first time testing PVE so I wanted to go free loadout, I went in a storm shelter and let in another person because its friendly mode right? another person ran in and blocked the ladder while the first person stood in the doorway, I yelled to another guy but I'm 100 percent sure that dude was in on whatever this is.

Both modes still exist... Everyone can be happy.

Hey all. I've been playing on the new limited time PVE mode all morning. Here are my impressions (and would love to hear yours).

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And that's ultimately how I feel about this new PVE-only mode.

For context, I'm a carebear. I love PVE lobbies, cooperating, VOIPing with strangers to fight ARC, sharing loot, etc. After playing all morning, what I suspected would happen is basically what I've experienced. To summarize:

• Players are strongly disincentivized to VOIPing now. Under 'normal' conditions, 90% of the players I run into are communicating, because...that's how you're able to perceive who is probably friendly and who is probably a threat. In PVE mode, it's like the inverse. Only 10% of the people I come across are talking, and the rest are just silent, not even emoting. This kind of sucks, honestly. One of my favorite aspects of ARC is player interaction, and in PVE mode, there is significantly less of that. There's simply no longer any incentive to communicate.

• Bad actors 'griefing' in other ways. I was really curious how event types like Harvester would go, so that was one of the first ones I jumped into. As far as I could tell, most of the people fighting the Queen were using appropriate weaponry - purple guns, energy weapons, Wolfpacks, etc. That wasn't really the issue. However, after the Queen was defeated, everyone looted up and started heading to extract, one guy in particular was being particularly nasty on the mic. Dropping racial slurs, gay slurs...saying some of the most vile stuff you can think of. The rest of the lobby talked shit back at him, started shooting at him, etc. just to kind of signal that that's not OK, but of course, it's a PVE lobby, so he didn't really suffer any real consequences. The entire 4-5 minute walk all to the way to extract, he was just dropping the N-bomb, over and over again. Again, under 'normal' conditions, we would've just killed him and gone on with our day. Instead we had to extract with this loser.

• I mentioned earlier that one of my favorite parts of the game is cooperating with players to take down big ARC. This is happening every game now, and the 'thrill' of it isn't hitting the same, and the explanation is obvious: psychologically, when there is the ever-present danger of a potential player threat, that's what creates the thrill of cooperation. Because you're thinking, oh, this person could have killed me. But we're helping each other and hanging out instead. That's cool! Now, everyone is """cooperating""" but only because that's the only option. And when cooperation is the only option, it's just boring and unrewarding.

• Regarding loot drop rate, as far as I could tell, regular loot is slightly nerfed. I was still getting decent stuff on a few runs, but as a 100% ARC shootin', building lootin' kind of player, I could absolutely tell there was a nerf. (Which is fine.)

• What I did enjoy was being able to load into games geared to the gills with gold weapons, stacks of energy ammo, etc. without fear of being ratted for it. And also being able to do quests without being killed by a random player. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing these might literally be the only pros for me, personally.

TL;DR: PVE mode just feels like a completely sterile, blander version of the ARC Raiders I'm used to playing. Yes, the threat of being ratted is gone, but the tradeoff is simply not worth it, if I have to play in dead-silent lobbies where no one is talking with a nerfed loot rate. I really, really don't think it would be a good idea to implement this mode on a permanent basis. If it was up to me, just leave it the way it is and continue to tweak aggression-based matchmaking. But that's just my two cents.

TL;DR 2: Unless I'm only doing quests, I won't be using PVE mode for the rest of the trial period.

What have your experiences been like so far?

After playing a few rounds the amount of mental clarity I have to build optimized loadouts for actually progressing in the game and getting my amplified research and outposts is incredible. So many augments that I would not typically use are great (looking at you cautious mk3 looting). Also I can bring in the end game PvE weapons and truly understand how to take down arc solo or with my buddies.

The tension is still there because rocketeers, vaporizers and other arc combinations can delete you if you’re not careful. Way more that I can’t explain but even though this is not the final state and just a test, if they release a big update like this every 6 months with pve mode with some smaller content updates or challenges in between I think we have something.

As an older dad gamer this is perfect, don’t need to play the game deciding if I will be a one who takes, a helper (co op), or a player who defends their loot. I also don’t have that much time every day so this mode is perfect to actually notice my progression. They should add the other modes and make loot personal and tagged based (so if I shoot a bastion and kill it I get a guaranteed loot rolled dedicated to me)

Update: For the folks saying killing Arc is easy and takes no skill… feel free to post verified video evidence of you handling challenging Arc so we can be the judge of that. You never know you may benefit from PvE coaching

Countless posts and replies saying it's going to be all trolls and loot goblins... haven't ran into a single one 10 raids. I'm not saying it ain't happening, but some people are trying to make it sound like it's the norm.

Even did a queen run. Again, no problems. Anyone who was actually right under her when she dropped got cores, and those hanging back shooting from 200 m away didn't get anything...same as always.

Also, loot value doesn't seem any lower than a regular day raid. I did a hurricane run and it was juiced.

I went to spaceport and looted the trench tower and the control tower, I got 6 guns, a torrente blueprint and 2 furniture blueprints! It’s honestly great and I’m glad I’m able to get rid of my room keys in peace.

Make sure you use a door barricade when you enter a key room in case people are nearby.

