ARC Raiders Weapons Tier List: The One Meta Pick You Should Main Right Now

ARC Raiders gives you more than 15 craftable weapons to play with, and yeah, plenty of them are worth the time. A bunch are not. Some shred ARCs, some only really shine in PvP, and a few are dead weight you carry until you regret it. Here is the full breakdown, clean and simple, so you know what to build, what to stash, and what to avoid.

1. S-Tier

   These are your monsters. They hit hard, punch through ARC armor, and carry you from early hiccups to late-game chaos. The tradeoff: they can be heavier, a bit harder to track down, and the weight can cut into what you extract. Worth it.

   Ferro: Single-shot rifle with excellent ARC armor penetration, strong base damage, and it is surprisingly easy to craft. It is heavy, but it slaps both ARCs and Raiders, especially the former. A day-one, last-day kind of gun.

   Anvil: Revolver that behaves like a lighter, friendlier Ferro. Great damage, strong armor pen, six shots before a reload, and it sips Stamina. Craft it with common materials or just buy it at the Speranza vendors. Works in PvP and PvE without drama.

   Osprey: Full-on sniper with a long-range scope and one job: delete health bars. Moderate ARC armor penetration, but the raw damage is nasty. It is heavy and you need to scope in to really use it, but when you do, it is one of the best weapons in the game.

   Renegade: Battle rifle built for PvP. Moderate ARC penetration, higher weight, but headshots hit like a truck. If you duel other Raiders a lot, this is your optimal pick.

   Venator: This sidearm double-taps with every trigger pull, is lightweight, and has an extremely high damage ceiling. ARC penetration is only moderate, but it still does work on machines and it is a menace in PvP.

   Bettina: A newer AR that showed up swinging. Strong ARC armor penetration and high DPS against players. It is an endgame craft, so you will wait to get it, but once you do, it is a blast.

   Vulcano: One of only two shotguns in ARC Raiders, and its raw damage on players is so high it is basically teetering on broken. Not as hot against ARCs, but the sheer output puts it in S-Tier anyway.

   Jupiter: Built to erase ARCs but nasty against players too. Firmly an endgame weapon and not a quick craft, yet once you have it, it tears through anything you point it at.

2. A-Tier

   Powerful, fun, and mostly straightforward to craft and use. They have a few more quirks than S-Tier, but they carry expeditions just fine.

   Il Toro: The other shotgun. Weak ARC penetration and a slow fire rate, but it melts anything up close. Easy to craft and one of the highest pure damage outputs in the game. Heavy like the Ferro, so be ready to sacrifice some loot space.

   Tempest: The best close-to-mid range PvP all-rounder. Heavy, and its Epic rarity means it is not easy to craft, but once you land it, it chews through ARC armor and Raiders alike.

   Hullcracker: Weird and specific in a good way. It fires a grenade that only detonates on ARCs. Versus machines, it is fantastic. Versus players, it is rough. Great tool if your mission is ARC cleanup.

   Equalizer: A mini-gun with a big magazine and excellent ARC penetration. It is terrible at killing players, but it absolutely rips ARCs and is a legit option for helping bring down the Queen. Endgame gear.

3. B-Tier

   Underrated workhorses. Not top meta, but they have roles where they shine if you build around them.

   Burletta: Think of it as an upgraded Hairpin that hits about as hard as a Rattler or a Stitcher. Lightweight, decent mag, good for cheap PvP skirmishes. Useless against ARCs, but the low weight lets you haul more loot. Quietly solid.

   Torrente: Massive damage with ugly spread. Great for swatting flying ARCs out of the sky and farming, but not reliable in PvP. It is heavy, and crouching to tighten your shots helps a lot.

   Bobcat: Tight control and good up close, but for an Epic it underdelivers on both damage and ARC penetration compared to peers.

4. C-Tier

   More weaknesses than strengths, but they have specific use cases and are easy to find or craft. If you know exactly why you are slotting one, fine. Otherwise, keep moving.

   Stitcher: Base mag of 20, solid DPS, and a high Agility stat that cuts Stamina drain. Lighter than the Rattler, which helps when you are prioritizing loot and extraction back to Speranza. Serviceable in firefights, nothing more.

   Rattler: The only full-auto weapon at Uncommon rarity. Slightly heavier than the Stitcher, but with moderate ARC penetration and less damage falloff, so it stretches to longer ranges better. The 10-round starter mag holds it back, though being able to cancel reloads on the fly is a nice perk.

   Kettle: Single-fire Common AR. You will be spamming the trigger to keep up. The magazine is a decent 20 rounds, but it falls apart at range and reloads slowly.

   Arpeggio: Burst-fire AR with a slow cadence and a big magazine. Moderate ARC penetration on paper, but it trails most alternatives. Useful when you are trading shots from cover; outside that scenario, it feels underpowered.

5. D-Tier

   There is only one resident here, and if you have taken a bad fight with it, you know why.

   Hairpin: Low damage, basically no ARC penetration, and you have to recock after every shot. It is the worst combat pick in ARC Raiders. That said, it is lightweight, comes with a built-in suppressor, and can help if your whole plan is stealth-loot-and-evade. Most players will tell you to ditch it. If you are ghosting through a raid just to grab valuables, it can do the job.

ARC Raiders is from Embark Studios and is set to release October 30, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Out on the Rust Belt, the right kit matters. So, what are you running: Ferro faithful, Jupiter enjoyer, or a Vulcano troublemaker? Drop your favorite loadout and why it works in the comments.