Arc Raiders’ Toughest Achievement Is the Most Stress I’ve Felt in a Game

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I used to be obsessed with getting 100% completion in every video game, seeing achievements as a necessary part of the experience. Earning them all always felt incredibly satisfying. But after getting married and having kids, I had to be more careful about how I spent my time, and achievements became more of a fun bonus. I still enjoy the little thrill of a Steam achievement popping up, and recently I earned one in Arc Raiders that I thought was impossible. I mostly stumbled into it, and it was honestly the most stressful gaming moment I’ve ever had!

So, Arc Raiders has 50 achievements, and honestly, a bunch of them just come naturally as you play. Leveling up, taking down enemies, doing quests for the traders – those all unlock stuff no matter if you’re on PC or console. But there’s one achievement that’s a real pain – it needs everything to line up just right. And because Arc Raiders can be pretty chaotic, getting the “In the Nick of Time” achievement feels almost impossible, like something you only dream about pulling off!

Completing Arc Raiders’ ‘In the Nick of Time’ Achievement Had My Adrenaline Through the Roof

I initially laughed when I read the requirements for the “In the Nick of Time” achievement. It asks players to return to Speranza with less than five seconds remaining, which seemed practically impossible. As of today, only 17% of Steam players have earned it – fewer than any other achievement in the game. Honestly, I thought it was so difficult that completing it would require pure luck, not skill.

It actually happened quite by chance. Every day, my son naps around noon, and my daughter has an hour of quiet time in her room. On this day, I decided to use that time to play a few rounds of Arc Raiders. But my son wasn’t sleepy, and that’s when my wife, who spends a lot of time with the kids as a stay-at-home mom, asked if I could help get him down for his nap so she could have some quiet time to herself.

The issue was I was playing Arc Raiders and had collected some important items I needed to return to the base, Speranza.

I didn’t want to give up on the game completely, so I hid in a large bush, hoping to quickly gather some more items and then escape. After about 20 minutes of getting my son to sleep, I came back to my computer and discovered I only had around 6 minutes remaining in the round. To make things worse, the only available escape point was located at the far end of the Dam Battlegrounds map in Arc Raiders.

I raced towards the pickup zone, but about halfway there, I found myself cornered. I was on a structure too high to jump safely, and swarms of Wasps and Hornets were blocking my path. I didn’t have enough bullets to fight them all, and time was running out. I quickly scanned for an opening, but with less than three minutes left in the round, my only option was to risk a jump and hope I could survive the fall.

It took me about 20 minutes to get my son to sleep, and when I finally got back to my game, I was in trouble. I only had about 6 minutes left to finish the round, and the nearest way to escape was all the way across the map.

I took a big hit to my health after a jump, but I ran as fast as I could towards the last escape point. I managed to shake off the enemies that first spotted me, but another problem appeared at the elevator. A dangerous Leaper was guarding it, and I only had about two minutes left to escape. I waited for the Leaper to move a little, then called the elevator, but that immediately alerted it—and every nearby enemy. They all started shooting at me as I desperately searched for cover while waiting for the elevator to arrive.

Gunfire echoed around me, and I realized I was the last player standing. Everyone else had either escaped or been eliminated, making me the sole focus of the robotic enemies. I ran, dodged, and dove for cover, desperately trying to reach the extraction elevator. Finally, I heard it arrive. With just 10 seconds remaining, the doors began to open, and I sprinted inside. As I started the final extraction process, a powerful enemy began charging an attack, but it was too late. The doors slammed shut, and I was rewarded with a satisfying Steam achievement – “In the Nick of Time” – after all that intense stress. Ironically, this whole frantic escape happened because my son was having trouble taking his nap that day.

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2025-11-04 22:34