New to ARC Raiders and watching your good gear vanish every time someone rats you at extraction? The fix isn't a better gun — it's a cheaper, replaceable loadout you can afford to lose ten times in a row while you learn the maps. In an extraction shooter where death means you drop everything you're carrying except your safe pocket, the smartest early-game build is the one that costs almost nothing and still kills bots and panicked players.
This guide covers the best beginner loadout in ARC Raiders: the free starter kit, the cheapest reliable weapons (with exact in-game stats), which shield to wear, the one augment to slot, the meds and gadgets to pack, and where to actually run it. Every weapon stat and mechanic here is checked against the official ARC Raiders Wiki and arcraiders.com — not secondary trackers.
Quick answer (TLDR): The best beginner loadout is a Free Loadout (zero cost, unlimited re-runs) or a cheap crafted kit built around a Kettle assault rifle (8.5 dmg, light ammo) or Stitcher SMG (6.5 dmg, fast reload) as primary, a Light Shield (40 charge, 40% mitigation, no movement penalty), Bandages + a Shield Recharger for sustain, and a couple of grenades. Run it on Dam Battlegrounds (balanced loot, all skill levels) until you've banked ~5,000 coins, never put anything in your loadout you can't afford to lose, and stash one valuable in your Safe Pocket every raid. Read on for the full build, the weapon tier table, and veteran tips.
Why Does Your Beginner Loadout Matter in ARC Raiders?
ARC Raiders is a PvPvE extraction shooter: you drop topside, scavenge, fight ARC machines and other Raiders, then have to extract to keep anything. The core rule that breaks every new player: die and you lose everything you were carrying — except whatever sits in your Safe Pocket. Your shiny crafted rifle, your meds, your loot? Gone, in one bad fight.
So your first hundred raids are tuition, and you want that tuition cheap. Over-investing early is the classic beginner mistake — you craft an expensive kit, get third-partied at the hatch, and rage-quit down 8,000 coins. The correct beginner mindset is the one every veteran in the community repeats: don't get attached to gear. Treat every item topside as borrowed. A loadout you can rebuild for free or for pocket change lets you take fights, learn the maps, and bank skill instead of bleeding money.
That's exactly what the Free Loadout system is for.
How Do Loadouts Work in ARC Raiders?
Before the build, understand the four things every loadout is made of: a weapon, a shield, an augment, and your quick-use items (meds + gadgets). Plus the one slot that survives death — the Safe Pocket.
The Free Loadout — your unlimited starter kit
The single best beginner tool in the game is free. A Free Loadout hands you a basic random kit — a rank 1 (gray) weapon, a Light ("green") Shield, one stack of ammo, a few meds, and a gadget or two — at no cost. Per the ARC Raiders Wiki, the weapon you get is "a low-tier, basic weapon like a Kettle, Stitcher, or Ferro." The trade-off, stated right on the loadout screen: a Free Loadout has fewer inventory slots and no Safe Pocket — so anything you loot on a free run only comes home if you extract alive.
The killer detail: Free Loadouts have no cooldown and no limit. Unlike most extraction shooters, ARC Raiders doesn't make you wait between free runs — die, and you can immediately queue another. That makes the Free Loadout the perfect risk-free way to learn maps, practise dodging ARC, and farm loot with literally nothing to lose.
Shields — wear the Light Shield to start
Your shield is your effective health buffer. There are three tiers, and beginners should run Light until they have coin to spare:
| Shield | Shield charge | Damage mitigation | Movement penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (green) | 40 | 40% | None — full speed |
| Medium | 70 | 42.5% | −5% move speed |
| Heavy | 80 | 52.5% | −15% move speed |
The Light Shield is what the free kit gives you, it's the cheapest to replace, and its zero movement penalty keeps you mobile — which matters far more than raw mitigation when you're still learning to reposition and disengage.
The augment — slot the Free Loadout Augment (or run naked)
You equip one augment per Raider, and you cannot swap it once you're deployed topside. The starter is the Free Loadout Augment (Common, 35.0 weight) — note it only supports a Light shield, which is fine for beginners. A common cheap-kit trick on a custom loadout: a Light shield with no augment at all still gives you the basic "naked" Safe Pocket, so you keep one item on death for almost no investment.
The Safe Pocket — your one guaranteed keep
The Safe Pocket holds the single item you keep when you die — but you only get one on a custom loadout (a Free Loadout has none, as noted above). Rule of thumb: the moment you loot anything valuable — a blueprint, a rare material, a high-tier weapon — drop it in the Safe Pocket immediately. The most common new-player tragedy is finding a great blueprint, getting knocked, and walking away with nothing because it was still in your backpack.
What Is the Best Beginner Loadout in ARC Raiders?
Here's the exact kit to run once you've graduated from pure free runs and want a cheap crafted loadout that punches up:
- Primary weapon: Kettle (Assault Rifle, light ammo, 8.5 dmg) — forgiving, cheap to craft, cheap to feed. The all-rounder beginner gun.
- Secondary / close-range: Stitcher (SMG, light ammo, 6.5 dmg, fast reload) — shreds at close range and uses the same light ammo as the Kettle, so you only carry one ammo type. Far more efficient for panicky CQB than the Rattler.
- Shield: Light Shield (40 charge, 40% mitigation, no move penalty).
- Augment: Free Loadout Augment (or none, for true free runs).
