What This Build Is For
Boss Hunter is the squad's boss-arena role. When the Harvester map condition is up and the Queen or Matriarch is on the field, the rest of the team brings Bettinas to mop the adds. You bring the launcher and the sniper. The item:hullcracker peels armor plates off in three or four shots; the item:jupiter punishes the red core the moment it opens.
Be honest about the tier. This is a B-tier kit because outside a boss arena it has no purpose. The Hullcracker is wasted on Raiders, the Jupiter wants sight lines you rarely get on Stella Montis interiors, and the whole kit pays its weight back only when the Harvester modifier is active. Run it with a squad of three. Soloing the Queen is suicide; the Hullcracker reload window is too long without a squadmate pulling aggro.
Do not run this kit pre-level-36. item:back-on-your-feet and item:flyswatter both gate at 36 Conditioning, and without the regen-between-phases the case for item:combat-mk3-aggressive over the Tactical alternatives collapses.
The headline weight math: Hullcracker 7.0 + Jupiter 9.0 + item:heavy-shield 9.0 = 25.0 of the 65-weight cap. That leaves 40 weight for ammo, quick-use stacks, and whatever you scrape off the boss core after the kill.
Core Loadout
| Slot | Item | Key Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Augment | Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive) | 18 backpack, 65 weight, 4 quick-use, Light/Medium/Heavy shield, +2 HP / 5s with 30s combat pause |
| Shield | Heavy | 80 charge, 52.5% mitigation, 9.0 weight, -15% move penalty |
| Primary | Hullcracker | Launcher ammo, 100 dmg, 20.3 fire rate, 5 mag, 38.9m range, 7.0 weight, Very Strong ARC pen, explosive only detonates on ARC hits |
| Secondary | Jupiter | Energy Clip ammo, 60 dmg, 7.7 fire rate, 5 mag, 2.0x HS, 71.7m range, 9.0 weight, Very Strong ARC pen, legendary |
| Quick-use 1 | Medkit | Heavy heal between phases |
| Quick-use 2 | Medkit | Second heavy heal, no bandage on this kit |
| Quick-use 3 | Shield Recharger | Refill between mortar volleys |
| Quick-use 4 | Hornet Driver | 7-second ARC stun for Matriarch summons |
You give up a fifth quick-use slot. Combat Mk. 3 Aggressive carries 4, not 5. That is the trade for the +2 HP / 5s passive regen. The Squad Anchor's item:tactical-mk3-defensive gets the fifth slot but loses the combat-paused regen. For a fight where you take a constant trickle of mortar splash, you want the regen.
Why Each Slot
Why Aggressive over Defensive. Tactical Mk. 3 Defensive's running Shield Recharger matters when you rotate angles in a PvP firefight. It matters less in a boss arena because you are not rotating. The Queen pins her arena; you hold a position with cover, dump Hullcracker rounds into her plates, and back off when the EMP charges. Aggressive's +2 HP / 5s tops you back up during those back-off windows. Defensive's running Recharger is wasted while you are crouched behind a wall waiting for the EMP to land.
Why Heavy shield is mandatory. Queen mortar fire is high-burst splash in 2-5 projectile volleys. A item:light-shield's 40 charge breaks on a single full volley. Heavy's 80 charge plus 52.5% mitigation absorbs a volley and a half. The -15% movement penalty is real; item:used-to-the-weight cancels it.
Why Hullcracker over an AR primary. The role is plate-strip, not sustained DPS. TheGamer's PvE ranking calls it "superb thanks to its high armor penetration, blast radius, and damage output" against the Queen and Matriarch. The 5-round magazine is the constraint: five Very Strong ARC pen explosives, then a long pump-action reload. The wiki note that "explosive projectiles only detonate when hitting ARC" is a quiet feature: a missed shot into a wall does not waste the detonation.
