ARC Raiders Best Weapons Tier List — Every Gun Ranked for PvP & PvE (Best Loadouts)

Picking the right gun is the single biggest decision you make before every raid in ARC Raiders. The wrong weapon means you melt your own loot value on ammo and lose every duel that matters; the right one lets you win extraction fights, melt ARC machines, and walk out with full pockets. This guide ranks every weapon in the game from S-tier to C-tier, separates PvP from PvE picks (they are not the same), and gives you exact loadouts for raiding, fighting ARC, and taking down bosses — all built on the official in-game stat sheet, not guesswork.

Below we break down the full weapon roster by class, give you a master stats table with damage, fire rate, and effective range, explain how ammo type quietly decides your real cost-per-raid, then rank the meta and hand you ready-to-run loadouts.

Why your weapon choice matters more in ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders is a PvPvE extraction shooter: you drop in, fight both human Raiders and AI ARC machines, and try to extract with your gear. Two things make weapon choice unusually high-stakes here.

First, you lose your loadout if you die and don't extract. A weapon isn't just DPS — it's an investment you might never get back, so ammo type and economy matter as much as raw power. Second, the game asks one gun to do two very different jobs: out-shoot other players (who move, peek, and trade) and delete ARC machines (which are tanky, telegraphed, and weak to sustained damage). The guns that top the PvP list are rarely the same ones you want against a Queen or a Rocketeer.

Get this right and you'll spend less on consumables, win more 50/50 fights, and have spare materials to craft instead of grind. That's the whole game.

How weapon stats work (read this before the tier list)

Every ARC Raiders weapon is defined by four things that actually decide fights:

• Damage — per-shot damage. High single-shot guns (battle rifles, snipers, hand cannons) reward accuracy; low-damage, high-fire-rate guns (SMGs) reward tracking.
• Fire rate — how fast it cycles. Multiply damage × fire rate for a rough sustained DPS read, then sanity-check it against range.
• Range — the effective distance before damage falls off hard. A shotgun's huge DPS is meaningless past ~20–26m; a sniper's range is its whole point.
• Ammo type — Light, Medium, Heavy, Shotgun, Energy Clip, or Launcher. This is the hidden tax: Medium ammo is the sweet spot (common, cheap, used by the strongest all-rounders), while Heavy and Launcher ammo are expensive and scarce.

A weapon is "best" only when its damage, range, and ammo cost all line up with the job. That's why the tiers below are split by role.

Master weapon stats table (official)

Every number here comes straight from the in-game weapon sheet. Use it as your single source of truth.

Weapon	Class	Ammo	Damage	Fire Rate	Range
Vulcano	Shotgun	Shotgun	49.5	26.3	26
Il Toro	Shotgun	Shotgun	67.5	14	20
Dolabra	Shotgun	Energy Clip	50/40	—	—
Renegade	Battle Rifle	Medium	35	21	68.8
Ferro	Battle Rifle	Heavy	40	6.6	53.1
Aphelion	Battle Rifle	Energy Clip	25	9	76
Bettina	Assault Rifle	Heavy	16	28.7	52.3
Tempest	Assault Rifle	Medium	10	36.7	55.9
Rattler	Assault Rifle	Medium	9	33.3	56.2
Arpeggio	Assault Rifle	Medium	9.5	18.3	55.9
Kettle	Assault Rifle	Light	8.5	30	42.8
Bobcat	SMG	Light	6	66.7	44
Canto	SMG	Medium	6.5	56.7	51
Stitcher	SMG	Light	6.5	45.3	42.1
Osprey	Sniper Rifle	Medium	45	17.7	80.3
Jupiter	Sniper Rifle	Energy Clip	60	7.7	71.7
Anvil	Hand Cannon	Heavy	40	16.3	50.2
Venator	Pistol	Medium	16	36.7	48.4
Hairpin	Pistol	Light	20	9	38.6
Burletta	Pistol	Light	10	28	41.7
Torrente	LMG	Medium	8	58.3	49.9
Hullcracker	Special	Launcher	100	20.3	38.9
Rascal	Special	Launcher	75	13.7	28.3
Equalizer	Special	Energy Clip	8	33.3	68.6

ARC Raiders weapons tier list (PvP + PvE)

This is the overall meta ranking — how good each weapon is when you account for damage, range, ammo economy, and how often it actually wins fights. Role-specific picks follow below.