- Meds: Bandages (the staple early heal — quick, cheap, craftable mid-raid from found materials) + a Shield Recharger to top your shield back up between fights.
- Gadgets: a Light/Impact Grenade for grouped enemies, and — once you find the blueprint — a Seeker Grenade, which homes onto the nearest flying ARC. One Seeker kills a Wasp; two kill a Hornet. It's the cheat code for the small flyers (Wasps, Hornets, Snitches) that punish new players.
Total cost: a few hundred coins, or free if you stick to the Free Loadout. Either version kills bots and wins most fights against equally-geared newcomers.
Which Cheap Weapons Are Best for Beginners?
Stick to light- and medium-ammo guns early — the ammo is everywhere and the recoil is manageable. Here's the verified beginner-friendly shortlist (stats from the ARC Raiders Wiki):
| Weapon | Type | Ammo | Damage | Why it's beginner-friendly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kettle | Assault Rifle | Light | 8.5 | Best all-round starter; cheap to craft & feed |
| Stitcher | SMG | Light | 6.5 | Fast reload, deadly up close, shares light ammo |
| Ferro | Battle Rifle | Heavy | 40 | High per-shot punch; great for bots, but heavy ammo is pricier |
| Rattler | Assault Rifle | Medium | 9 | Solid full-auto if you prefer medium ammo |
| Il Toro | Shotgun | Shotgun | 67.5 | Huge close-range burst for holding doorways |
| Anvil | Hand Cannon | Heavy | 40 | Hard-hitting sidearm once you can afford heavy ammo |
Recommended pairing: Kettle + Stitcher (both light ammo) is the cleanest beginner combo — one ammo type, good range coverage, both cheap. Graduate to a Ferro or Anvil for bot-killing once your economy can sustain heavy ammo.
Where Should You Run Your Beginner Loadout?
Gear is only half the build — where you queue decides how fast you die.
- Dam Battlegrounds is the beginner home map: balanced loot, all skill levels, varied terrain to practise sightlines and disengaging. Start here.
- Stella Montis is technically the endgame zone (Level 25+, the smallest map, the highest-value loot), but it's also a popular free-kit loot run for new players: the loot density is enormous and there's nothing to lose on a free run. The trade-off is it's a maze and the fights are harder — go for loot, avoid the obvious hot spots like the main Lobby, and extract early. It's also where the Seeker Grenade Blueprint drops (every drawer, locker, breachable cabinet and metal crate has a chance).
Whichever map you pick: loot everything and pour your early coin into upgrading your Stash space in Speranza. More stash = more materials banked = faster crafting and a real economy, which is what actually ends the "I keep losing everything" phase.
Veteran rule, straight from the community: "Don't get attached to loot — expect someone to take your stuff at some point." Internalise that and the early game stops being painful.
Tips From Experienced Raiders
Mined from active new-player threads on r/ArcRaiders, these are the beginner tips that come up over and over:
- Want PvE-friendly lobbies? Don't shoot back, and don't run pink gear. Players read your kit after they kill you, but flashy rare (pink) weapons and attachments mark you as a target. A plain cheap kit draws less aggression.
- Keep your head on a swivel. You're at risk of a third-party at all times — don't frolic in the open or rush blindly through doors. Most beginner deaths are positioning, not aim.
- Bank skill, not gear, for your first ~15 runs. Run free loadouts, craft only Mk.1 augments from cheap materials, and don't touch expensive crafts until you've saved ~5,000 coins.
- Always Safe-Pocket your best find. One valuable per raid guaranteed home beats a full backpack you might lose.
- Take the L and re-queue. Free Loadouts have no cooldown — a death costs you nothing but 30 seconds. That's the whole point.
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FAQ
What is the best beginner loadout in ARC Raiders? A Free Loadout, or a cheap crafted kit: a Kettle (8.5 dmg AR) or Stitcher (6.5 dmg SMG) primary, a Light Shield (40 charge, no move penalty), Bandages + a Shield Recharger, and a couple of grenades. It costs almost nothing and still wins early fights.
Should I use Free Loadouts as a new player? Yes — constantly. They're free, give you a basic weapon + Light Shield + ammo + meds, and have no cooldown or limit. They're the best risk-free way to learn maps and farm loot with nothing to lose.
What's the best map for beginners? Dam Battlegrounds — balanced loot and all skill levels. Stella Montis is great for high-density free-kit loot runs but is harder and maze-like, so go for loot and extract early.
How do I get PvE-friendly (carebear) lobbies? Don't shoot back at other Raiders and avoid flashy pink/rare weapons and attachments — a plain cheap kit draws far less PvP aggression.
What should I put in my Safe Pocket? Your single most valuable find each raid — a blueprint, a rare material, or a high-tier weapon. The Safe Pocket is the one thing you keep when you die, so fill it the moment you loot something good.
What's the best grenade against flying ARC enemies? The Seeker Grenade — it homes onto the nearest flying ARC. One kills a Wasp, two kill a Hornet. Its blueprint drops from containers on Stella Montis.
When should I stop using free kits and craft a real loadout? Once you've banked roughly 5,000 coins and have a comfortable feel for the maps. Until then, free runs and Mk.1 augments keep your economy growing instead of bleeding.
Sources: ARC Raiders Wiki — Weapons, Free Loadout, Seeker Grenade, and arcraiders.com. Beginner tips sourced from the r/ArcRaiders community. Written by the timesaver.gg ARC Raiders team.
