ARC Raiders 1.39.0 Matchmaking Update: Defending Yourself No Longer Counts Against You

Quick answer

In ARC Raiders Update 1.39.0 (released July 28, 2026; PS5/console patch 1.000.052), defending yourself no longer affects your matchmaking. Embark is testing a change where only the fights you choose to start influence your playstyle estimate — the hidden, continuous rating that leans you toward calmer or more violent lobbies over time. Fighting back, including knocking out an enemy who shot first, now counts for nothing. If the other squad damages, downs, or knocks out one of your squadmates first, your whole squad is flagged as the defender, and the squad that struck first "started" the fight. Third-partying an ongoing fight still counts as starting one.

Below: exactly how the system decides who started a fight, what this means for your raids, the "jump in front of your gun" workaround players are already worried about, and every other change in the 1.39.0 patch.

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ARC Raiders' matchmaking has been the single most-argued topic in the community for months, and Update 1.39.0 delivers the change most players have been asking for. For the first time, you can shoot back at an aggressor — even wipe their squad — without nudging yourself toward sweatier lobbies for the rest of the session. This guide breaks down the official patch notes, how the "who started it" logic actually reads an encounter, the counterplay to the aggro-baiting workaround players are already discussing, and how to adjust your loadout now that self-defense is finally free.

What changed in ARC Raiders 1.39.0?

Live Update 1.39.0 went live on July 28, 2026 (PS5/console patch 1.000.052) and is headlined by a matchmaking test called Testing Defensive PvP, alongside grenade fixes, trinket stacking, a new store outfit, and a batch of map and stability fixes.

Embark calls this playstyle-based matchmaking, built around a hidden playstyle estimate; the community's shorthand for it is ABMM (aggression-based matchmaking). It's not two fixed lobby buckets or a number you can see — it's a continuous estimate, shaped by how you play across many raids, that tries to place you with players who raid the way you do. Loot-focused, avoid-fights players lean toward calmer ("carebear") lobbies; players who hunt other raiders lean toward violent, kill-on-sight ("KOS") lobbies.

Before 1.39.0, self-defense already counted less than starting a fight, but it still counted. Embark's own Live Update 1.39.0 patch notes state the community response and the next step directly:

"The most common follow-up request we've seen is to remove the impact of Defensive PvP entirely — going from reduced weight to none at all. Starting now, we're testing exactly that. During the test, only the fights you choose to start will influence your playstyle estimate, and defending yourself won't affect it at all. This includes knocking out enemies who attacked you first." — Embark Studios, Live Update 1.39.0 patch notes

That last line is the big one: you can fully wipe a squad that ambushed you and it will not move your playstyle estimate toward the aggressive end.

Does defending yourself affect matchmaking in ARC Raiders now?

No. As of Update 1.39.0, defending yourself has zero impact on your playstyle estimate during the test. That includes returning fire, winning the fight, and knocking out the raiders who attacked you first. Only fights you choose to initiate move your matchmaking profile.

This is a genuine shift from earlier seasons, where cautious loot players avoided firing back at all — even when they clearly had the advantage — purely to protect their lobby quality. Under 1.39.0 that trade-off is gone: self-defense is "free."

How does ARC Raiders decide who started the fight?

Because "defending" now carries no penalty and "starting" does, the whole system hinges on which squad is flagged as the aggressor. Embark spelled out three rules for how an encounter is read:

Rule	How it works
Who's defending	If the other squad damages, downs, or knocks out any of your squadmates first, your whole squad counts as defending. The squad that strikes first is the one that "started" the fight.
How it's weighed	The more serious the fight, the more it counts. A drawn-out firefight — more damage dealt, more raiders downed — weighs heavily. A stray accidental hit, or a brief exchange where the other squad flees after minimal damage, still counts as starting a fight but weighs far less.
Third-partying	Jumping into a fight between two other squads that's already underway counts as starting a fight, too.

The practical takeaways:

• Squad-wide flagging. You don't have to personally be the one who got shot. If any teammate is hit, downed, or knocked first, the entire trio is the defender.
• Severity scales the score. A tiny accidental tap won't drag your rating far, but it still registers as aggression — so no, a "stray shot" isn't a loophole to grief someone for free.
• Third-party carefully. Rolling up on an existing gunfight to clean up loot marks you as an initiator, even though you didn't start the original engagement.

What is ABMM (aggression-based matchmaking)?

ABMM is the community shorthand for the system that estimates your playstyle and matches you accordingly. It isn't a visible number in-game — it's a hidden estimate Embark builds from how you actually play across raids. Start fights often and you drift toward lobbies with other aggressive raiders; loot quietly and extract and you drift toward calmer sessions.

The design goal is to let both playstyles coexist: a PvP-hungry player and a loot-and-extract player shouldn't be forced into the same experience every raid. The friction has always been the edge cases — and self-defense was the biggest one. A loot player who fought back to survive was being pushed toward the same violent lobbies as the players hunting them. Removing Defensive PvP from the estimate is Embark's fix for exactly that complaint.

The ABMM "workaround" — and how to counter it

Within hours of 1.39.0 going live, a concern surfaced in community discussion on r/ArcRaiders: if defending is free and starting is punished, an aggro-baiter could try to bait you into being the aggressor so they stay in calmer lobbies. (This is player speculation, not an Embark-confirmed exploit.) The two variations being talked about:

• Jumping in front of your gun. A player deliberately runs into your line of fire (say, while you're shooting an ARC machine) so that you tag them first — flagging you as the initiator.
• Getting shot on purpose to shoot back. Provoking you into firing, then fighting back as the "defender."

