Best Enemy Behaviors To Exploit For Damage in Arc Raiders

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Even though ARC Raiders has been available for a while, the Arcs remain a serious threat. Many players continue to struggle with even common enemies like Wasps, as their attacks can deal unexpected damage – just a few seconds of exposure can defeat experienced players. Luckily, these enemies have weaknesses that players can exploit to quickly eliminate them, whether they’re small flying creatures or larger, more imposing foes.

Some strategies are simple and just involve changing how you play, while others are more complex and require a deep understanding of the game. Regardless, it’s crucial to use every advantage you can. Eliminating Arc net players earns valuable resources, and knowing the best way to fight each one can mean the difference between failure and a successful escape.

Flyers Struggle Indoors

Colliding With Walls And Anything Else Nearby

Details:

  • Can be easily killed by kiting them through doors and small openings
  • Flyswatter allows a single melee hit to kill hornets and wasps

Hornets and Wasps are often frustrating enemies during raids. They’re fast, difficult to target, and can overwhelm you if you’re not careful. While accurate shots at their engines can take them down, there’s a much simpler strategy that doesn’t require any weapons fire at all.

The Flyswatter ability lets you defeat these enemies with a single melee attack. While it’s tricky because they’re flying around, you can lure them inside buildings to take them down more easily. These enemies often bump into doorways and other structures, as they sometimes have trouble finding a clear path to you. Players can use this to their advantage for both dodging attacks and getting in close for a hit – even though they’re fairly smart, the Arc enemies sometimes struggle with their own movement.

Wind-Up Attacks

Time To Target The Thrusters

Details:

  • Long stationary period during wind-up
  • Cooldown to allow for repositioning

Many of the ‘Arc’ enemies share a predictable start-up sequence: they scan for a target, lock on, and then begin firing. While enemies like Hornets, Wasps, and Sentinels all operate this way, it often takes them a considerable amount of time to fire their first shot, particularly at long range. This delay gives players an opportunity to start shooting back before the enemy’s attack even begins.

What’s really helpful is that enemies like Hornets become completely motionless right before launching this attack, making their thrusters an easy target. A smart tactic is to draw an enemy’s fire, observe when they’re charging their weapon, and move near cover for a quick escape if needed. Then, just before they attack, shoot their vulnerable points and watch them fall apart!

Aggro Swapping

Using Teammates Well

Details:

  • Using teammates to target weak spots from behind
  • Forcing the Arc to miss shots by constantly swapping

When fighting large, ground-based Arcs, they react to being shot at by turning towards the source of the fire. However, they don’t instantly attack; they need to lock onto a player before they can actually start dealing damage.

This brief opening gives players a good opportunity to team up and attack the enemy’s weak points from behind. The enemy will only react to the first hit it takes, then shift its focus to the next player. One person can briefly draw its attention, while another attacks. Doing this a few times makes the fight much easier and helps conserve resources like grenades and ammo for future encounters.

Rotations

Abusing The Slow Turns

Details:

  • Turrets’ rotation can be heavily abused
  • Targeting Arcs from behind up close with no danger

In ARC Raiders, many enemies behave like turrets. They’ll turn to face whoever is shooting at them – Bastions swivel their heads, Sentinels rotate to target players behind them, and most other Arc enemies will follow their target. However, these turret-like enemies have a weakness: they can’t move. This means their vision is limited, and they can only turn so quickly, making them vulnerable.

Some ground-based Sentinel enemies can be destroyed using only melee attacks if you repeatedly circle around them. Larger enemies, like Bastions, can also be avoided by running in circles, allowing you to damage them while staying out of their line of fire. This works because their turning speed isn’t fast enough to follow your movements.

Weak Points Between Attacks

Patience Is A Virtue

Image via Embark Studios

Details:

  • Weak points are often obscured while firing
  • Downtime gives players the opportunity to deal serious damage

Knowing an enemy’s weak points is crucial for success in this game. Each enemy has a specific spot that takes extra damage, even from weapons that don’t normally pierce armor. These weak points can be hard to hit, especially when dealing with quick or flying opponents.

Certain enemy types, called Arcs, offer opportunities to strike at their weak points after an attack. For example, after Hornets fire their stun attack, their engines become vulnerable. Similarly, the Queen Arc is slower to recover, letting players target joints on its legs or body. Generally, Arcs pause briefly between actions and often position themselves in ways that expose these vulnerable areas. Players who carefully observe Arc movement patterns can take advantage of these brief openings to deal more damage.

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2025-12-05 03:06