Self-Revive Kit Would Be a Logical Fit in ARC Raiders, But It Would Ruin the Game

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Many players of ARC Raiders have suggested adding a way to revive themselves, but others worry it would negatively impact both player-versus-player and player-versus-environment gameplay. While a self-revive feature is a common request, its benefits to the game aren’t guaranteed.

In ARC Raiders, players can find lots of different resources, but the number of gadgets available is quite small. Specifically, the options for quick-use items and helpful tools are limited, leading to discussions among fans about what should be added. Players have come up with many ideas, including repurposing broken handcuffs to restrain enemies, and have requested that the developers at Embark Studios focus on adding a self-revive item.

Self-Revive Kits Are a Hotly Debated Topic in ARC Raiders

Discussions about whether players should be able to revive themselves started before the game even came out and became more heated after the recent test phase for ARC Raiders. Many players who tried the game felt it was a big problem that there’s no way to get back up on your own after being knocked down, especially when playing by yourself.

As a solo player, getting downed by the ARC often feels like an instant loss – unless someone happens to be nearby with a defibrillator, which is super rare. A lot of us feel like it’s a bit of a harsh game-over, and it might even drive players away after a while. Honestly, I think letting us revive ourselves, at least when we’re playing solo, would be a really smart move. It would just make the game feel fairer and less frustrating when you’re on your own.

Image via Embark Studios

Self-Revive Supporters Make a Logical Argument

Supporters of self-revive kits point to several reasons why the mechanic could work in ARC Raiders:

  • They argue that Defibrillators could reasonably be self-injectable
  • Solo players would have more incentive to keep playing after being knocked down
  • Self-revive could introduce a strategic layer to long-range encounters
  • It would give players a chance to retaliate against ambush-heavy playstyles
  • To address balance concerns, they suggest Embark Studios could make self-revive kits extremely rare or prohibitively expensive

Right now, you can bring down teammates back to life without needing any special items – just walk up to them and press a button. But if an enemy player falls, you’ll need the in-game Defibrillator, often called a ‘Defib’, to revive them. This difference has led some players to wonder why the developers didn’t allow players to use the Defib to revive themselves.

Players argue it doesn’t make sense that a downed raider can still perform basic actions like crawling and interacting with objects, but can’t use a defibrillator to revive themselves. Since defibrillators already work on allies and even strangers, they see no reason why a player shouldn’t be able to use one on themselves. They also believe the current game environment, where players are often vulnerable in open spaces, would benefit from a self-revive option. This would make long-range fights more strategic, forcing attackers to consider the risks before engaging.

Some players worry that letting people revive themselves would make player-versus-player combat unbalanced. Those who support self-revive kits admit this is a possibility, but suggest making them very rare – as hard to get as the most valuable items in ARC Raiders, like the Legendary Guitar or the Anvil Splitter mod. However, even if this solution makes sense in theory, it doesn’t completely rule out the risk of self-revive negatively impacting the game.

Why Self-Revive Would Harm ARC Raiders

Even if Embark Studios could perfectly balance self-revive kits, they would still harm what makes ARC Raiders special. A key part of the game is the feeling of being overwhelmed and losing control during tough fights. Both player-versus-player and player-versus-environment combat are designed to be impressive, consistently challenging, and occasionally remind players they aren’t invincible.

Allowing players to automatically revive themselves would lessen the tension and excitement of the game. Enemies like Bombardiers, Queens, and Matriarchs wouldn’t seem as dangerous, and winning a close player-versus-player fight wouldn’t feel as rewarding. This could eventually make the game world feel less believable. Besides affecting the overall atmosphere, self-revival could also create problems with the gameplay itself, ultimately making the experience less enjoyable.

Image via Embark Studios

Limitations Mostly Affect Casual Players

Many players who like the idea of self-revive kits admit they could potentially make the game unbalanced. They suggest limiting the kits by making them hard to get or expensive. However, this doesn’t fully address the situation in ARC Raiders. A significant number of skilled players have already collected a large amount of rare items, even after the first in-game event, meaning they won’t be meaningfully affected by these limitations.

Acquisition limits generally impact players who don’t have a lot of time to play more than those who are highly engaged. Players with limited time can’t repeatedly play to earn rare items, while dedicated players can. This system might also encourage more players to spend real money to quickly get items like a self-revive blueprint or a set of kits. Since a market for buying and selling ARC Raiders items already exists on sites like eBay, adding a particularly valuable item like a self-revival tool could increase these transactions, which Embark Studios has stated they want to prevent.

Self-Revive Lessens the PvP Stakes

Some players believe self-revive kits would let people defend themselves against unfair or overly aggressive players in PvP combat. However, this doesn’t really solve the problem, as those aggressive players could also use self-revive kits. This might actually encourage them to start more fights, because they’d know they have a way to get back up if things go wrong.

Being able to revive yourself could actually be helpful in a fight, especially on certain maps. In smaller, more competitive areas like Stella Montis, players often run into each other frequently. If you get knocked down but have a self-revive kit, you could create some distance from the fight, let the other players finish each other off, and then come back to secure the win.

Image via Embark Studios

People Will Find Ways to Exploit Self-Revive in PvE

Players have already discovered ways to creatively – and sometimes unexpectedly – use game features in ARC Raiders, like the Snap Hook to gain an advantage over enemies. Adding a self-revive kit would likely be similar. Even with limits, like only being usable once per match, players would probably find ways to exploit it, making tough fights too easy and allowing them to quickly collect valuable rewards.

Currently, only a few players can consistently defeat the toughest bosses. Adding items that let players revive themselves would make this gap even bigger, giving skilled players an extra advantage while leaving others struggling. This imbalance could eventually harm the game’s economy and make the exciting risk-reward system in ARC Raiders less effective.

Image via Embark Studios

Self-Revive Isn’t the Worst Item Embark Could Add

Some players worry that adding self-revive kits would make the PvP combat in ARC Raiders feel too similar to games like Call of Duty: Warzone, which heavily feature self-revival. However, that wouldn’t be the biggest *Call of Dutyinspired change to worry about. UAVs—tools that reveal enemy positions—pose a much larger threat to the game’s PvP balance.

It’s interesting that some Call of Duty streamers, like Swagg, have proposed adding UAVs to ARC Raiders, but the game’s community strongly disagreed. ARC Raiders already has ways to find enemies, such as the Tagging Grenade. Adding a UAV, which shows all enemy locations on a map, would likely ruin the player-versus-player combat. A key part of ARC Raiders is using sound and carefully watching your surroundings to find enemies, and UAVs would completely remove that important gameplay feature.

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2025-12-31 18:40