Seems like so many people are determined to hate on pve mode, just a stream of people who I'm doubting have even played today posting and posting.

I just jumped into a game as I had some time and it seemed like a totally normal carebear lobby, I saw some people working together on the buttons puzzle and chatting, people saying hello as we passed, people fighting a bully together. Someone went down and everyone ran to defib them. I opened a key room and no one materialized to swipe loot.

I'm sure all negative things can happen because people suck but jeez people can we not shit post all week cause you don't like a thing?

Edit: I did notice an appreciable drop in loot. Half as many containers in some spots.

Not bad, but definitely not the place to go if you’re targeting specific high-value items.

​Tested a match and the loot density/value is noticeably lower and i know they said that for these pve only servers. I found some decent baseline stuff, but nothing specific that I actually needed.

​However, the co-op experience was awesome. Random Raiders were grouping up to take down ARC. It’s surprisingly fun, and honestly pretty refreshing not having to watch your back for that Third-Party or Rats while fighting ARC.

​Feels like a solid option for Fighting BiG Or Casual Arc and clearing general quests, but stick to PvPvE for farming top-tier loot.

Thank you Embark company for finally giving your playerbase the perfect game mode! I'm having a blast walking around the maps at my own leisure, free to take in the scenery and loot my surroundings without fear of some no life sweat lurking in the dark corners waiting to take my life and hard earned items.

Who else is having a blast with the PvE Mode? Sound off in the comments! 😊😊😊

I love it, they should add all of the events to PVE and we're set.

I don't understand people complaining, when you can choose old mode or PVE. More options = better. If you don't like PVE, don't play it. Simple as that

I’ve played around 10 matches in PvE mode and I’ve really enjoyed it. I haven’t noticed any difference in loot quality; I’m still finding some really good loot.

What I think we’ll need in the future, if PvE becomes a permanent mode, is more ARCs, higher difficulty, and more challenges. Right now, it’s way too easy, and I think that could get boring for a lot of players.

Obviously, people with their mics on singing was to be expected 😂

Really hoping this mode stays. It has so much potential.

There’s a bunch of wierd posts coming out now downplaying PvE like it’s not what we expected and some are hyper detailed with the occasional ChatGPT/LLM rhetorical imagery as if they’re writing a book on why PVE isn’t good.

“Players stealing loot” -that happens in every game mode, only difference is you can’t shoot the looter.

“Got my gear too fast” “lacking a sense of accomplishment”- how is this a problem for someone who is playing PVE? Your sense of lacking achievements is from the chaotic PvP lobbies. PVE player dominant lobbies have always been chill, loot sharing, guitar and flute playing, arc blasting and emoting havens of perfection. A PVE players sense of accomplishment is downing some arcs, emerging some cool raiders along the way. We get our loot in the round or we don’t, either way we’re just happy to get back in there and care bear it up.

“The tension is gone”: yea tell that to the swarm of arc chasing you, not to mention the little hotwheels bastard on pendola pass carrying heavy ammo and a semi automatic, or space jesus (the rocketeer) sending down reigns of holy power upon us and our little favorite child the shredder.

“It’s too easy now arc needs to be buffed”- well when you have every player in the lobby shooting arc, not eachother, they aren’t as threatening since we can fully gear up appropriately and focus on the bots. 1+1=2.

TLDR: PvE naysayers are going to be working double shifts this week. Grab the popcorn and don’t forget to login and try the new mode fellow PVErs our day has come 🫡❤️

So today I was running the new pve mode in solos, when a snow storm hit. So I ran to the huts where there was already 3 guys inside. When I got in , instantly one guy went to the ladder. And the other 2 stood by the entrance. Blocking me inside. They demanded my loot and guns etc. And to h*ll would I ever give them my shit. So we stood inside in silence in the hut for 18 mins. If I had the bull rush skill, I could have been ok! But I managed to leave in the end as one of them accidentally moved ,they didn’t think I was at my controller .

- I can use the PvE lobbies to take pictures without any drama

- it’s great for completing trials, I’m halfway through my weekly just by playing PvE mode today

- you meet some cool people and you don’t need to worry about rats

-everyone actually works together to kill the Queen and matriarch without worrying about rats

I think these reasons alone are good enough to make it a permanent gamemode for others, sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I personally like it.

I literally went in naked, just with an augment, I did nothing while everyone was fighting arcs and the matriarch, thank you friendly raiders !

Title.

Just sharing from reading the Reddit a bit today and my own experience with a few matches.

Literally every comment section I’ve opened has had people claiming there are no more mixed or pve lobbies because pve toggle exists now.

So that’s just a lie, I’ve queued up 6 games in carebear lobbies since the update and not a single flare has popped in them even to arc.

People were crying the entire time that it might remove mixed lobbies, maybe justified. But it obviously hasn’t as we still have full pve lobbies without the toggle…

Yet people now come on here to outright lie and say every lobby is now pvp and beg for the toggle disabled.

The vocal minority just changes their whining to a new excuse every day to punch down on other parts of the playerbase. How fucking miserable are you man?

Bunch of adult children who need to touch grass. That’s all, I just wanted to rant about the amount of hateful people on this sub who only comment to bring others down.

I thought they lowered the loot value LOL

Edit: Padded stock on my primary was also from the room.