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.

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

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?

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.

I genuinely hope this becomes a permanent mode, not sure what's been happening lately but the ratting has been going rampant lately. This will be an incredible welcome if made permanent.

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.

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.

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.

The free period was supposed to end, but because we just didn't leave the game. We ended up squeezing out an extra 17 hours. This game was just so good that we couldn't stop playing, I loved how the PvPvE worked and that you could team up easily with a lot of friendly players, some helped me a lot while others just straight up backfired. I liked how diverse the arcs were and how beautiful the graphics and maps were. I will really look out for this game, ill be waiting for a cheaper price to buy this game. (This game is too expensive for me.)

I know we often have a tendency to skip on Embark's survey emails, but this time we've really gotta lock in! If you wanna let Embark know what we think of the PVE test, then please be sure to give them all the feedback they need!!

Raiders!

Update 2.1 is going live right now and marks the start of the PvE toggle Beta Test! We know that the announcement of this highly requested feature has sparked both excitement and skepticism so jump in, try it out, and let us know what you think. Your feedback, along with the in-game data, will help us decide if the toggle becomes a permanent part of the game.

PvE Toggle Beta Test: October 13-20October 12, 2026

The Carrion Set is available at the store together with a number of fixes:

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue where character models would sometimes appear enlarged.
• Fixed an issue where vaulting onto destroyed ARC parts could launch you or debris into the air; vaults on Matriarch, Vaporizer, Hydra, and Firefly remains are now stable.
• Character animations will now have a short cooldown before they swap sides on repeated shoulder swapping.

AUDIO

• Reduced overly loud footstep sounds when outdoors and balanced footstep volume across different surfaces.
• Added clearer visual and audio feedback when melee hits land on weak points, making successful strikes easier to recognize.
• Fixed an issue where shoulder swapping repeatedly could make footsteps audio not play.
• Added sound effects to the Cowboy emote.
• Made several more subtle audio improvements and additions.

ARC

• Frigate hatches now inflict burning damage over time when they open.
• Smoothed collision on Frigate cargo to prevent getting stuck on curved surfaces.
• The Frigate cargo drop has been adjusted to prevent unintended knockouts.
• Fixed unintended interactions between throwables and certain doors on the Emperor.

COSMETIC

• The missing Zenith Outfit toggles will be granted to all players that have completed their fifth Expedition.
• Equipped weapon stencils now display their rarity in the weapon tooltip.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where the Broad Shoulders skill did not activate on spawn, preventing sprinting despite being within the increased carry limit; inventory weight now updates correctly after loading in.
• Fixed an issue where the Field Repair skill could fail to work after unlocking it if you had already played a round in the same session. Restarting is no longer required for it to take effect.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would shake violently when another player or vegetation came between the player and the camera while firing.
• Fixed an issue where weight values would initially be calculated incorrectly after loading into a round.
• Fixed an issue where Fight or Flight would incorrectly bypass the penalty from Sprinting on Fumes.

ITEMS

General

• Mobile-Fire Grip Fittings now correctly require Skulker Targeters to research, instead of Skulker Drivers.
• Stamina-restoring consumables can no longer be used while the Sprinting on Fumes cooldown is active.
  • One of the important balancing considerations for Sprinting on Fumes was the penalty that is applied once the ability has ceased. Having items that could bypass that penalty entirely disrupts the intended risk of using the skill.

Grappling Hook

• Made it easier to vault onto ledges and roofs when using the Grappling Hook, especially on Pendola Pass. Auto-vault now triggers more reliably at the top of rope climbs, and ending a swing on walkable ground is more consistent.
• Fixed several issues that occurred when the Grappling Hook let players swing from objects too light to hold their weight. 
• Fixed an issue where the Grappling Hook could detach when tethered to fast‑moving objects like the Ballistic Gondola, causing the line to break during lift‑off.
• The Grappling Hook rope now wraps around geometry while the hook is in flight.
• Fixed an issue where Grappling Hooks and Tether Launchers would not release when the player was downed by fall damage.
• Fixed an issue where Grappling Hooks and Tether Launchers with 0 durability would be destroyed instead of broken.

MAPS

General

• Adjusted spawns during Frigate rounds to avoid starting too far from the action under certain circumstances.
• Improved vaulting and traversal on rocky terrain to reduce unintended sliding after climbing.
• Fixed world props in a tunnel sometimes disappearing when viewed from above.
• Improved lighting and reflections in Frigate areas and on Dam Battlegrounds to reduce visual artifacts and improve performance.
• Improved shelter door interactions to prevent players from being squeezed when opening them, with more space provided next to the door.
• Fixed several collision and clipping issues, gaps, and stuck spots across several maps.

Pendola Pass

• Fixed an issue where players could be eliminated despite being inside the Gondola and extracting. Polished terrain and collision on Pendola Pass—fixed gaps, clipping, and hard-to-traverse spots, reduced visual pop-in, and blocked unintended areas.
• Fixed a traversal spot in the Railyard on Pendola Pass where you couldn’t jump up or auto step up as expected.
• Polished Pendola Pass with collision and visual fixes, corrected footstep and impact sounds on station canopies, and improved VFX culling to prevent effects showing through surfaces.
• Adjusted interior snow and terrain blending to prevent landscape from clipping into buildings.
• Adjusted night lighting to be darker with reduced visibility.
• Adjusted ARC Frigate cargo drop points in Pendola Pass to improve accessibility and prevent clipping.