S-Tier — the meta winners

• Renegade (Battle Rifle, Medium): The single best all-rounder in the game. 35 damage per shot, a strong 21 fire rate, and 68.8m range — all on cheap, common Medium ammo. It wins long-range PvP trades, two-taps squishy enemies, and never bankrupts you on ammo. If you only main one gun, main this.
• Vulcano (Shotgun): The close-quarters king. With 49.5 damage at a fast 26.3 fire rate, it puts out the highest practical close-range DPS in the game and out-ranges the Il Toro (26m vs 20m). Anything that pushes you indoors dies instantly.
• Osprey (Sniper, Medium): The best sniper, and it's not close on value. 45 damage and the longest range in the game at 80.3m, while still using common Medium ammo. Holds angles, punishes pushers, and doesn't cost a fortune per shot like energy snipers.
• Bettina (Assault Rifle, Heavy): The hardest-hitting AR — 16 damage at a high 28.7 fire rate. It shreds both players and ARC machines, with the trade-off that it eats expensive Heavy ammo. Bring it when you expect a fight.

A-Tier — excellent, slight trade-offs

• Anvil (Hand Cannon, Heavy): 40 damage at 16.3 fire rate from a sidearm slot — a genuine second primary. Brutal burst, but Heavy ammo and a learning curve on recoil.
• Tempest (Assault Rifle, Medium): The best beginner AR: balanced 10 damage / 36.7 fire rate / 55.9m range on cheap Medium ammo. Reliable, forgiving, and never a bad pick.
• Bobcat (SMG, Light): The fastest-firing gun in the game (66.7) on cheap Light ammo. Dominates close-to-mid PvP if you can track a target.
• Hullcracker (Special, Launcher): 100 damage per round — the PvE nuke. Built for ARC machines and bosses, held back only by scarce Launcher ammo and a "special slot" cost.
• Jupiter (Sniper, Energy Clip): 60 damage and 71.7m range — hits harder than the Osprey, but Energy Clip ammo is pricier and rarer, so it's the luxury sniper rather than the default.

B-Tier — solid, situational

• Rattler (Assault Rifle, Medium): A fine Medium-ammo AR with good range (56.2m), just outclassed by the Tempest's higher fire rate.
• Canto (SMG, Medium): High fire rate (56.7) and the best SMG range (51m), but Medium ammo on an SMG is a tougher economy than the Bobcat's Light.
• Ferro (Battle Rifle, Heavy): Heavy-hitting 40-damage marksman rifle, but the slow 6.6 fire rate punishes missed shots hard.
• Venator (Pistol, Medium): The best sidearm pistol — 16 damage at 36.7 fire rate. A genuine backup that can finish fights.
• Torrente (LMG, Medium): Suppression and sustained fire with a big mag feel, but low per-shot damage (8) means it's a niche pick.
• Il Toro (Shotgun): Massive 67.5 per-shot damage but only 20m range and a slow 14 fire rate — one-shot-or-bust. The Vulcano is the safer shotgun.

C-Tier — starter / situational only

• Kettle (Assault Rifle, Light): A serviceable starter AR on cheap Light ammo, but short 42.8m range caps it.
• Arpeggio (Assault Rifle, Medium): Low fire rate (18.3) drags down an otherwise fine AR.
• Stitcher (SMG, Light): Outclassed by the Bobcat and Canto.
• Hairpin (Pistol, Light): A 20-damage starter pistol — fine early, dropped fast.
• Burletta (Pistol, Light): The default starter pistol (10 damage). It's been a hot topic in the community lately as players debate its viability, but the verdict is simple: it's a fine first-raid sidearm and nothing more — upgrade to the Venator as soon as you can.
• Equalizer (Special, Energy Clip): A utility special, not a damage pick.
• Dolabra (Shotgun, Energy Clip): An energy shotgun for specific anti-shield situations; niche.

Best weapons by role (the picks that actually matter)

Tiers are a starting point — what you bring depends on the job. Here are the loadouts that win.

Best PvP weapons (player vs player)

You want range, fast time-to-kill, and ammo you can afford to spam in a drawn-out fight.

