Does your choice of fashion say something about your behavior in Arc Raiders?

As I pore over this "Raider Outfit Danger Scale" created by Reddit user abeetabee and marvel at its anecdotal accuracy, it's hard to argue there isn't a correlation. Some threads just scream "this guy is totally going to shoot me when I turn around," and others carry an air of indifference, whimsy, or niceness. It's never polite to judge a book by its cover, and that's not what the author of this list is advocating for, but it sure can come in handy in this game.

"Wanted to make a chart of my experience since I've also noticed patterns in general behavior per outfit, based on this post from earlier," abeetabee wrote. "Obviously this isn't true for everyone that wears one of these outfits."

The tier list only includes outfits that they've personally encountered often enough to assess, but at 30 total outfits judged, it's a decent spread of Arc Raiders' current wardrobe. Here's the list in full:

I ran this tier list past our most active Arc players at PC Gamer to get more perspectives. Senior guides writer Sean Martin wears the "Boonie" outfit and confirms he's "defo the person who appears for one second of a Bastion fight." Group editorial director Tim Clark agrees that horns are a sign of someone looking for a fight, but argues that the default jump suit outfit in the "either chill or already dead on the floor" tier is more obnoxious than chill: "I feel like this guy is usually a dickhead with a soundboard."

Spelling out some of the highlights from the tier list:

Most dangerous

• Leviathan: The deep sea diver one
• Ryder: The infamous black and orange variant
• Macrame: Japanese ronin outfit
• Misthorn: The scary mask with two protruding horns
• Ombra: Full head wrap and dark pants

Most nice

• Driftcoat: Heroic, stylish pilot cosplay
• Radio Renegade: Nerdy head coif with an antenna
• Riot: Dorky shorts, short sleeves. "1000% the helpful person skin. You look like a mailman," according to Sean.

Naturally my eyes darted around looking for where my most-used outfit was placed. I'm almost always rocking the Driftcoat skin (yellow pilot jacket/helmet) at the bottom tier, and at the risk of sounding too proud, "stops what they're doing to help you and is super nice about it" is an accurate description of how I've been enjoying Arc Raiders.

As expected, the orange and black Ryder skin that some players have been insisting cannot be trusted since November ranked top among the "stops what they're doing to shoot you and is a jerk about it" tier. It's not lost on me that the jerkiest skins judged here are also the most aggressive looking—dark colors, face coverings, glasses, and horns. Folks who prefer to play Arc Raiders like a battle royale are dressing for the job.

One ranking we all agree on is that the bottom-tier fella with high-waist shorts and rolled up sleeves is 1000% always helpful, because it's just too dorky of a look to wear with anything but pure intentions.

What do you wear in Arc Raiders, and is this chart accurate to your experience?

We're nine days into the New Year, and instead of focusing on any resolutions that are likely redundant by now, I've set my sights on one of the most popular games of 2025, Arc Raiders, and what I think (and hope) is in store for players as we progress through the year.

Embark Studios hasn't confirmed a roadmap for Arc Raiders yet, but there are some things we're very likely to see, at the very least, before 2027 creeps up on us.

Following on from the last few months, I'd bet that raiders will get to experience new map conditions, weapons, arc mobs, raider decks, and hopefully even some new community events.

When it comes to map conditions, I wouldn't be surprised if we got a desert condition sometime in the summer, like the Cold Snap, but in reverse. I'd also like to see something like a Wacky Raid, where the arc behaviour is really weird, the mobs spawn in locations you'd usually not find them in, and the loot makes absolutely no sense for where you'd find it. It sounds fun (and horrifying) finding a leaper wedged into the hallways of Dam Control Tower, although that's likely a pipe dream.

But you know what isn't? New mobs. From the beginning, players have been pointing and shouting about the huge arcs that can be seen on the horizon of the maps. And Embark has even spoken about the existence of the Baron, King, and Emperor arcs, all of which are even bigger versions of the Queen and the Matriarch, so where are they?

Well, there are a few dormant Baron husks you can sort through already, but seeing the real deal alive and walking will likely take a little longer. Before Embark can introduce these huge arcs, they need to sort out their epic guns.

In Arc Raiders, you have normal, rare, and epic weapons, but the weird thing is that the basic weapons are just as good, if not better than some epic ones, and they are cheaper. No one really knows why this is, although some suspect that it's because Embark is afraid to buff pink weapons and throw off the balance of the game. But the consequence of this is that there's currently a ceiling on what kind of arcs players can actually take on, and I don't think the average player right now could take on a fully fledged Baron or King with what they have in their arsenal, even with all the gun mods available.

But other than adding more goliaths to the game, I'd like to see a bunch of new little guys also. We already got a new indoor mob with Stella Montis as the Shredder has quickly made a name for itself, but why stop there?

Mobs like pops and fireballs turn walking through the buildings in Arc Raiders into a horror game. There's nothing worse than getting swarmed by a bunch of explosive balls, only for you to also have a tick jump on your face. It's pure chaos, and I'd like more of that, please.

