With Frozen Trail’s 2.0 update, released on 8 October, ARC Raiders reshaped a good chunk of its arsenal: two new weapons, a fifth quality tier, a rarer Anvil and a new formula for explosive damage. Any weapon ranking written before the update needs another look. This guide ranks the main weapons using the time-to-kill figures ARC Tracker calculates from the game’s version 2.00 data, alongside Embark Studios’ patch notes. These numbers are theoretical, since they assume every shot lands, but they give every weapon the same yardstick.
At a glance
Against a medium shield, the Bobcat IV kills in 1.1 seconds, ahead of the Torrente, the Tempest and the new Bantam.
Against a heavy shield, the Bobcat drops to 3.3 seconds, while the Torrente and the Tempest stay under 1.5 seconds.
The Anvil moves up from Uncommon to Rare, and the Bantam takes over its old role as the Uncommon hand cannon.
What the 2.0 patch changes for ARC Raiders weapons
In Embark’s official 2.0 patch notes, the studio explains that it has moved the ARC Raiders Anvil from green to blue rarity. It calls the Anvil tricky to evaluate: versatile enough to take on Raiders and ARC alike, and outperforming weapons at and above its own rarity. The Bantam now fills the Uncommon hand cannon role, with a balance better suited to that tier. The Anvil also loses its Tech Mod slot, and the Anvil Splitter becomes an upgrade option for the Amplified Anvil.
Explosives work differently against ARC too. According to Embark, a weapon like the Hullcracker now deals over 50% more damage to armour plates, but around 30% less to fragile parts. The stated aim is more consistent explosive damage, since most ARC are heavily armoured. If you’re taking on the big machines, our guide to beating the Bully in Frozen Trail covers its weak points.
Finally, a Jupiter bug has been fixed: its damage was spreading twice to ARC parts behind the target. As a result, the weapon is now stronger against armour and slightly weaker against weak spots.
The fastest weapons against a medium shield
To compare ARC Raiders weapons, we’re following GameWave’s approach, which already rated weapons at level IV against medium shields, the most common setup. The times come from ARC Tracker’s per-weapon time-to-kill figures, calculated at 10 metres with body shots.
At the top, under 1.4 seconds, sit the Bobcat IV (1.1s, 20 shots), the Torrente IV (1.2s), the Tempest IV (1.3s) and the Bantam IV (1.3s, 6 shots). Fresh out of the box, the Bantam goes straight into the four fastest weapons. Just behind, between 1.5 and 1.7 seconds, come the Venator IV and Arpeggio IV (1.5s), the Stiletto IV and Stitcher IV (1.6s), then the Rattler IV (1.7s).
Further down, the Kettle IV (1.9s), the Renegade IV (2.0s, 4 shots), the Anvil IV (2.6s) and the Il Toro IV shotgun (3.1s) are situational picks. Right at the bottom of the ARC Raiders rankings, the Hairpin IV needs 5.2 seconds and the Ferro IV 8.9 seconds.
Heavy shields shake up the ARC Raiders order
A heavy shield changes things. On the same ARC Tracker data, the Torrente IV moves to the top at 1.3 seconds, ahead of the Tempest IV (1.4s), the Venator IV (1.5s) and the Bantam IV (1.6s). The Bobcat IV, the quickest against medium shields, climbs to 3.3 seconds against a heavy one. The Stitcher IV suffers the same drop, while the Rattler IV and the Arpeggio IV both sit at 1.8 seconds and the Stiletto IV at 1.9.
In ARC Raiders, then, a weapon that looks fast on paper can disappoint against a well-equipped opponent. The Venator holds the same 1.5 seconds whatever the shield, which matches the view of GameWave’s Corentin Rimbert, who described it before the update as the most reliable and balanced weapon in the game.
Stiletto and Bantam, Frozen Trail’s two new weapons
New to ARC Raiders, the Stiletto is a light-ammo battle rifle pitched as an early-game alternative to the Renegade. Its numbers put it mid-table: 1.6 seconds against a medium shield and 1.9 seconds against a heavy one, with six extra rounds in the magazine at level IV.
The Bantam is a short-barrelled, heavy-ammo revolver built for hip-fire. At 6 shots and 1.3 seconds against a medium shield, it beats the Anvil IV it replaces at Uncommon. Its fire rate rises by 30 rounds per minute between level I and level IV, according to ARC Tracker.
Amplified weapons, the new top tier in ARC Raiders
Frozen Trail also adds a fifth quality tier, Amplified weapons, which unlock branching upgrade paths. Embark announced fifteen compatible weapons at launch, and ARC Tracker already lists thirteen, including the Anvil, the Renegade, the Il Toro, the Hullcracker, the Jupiter, the Equalizer and the Osprey. We covered the system in our Frozen Trail review.
The variants show how it works. The Amplified Aphelion can take a bigger magazine, incendiary rounds or a charged burst, while the Amplified Osprey can get tracker rounds, an anti-weak-point option or a straight bolt. These versions change how a weapon behaves, and they could reshuffle the rankings above over the coming weeks. The time-to-kill figures here all refer to the level IV versions.
To see what’s landing over the next few weeks, the Hitbox release calendar lists every date with its official source.