• Long range: Osprey (80.3m, Medium ammo) to hold angles and punish peeks.
• Mid range: Renegade — the do-everything battle rifle that wins most trades.
• Close range: Vulcano for instant indoor kills, or the Bobcat if you prefer to track and strafe.
• Sidearm: Venator to finish a wounded enemy without reloading your primary.

Recommended PvP loadout: Renegade (primary) + Vulcano (secondary) + Venator (sidearm). Covers every range bracket on mostly cheap ammo.

Best PvE / anti-ARC weapons (fighting machines)

ARC machines are tanky and telegraphed — you want raw sustained damage and burst, and you can afford to commit ammo because they don't shoot back the way players do.

• Sustained: Bettina — the high-DPS AR melts standard ARC units.
• Burst / heavy units: Anvil hand cannon for big chunks of damage.
• Heavy machines & bosses: Hullcracker (100 damage) or Rascal (75) launchers — bring one when you know a big fight is coming.

Best weapons vs bosses (Queen, Matriarch, Rocketeer)

Boss ARC like the Queen, Matriarch, and Rocketeer are damage checks. Prioritize per-shot damage and reliable hits:

• Hullcracker for raw burst on big health pools.
• Bettina or Ferro for sustained chip damage between launcher reloads.
• Osprey to hit weak points from range safely.

Best budget / starter loadout

New or rebuilding after a death? Stay on cheap ammo and keep it simple: Tempest (Medium AR) + Vulcano (Shotgun) + Hairpin or Burletta sidearm. Effective, affordable, and it gets you back to full kits fast.

Ammo economy — the stat nobody talks about

The fastest way to go broke in ARC Raiders is running Heavy- and Launcher-ammo guns every raid. Here's the priority order for sustainable runs:

• Medium ammo (Renegade, Tempest, Osprey, Venator) — common and cheap; the backbone of every reliable loadout.
• Light ammo (Bobcat, Kettle) — cheapest of all; great for SMG-based aggressive play.
• Shotgun ammo (Vulcano, Il Toro) — affordable and high-impact at close range.
• Heavy ammo (Bettina, Anvil, Ferro) — strong but expensive; bring it for fights, not for chores.
• Energy Clip / Launcher (Jupiter, Hullcracker, Rascal) — premium ammo for premium moments only.

A good rule: one Medium-ammo primary you can run all day, one situational heavy hitter for when it counts. That keeps your loot profit positive raid over raid.

A note on attachments and blueprints

Raw weapon choice is half the equation — attachments and weapon blueprints unlock the upgraded versions and modded stats that separate a good loadout from a great one (extended barrels for range, mags for uptime, sights for control). Unlocking the strongest weapon blueprints is one of the biggest time sinks in the game, which is exactly why many raiders skip the grind.

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FAQ

What is the best weapon in ARC Raiders overall? The Renegade battle rifle. It combines high damage (35), strong range (68.8m), and a solid fire rate, all on cheap, common Medium ammo — the best mix of power and sustainability in the game.

What is the best weapon for PvP in ARC Raiders? The Renegade for mid-range, the Osprey sniper for long range, and the Vulcano shotgun up close. Pair a Renegade with a Vulcano to cover every distance.

What is the best weapon against ARC machines and bosses? The Hullcracker launcher (100 damage) for heavy machines and bosses, backed by the Bettina AR for sustained damage. Use the Osprey to hit weak points from range.

Is the Burletta good in ARC Raiders? It's a fine starter pistol (10 damage, Light ammo) and nothing more. Upgrade to the Venator as soon as you can — it raises per-shot damage by 60% (10 → 16) and has better range.

What ammo type is best to build around? Medium ammo. It's common and cheap, and the strongest all-round weapons (Renegade, Tempest, Osprey, Venator) all use it, so you can run them every raid without going broke.

How many weapons are in ARC Raiders? There are more than two dozen weapons spread across nine classes: assault rifles, battle rifles, SMGs, shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols, a hand cannon, an LMG, and special launchers.

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Stats sourced from the official ARC Raiders weapon data (arcraiders.wiki). Tier rankings reflect current PvP/PvE viability and Timesaver's competitive analysis. Topic surfaced from live r/ArcRaiders weapon-meta discussion.