ARC Raiders Equalizer: Why It’s A B-Tier Weapon For Me

Hello Raiders, Elias here from Rivalsector.com.

If you’ve spent any time on the surface, you’ve probably heard the chatter. When it comes to the Equalizer, the Legendary Energy Beam Gun, the community consensus is… brutal. Most players, and a lot of my fellow content creators, have tossed it straight into the D-Tier dumpster. They call it a resource-hog, a “Legendary” in name only, a flashy light show that can’t kill a Ticker.

And for a long time, I agreed with them.

But after countless runs and a lot of expensive experimentation, I’m here to make a controversial claim: The Equalizer is not D-Tier. It’s not a complete failure. In my book, it’s a solid, if highly misunderstood, B-Tier weapon.

Now, before you close the tab, hear me out. This isn’t an all-purpose weapon. It’s not something you take on a PvP-heavy run. But in the right hands, for the right job, this energy beam has a specific and valuable purpose. It’s the definition of a niche pick, and today I’m going to break down why it earns a B-Tier spot in my personal rankings.

The D-Tier Reputation: Why Everyone Hates It

Let’s get this out of the way first, because the critics are not wrong about its flaws. The Equalizer fails spectacularly as a general-purpose firearm, and if you try to use it as one, you will die.

Its problems are obvious:

• Zero PvP Potential: Do not, under any circumstances, bring this into a fight with another Raider. Its time-to-kill (TTK) is abysmal. Any player with a common Rattler or Anvil will delete you before you’ve even managed to crack their shields. It just doesn’t have the burst damage needed for PvP.
• Horrible Ammo Economy: The gun eats Energy ammo, a rare and expensive resource. Firing it feels like feeding high-end components directly into a shredder, and for a long time, the damage output simply didn’t justify the cost.
• Weak Against Basic Enemies: The beam is surprisingly weak against standard ARC units. It struggles to break armor on Leapers and feels like a waste of ammo on smaller bots.

If you pick up the Equalizer thinking it’s a “do-everything” Legendary, you will be sorely disappointed. It’s not an assault rifle, and it’s not an LMG. It’s a specialized tool.

The B-Tier Niche: Its True Purpose

So, if it’s bad at PvP and bad against common ARC, what on earth is it good for?

The answer: Bossing and farming specific, large-scale threats from a safe distance.

The Equalizer’s B-Tier status is entirely dependent on you using it exclusively for this role. Think of it less as a gun and more as a piece of heavy-duty mining equipment. Its job is to apply consistent, non-stop damage to a single, massive, and relatively static target.

Where does it shine?

• The Harvester: This is the Equalizer’s number one job. When you’re fighting the Harvester, you need to pour damage into its weak points. The Equalizer, with its perfect accuracy and zero recoil, allows you to stand 100 meters away and maintain a constant, uninterrupted beam of damage directly on target. No bullet drop, no recoil control, just point-and-melt.
• The Queen: Similar to the Harvester, the Queen fight has phases where you need to hit specific points. The Equalizer’s consistency is its greatest asset here. While your teammates are reloading their Ferros or managing the recoil on their Tempests, you are just… still firing.
• Bastions: While not as efficient as other methods, a Raider with an Equalizer can safely dismantle a Bastion from extreme range, chipping away at it without ever getting close enough to trigger its most dangerous attacks.

Its “high capacity” (which it drains fast) is actually a benefit in these long fights. You get to deal a sustained stream of damage for several seconds before needing to reload, which is a damage window that other weapons simply don’t have.

A Quick Reality Check: Equalizer vs. The King

Now, I’m calling the Equalizer a “B-Tier” situational pick. You know what’s in my S-Tier? The Hullcracker.

There’s a reason for this. The Hullcracker is the gold standard for PvE damage. It’s an Epic-tier grenade launcher that completely trivializes most ARC encounters. It fires explosive rounds that have “Very Strong” ARC armor penetration, meaning it doesn’t just damage enemies, it obliterates their armor plating in one or two shots.

A player with a Hullcracker can wipe out a pack of Leapers in seconds or cripple a Bastion before it can react. Its raw, explosive power is unmatched for clearing through the toughest ARC defenses. It is, without a doubt, one of the best weapons in the game.

The Equalizer doesn’t even try to compete with that. The Hullcracker is for aggressive, close-to-mid-range annihilation. The Equalizer is for safe, long-range, sustained damage. They fill two different (though related) roles.

My Verdict: It Has Its Place

Look, the Equalizer is never going to be the meta-defining powerhouse we all wanted a Legendary energy beam to be. It will probably never make it into a mainstream ARC Raiders weapon tier list as anything higher than C-Tier, and I understand why. It’s expensive, it’s inflexible, and it’s useless in 90% of the game’s encounters.

But for that 10%… for those big, set-piece boss fights where you need to lay down a constant stream of fire on a target the size of a building… It’s a reliable and surprisingly effective tool.

That’s why it’s a B-Tier weapon for me. It’s a specialist’s gun. It sits in my vault until I know I’m going Harvester hunting, and for that one specific job, I’m always glad I have it. It’s not trash, it’s just misunderstood.

For more in-depth weapon analysis and guides, make sure you’re checking out our ARC Raiders category right here on Rivalsector.

Keep your head down, Raiders.