Why Jupiter over Osprey. The item:osprey is the medium-ammo bolt sniper, faster fire rate, longer range, but Medium Ammo against a Queen core is anemic. Jupiter delivers 60 damage at 2.0x headshot, putting a clean core hit at 120 damage with Very Strong ARC pen. GamesRadar confirms the role: "heavy armor puncture damage also lets you quickly strike the core of ARC, fantastic for big targets like Leapers, Rocketeers, or Bastions."
Skill Tree Allocation
Character cap is level 75, 76 total skill points across 40 skills. This kit is Conditioning-heavy. Mobility carries the stamina budget. Survival gets nothing.
Level 20 (21 points spent):
- item:marathon-runner (5pts), Mobility, stamina cost reduction
- item:youthful-lungs (5pts), Mobility, max stamina increase
- Used to the Weight (5pts), Conditioning, cancels Heavy shield slowdown
- item:fight-or-flight (5pts), Conditioning, stamina recovery on hit
- item:survivors-stamina (1pt capstone, requires 15 Conditioning), faster stamina regen while critically hurt
The order is fixed. Used to the Weight goes in first once you commit to Heavy shield. Survivor's Stamina is the first capstone you can afford; the wiki effect quote is "When you're critically hurt, your stamina regenerates faster," roughly 25% increased recovery. More rolls before the next mortar lands.
Level 40 (41 points spent): 6. item:loaded-arms (5pts), Conditioning, reload speed and prerequisite for Back On Your Feet 7. Effortless Roll (5pts), Mobility, reduced dodge stamina cost 8. Back On Your Feet (1pt capstone, requires 36 Conditioning), regenerates health to ~30% after 30 seconds without damage while critically hurt 9. Calming Stroll (5pts), Mobility, stamina regen while walking 10. Slip and Slide (5pts), Mobility, slide distance
Back On Your Feet is the build's structural payoff. Wiki effect: "When you're critically hurt, your health regenerates until a certain limit," around 30% health after 30 seconds without damage. Stack it with Aggressive's +2 HP / 5s and you take a near-death mortar hit, break line of sight, and re-engage at full health without burning a medkit. That is why the augment and capstone pair the way they do.
Level 75 (76 points spent): 11. Flyswatter (1pt capstone, requires 36 Conditioning), one-hit melee on Wasps and turrets 12. Looter's Instincts (5pts), Survival, faster body looting 13. item:broad-shoulders (5pts), Survival, carry capacity 14. Heroic Leap (5pts), Mobility, jump distance
Flyswatter is the hidden value for Matriarch fights. She summons "various ARC units" and clearing a Wasp swarm with melee saves Hullcracker rounds for the faceplates. If your squad already runs a Bettina anchor on adds, swap Flyswatter for a fifth Mobility node.
For the squad-side anchor pairing that frees you to focus on faceplates, see our Squad Anchor Build Guide.
The Queen Fight
The Queen sits at 33,864 total HP, dropping to ~21,000 if you hit only weak points. Weak points are the core and the leg-joints. Leg-joints are armor-plated; the core opens between attack windows.
Her attack profile is mortar fire in 2-5 projectile volleys, a sweeping laser beam, a ground slam, an EMP pulse, and an electrocution that hits Harvester looters in proximity. Phase count is not enumerated on the wiki, so treat the fight as continuous threat with reposition windows after the EMP, not discrete phases with breakpoints.
In a three-Raider squad you hold a covered angle at 30 to 50 meters where Hullcracker splash lands on the leg-joint plates and the Jupiter punches the core when it cycles open. One squadmate runs adds and Hornet Drivers; the other plays counter-mortar so the Queen never holds aggro on you for two volleys in a row. Boss Hunter contributes 30 to 40 percent of squad DPS during a clean kill, which tracks with the per-shot math: Hullcracker 100 splash plus Jupiter 120 headshot = 220 burst per cycle.
Reward for the kill: 1000 XP for destruction, 1000 XP for scavenging the core, 500 XP for scavenging a leg. The leg pickups are the budget reason to fight the Queen at all.
The Matriarch Fight
The Matriarch's HP is not published per arcraiders.wiki, so plan around the encounter phase count instead of a damage budget. Do not estimate by analogy from the Queen; the mechanics differ enough that the estimate would mislead.
