Key takeaways
- Assault rifle: 36 rounds × 20 credits = 720 credits in ammo per raid.
- SMG: 3 engagements × 25 rounds = 75 rounds × 9 credits = 675 credits — similar total, but 75 rounds of carry weight instead of 36.
- Marksman rifle: 3 engagements × 3 rounds = 9 rounds × 26 credits = 234 credits for the same three kills.
- Bolt-action: 3 rounds × 40 credits = 120 credits, assuming you land every shot. Miss twice and it becomes 200.
In ARC Raiders, the best weapon class right now is the mid-calibre full-auto assault rifle — it is the only class that stays competitive from about 15 to 60 metres while keeping recoil and ammo burn manageable. If you want one gun to build every loadout around, that is the pick. Everything else below is a specialist’s tool: SMGs and shotguns own the indoors, bolt-action and marksman rifles own the long sightlines, and light machine guns and launchers are expensive answers to specific problems.
Our top picks
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
How This Tier List Is Ranked
Five factors decide the ranking, weighted in this order: time-to-kill (TTK) at realistic engagement ranges, effective range, recoil control, ammo economy (cost and weight per round carried), and versatility — how many of a raid’s combat situations the weapon covers without a second gun.
Because ARC Raiders is an extraction shooter, versatility is weighted heavily. A weapon that wins one fight brilliantly but leaves you useless in the next is worth less than a weapon that wins most fights acceptably. Note that Embark Studios adjusts damage, recoil and magazine values in balance patches, so treat every number below as the current stat-sheet band for the class rather than a permanent constant — check the in-game stat sheet after each patch.
Quick Comparison: ARC Raiders Weapon Tiers at a Glance
| Tier | Class | Best for | Typical stat band | Running cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Mid-calibre assault rifle | All-round raiding, 15–60 m | 26–32 dmg/shot, 600–700 RPM, 30-rd mag | Moderate |
| S | High-power bolt-action rifle | Long sightlines, 80 m+ | 95–115 dmg/shot, 40–55 RPM, 5-rd mag | High per shot, low volume |
| A | Compact SMG | Indoors, corners, looting runs | 16–20 dmg/shot, 850–1,000 RPM, 25–35 rd | High volume, cheap rounds |
| A | Semi-auto marksman rifle | Mid-to-long range, ammo discipline | 45–60 dmg/shot, 180–240 RPM, 10–20 rd | Best per-shot efficiency |
| A | Pump or semi-auto shotgun | Sub-10 m, breaching rooms | 8–12 pellets × 7–9 dmg | Cheap, but narrow |
| B | Light machine gun | Holding angles, group fights | 30–34 dmg/shot, 550–650 RPM, 60–100 rd | Worst ammo economy |
| B | Heavy launcher / explosive | ARC crowds, breaching, area denial | Splash damage, 1–4 rd | Very expensive per shot |
| C | Pistol | Starter kits, backup slot | 22–28 dmg/shot, 350–450 RPM, 12–17 rd | Cheapest to run |
S-Tier: The Weapons Worth Building Around
Mid-calibre assault rifle — best overall
This is the default answer to “what should I bring?” A 28-damage round at 650 RPM lands roughly 303 damage per second on target, which kills an unarmoured 100 HP target in about a third of a second — fast enough to win a straight duel, forgiving enough that you don’t need a perfect first shot. Recoil is manageable in short bursts, so the same gun works at 15 metres and at 60 metres with a different trigger discipline.
Who it suits: everyone, but especially players running a generalist loadout who don’t know what they’ll meet. Main trade-off: it loses to a bolt-action at 100 metres and to a shotgun inside 6 metres. Pair it with a cheap sidearm and accept those two losses.
High-power bolt-action rifle — best for long range
One body shot from the top band (95–115 damage) kills an unarmoured target outright, which makes this the highest-value weapon in the game when you control the angle. The catch is the cycle time — roughly 1.1 seconds between shots — and a 5-round magazine, so a miss is a genuine loss.
Who it suits: players who pick fights rather than take them, and squads with someone else to push. Main trade-off: you are nearly helpless if a fight starts inside 10 metres, and per-round cost is the highest of any conventional weapon.
A-Tier: Strong, Situational Picks
Compact SMG — best for close quarters
Around 18 damage at 900 RPM is about 270 DPS, slightly behind an assault rifle but with far better handling while moving. Inside 20 metres, mobility wins duels more often than raw damage does. Trade-off: damage falls off hard past 25 metres and you will empty a magazine per kill, so ammo weight adds up fast over a long raid.
Semi-auto marksman rifle — best ammo economy
Fifty damage per shot at 200 RPM is 167 DPS — a two-shot kill on an unarmoured target at 40 metres, and roughly one round fired per 50 damage dealt. Nothing else in the game converts currency into damage this efficiently. Trade-off: you lose every fight you don’t start, and the trigger discipline required means it is a poor choice for panicked players.
Shotgun — best for breaching
Eight to twelve pellets at 7–9 damage each is 56–108 damage in a single trigger pull, which is a one-shot kill inside about 5 metres. Trade-off: past roughly 12 metres it is worse than a pistol. It is a room-clearing tool, not a raid weapon.
B-Tier and Below: When They Still Make Sense
Light machine guns put about 275 DPS downrange with a 60–100 round belt, which is genuinely strong when you are holding a corridor with teammates. The problem is economic: a belt-fed weapon in a 20-minute raid can consume more ammo value than the loot you extract. Run one when you are defending, not when you are looting.
