Arc Raiders Tips and Tricks — Frozen Trail Update
Looking for Arc Raiders tips and tricks to help you survive topside? Starting out in Arc Raiders can feel overwhelming, and the Frozen Trail update just added a new map, three new ARC enemies, a rebuilt skill tree and a pile of new gear on top of everything else. Between the Arc threat, unpredictable players and extraction mechanics, new raiders often find themselves dead and frustrated within minutes of dropping in.
After 220 hours topside, I’ve put together this Arc Raiders beginner guide covering what actually works, not just the obvious stuff. You’ll learn how to survive your first raids, build smarter loadouts, and extract with loot instead of watching your gear disappear after every run. And don’t forget to check out the Arc Raiders Wiki; it’s super helpful as you get up to speed.
Whether you just jumped in during the Frozen Trail free weekend or you’re looking for that edge that keeps you alive longer, these Arc Raiders tips and tricks will speed up your learning curve significantly.
What Frozen Trail Changes for New Raiders
Frozen Trail (the 2.0 update, live since October 8) is the biggest update since launch. You can read every line in the official Frozen Trail patch notes, but here’s what actually matters if you’re new.
Pendola Pass is not a beginner map
The new map sits beyond the Rust Belt, built around a downed Emperor full of rare tech. It also brings flash freezes and two new ARC: the Bully, an aggressive charger that runs straight at your position, and the Skulker, which hides at the edge of your vision and ambushes you. Pendola Pass also tests Dynamic Loot Zones: an area keeps its loot type, but its value changes raid to raid. You can’t memorize one “best route” here the way you can elsewhere. Learn the older maps first.
Skip the Frigate for now
The Frigate is a new map condition: a huge ARC vessel you board and fight through, guarded by the Hydra, a three-part turret built to shred whole squads. It’s designed for skilled players. It’s also excluded from the PvE matchmaking beta, so expect other raiders up there.
The Outpost starts with a camera
The new Outpost is a home base that leads to a Research Bench and, eventually, Amplified weapons (a fifth upgrade tier for 15 guns). Step one asks you to photograph a farmland house, so bring a Camera. Shani sells one, or you can craft or find it topside.
Quests now give XP
Completing quests and quest objectives now grants XP, and 22 new quests were added. Early on, following your quests is one of the fastest ways to level.
Riven Tides got richer
Overall loot value on Riven Tides went up about 15%. That makes it a solid map to farm budget runs while you learn.
Cred is gone
Raider Decks became the Reward Pass, and Cred was replaced by Reward Points, earned through Feats. The Frozen Trail Pass has a free track, so knock out easy Feats as you play.
Arc Raiders Tips and Tricks: Don’t Shoot on Sight (Especially Solo)
This is the biggest mistake new players make, and I was guilty of it in my early runs too. When you’re solo and you see another raider, your instinct screams “shoot first, ask questions later.” Resist that urge.
Here’s the reality: shooting on sight as a beginner will get you killed more often than not. You might win the occasional fight, but experienced players will wreck you. More importantly, you lose something more valuable than gear: trust and opportunity.
In my experience, being friendly pays off far more than being aggressive. Sure, you’ll get betrayed occasionally and lose some loot. That’s part of the game. But the times you team up with a random, finish objectives together, or get handed free gear? Those moments far outweigh the losses. I once joined the Matriarch event with my best loot (a Level IV Bettina, Deadline Mines and a Snap Hook), anxious about risking a 70k+ loadout. A squad of 15+ raiders took the Matriarch down, and at the end a random raider handed me his Equalizer, a legendary weapon.
Using your mic makes this even more effective. A simple “Hey, I’m friendly” or “Want to team up against Arc?” can turn a deadly encounter into a profitable partnership. Proximity chat now even shows mouth animations when players talk, so it’s easier to tell who’s reaching out.a learning experience where the goal is survival and map knowledge, not profit.
Beginner Arc Raiders Trick: Start with Budget Loadouts (Or Go In Free)
One of the most painful lessons new players learn is bringing their best gear into early raids. Don’t do it. Seriously.
While you’re learning the maps, ARC enemy patterns and player hotspots, you’re going to die. A lot. Everyone does. But dying with rare weapons and valuable augments is just throwing resources away. That’s even more true now: if you put a Weapon Stencil on a gun, whoever downs you can loot it, stencil and all.
My survival recommendations for beginners:
- Use free loadouts or the cheapest gear possible
- Save rare items for events, squad runs with friends, or when you’re confident in duos and trios
- Learn the game mechanics with gear you won’t cry over losing
- Learn the maps before bringing custom gear; knowing each map tells you which weapons to bring
Once you’ve got 20–30 successful extractions and understand the flow of raids, start bringing better equipment. Until then, treat every raid as a lesson where the goal is survival and map knowledge, not profit.
Essential Arc Raiders Tips and Tricks Nobody Tells You
Arc Raiders has several systems that aren’t obvious at first but make a massive difference once you understand them.
Don’t Sell Your Free Loadout Augment, Trade It
New players constantly make this mistake. Don’t sell that free loadout augment at the vendor. Take it to the clinic and trade it instead. You’ll get better value and possibly an upgrade that suits your playstyle. It also gives you a safe pocket slot, which is essential during raids.
Arc Power Cells Are Emergency Shields
The game doesn’t explain this well: Arc power cells don’t need to be crafted into anything. You can use them directly to recharge part of your shield in an emergency. Found one during a raid? Keep it handy for when you’re in trouble.