Kill order is faceplate, then core. The wiki quote is direct: "Don't target the legs, target its faceplates until they break off, then its big, red, glowing core will be exposed." Two effective phases. In the first, the Hullcracker chips faceplate armor while you weather Missile Swarm volleys (3-6 tracking missiles). In the second, the core is exposed and the Jupiter takes over.
The energy shield phase is the wrinkle. The Matriarch raises an energy shield with roughly a 1-minute duration. During that window, no damage lands on her. The Hornet Driver in your fourth quick-use slot is the answer: stun her summoned ARC units and let your squadmate clear them. The shield drops on a timer, not on damage thresholds.
Spawn locations matter for positioning. The wiki names three: Spaceport Control Tower, Dam Battleground Substation, and Blue Gate Reception. All three give the Jupiter the elevated sight lines its 71.7-meter range needs. Flyswatter eats the cheapest summons without spending Hullcracker rounds; heavier adds go to your squadmate on add duty.
When the Build Fails
Extraction PvP. The Hullcracker is useless against Raiders. Projectile travel plus the only-detonates-on-ARC rule means a competent Raider sees the launch animation, dodges, and the projectile flies into terrain and disappears. The Jupiter is range-only and bolt-action. Between shots you have nothing to defend yourself at 20 meters. Do not bring this loadout to a Speranza farm map.
Solo runs. You cannot hold either boss alone. The Hullcracker reload window is too long without a squadmate pulling aggro, and the Matriarch's missile-swarm and stomp pressure makes the same point. Solo Raiders run a Solo Stealth or Pure Looter kit and skip the boss arenas.
Maps without the Harvester modifier. No Queen on the field, no purpose for the kit. You are carrying a 7-weight launcher that fires only on ARCs and a 9-weight sniper that wants 70-meter sight lines on a map where neither tool earns its slot. Swap kits or skip the raid.
Variant: PvE Swap for Non-Boss Raids
If the Harvester modifier is not up but the squad still wants to raid Stella Montis, swap the Hullcracker for a item:bettina. Keep the Jupiter, keep the Heavy shield, keep Combat Mk. 3 Aggressive. The kit becomes a long-range PvP Brawler variant that still handles heavy ARCs through the Jupiter's red-core finisher.
The math holds. Bettina 11.0 + Jupiter 9.0 + Heavy 9.0 = 29.0 weight, four points heavier than the Boss Hunter loadout but still inside the 65-weight cap. The Bettina's Heavy Ammo profile carries the mid-range PvP fights the Hullcracker would lose, and the Jupiter still punishes anyone crossing open ground at 50 to 70 meters.
Skill tree stays identical. Back On Your Feet, Survivor's Stamina, and Used to the Weight earn their slots regardless of which primary you carry. The only change is add-clear: you eat Wasps with Bettina bursts instead of Flyswatter melee, so the capstone is dead weight on swap raids. If your week skews Bettina-heavy, respec Flyswatter into Heroic Leap and accept the rebuild cost on boss days.
Quick Reference
| Slot | Pick | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Augment | Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive) | +2 HP / 5s regen between phases, Heavy shield support |
| Shield | Heavy | 80 charge, 52.5% mitigation against Queen mortar splash |
| Primary | Hullcracker | Plate-strip on Queen leg-joints and Matriarch faceplates |
| Secondary | Jupiter | Red-core finisher at 71.7m, 2.0x headshot |
| Quick-use | 2 medkits, Shield Recharger, Hornet Driver | No bandage slot, Hornet Driver mandatory for Matriarch |
| Skill capstones | Survivor's Stamina (15), Back On Your Feet (36), Flyswatter (36) | All Conditioning |
| Floor weight | 25.0 / 65 | Hullcracker 7.0 + Jupiter 9.0 + Heavy 9.0 |
| Bring it when | Harvester modifier is up, squad of 3, level 36+ | Otherwise run a different kit |