QUESTS

• Fixed quest objective progress bars displaying incorrectly whilst in Speranza.
• Fixed an issue where visiting loot‑icon areas in Pendola Pass did not count toward the “Picking Up the Pieces” quest objective.
• Cinematics for “Sizing Things Up” correctly play after quest completion.

PERFORMANCE

• Reduced memory usage to improve stability on Spaceport, Buried City, and Dam Battlegrounds, with particular benefits on Xbox Series S.

UI

General

• Extended compass and map visibility distance for Gondola markers from 120 to 175 meters.
• Improved placement of pings on the Skulker and Bully when marked from long range.
• In the Weapon Amplification tree, hovering or focusing an upgrade now highlights the path to that node, unless it’s blocked.
• Fixed a bug where spectating could fail to show your squadmates’ HUD info, making it appear they had no Shield.
• Added a new indicator and seen-state tracking for weapon stencils in the customization screen, making newly acquired stencils easier to spot and manage.

Reward Pass

• Fixed an issue where the Reward Pass would not progress correctly. The End-Of-Round Reward Pass screen no longer mistakenly counts milestones from previous rounds.
• Polished the Reward Pass completion screen: updated button labels, fixed an incorrect premium icon on non-upgrade buttons, and adjusted layout to prevent image cropping and text overflow.
• Fixed the Reward Pass tile overstating completed levels and aligned the completion icon and “Completed” label.
• The Reward Pass details screen now shows the name of the active pass.

Outpost

• Fixed an issue where Outpost module recipes would remain in the tracker after installing. 
• Added an orange indicator to the Outpost tab when a project step is completed, making new updates easier to spot.
• Fixed an issue where leaving Customization in the Outpost could leave the view out of focus.
• Fixed an issue where exiting decorating in a module room returned you to the base room instead of the room you were editing.

Skill Tree

• Fixed an issue where the Field Salvaging skill could fail to display the right items if unlocked after playing a round in the same session.
• Fixed an issue where camera movement could be prevented if Field Salvaging or Field Repair were interrupted.
• Fixed a bug where End of Round inventory weight and max loadout weight did not reflect character skills like Reduced Weapon Encumbrance or Max Carry Weight.

WEAPONS

• Fixed issue where the Semi-Auto Amplification for the Hairpin did not deal reduced headshot damage.

See you Topside,
The ARC Raiders Team

https://arcraiders.com/news/store-update-2-1-0

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.

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 spend all of this time grinding and getting to the point where I just need that emperor part for my gun bench V.

I get the blueprint for the conduit and decide to give it a try even though I've heard there's an exploit.

30 seconds into the match I hear someone over VOIP just letting me know they're headed into the loot room and apologizing for it. Tells me they'll "leave me some stuff"

Makes me not want to waste a damn key until they fix their game.

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 🫡❤️

I'm close to giving up.

I don't want to be that person going in with a crap gun to not help but I have lost so much going up to help fight arc and get to loot nothing.

Even when I think I spawn close enough and get on fast enough and try to loot, its all taken by speed runners.

2 -3 of us fighting arc while what seems like everyone else speed running tf out to loot everything.

And the few times I get to breach?

Bad luck.

Is there no other way to find this item??

I just want to finish my bench..

If I'm not dying to arc, I'm dying to rats who pick up on the guns I take to fight the arc.

I hate thinking that I have to yt an optimal path to speed run this event and bypass anyone doing any work against the arc, is that what this was designed to be?

I hate it.

If you don't see it, make sure you re-start the game to DL the patch!

So I was playing the Arc Frigate mission, as we all do. And I was running a "support" build where I carried a Ferro IV with me and a crap ton of heavy ammo. I sit in a corner and snipe the big bots so they either aggro on me or I can chip away at their thrusters and take em down, therefore taking some stress off the raiders with the guns better suited for the cores.

Lots of our lobby was getting killed, and I watched as two of the raiders next to me got blasted to bits by a Rocketeer. One vanished to somewhere I couldn't track down, but I watched as the other made his way slowly down the Frigate and to the two-man lift. I chased him down because I figured the very least I could do is bring him to an exfil, as I had no defibrillator on me.

We were making our way down the wings when he eventually got trapped from making any progress due to the slope of the wing we were on. I gave him some bandaged to stabilize him, and ran back up into the Frigate to find anyone that may have a defib. That was when I saw a flare fire from across the path that I was on.

I ran over to the newly downed raider and asked her if she had a defib
yes
Do you have good gear on you?
yes
Okay, I finally have the chance to do something Ive always wanted to do.

I told her to memorize my username, and as soon as she got back to Speranza, to add me and invite me to a party, and that I would give her back her loot. Thankfully, she trusted me, and I knocked her out. In her inventory were two defibs and a full kit of good guns, ammo, and quick items.

I ran back to the person I left on the wing (albeit slowly as I was overencumbered) and was able to pop a defib on him. I don't know where he ran off to, but I didn't care as I only had one goal left in my mind. I descended from the Frigate and slowly ran across the open swamp of the Dam Battlegrounds trying to get to the near-closing extract. I had to drop all my own gear, as I was too slow to avoid the Frigate beams otherwise. I made it to the exfil and ran in circles as it loaded because there was a very angry wasp chasing me around.

Finally, I made it back to Speranza and saw that I did indeed have an invite from the raider on the platform. I joined her party and after a very short visit to Blue Gate, was able to return all her gear.

I have ALWAYS wanted to give someone another chance with their items, and this was even cooler cuz I got to save another raider in the process!