Skill Points After the Frozen Trail Skill Tree Revamp
Frozen Trail rebuilt the skill tree. Each branch now has a mid-point node where you pick one of two skills, and two capstone nodes at the end where you choose two of three. You can change those picks when you reset your tree.
My advice for beginners hasn’t changed: put early points into stamina and conditioning first. Movement and endurance save your life far more often than slightly better handling or extra inventory space. The update made that path even stronger:
- Fight or Flight now gives about 25% more stamina per level
- Stubborn Mule stamina regen is up about 33%
- Back on Your Feet healing went from 30 to 40
After that, work through the survival skills. Moving faster, sprinting longer and outlasting both ARC and other players is the foundation for everything else. One new movement mechanic helps here too: sprint at a steep slope and you’ll briefly scramble up it.
Top Arc Raiders Survival Tips and Tricks for New Raiders
Survival Tip #1: Wait 3 Minutes Before Leaving the Spawn
This is probably the most valuable tip I can give you. When you drop in, don’t run straight for the high-value zones. Wait about three minutes.
Why? The aggressive players and experienced squads rush out immediately, creating a chaotic opening where everyone collides near zone entrances. Wait a few minutes, let that first wave clear, and you cut your odds of meeting players hunting early fights.
Use the time to organize your inventory, check objectives and plan your route. Those three minutes can be the difference between extracting and losing everything in the first five.
Survival Tip #2: Don’t Be a Rat
Hiding for the entire raid isn’t the answer either. Survival matters, but you’re here to learn, engage with the mechanics and actually experience the game.
Ratting (hiding in corners, avoiding every fight, extracting with minimal loot) feels safe, but it won’t make you better. You need to learn combat, practice on ARC and understand player interactions. Find the balance between reckless and passive.
Survival Tip #3: Be Who You Want to Be
This sounds philosophical, but it matters: your behavior shapes who you get matched with over time.
If you’re friendly, communicate well and honor truces, you’ll start meeting more players like that. Betray every alliance and shoot everything that moves, and expect the same energy back. Decide early what kind of raider you want to be and stick with it.
Survival Tip #4: Low-Budget Loadout Strategy
As you build momentum, gathering weapons, supplies and trinkets to sell, start running your gear in a low-budget, efficient way. Here’s what I bring when I don’t want to stress about losing anything:
- 1 heavy ammo weapon + 1 light ammo weapon. The heavy gun is for ARC; the light gun, ideally a Stitcher, is for PvP if you run into hostile raiders. Frozen Trail added two cheap options that fit this perfectly: the Bantam, a heavy-ammo revolver that works on both ARC and raiders, and the Stiletto, a light-ammo battle rifle built as an early-game alternative to the Renegade.
- 1 round of heavy ammo (40) + 1 round of light ammo (100)
- Any Mk1 augment (preferably Looting Mk1)
- 5+ shield rechargers
- 5+ bandages
One note if you’ve been leaning on the Anvil: it’s now Blue rarity instead of Green, and Tian Wen no longer sells it (it rotates through the Nomadic Envoys instead). That makes it a pricier gun to lose. And the Snap Hook got shorter range (20m to 18m) and costs more power per use, so don’t count on it for back-to-back escapes.
That’s it. This kit gives you a quality round without dying so fast and lets you actually enjoy the raid.
Custom Loadout Builder
- 1 Weapon with Heavy Ammo + 1 Weapon with Light Ammo: One is for fighting Arc (Heavy Ammo) and the other—ideally a Stitcher—is your PvP gun in case you run into other hostile raiders on the map
- 1 Round of Heavy Ammo (40) + 1 Round of Light Ammo (100)
- Any Mk1 Augment (preferably Looting Mk1)
- 5+ Shield Rechargers
- 5+ Bandages
That is it—these essential goods will allow you to have a quality round without dying so fast and give you an opportunity to enjoy the raid more.
The Hardest Challenge: Trust
This is the part of Arc Raiders no guide can fully prepare you for.
Telling whether another raider is friendly or hostile is genuinely hard. There’s no foolproof method and no guaranteed way to know if the player walking up wants to team up or take your gear.
Some general trust indicators:
- Players on voice comms are usually more trustworthy (not always, but more often)
- Players who keep their distance and don’t immediately aim at you are often testing the waters
- Someone who helps you fight ARC without demanding loot is probably safe, but stay alert; sometimes the goal is to make you easier to down
- Players in full rare gear are sometimes more trustworthy because they have less to gain from killing you
Here’s the honest truth: you will get betrayed sometimes. Someone will team up with you, help with an objective, then shoot you right before extraction. It’s frustrating, and it’s part of what makes Arc Raiders compelling.
Don’t let the occasional betrayal turn you into a shoot-on-sight player. The good interactions vastly outnumber the bad ones if you give people a chance.
Final Thoughts: Arc Raiders Tips and Tricks for the Long Game
Arc Raiders has a steep learning curve, and Frozen Trail just made the world bigger. Your first 10–20 hours will be rough. You’ll die to ARC you didn’t understand, get ambushed in spots you didn’t know existed, and make mistakes with your gear.
That’s completely normal.
Every extraction, every good player interaction and every lesson from a failed raid makes you better. Use budget loadouts while you learn, talk to other players, put your first skill points into stamina and survival, and save Pendola Pass and the Frigate until you’ve got the basics down.
The wasteland is dangerous, and now it’s frozen too. But it’s full of opportunity for anyone willing to learn. See you out there, raider.
Want to read more about my Arc Raiders experience?
