ARC Raiders Best Weapons Tier List

Weapons are the lifeblood of survival in ARC Raiders. Whether you’re scavenging the Rust Belt for firepower or crafting your own arsenal back in Speranza, the gun you bring into a raid often determines whether you walk out alive—or become scrap for the ARC machines. Although higher-rarity weapons generally outperform common ones, several hidden gems punch far above their weight, and even some legendary blueprints have surprising weaknesses.

To help you decide which guns are worth crafting, upgrading, or looting, this tier list breaks down the best weapons in ARC Raiders, organized from S-tier powerhouses to C-tier underperformers.

S-Tier Weapons — The Absolute Best

S-tier ARC Raiders Items represent the strongest, most reliable firearms in ARC Raiders. These guns shine in both PVE encounters with ARC drones and PVP fights against rival raiders. If you manage to find or craft any of these, hold onto them—they’ll carry you through the toughest situations.

Ferro

Leading the pack is the Ferro, a high-powered starting rifle that massively outperforms nearly every other early-game weapon. Its excellent penetration makes it ideal for punching through ARC plating, and skilled sharpshooters can drop enemy raiders with only a few well-placed shots. Because it’s easy to craft and upgrade, the Ferro quickly becomes a staple for players looking to progress efficiently.

Anvil

The Anvil serves as a close rival to the Ferro, offering similar stopping power with extra lethality when landing consistent headshots. It’s particularly strong in tight-range PVP skirmishes and rewards accuracy more than any other early rifle.

Tempest & Bettina

The Tempest and Bettina assault rifles round out the S-tier. These guns deliver top-tier performance but come with steep crafting requirements and rarity restrictions, making them more suitable for experienced raiders. Once unlocked, however, their combination of DPS, stability, and versatility makes them dominant across all content types.

A-Tier Weapons — Strong Choices With Minor Drawbacks

A-tier weapons offer exceptional value and strong performance, but they’re not quite as universally dominant as their S-tier counterparts. Many excel in one mode—PVE or PVP—while falling short in the other.

Equalizer & Hullcracker

Both the Equalizer and the Hullcracker hit incredibly hard and shred ARC enemies with ease. Their PVE performance is stellar, but they lose impact in raider-versus-raider combat, where mobility and precision mean more than raw damage output.

Osprey & Jupiter

The Osprey and Jupiter are long-range sniper rifles designed for high-precision takedowns. In skilled hands, they provide unmatched lethality at a distance. However, their slow handling and cumbersome aiming mechanics make them far less effective when fights close in, placing them squarely in A-tier instead of S-tier.

Bobcat

If your playstyle favors aggressive rushdowns, the Bobcat SMG delivers fast, devastating bursts at close range. Unfortunately, its recoil makes it difficult to control, and it becomes nearly useless beyond short distances.

Renegade

The Renegade serves as a lever-action alternative to the Ferro, offering solid power but hindered by long reload times. While strong, its rhythm-based firing limits its consistency compared to S-tier rifles.

Kettle

One of the most surprising A-tier weapons is the humble Kettle. Crafted early in the game, it remains extraordinarily reliable in both PVE and PVP thanks to its balanced stats and high versatility. It struggles against heavily armored ARC units and large raider groups, but for general use, it’s one of the best all-purpose guns in ARC Raiders.

B-Tier Weapons — Serviceable but Outclassed

B-tier weapons have a place in the arsenal but are eventually overshadowed by higher-tier alternatives. They’re functional and often strong early on, but they lack the edge needed for high-level raiding.

Stitcher

A staple of free loadouts, the Stitcher SMG fires rapid bursts capable of melting enemies at close range. It makes a great secondary weapon—especially when paired with rifles like the Ferro—but suffers from poor accuracy and weak long-range performance.

Rattler

The Rattler is a dependable early-game assault rifle, but it becomes obsolete once you can craft rarer guns. It’s a decent stopgap option, but not something you’ll rely on in late-game encounters.

Arpeggio & Burletta

The Arpeggio and Burletta are average firearms that don’t excel in any particular category. Arpeggio’s burst fire is workable in PVP, but it struggles against ARC units. Burletta, a basic pistol, lacks both impact and utility.

Venator

Although the Venator is stronger than the Burletta, its rarity and crafting cost hold it back. Its twin-shot burst can surprise enemy players, but the overall package doesn’t elevate it beyond mid-tier.

Vulcano

The Vulcano boasts epic rarity and delivers brutal close-quarters damage. However, its performance tanks against armored ARC drones, and its extreme damage falloff limits its viability. Given its crafting cost, players often find better value elsewhere.

C-Tier Weapons — Use Only If You Have No Other Choice

C-tier weapons aren’t completely useless, but they lag behind alternatives in almost every category. If you want to survive tougher missions, replace these as soon as possible.

Torrente

The Torrente LMG hits hard and can wipe groups of drones quickly—if you’re crouched and stationary. Unfortunately, standing still in ARC Raiders is a fast track to death, making Torrente too situational to recommend.

Hairpin

The Hairpin is one of the only naturally suppressed weapons in the game, making it useful for stealth. Sadly, its low damage and limited stopping power make the tradeoff not worth it.

Il Toro

Finally, Il Toro offers decent close-range lethality and works fine in free loadouts, but it’s outclassed by nearly every SMG or pistol in higher tiers. It’s adequate as a backup ARCR Items, but nothing more.