Launchers are a utility slot, not a primary. They solve ARC crowds and locked approaches, and cost enough per trigger pull that firing one at a single player is a mistake. Pistols rank last as a primary but are the correct backup: cheap, light, and enough to finish a target your rifle already wounded.
The Numbers Behind the Ranks
TTK figures below assume no misses, no armour, body shots only, and a stationary 100 HP target at 10 metres. Treat them as comparison points, not promises.
| Class | Body dmg/shot | RPM | Magazine | Effective range | TTK @ 10 m | Approx. ammo cost/round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault rifle | 28 | 650 | 30 | 15–60 m | 0.33 s | 20 credits |
| Bolt-action rifle | 105 | 55 | 5 | 80 m+ | One shot | 40 credits |
| SMG | 18 | 900 | 30 | 0–20 m | 0.37 s | 9 credits |
| Marksman rifle | 50 | 200 | 15 | 30–70 m | 0.60 s | 26 credits |
| Shotgun | ~96 (full hit) | 90 | 6 | 0–10 m | One shot <5 m | 18 credits |
| LMG | 30 | 550 | 80 | 20–70 m | 0.36 s | 22 credits |
| Pistol | 25 | 400 | 15 | 0–25 m | 0.60 s | 6 credits |
Which Weapon Should You Bring? A Situation Matrix
| Your situation | Bring this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Low on currency, learning the map | Pistol + shotgun | Cheapest kit that still wins indoors; losing it costs almost nothing |
| General raid, unknown opposition | Assault rifle + pistol | No range where you are helpless |
| Open map, long sightlines, solo | Bolt-action + SMG | You choose the engagement distance, and have an answer if it closes |
| Indoor looting, tight corridors | SMG + shotgun | Movement speed and one-shot potential beat damage per second |
| Defending an extract or holding a choke | LMG or marksman rifle | You are shooting at known angles, so ammo burn is controlled |
| ARC-heavy runs | Marksman rifle + launcher | Precision kills on ranged ARC, launcher for clusters |
| Experienced, high-value kit | Assault rifle + marksman rifle | Two guns covering 15–70 m with the best damage-per-credit in each band |
Ammo Economy: The Cost Nobody Budgets For
Weapon stats get all the attention; ammo is what actually drains a stash. Work through one raid with three engagements per run and 12 rounds fired per engagement:
- Assault rifle: 36 rounds × 20 credits = 720 credits in ammo per raid.
- SMG: 3 engagements × 25 rounds = 75 rounds × 9 credits = 675 credits — similar total, but 75 rounds of carry weight instead of 36.
- Marksman rifle: 3 engagements × 3 rounds = 9 rounds × 26 credits = 234 credits for the same three kills.
- Bolt-action: 3 rounds × 40 credits = 120 credits, assuming you land every shot. Miss twice and it becomes 200.
The lesson: high-damage-per-shot weapons are not expensive, they are unforgiving. Their cost per raid is the lowest in the game if your accuracy holds and the highest if it doesn’t. If your hit rate is under about 40 percent, a marksman rifle will cost you more than an assault rifle over ten raids.
Ownership Realities: What Actually Wears Out
In an extraction shooter, the weapon itself is the consumable. Die in a raid and the kit you carried is gone — which means the most common expensive mistake is over-modding. Attachments and upgrades are lost with the gun, so putting premium parts on a weapon you take into every raid converts a bad fight into a bad week.
- Wears out first: your ammunition stockpile, then your backup weapon, then your willingness to take fair fights.
- Consumables to budget for: rounds, healing, grenades, and any key or tool your route needs.
- Common mistake #1: running top-tier ammo in a budget gun. The ammo costs more than the weapon and the damage gain rarely changes the TTK breakpoint.
- Common mistake #2: carrying two guns that cover the same range. An SMG and a shotgun is a fine indoor kit and a terrible open-field one.
- Common mistake #3: ignoring weight. A 75-round ammo load for an SMG slows you down more than the gun choice ever will.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best weapon in ARC Raiders overall?
A mid-calibre full-auto assault rifle. It kills an unarmoured target in roughly a third of a second, works from 15 to 60 metres, and its recoil is controllable in short bursts. It has no range where it is useless, which no other class can claim.
Is a sniper or bolt-action rifle worth the cost in ARC Raiders?
Yes, if you pick your fights and land your shots. One body shot kills an unarmoured target, and the cost per raid is the lowest of any class because you fire so few rounds. It is a bad choice for players who get pushed indoors or who miss often, since the cycle time leaves you exposed for over a second.
Which weapon class has the best ammo economy?
Semi-auto marksman rifles, and bolt-actions behind them. Both convert currency into damage far more efficiently than automatic weapons because each round does 50–105 damage instead of 18–30. Automatic weapons cost less per round but burn three to eight times as many of them per kill.
Do shotguns work in ARC Raiders, or are they a trap?
They work inside about 5 metres, where a full pellet hit is a one-shot kill, and they are the best breaching tool in the game. Past roughly 12 metres they are worse than a pistol, so treat a shotgun as a specialist pick for indoor routes rather than a primary for open maps.
Should I upgrade my weapons or run cheap kits?
Run cheap kits until you can consistently extract, then upgrade. Because gear is lost on death, upgrades effectively have a lifespan measured in raids, and premium attachments on a weapon you lose twice in a row cost more than the weapon itself. Upgrade the gun you are confident with, not the one you just unlocked.
How often do these weapon rankings change?
Every time Embark Studios ships a balance patch. Damage, recoil and magazine values are the most common targets, and a single change to a TTK breakpoint can move a class a full tier. Re-check the in-game stat sheet after each patch and re-run the ammo-cost maths for your main weapon.
