Hey everyone, it’s Elias from Rivalsector.com, and welcome back to the shipyard. Today, I want to talk about one of the most underrated, misunderstood, and frankly, game-changing pieces of gear in all of ARC Raiders. We all know the feeling. You’re deep in a raid on Buried City, your bag is overflowing with Synthesized Fuel and valuable components, and the extraction point is just a few hundred meters away. Then you hear it, the unmistakable hydraulic whine of a Rocketeer spinning up, or the terrifying skittering of a pack of Leapers.
In a game this brutal, your first instinct is to fight. You raise your Ferro, brace for impact, and hope your aim is true. But what if I told you the smartest play isn’t to fight at all? What if I told you the best tool for that situation isn’t a gun, but a small, unassuming throwable?
I’m talking about the Lure Grenade.
I know what some of you are thinking. “Elias, it’s a distraction tool. It’s niche. I’d rather have another stack of ammo or a Heavy Fuze.” For a long time, I was in the same boat. I saw it as a “get out of jail free” card for emergencies, and not much else. But after dozens of hours testing, failing, and finally succeeding, I’m here to tell you that you’ve been looking at it all wrong. The Lure Grenade isn’t just a defensive tool. It’s a high-skill offensive weapon, a psychological operations device, and the key to winning fights before they even begin.
Let’s break down why this little noise-maker is the secret meta-defining item you should be running in every single raid.
The Lure Grenade: By the Numbers
First, let’s get the basic tech specs out of the way. Before you can master a tool, you need to know exactly what it is. The Lure Grenade is an Uncommon Quick Use item that you can craft, find in the world, or loot from other unfortunate Raiders.
Its official description is simple: “A noise device that sticks to surfaces, distracting nearby ARC machines and drawing their fire.”
But the stats are where the real story begins. I’ve put together a quick-glance table for all you min-maxers out there.
| Stat | Value | My Take |
| Rarity | Uncommon | Easy to find and cheap to craft. No excuses not to have them. |
| Duration | 15 seconds | A solid chunk of time. Long enough to revive a teammate or cross a massive open area. |
| Radius | 50 meters | This is massive. It can pull bots from multiple floors of a building. |
| Stack Size | 3 | Decent. Lets you carry enough for a few key plays without clogging your inventory. |
| Workbench | Utility Bench II | You’ll need to upgrade your Utility Station, but it’s well worth the investment. |
| Crafting | 1x Speaker Component | A very cheap and common crafting recipe. You’ll be swimming in these. |
| 2x Plastic Parts |
As you can see, it’s not an expensive or rare item. Its power comes entirely from how and when you use it. Fifteen seconds of “get out of my face” in a 50-meter radius is an incredibly powerful ability in a game this lethal.
The Basic Play: Survival and Repositioning
Let’s start with the most obvious uses. I call this the “Raider 101” level of Lure Grenade strategy. This is the foundation upon which all the expert plays are built.
The primary, intended function of the Lure Grenade is survival. When a fight goes sideways, and you’re pinned down by a Bastion and its Wasp escorts, a Lure Grenade is your panic button. You toss it, the bots turn their heads, and you run.
My squad uses this constantly for a few key maneuvers:
- The Tactical Retreat: We pushed too hard and aggroed the entire block. I’ll call “Lure, lure, lure!” and toss one onto a wall behind us. The bots pause their assault to check it out, giving us just enough time to break line-of-sight, get to hard cover, and pop a heal.
- The Combat Revive: My teammate gets dropped in an open street. A Rocketeer is already painting him with its targeting laser. I can’t peek that. So, I throw a Lure away from my friend. The Rocketeer’s attention snaps to the Lure, and I get the 15-second window I need to sprint out, hit the revive, and get us both back into the fight.
- The Loot-and-Scoot: You’ve just dropped a tough ARC, or maybe even another player, but you’re in a hot-spot. You can hear more bots on the way. Throw a Lure down the street you came from, then loot the body in peace. By the time the new ARC patrol arrives, they’ll be focused on the Lure, giving you a clean getaway.
This is the grenade’s baseline. It’s effective, it will save your life, and you should be doing this. But if this is all you’re using it for, you’re only scratching the surface.
The 500-IQ Play: Weaponizing the ARC
This, my friends, is where the Lure Grenade goes from a good item to a god-tier item. This is the play that separates the rookies from the veterans.
Remember, ARC Raiders is a PvPvE game. The ARC bots are not just obstacles, they are neutral, highly-lethal assets on the map. And the Lure Grenade is the only tool that lets you aim those assets like a weapon.
