ARC Raiders is a tough game for the unprepared, and despite its occasional friendly PvP encounters, there’s always some bloodthirsty Raider out to get your hard-earned loot.
Being an extraction shooter, the risks outweigh the rewards. It has always been the case for games like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. Players are hesitant to bring their best gear in fear of losing it to a rogue player who’s just in it for its PvP. Simply put, there’s no ‘chill’ way to experience an extraction shooter genre... until Embark’s ARC Raiders arrived.
What ARC Raiders does surprisingly well compared to other games of the genre is adding a ‘casual mode’ for players who just want to loot and explore without worrying about losing their best gear. They’re basically called “Free Loadouts,” and they have been a lifesaver in my time throughout Topside.
Whenever I feel like I’m expecting heavy resistance in a raid, say, a run through the new Stella Montis map, I’d simply arm myself with the free loadout. The game would randomly give me a common weapon and an ample selection of healing and recovery tools. On a lucky day, I’d even get grenades or mines.
It’s been helping me breeze through its dangerous locales without worrying about lost loot. I get that ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter where losing gear is part of the experience, but there have been numerous instances of betrayal or being spawn-camped by toxic PvP players. That’s when I realized I needed that free loadout in the meantime.
So whenever I just want to finish a quest from one of Speranza’s traders, I’d simply run a free loadout build. I’d usually get the guns I want, namely Ferro or Kettle. Both are fantastic beginner weapons that can shred players who want you to come back to Speranza in a body bag.
Right now, I’ve been using the free loadout for days, gathering only what I need to finish my workbench and scrappy upgrades. Sometimes I even find the elusive items like the Sentinel Firing Core or the Rusted Gear along the way, making my run even more hectic, no thanks to the loadout’s lack of safety pockets.
Once I got everything I needed, I’d then invite my friends over for a squad raid. That’s usually where I bring up my best gear. So in the event our whole squad gets wiped, I won’t be the only one grieving my lost gear. I call it shared madness as well, collectively mourn our Level 4 Venators and seeds.
After one disastrous run, we’d go run a free loadout build and start our temporary ‘villain arcs.’
ARC Raiders really found a sweet spot for its casual and sweaty playerbase. As someone who avoids PvP most of the time, the free loadout has been a big help. Here’s hoping Embark doesn’t nerf it by limiting its usage. That would suck terribly.
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