Hello Raiders, and welcome to Rivalsector.com. I’m Elias, and I’ve been spending every waking moment I can topside in ARC Raiders. Let’s get one thing straight, Embark Studios’ new extraction shooter is a meat grinder. The Rust Belt is a brutal, unforgiving hellscape where every sound is a potential death sentence. The tension of trying to get back to an elevator, your bag overflowing with tech scrap and blueprints, while ARC mechs and trigger-happy rival squads hunt you, is one of the most heart-pounding experiences in gaming right now.
Now, you can squad up. But I’ve always been a lone wolf. There’s a special kind of thrill that comes from dropping in with nothing but your own wits. But playing solo is a completely different game. You have no one to watch your six, no one to trade ammo with, and absolutely no one to revive you when a sniper puts a heavy round through your shield.
So, how does a solo operator survive, let alone profit, in this wasteland? You are not a brawler. You are not a tank. You are a ghost. Your goal is to get in, get the loot, and get out, and you only take a fight when it is 100 percent on your terms. This requires a specialized loadout, one built not for raw power, but for versatility, self-sufficiency, and escape.
After countless raids where I left as a corpse, I’ve refined what I believe is the ultimate loadout for the solo survivor.
The Foundation: Your Non-Negotiable Skills
Before we even talk about guns, we need to talk about your character build. Your skills are more important than your weapons. If you cannot out-run or out-smart your enemy, you will die, no matter how kitted-out you are. My research, and my own painful experience, shows the Mobility and Survival trees are your lifeblood.
- Mobility Tree: Your very first skill points, without exception, should go into maxing out Marathon Runner and Youthful Lungs. This combination reduces your sprint cost and increases your total stamina pool. In ARC Raiders, stamina is life. It is your engagement tool, your escape tool, and your traversal tool. You need more of it, period.
- Survival Tree: This is the true solo player’s tree. Your number one priority here is unlocking In-Round Crafting. I cannot overstate this. My own research on top-tier builds confirms this is a non-negotiable skill. The ability to craft your own bandages, shield rechargers, and ammo in the field makes you self-sufficient. You are no longer at the mercy of RNG loot. You can stay in a raid longer, heal up after a fight, and resupply on the fly. After that, I push for Looter’s Instincts and Silent Scavenger. Why? Because looting is when you are most vulnerable. These skills let you loot faster and quieter, minimizing your exposure.
The “Budget Ghost” Weapon Combo
As a solo, you will die. You will lose your gear. You cannot afford to run a 100k-Raider-Coin loadout on every drop. You need weapons that are cheap, common, and punch way, way above their weight class. This is my go-to “budget ghost” setup.
Primary: Ferro (Break-Action Rifle)
I know what you are thinking. “Elias, the Ferro? It’s awkward, it’s slow, it’s CQC-suicide.” And you are right. But you are also wrong.
Multiple sources, including our friends at Overgear, have correctly identified the Ferro as an S-Tier weapon, and I agree, but specifically for solos. Its power is not in its DPS, but in its massive alpha damage. This is not a “fair fight” gun. This is an “ambush” gun.
You use the Ferro to end a fight before it starts. You sit 100 meters away and one-tap an unshielded looter. You use its “enormous penetration” to crack a fully-geared chad’s shield, forcing him to panic and heal while you reposition. This gun forces you to play smart, to pick your engagements, and to be a predator. It is cheap to get, and the heavy ammo it uses is plentiful. It is, in my opinion, the perfect solo primary.
Secondary: Stitcher (SMG)
Okay, now that we have our long-range covered, what happens when a squad pushes the building you are in? You are not going to win a CQC fight with a break-action rifle. That is where the Stitcher comes in.
Look, I know the meta lists rank this SMG as B-Tier or even C-Tier. And sure, the Epic-rarity Bobcat SMG is statistically an “upgraded version,” as GamesRadar points out. But we are on a budget. The Stitcher is your panic button. It is your “get off me” tool. It has a high rate offire, it is dirt cheap, and it will absolutely melt an over-confident player who pushes you in a stairwell. You do not use this to clear buildings. You use this to defend your building long enough to find an exit.
The “All-Rounder” Alternative Loadout
Maybe the high-skill Ferro is not for you. Maybe you have some cash to burn and want a more flexible, traditional loadout. If I am feeling rich, or if I plan on engaging more ARCs, I will run this “all-rounder” kit.
- Primary: Rattler (Assault Rifle): This is the “ol’ reliable” of ARC Raiders. It’s a consensus S-Tier all-rounder. It is stable, it uses common medium ammo, and it is effective at almost all ranges. It will not excel at sniping like the Ferro or CQC like a shotgun, but it will never let you down. It is a fantastic and safe choice.
- Secondary: Anvil (Hand Cannon): If the Rattler is my jack-of-all-trades, the Anvil is my S-Tier “problem solver.” This hand cannon hits like a freight train and, as multiple guides confirm, is exceptionally good at shredding ARC armor. When a heavy mech turns a corner, you pull this out. When you crack a player’s shield with your Rattler, you swap to the Anvil for a high-damage finishing shot.
Armor and Gadgets: Your Survival Toolkit
Your guns are for killing, but your armor and gadgets are for surviving. This is what separates a dead solo from a rich one.
Armor: The Medium Shield Meta
This is simple, so I made a table. Do not overthink this.
| Armor Type | Why a Solo Should (or Shouldn’t) Use It |
| Light Shield | Avoid. It is cheap, but it is paper. You will be instantly melted by any squad with half a brain. |
| Medium Shield | The Sweet Spot. This is your one and only choice. It provides a solid balance of protection, cost, and mobility. |
| Heavy Shield | Avoid (Mostly). It is too expensive for a solo to risk, and the mobility penalty is a death sentence. Remember, you are a ghost, not a tank. |
Gadgets: The Solo’s Best Friends
This is where you get your real edge. My gadget loadout is built around one concept: escape.
- Snap Hook: This is, in my expert opinion, the single best gadget for a solo player. It is S-Tier. This tool gives you instant verticality. Are you being pushed by a 3-man squad? Snap Hook to a roof and run. Need to get to a high-value loot spot? Snap Hook up the side of the building. It lets you reposition, escape, and traverse the map in ways squads cannot.
- Photoelectric Cloak: The ultimate “ghost” tool. This S-Tier gadget gives you true invisibility for a short time. It is your get-out-of-jail-free card. Use it to sneak past an ARC patrol, get out of a fight you cannot win, or walk right past a squad camping the extract.
- Raider Hatch Key: This is a solo-specific A-Tier item. It is a one-time-use key that opens one of the many locked Raider Hatches on the map for a private, safe extraction. If the main elevator is a warzone, this key is your ticket home.
- Vitality Shot: Obvious, but mandatory. You need to heal. Carry at least two.
Conclusion: Think Like a Survivor, Not a Soldier
Being a successful solo in ARC Raiders is a mindset. It is not about having the “best” gun, it is about having the smartest loadout.
It starts with a foundation of Mobility and In-Round Crafting skills. It is defined by your tools, like the Snap Hook and Cloak, that let you disengage. And it is executed with a weapon, like the Ferro, that rewards patience and positioning over brute force. Mastering this is a core part of any ARC Raiders Meta guide.
This loadout is what works for me. It is cheap, effective, and built for the lone wolf.
What is your go-to solo build? Do you run the Ferro, or are you a Rattler loyalist? Let me know your kits in the comments below.
For more in-depth guides, hardware reviews, and other content, stay locked to Rivalsector.com and our ARC Raiders category. I’m Elias. Good hunting.