But if we're not going to get any new mobs, then I'd at least like to see a new mode or two. A PvE raid mode or even a PvP heist mode could be really cool, especially against the backdrops of Arc Raiders' derelict maps. The raids could be like Destiny, where you have to work together to take down a huge enemy, and the heist mode could just dump a load of players in a small area with limited loot and time, raising the stakes and the tension of a game.

I'd also like to see Embark expand more on aggression-based matchmaking. In an ideal world, we'd get to know more about how it actually works, especially since the conversations around aggression-based matchmaking are likely far from over.

In the same vein, community events also need a rework. With more and more friendly PvE lobbies, more players are working together to complete tasks like opening the Bunker or taking down the Matriarch. It's now easier than ever to complete these events, as the game clearly wasn't built with this mass cooperation in mind. Meanwhile, if you're a PvP player, you're at a disadvantage in completing these events due to the aggression-based matchmaking.

And last but not least, there needs to be a rework of expeditions. I haven't even thought of sending my raider away since PC Gamer's senior guides writer Sean Martin said it wasn't worth it. There's just not enough incentive right now, and encouraging players to hoard their stash instead of using all their cool gear before the wipe seems like the wrong idea.

Arc Raiders devs have said time and time again that they thought they had something special in their hands in the lead-up to the game's release, but I'm not sure anyone could've predicted just how popular it would become. I'm not saying its popularity is a bad thing, quite the opposite, but it does mean that Embark now has swathes of fans who all want different things added to the game, and they want them now.

Swapping weapons, reloading, healing, and climbing, most things in Arc Raiders take a hell of a lot of time to do. Nowhere is this clearer than when you're carrying the crates required to open and loot Field Depots, which you'll have to slowly lug across the map with no access to your guns. This annoying mechanic has only become more frequent with the various locked doors in Stella Montis that require you to haul a power cell around in the most dangerous map of all.

Even if you're using stamina to move faster, it's so slow and I feel so incredibly vulnerable when carrying a heavy item that, quite frankly, I try to avoid it as much as possible. In fact, I rarely do Field Depots at all, even though they can contain some good loot; it would take a lot of convincing to get me to haul those crates around.

Well, after over 50 hours with the game, I've just learned that there's a method to carrying these boxes faster; I didn't think it was even possible to carry them 'wrong'. It turns out that, against all laws of physics, you're actually faster carrying items backwards. Yes, turn around and run backwards while carrying a heavy object like a field crate or battery, and you'll somehow move faster than you would running forward. You can see a comparison of it below in a video by Fallout Plays:

It's important to clarify that, yes, you can actually sprint backwards by holding the run key, just as you would if you were moving forwards. As such, you'll still benefit from maxing out your stamina with the best skills, which I'd recommend you do anyhow.

Of course, if you're walking backwards…you're not going to be able to see where you're going. It's not exactly optimal in most situations, truth be told, but if it's a straight shot to where you need to drop off the object or you've got a friend to cover you, run backwards instead to pick up the pace. The less time spent holding a heavy box instead of a gun, the better.

Arc Raiders players are generally a friendly bunch, especially for an extraction shooter. It's odd, really, that over half of the game's population on Steam has barely engaged in PvP, and 18% have never even knocked out a raider. Just think of all the loot they could be carrying. Maybe they've even got one of the best guns.

But no, instead of encouraging more bloodthirsty raiders Topside, I'd like to do the opposite. After checking out Arc Raiders' achievements on Steam, I was shocked—no, appalled—to learn that less than 15% of players have revived a fellow raider, and that's a crying shame:

Today You, Tomorrow Me: Revive an encountered raider with a defibrillator (14.7%)

What are we doing here, everyone? Defibrillators are easy to find in Medical areas like Buried City's Hospital, you can craft them, and they're even sold by Lance. So, you've no excuse not to take one into a raid in case a friendly raider needs a helping hand.

Ever since being downed by a Rocketeer fighting the Matriarch, only to be revived by a random player and not being able to return the favour when they met the same fate, I always take at least one defibrillator with me.

PC Gamer's Morgan Park actually spent time Topside as a full-time paramedic, watching for downed raiders and rushing to revive them, and ended up with more loot than he could carry for his efforts. I've even heard of players doing 'reverse robberies' to clear their inventory, which involves downing a player, showering them with loot, and then reviving them before running for the hills.

It's all about paying it forward, as they say. Save a raider today, and I'm sure someone will show you the same mercy soon enough.

While the Today You, Tomorrow Me achievement had a depressingly low score, I'm glad that The Friends We Made Along The Way, the task to extract with a random player, is at a surprisingly high 82.6% completion rate right now. Reviving another player is one thing, but trusting them while you're at your richest and most vulnerable is another.

Just remember your P's and Q's, since only 17.8% of players have earned the Heart of Gold achievement, involving being thanked ten times.