The play is simple in concept but beautiful in execution. You’re tracking another squad, you see them hunkered down in the apartment building on Buried City, trying to clear the ARC inside. They’re making a ton of noise. You’re on the outside, and you’ve got a patrol of two Rocketeers and a Leaper pack wandering just down the street.
What do you do?
The rookie team engages, starting a three-way firefight they probably can’t win.
My team? I take my Lure Grenade, get a good angle, and huck it right into the second-story window where that enemy squad is fighting.
Suddenly, all that ARC that was outside the building now has a new, single-minded objective. That Lure Grenade, which is conveniently sitting right next to your enemies. Those Rocketeers will start blasting the building. The Leapers will swarm the entrance. You’ve just “dumped aggro” on an enemy team, creating pure, unadulterated chaos.
Now the enemy squad is fighting on two fronts. They have to deal with the bots they were already fighting, and the new, angry patrol you just sicced on them. While they are completely overwhelmed, what are you doing? You’re repositioning. You’re listening to their comms (if they’re using VOIP) as they panic. You’re waiting for them to burn all their ammo and heals.
And then, when they’re weak, when they’re distracted, when they think the worst is over, that’s when you push. You’ll be cleaning up a team that’s already been tenderized by a half-dozen ARC bots, all thanks to one “uncommon” grenade. This tactic is, without a doubt, the most powerful and satisfying way to use the Lure.
The Expert’s Toolbox: Hidden Tech and Fatal Flaws
Okay, so you’re sold. You’re ready to start throwing Lures at everything. Hold on. Before you run out and get yourself killed, there are a few expert-level nuances you need to know. This is the stuff the game doesn’t tell you.
- THE BIG SECRET: Lures Can Be Destroyed!
This is the number one mistake I see people make. They throw the Lure on the ground in the middle of a street. An ARC bot looks at it, shoots it, and your 15-second window turns into a 1.5-second window. Yes, ARC can and will destroy your Lure Grenade. This is why your Lures “aren’t working.” You must throw it strategically. Stick it high on a wall, on the other side of a car, or behind a concrete barrier. The goal is to get it in the 50m radius so the bots hear it, but out of their line-of-sight so they can’t easily shoot it. They will move to investigate, which is what you want. - The “Aggro Hangover”
Community testing, including my own, has found something… interesting. When that 15-second timer runs out, the ARC bots don’t just go back to their patrol routes. They were just aggroed, so they are now on high alert. I’ve had situations where a Lure expired, and a Rocketeer immediately snapped 180 degrees and locked onto my position, almost as if it “meta-gamed” where the throw came from. The lesson: 15 seconds is your timer. When it’s up, you need to be gone or in a new, concealed position. Do not be there when the music stops. - Its Cousin: The Lure Grenade Trap
Don’t forget that this tech also comes in a “Trap” variant. You can find or craft Lure Grenade Traps, which stick to a surface and deploy a laser tripwire.1 When an ARC or an enemy Raider crosses the beam, it pops the Lure. This is an amazing early-warning system. Set one up on your flank while you’re looting. If it goes off, you know something is coming, and you’ve bought yourself 15 seconds to react. - Placement is Everything
I cannot stress this enough. A fumbled throw is a wasted Lure and a likely death. Tossing it off the side of the Dam into the abyss does nothing. Tossing it at your own feet definitely does nothing (and I have, shamefully, done this in a panic). Practice the arc. Understand its range. And always have a target for it. This level of gear knowledge is just as vital as knowing the perfect range for your ARC Raiders Equalizer.
Conclusion: The Ultimate Utility
The Lure Grenade isn’t a simple “fire and forget” item. It’s not a big, flashy explosive like the Heavy Fuze. It’s a scalpel. It’s a tool that rewards creativity, map knowledge, and a devious mind.
It’s an escape plan. It’s a revival tool. It’s a looting assistant. And most importantly, it’s a weapon of mass distraction that lets you turn the most dangerous element in ARC Raiders against your fellow players. It’s the definition of a high-skill-ceiling item.
So stop treating it like vendor trash. Craft a stack, put them in your hotbar, and start thinking like a puppet master, not just a soldier. Trust me, the first time you wipe a squad without firing a single shot, you’ll be a Lure Grenade believer.
I hope this guide gives you some new ideas for our ARC Raiders section. This is Elias from Rivalsector.com, signing off.
What are your most creative Lure Grenade plays? Got any secret tech I missed? Drop your strategies in the comments below!
