Arc Raiders – All enemies and how to kill them

While PvP may sound the most dangerous, when you think of extraction shooters, Arclight Guide Might change your mind. You'll encounter a variety of ARC robot enemies that can deal devastating damage and quickly send you back to Speranza with nothing to gain. Below, we'll detail every enemy you're likely to encounter in Arc Raiders and how to deal with them.

basic enemies

These enemy types are the ones you'll encounter frequently, or for the most part don't pose nearly the same threat as their larger cousins. That's not to say they aren't challenges, of course, but you should be able to easily tackle all of them with basic weapons without running into too much trouble.

wasp

weakness: Thruster

The Wasp is the most basic general enemy in Arc Raiders, and it's probably the enemy you'll encounter most often while exploring. It can be dangerous – especially in groups – because its gun fires very quickly, and if it catches you outside cover, it can quickly whittle away at your health. However, it can be easily knocked down by almost any weapon as long as you shoot any of its four thrusters, which usually results in them losing control and crashing.

Bumblebee

weakness: rear thruster

Essentially, you can think of a bumblebee as a more powerful version of a wasp. It fires electric shocks at you, dealing damage and disrupting your movement, making you an easy target. It's best to use enough cover, then crouch down and take out the two exposed rear thrusters (its front thrusters are well protected) to allow it to swing around and crash.

informer

weakness: Bottom surface plating

Snitch is a reconnaissance ARC that can easily detect you via laser scanning if you're nearby. While it won't attack you directly, you'll need to kill it quickly when spotted or risk it summoning extra support from the sky (two wasps and a hornet), which will make things a lot busier for you. The quickest way to eliminate this scout pest is to shoot the plating on its underside. Usually, snapping off two of the three parts of this plating is enough to remove it.

fireball

weakness: Core (when open)

Fireball is a ground ARC that quickly chases you and unleashes a flamethrower on you, which drains your health very quickly. You can bombard it with heavy weapons and take it down with just a few shots as it moves, but if you use a light ammo weapon you're better off waiting until it exposes its core before shooting to get the most out of your bullets. Otherwise, you might waste ammo piercing its shell.

pod

weakness: not applicable

Pop is another ground-based ARC, but this one chases you at incredible speeds before exploding and dealing massive damage to your shields and health. Because it often roams in groups, a few of them attacking you at the same time could send you back down the hall in the blink of an eye. Luckily, it's easy to kill with just one or two shots from any gun, so timing and accuracy are more important than anything else.

Tick

weakness: not applicable

Ticks are annoying little spider-like predators of ARCs that roam the interior rooms of buildings. It's very fast and agile, and if not killed in time, it will jump on you and stick to you until you throw it away, dealing damage in the process. It can be troublesome if not dealt with in a timely manner, but it moves so fast that it can be a challenge to photograph. In most situations, it's best to whip out your Reaver's Tool (a melee weapon) and swing it around for a quiet one-hit kill.

Flush

weakness: not applicable

You can find turrets in various rooms throughout the top. It scans the room with blue light that turns red once it locks onto you. If you're caught in its sights while it's aware of you, you can expect a barrage of bullets to eat away at your shields and health with no remorse. It's best to sneak up and get a good out-of-sight angle and fire some bullets into it. Heavy ammo will obviously be faster, but any ammo type will take down this ARC relatively quickly.

sentinel

weakness: yellow can

The Sentinel is a more powerful, ranged version of the standard turret. Rarely found in large indoor locations but more commonly found outdoors, this enemy can target you from far away and unleash a very powerful sniper-like shot that destroys your shields and health. Therefore, it is best to approach this ARC from behind as much as possible and take it out with a gun that uses heavy ammo, as it has much more health than a standard turret. Alternatively, you can shoot its yellow canister with any weapon to deal more damage, although shooting it from certain angles can be difficult.

special enemy

These ARCs are large, “boss”-style enemies that are less common than other enemy types you often encounter. Taking them out requires a lot of effort, and is usually best dealt with by one or two attackers wielding launchers (such as shellbreakers) and other heavy weaponry.