I've praised Arc Raiders a lot since launch, perhaps above all else because it's finally an extraction shooter that's forgiving and welcoming for a wider audience, even as a fan of the genre's traditionally hardcore roots. However, there's a degree to which Arc Raiders' obsession with a fair playing field is its own worst enemy, and it unfortunately strikes deep into its core: the gear system just isn't all that exciting.

The confusion I've seen from people wondering what they're supposed to do after they've unlocked everything and completed all the quests should have an easy answer: get better loot, kill things, eventually lose it, and do it all over again. But high-end loot isn't a satisfying and rewarding chase.

Firstly, the abundance and strength of free loadouts mean there are a lot of players risking literally nothing in PvP match after match, while those bringing in gear have a high chance of losing it all. On the flip side, there's also no reward to killing a player who's using a free loadout because…they don't really have any loot worth taking. You see this a lot with people on the sidelines when fighting elite Arc like the Matriarch, waiting to backstab those who actually came prepared.

But this isn't the root of the issue; it's merely a consequence of it. What's really letting the loot system down is that higher-quality weapons aren't actually all that much better than their common counterparts, so why bother?

When it comes to the best guns in Arc Raiders, you'll hear the Stitcher, Anvil, Venator, and Hullcracker mentioned every time. Of these, the Stitcher is effectively free, and the Anvil and Venator are easy enough to craft, buy, and repair. The Hullcracker is an epic so it's the only one that's even remotely hard to come by and maintain, and it's only useful against Arc machines, not players. That said, you can buy one regularly from Tian Wen.

Why is it that I'd almost always rather take an Anvil, Stitcher, Venator, or Ferro compared to higher-rarity, more expensive options like an Osprey, Bettina, Tempest, or Bobcat. In cases where these options are better, it's only marginally and not worth the effort put into obtaining them and the psychological damage of losing them.

And then there's the legendaries, the most disappointing of them all. Presumably to stop players with legendary weapons from wiping the servers, these top-tier guns are basically only upgrades when fighting Arc machines. They're niche.

It's an interesting approach, having the most prestigious weapons angled specifically at PvE, but it also means the power of these items doesn't match their rarity and the effort put into earning them. I'll only ever pull one out of the stash if I know I'm planning on taking down an elite Arc, and even then, I'd need to bring a secondary weapon for PvP.

Even the new Aphelion legendary battle rifle, while powerful, isn't strong enough to make me want to take down the Matriarch to get it compared to just using a Stitcher, Anvil, or Venator on repeat.

Arc Raiders has proven that player interactions (whether friendly or hostile) are the true heart and soul of the game, but it's still an extraction shooter, and to be a good extraction shooter, loot needs to matter.

I think it's only a matter of time, perhaps after the first Expedition cycle, until players truly feel the loot system has fallen short, when they've either completed all the quests and upgrades or simply had enough of it and are more focused on climbing the loot ladder.

My hope is that epics get a slight buff to their overall lethality and durability to give them a tangible edge over their lower-rarity counterparts, just enough to encourage players to search them out and use them in the field—I'm not asking for power creep. A map or mode with a barrier to entry, such as a kit worth over a certain amount in value, could also help avoid power creep against fresh raiders.

Add on to that more legendaries in the future that are aimed specifically at PvP, and Arc Raiders can still straddle the fine line between casual shenanigans and intense extraction shooting.

The Communication Hideout quest in Arc Raiders has a few tricky steps, one of which involves locating a missing battery cell around the Red Tower, while another involves tracking down a terminal concealed around the outside of the building. On the plus side, though, this quest doesn't require you to extract anything, so you can bring a free loadout.

On the whole, it's a pretty straightforward quest all centered in and around Red Tower, so here's how to complete it and overcome those trickier stages, like finding the missing battery cell and the antenna terminal.

Find the missing battery cell and power up the generator

First off, you'll need to head to the Red Tower location in the south of the Buried City, where you'll then be asked to "Find the missing battery cell". This is located in a metal box in the street to the northeast of Red Tower, marked on the map above. You'll find a yellow-marked metal box against the side of a boarded-up kiosk next to a palm tree—this resembles the boxes you've found previous quest items in. Simply interact with it to produce the missing battery cell.

Now you need to "install the battery cell in the generator". Turn around from the box and the kiosk to spot a small generator on the street wired up to the tower (right next to the subway entrance), with a slot where you can place the battery, similar to when opening a Field Crate at a depot. Once that's done, hit the switch on the end of the generator to "enable power", and you're ready to head up into the tower

Boot the antenna terminal near the Red Tower

The final step is to boot the antenna terminal on the Red Tower, and this is quite tricky to locate. Go inside the Red Tower through the window just right of the generator, climb the stairs and head out onto the roof platform, using the ladder to climb to the upper level.

Now turn immediately right, head along the platform around the outside of the Red Tower and go around the corner to find the yellow-marked terminal. Interact with this and you've completed the quest.