Here's the important nuance, straight from the rules above: if your goal is to protect your playstyle estimate, the correct response is to stop firing and disengage — not to "win" the fight. Once your shot makes your squad the initiator, downing or knocking out the baiter makes the encounter more serious, which weighs more heavily, not less. So finishing them is the opposite of damage control.

The practical read from the community:

• If you don't care about your estimate, just kill the baiter — a marginal shift in a continuous playstyle score is a fine price for the loot, and one engagement won't instantly throw you into sweat lobbies.
• If you do care, break contact: stop shooting, put cover between you, and move on. No initiated damage means no aggressor flag.
• Call it out in group play. A quick "careful, [descriptor] is baiting aggro" helps the group recognize the behavior. Many players expect the tactic to be more nuisance than meta, though that's community sentiment, not a proven outcome.

It's worth keeping perspective on the penalty itself. Embark describes the playstyle estimate as a continuous scale that shifts gradually over time based on how you play across many raids — a single shot or knockout does not immediately reclassify you. Players who enjoy occasional PvP report that initiating fights now and then doesn't lock them into violent lobbies; your estimate drifts back as your later raids stay calmer, but expect that to happen over time rather than instantly.

Other changes in ARC Raiders Update 1.39.0

The matchmaking test is the headline, but 1.39.0 shipped several fixes and additions worth knowing:

• Grenade damage fixed. The Seeker Grenade and Wolfpack Grenade should no longer deal inconsistent damage — a real reliability win for anti-personnel and anti-ARC throws.
• Trinkets stack. Trinkets introduced with the Converging Paths project (originally added in 1.33.0) now stack like other trinkets, and their drop rates were adjusted for more consistent looting across maps.
• New Dweller Outfit. A new cosmetic Dweller Outfit is available in the store.
• THE FINALS crossover reminder. You have until July 30 at 3PM CEST to finish the required Contracts in THE FINALS and earn the Azimuth outfit + Archaeologist Backpack bundle in ARC Raiders. After that, the Azimuth bundle becomes earnable in THE FINALS by playing ARC Raiders instead.
• Map fixes. Clipping, floating props, landscape holes, and stuck-spots fixed on Dam Battlegrounds; collision/clipping and invisible-obstacle fixes on Buried City, plus a closed Snap Hook out-of-bounds exploit.
• Stability + audio. Fixed a startup crash and a bug that stranded players in the End of Round tunnel; improved in-water footstep audio and added Dodge Roll sound variations.
• Follow-up matchmaking changes still live. The Solo / Duo / Trio tracking from 1.36.0 and the matchmaking optimization from 1.38.0 both remain active while Embark monitors metrics. There's an official matchmaking survey collecting player feedback alongside the telemetry.

What the change means for your raids

For loot-first players, 1.39.0 removes the biggest reason to play passively: you no longer "pay" for surviving an ambush. Kit up properly and defend your extracts — winning a defensive fight is now pure upside.

For PvP players, nothing about your aggression math changed except that your victims can now shoot back without consequence, so expect defenders to be more willing to commit. Picking clean, decisive first engagements (and avoiding messy third-parties you don't need) keeps your lobby quality where you want it.

Either way, the practical move is the same: run gear you can actually fight with. Now that self-defense is free, being under-kitted is the only thing still costing you fights.

Gear up so self-defense actually wins the fight:

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For more on how the system evolved, see our breakdown of the 1.38.0 matchmaking optimization test, how solo-friendly lobbies and matchmaking work, and the original aggression-based matchmaking explainer.

FAQ

Does defending myself still hurt my matchmaking in ARC Raiders 1.39.0? No. During the 1.39.0 test, defending yourself has zero effect on your playstyle estimate — including knocking out enemies who attacked you first. Only fights you choose to start count.

What counts as "starting a fight" in ARC Raiders? Being the first squad to damage, down, or knock out a member of another squad. If the other squad hits you first, your whole squad is the defender and they're the aggressor. Severity matters: a long firefight weighs heavily, while a stray hit or a brief skirmish weighs far less — but it still registers as starting a fight.

Does third-partying count as starting a fight? Yes. Jumping into a fight between two other squads that's already underway counts as starting a fight, even though you didn't begin the original engagement. If you want to protect your lobby rating, be selective about the third-parties you commit to.

Can players abuse this by jumping in front of my gun? They can try — the concern raised by players is that an aggro-baiter runs into your fire so you get flagged as the aggressor while they stay in calmer lobbies (this is community speculation, not an Embark-confirmed exploit). The key nuance: if protecting your playstyle estimate is the goal, stop firing and disengage — do not finish the baiter, because once your squad deals the first damage, downing or knocking them out makes the encounter weigh more heavily, per Embark's own weighting rules. Only commit to the kill if you're fine accepting the added aggression weight for the loot. In group play, call the behavior out so teammates recognize it.

Is the penalty for starting fights actually that bad? It's a gradual effect, not a hard switch. Embark describes the playstyle estimate as a continuous rating that shifts over time across many raids, so one initiated fight won't immediately reclassify you. Players report that occasional aggression doesn't trap them in violent lobbies — as your later raids stay calmer, your estimate drifts back, but expect that to happen gradually rather than instantly.

Is the Defensive PvP change permanent? Not yet. Embark is running it as a test and will monitor matchmaking metrics and player feedback over the coming weeks before deciding whether to keep it. There's an official matchmaking survey collecting input alongside the data.