One of the best features Arc Raiders has going for it is its PvPvE fights. You never know who’s going to merc you when you go Topside, or who you could ally with. But this same feature that makes Arc Raiders so interesting can also make it infuriating—that’s the coin flip.
Ever ventured Topside for the sole purpose of taking down a Bastion, Bombardier or even the Queen, only to get third-partyed by some rat with a free loadout? Well, if you have, then this new augment concept is for you.
“I’ve been thinking about high-risk ARC boss fights, and how PvP pressure right now really discourages bringing legendary gear,” Reddit user davmly says. “Even though I enjoy the PvP aspect of the game, going topside fully geared for PvE usually just ends with my whole kit getting wiped by a third party… You know how it goes. Let me introduce my fan concept augment dedicated to Arc hunting, Tactical Mk.4 (Hunting), designed to let players commit to Arc fights without removing risk.”
Unlike other augments, this Mk.4 would allow just one secure slot “dedicated for a single Legendary weapon only (Equalizer, Jupiter, or Aphelion).” It’d also come with a heavy shield, and there’d be no safe pocket, so any loot is fair game once you get downed. This means that the augment would be pretty useless for anyone looting, but would come in handy for those who want to bring in their best guns to take down the biguns. I like it, Picasso.
“The goal isn’t safety, but encouraging real boss hunting,” davmly continues. “You secure the tool you need to fight the arc, but you still risk everything you earn from it. I think something like this could push more players to actually engage with endgame PvE instead of avoiding it because of PvP griefing.”
Concept: High-risk ARC hunting augment that secures the weapon, not the loot from r/ArcRaiders
I think the concept is sound. There’s a clear use case for something like this, but it doesn’t completely negate the risk. What’s more, we’ve already seen how some higher-level augments utilise creative perks to massively help players. So a hunting augment is definitely not out of the question.
However, there’s certainly an argument for not making Arc Raiders too easy. After all, it is an extraction shooter. This genre is defined by the possibility to lose everything you hold dear, your weapons, blueprints, heck, even your mental. But replacing a safe slot for a safe legendary weapon spot for just one legendary augment is a fair proposition in my mind.
The augment would still be a huge investment, as some other players suggest needing rare parts from Bastions or Bombardiers to craft it, so it’s not some common Mk.2 that just anyone could get a hold of.
Having an augment that would encourage more people to take on the big bad arcs sounds like an excellent plan to me and something that I would fully take advantage of. Because come on, we can’t expect everyone to put their precious legendary guns on the line or go up against the Queen with nothing but a grey and some moxie—we don’t all have 14 minutes and 650 bullets to spare.