ARC Raiders has many secrets and clues hidden in its story, but some of them might offer important hints on what's coming next for this successful Extraction Shooter created by Embark Studios.
Some background story pieces warn players of events to come, while others try to teach them about possible threats from the Second Wave of ARC Enemies. The long-term changes happening in the game's PvEvP meta and story are related to these five Lore Clues that hint at what's next in ARC Raiders.
ARC Raiders Has a Massive Ace Up Its Sleeve that Needs to Be Played Eventually
ARC Raider's has one piece of content hiding in plain sight, and it could completely upend the game's meta when it eventually releases.
5 New Areas To Explore Beyond The Rust Belt
The Voluntary Wipe Mechanic Hints At That Possibility
One of the most interesting details about ARC Raiders is that it changes the gameplay loop with the possibility of a 'voluntary wipe.' This Expeditions Project consists of building a Caravan to set on a one-way journey into the deepest parts of the Tubes, which is the network of tunnels that connect Speranza with other ruins of the pre-collapse civilization.
When players complete this project and set out on an Expedition, their Raider will be gone forever, but they will inherit certain buffs and earn rewards next time they create a new character. This sort of Legacy System has been discussed by the developers as a hint to what's to come, which involves not only the Expeditions Project, but many short-term event-themed constructions that will require mats, and will give players the chance to earn things like cosmetics and permanent unlocks for their Raiders. This might also be related to upcoming maps beyond the Rust Belt, which is the current playable scenario in ARC Raiders.
4 ARC Enemies Are Evolving
The Second Wave Is Worse Than The First
As the Lore of ARC Raiders states, the First Wave of ARC enemies were not as sophisticated as these new threatening contraptions falling from the atmosphere. The Second Wave, which is not only a global event but the name of the story setting in which players join the ARC Raiders universe as residents of Speranza, marks a new era for mankind, in which they will have to race against time to overcome this new threat or be destroyed forever.
ARC Raiders Squads Could Be Shooting Themselves in the Foot with This Mistake
For the ARC Raiders players who prefer to play with a squad, this one major mistake could be keeping one's team from success.
The vicious Harvesters are dropping on the surface, destroying the regenerating ecosystem and putting at risk the future of the Speranza survivors, who depend on their scavenge hunts on the dangerous Topside to survive. This translates into real-time events (like the mentioned Harvester-Queen battle), the dangerous Night Raids where ARC Activity surges, or the Electromagnetic Storms where the surface of the Earth is besieged by dangerous electrical discharges, making it nearly impossible for inexperienced Raiders to survive. It is possible that new scenario changes are coming, most of which are directly related to how these ARC enemies evolve, and looking forward to these hints, it is possible that a global-type event like an ARC Baron boss or a team battleground is in the works.
3 New Weapons And Technologies
An Arms Race To Stop The Second Wave Has Begun
According to the Codex Entries on the World and the Second Wave, Raiders have embarked on an Arms Race against time, trying to recover technologies from the pre-collapse age, and bringing them to Speranza to study and develop new ways to kill ARC enemies.
ARC Drones, Turrets, and other AI enemies are reinforced with a special Alloy, and only the most powerful weapons can penetrate their plating. Enemies like the vicious Leaper or the Rocketeer (which has the ability to wipe an entire team in seconds) are the prime example ot this. Uncovering new blueprints is the only way to stay up to date with these powerful enemies, and future patches of the game might introduce new and powerful end-game weapons to destroy ARC enemies more effectively.
2 Hostile Raider Settlements Might Be Out There
It Would Be Cool If A Faction War Gimmick Is Included
During the introductory mission in ARC Raiders, our character meets a near-death situation at the hands of Hostile Raiders, which are AI-controlled enemies. Shani warns the players about hostile groups of Raiders taking over certain settlements, and this means that there's a Raider faction that doesn't belong to Speranza, and it's out there in the Topside, or perhaps in another base located in some point of the Rust Belt.
The Unwritten Rules of ARC Raiders Explained
ARC Raiders places an emphasis on community interaction in its gameplay, so players will want to make sure they're following these unwritten rules.
If AI-controlled Human enemies are in the game, this means there could be a PvE-type event in which players participate in some sort of turf war against a rival faction, one that threatens the livelihood of Speranza and its denizens. Though this could also mean that other players could defect to this opposite faction and become Rogue Raiders. It would be a cool feature that would spice up the PvPvE setting of the game.
1 Exodus Tech & Possible Human Faction Controlling ARC
Who Is The True Enemy? Perhaps That's What Comes Next
Another interesting detail of the ARC Raiders lore that hints at another human faction that has fled the planet is present in the Exodus Codex Entry. It speaks about those who were fortunate enough to board ships that would transport them off-planet when the collapse began. It is said that these humans had impressive tech, which is now found scarcely on the Topside. Ages after this event, the First Wave began, and ARC Robots descended on Earth, coming from space.
These two seemingly unrelated facts might hint at the true origin of the ARC enemies invading the planet in this 'Second Wave.' Some ARC enemies drop technology that cannot be found on the surface, but is somewhat compatible with what Raiders have (or can be easily reverse-engineered into weapons and gear), which means that its origin could be human or at least similar. Perhaps there's a hidden truth behind this new wave of ARC incursions, and uncovering it will be part of the setting in the near future.
ARC Raiders
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 92%
- Released
- October 30, 2025
- ESRB
- Teen / Violence, Blood
- Developer(s)
- Embark Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Embark Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Extraction, Shooter, Third-Person Shooter, Survival