We'll cover how to take down these enemies “normally” in each list, but keep in mind that a well-equipped raider can quickly dispatch each of them with enough grenades. A Wolfpack grenade or two is usually enough to take down almost any enemy except the Queen, and even placing an explosive grenade on any of them can put them on the brink of death. Therefore, as long as you have free resources, we recommend that you adopt this method to save yourself some trouble.

jump

weakness: face and legs

Leaper is a truly large-scale ARC. It can land on you across long distances and deal massive damage, and it can fire short-range shockwaves that damage you when you stand nearby. The best way to deal with this enemy is to find a building with a door that you can stand in, preventing the jumper from jumping to you, and then fire heavy rounds into its legs and face, shattering its armor.

A jumper's legs can be destroyed individually, reducing its mobility and stability. With this in mind, you and your team should focus on the same leg when shooting together to increase your chances of staggering this large enemy, and then turn your attention to its face if possible. With the right shots (and some grenades, if you have any), it'll come down faster than you think.

Rocketeer

weakness: Thruster

The Rocketeer looks a bit like a Super Hornet, but it's much more dangerous. Once this terrifying flying ARC spots you, you need to run for cover inside like your life depends on it – because it does. The Rocketeer will periodically fire rockets at you which (surprisingly) can absolutely destroy your shields and health in a single attack. To make matters worse, the rockets deal splash damage in a fairly large radius around where they hit, meaning you're unlikely to be able to dodge them even if you perform a decent roll in time.

To take down a Rocketeer, you'll need to use a heavy ammo weapon or a grenade to break the armor plates on its thrusters, then blow up the exposed inner metal. If it's still hanging on after you destroy a thruster or two, some shots into its body with heavy ammo or launcher ammo should put an end to it.

A single Wolfpack grenade can also take down rocket grenades, but you need to make sure it is alone when throwing the grenade, as the rocket grenade will split into 12 mini homing missiles and target up to 3 nearby ARC enemies. You don't want these missiles wasting their impact on small drones, so isolate the rocketeer and enjoy the fireworks.

fortress

weakness: Legs and back of yellow jar

The Fortress is a giant, crab-like ARC that wanders the open areas of various maps. Once it becomes aware of your presence, it unleashes rapid machine gun fire that will melt your body so quickly that you may be dead before you know what's happening to your health. With this in mind, only fight this enemy when you have adequate cover. As long as you can kite it around a large object or hide in a corner, you can easily attack it in between rounds of gunfire.

When looking to take down this beast, you'll need to target the yellow spots on its leg joints. Destroying one of its legs will cause it to fall to the ground for a moment, which is the perfect opportunity for you and your team to get behind it and shoot the yellow canisters on its back. When these weak points take enough damage, it will eventually drop.

bombardier

weakness: Legs and back of yellow jar

Pomadi is almost identical to Bastion except for its color, but its attacks are actually more deadly and difficult to manage. Unlike the fortress, you will avoid mortar fire from this large arc cannon. Getting hit by an explosion can be devastating, so you'll need to stay in cover as much as possible – or get really good at dodging at the right moment. The accuracy of these mortar attacks increases if you're spotted by a scout (actually an informer who gives orders to the hulking machine). If their yellow laser pinpoints your location, you'll be in a lot of trouble – so make sure you shoot them down as soon as you see them.

The Bombardier was shot down in the same manner as the Fortress. You need to target its yellow knees, throw it to the ground, then go around behind it and fire a large number of bullets into the yellow canisters on its back. Deal enough damage to all of these weak points and you'll wipe the monster off the face of the earth.

Queen

weakness: legs and face

Queen is currently the largest ARC in the game, Appears only in harvester map conditions. This absolutely massive robot can take out entire groups of attackers with ease, making it arguably the toughest enemy in the game, and often requiring the combined efforts of multiple trios to take it down. When discovered in an open area, it will fire an extremely powerful laser at you and your team, and fire mortar fire to deal damage to an area. If you get too close, it can even use ground slam or electromagnetic pulse to take you out quickly. When you add in all the extra ARC generated in combat, this is a recipe for disaster.

Similar to other large ARC enemies, you'll need to target the Queen's leg joints and face, strip away its protective armor, and then wail at its exposed inner metal. If you want to do anything to help your team take down this boss, you'll absolutely need to bring a heavy weapon or a shellbreaker – and even then, it'll take a long time to complete. Honestly, the best way to handle this fight is to bring a bunch of Wolfpack grenades to blow up the monster. Without them, you could be fighting in this situation for quite some time, and one wrong move could send your team back to the lobby.

For more information, check out our Complete Arc Raiders mission list.