as the timer runs down, and dying loses all you carry outside a safe pocket.

Published 28 March 2026. Updated 4 November 2026.

Starting Arc Raiders

The wiki's Getting Started page says a new Arc Raiders player first goes Topside on Dam Battlegrounds, the one map the wiki's Maps page lists with no unlock requirement, to collect loot and reach an extraction point before the raid ends. The other maps unlock after a number of rounds played, which the same page gives for each. The Maps page says you can go solo or in a group of up to three (the team raid guide covers playing in one), and Getting Started says ARC machines and other Raiders are both a threat.

Your First Loadout

Getting Started, which says some of its details come from its editors' play rather than official sources, suggests a first loadout. It says the looting augment lets you carry more and the combat augment takes a heavier shield: on their wiki pages Looting Mk. 1 takes a Light Shield only and Combat Mk. 1 up to a Medium Shield. It names the Ferro, which fires Heavy Ammo, as a starter weapon and the Stitcher, which fires Light Ammo, as a backup, with Bandages and Shield Rechargers in the quick use slots. The beginner loadout page covers gear in more detail.

Your First Raid

Each raid runs on a timer, which the wiki's Maps page gives for each map, and Getting Started says the open lifts close one by one as it runs down and that a Raider still Topside at the end dies. Pick an extraction point early: the Dam Battlegrounds page names its extraction points, and the survival basics guide covers combat and healing.

When You Die

Getting Started says a Raider who dies loses everything carried, loot and loadout, except what is in a safe pocket, and still earns experience for the round. Take into a raid only what you can afford to lose.

First Encounters

Getting Started says the machines a new Raider most likely meets first are Wasps and Hornets, which patrol and can often be avoided by crouching in cover. Other Raiders may fight you or may not: the page calls the game player versus environment versus player, and says Embark's matchmaking takes a player's behavior in earlier raids into account.

What to Pick Up

Getting Started says to pick up packets of seeds, because Celeste accepts them as currency, and every trade Celeste offers on the traders page is paid in Assorted Seeds. The keep or sell tool gives a call on an item where one is on file.

Resources for New Raiders

The recycling page lists the outputs of every confirmed recycling chain. An item's page in the item database shows what uses it, where something does. The quest tracker lists quests with their objectives and rewards and builds a shopping list of the items you still need.