ARC Raiders Weapon Tier List (Flashpoint 1.22.0)

What tier placement means in an extraction shooter

Tier lists in ARC Raiders answer a narrower question than they do in most games. The question is not "which weapon is strongest" in some abstract sense. The question is "which weapon keeps me alive long enough to extract with my loot." A weapon that wins the TTK race in an open field means nothing if it takes three magazines to drop a entity:bastion that rounded the corner behind you. A shotgun that prints damage indoors loses every engagement past 25 meters.

Every placement below weighs four things: raw time-to-kill vs humans, ARC penetration (Heavy and Energy ammo carry weight here), loadout flexibility (weight cost, augment compatibility), and community win-rate observation from the Flashpoint (1.22.0) patch. Rankings shift when Riven Tides drops in April 2026. Treat this as a snapshot, not a commandment.

S-tier

entity:anvil is the PvP secondary that makes other builds feel slow. 40 damage per round, Heavy ammo, hand-cannon accuracy at 50 meters. Two-tap on Raiders, clean finisher on a entity:bettina opener. Per scufgaming's 1.22.0 ranking, the entity:anvil is the most picked secondary at Combat Mk. 3 loadouts across the top percentile of extraction rates.

entity:vulcano owns indoor engagements. 49.5 damage per pellet in a semi-auto action that doesn't force you to eat a pump cycle between shots (per arcraiders.wiki/wiki/Weapons). The math at point-blank is brutal: a four-pellet connect on an unshielded torso ends the fight in one trigger pull. Falloff past 20 meters is the penalty, and it's a real one.

entity:bettina is the assault rifle you actually run. Heavy ammo full-auto at 32 rounds per second, which means ARC armor penetration that no Medium-ammo AR can match. Per pcgamer's tier list, it holds S-placement unchanged from 1.11.0 through Flashpoint, which is rare stability for a meta weapon in a live service.

entity:ferro is the budget S-tier. Common rarity, cheap Workshop recipe, 40 damage break-action Heavy battle rifle. Solo runs love this weapon because a single round ends ambush attempts before the attacker can commit. The reload cadence is the only knock, and it's mitigated by pairing with a entity:stitcher for the panic case.

entity:jupiter is the anti-ARC sniper that punishes the red-core boss window. 60 damage per shot at 71 meters range, Energy ammo for the best penetration profile in the game (per gamesradar's Boss Hunter analysis). Solo PvE viability lives here.

A-tier

entity:tempest is the PvP-leaning AR when you can't afford Heavy ammo. Higher fire rate than entity:bettina (36.7 vs 32), Medium ammo availability, lower per-shot damage. The tradeoff turns the weapon into a human-damage specialist that falls off against Bastions and Rocketeers.

entity:il-toro is the pump-action shotgun that trades the entity:vulcano's fire rate for a 67.5-damage single pellet cluster. At point-blank it one-shots unshielded targets. Per iggm's 1.11.0 rankings, it moved down from S to A when entity:vulcano's semi-auto uptime pulled ahead.

entity:torrente is the LMG the Squad Anchor archetype runs. 58.3 rounds per second of Medium ammo holds choke points while teammates flank. Solo players struggle with the weight and magazine commitment.

entity:osprey is the Medium-ammo sniper that beats the rarity gate. Common-tier drop, 45 damage per shot, 80-meter range. Cheaper than entity:jupiter and available earlier; weaker against armored ARCs.

entity:renegade is the lever-action battle rifle for engagement ranges past 55 meters. 35 damage per Medium round, 68.8-meter range. Outranges every other battle rifle and every assault rifle in the game.

entity:hullcracker is the Launcher specialist. 100 damage per pump, the only weapon that strips entity:queen and entity:matriarch armor plates in two shots (per gamesradar's boss guide). PvP viability is narrow; Launcher ammo is scarce and the arc travel time gives a competent Raider time to dodge.

B-tier

entity:arpeggio and entity:rattler are the mid-range assault rifles that feel fine until you pick up a Bettina and realize what you were missing. entity:arpeggio's 3-round burst has a measured fire cadence that some players swear by; entity:rattler's full-auto Medium profile is unremarkable.

entity:stitcher, entity:bobcat, and entity:canto are the three SMGs. entity:stitcher is the established pick (45.3 rps Light ammo, low weight, reliable). entity:canto is the Flashpoint addition with Medium ammo that lets the SMG slot cross into human combat; its placement depends on community testing still in progress. entity:bobcat is the Light-ammo alternative when the Stitcher is unavailable.

entity:hairpin and entity:venator are the PvP-slot pistols. entity:hairpin is the slide-action oddball that rewards precise trigger pulls (20 damage per round at 9 rps). entity:venator is the semi-auto Medium pistol, 16 damage per round, higher fire rate. Both land B because the entity:anvil exists and does the secondary job better in almost every loadout.

Niche / Situational

entity:aphelion is the Energy battle rifle that reads on paper like a contender but falls to an awkward 2-round-burst cadence that punishes panic firing. ARC-specific loadouts pick it up; PvP builds skip it.

entity:equalizer is the full-auto Energy weapon. 8 damage per round at 33.3 rps, which sounds like a Bettina until you realize the range and accuracy profile lock it into close-medium PvE use against armored ARCs only.

entity:burletta is the starter pistol. It exists so new Raiders have a sidearm while they farm a entity:hairpin.

entity:kettle is the Light-ammo AR that exists as a tutorial weapon. entity:tempest and Bettina outclass it on every meaningful axis.

entity:dolabra is the Flashpoint (1.22.0) addition. Semi-auto Energy shotgun, Legendary drop rate, insufficient community testing data to rank confidently. Per arcraiders.wiki, the per-page stats were incomplete at the time of this snapshot; the weapon sits Niche until Riven Tides testing produces enough sample size to commit.

How to read the tier for your own builds

Weapon tier alone does not equal build strength. The Bettina in a Looting Mk. 3 (Cautious) loadout weighs more than the augment wants, which means you run below the optimal speed ceiling the whole raid. A "B-tier" Stitcher inside the same loadout outperforms the S-tier Bettina because the build can actually move.

Pick the augment first, check shield compatibility, then pick weapons that fit the weight budget. The Loadout Optimizer tool does the math live so you can see the ceiling shift as you add items.

FAQ

What is the best ARC Raiders weapon overall?

There is no single best weapon because ARC Raiders rewards loadout coherence over single-weapon strength. The closest thing to a universal answer is the Bettina: it penetrates ARC armor, performs in PvP at mid-range, and fits under most Combat augment weight ceilings. For PvE-leaning raids, the entity:ferro is a cheaper S-tier alternative.

Which weapons are best against Bastions and Rocketeers?

Heavy and Energy ammo win the armor-penetration race. The Bettina (Heavy AR), entity:hullcracker (Launcher), and entity:jupiter (Energy sniper) are the three most reliable picks. Pair any of them with a entity:hornet Driver in your quick-use slots to stun the target during the weak-point window.

Is the Bettina still S-tier in Flashpoint?

Yes. The Bettina held S-tier placement across the 1.11.0, 1.18.0, and 1.22.0 Flashpoint patches per pcgamer and scufgaming rankings. Nothing in Flashpoint shifted its role; the entity:canto SMG addition targets a different slot entirely.

Should I craft a Jupiter or an entity:osprey as my first sniper?

entity:osprey first. It's the Common-rarity sniper that a new player can afford to lose in a raid. Jupiter is stronger against armored ARCs, but the crafting cost and Energy ammo dependency make it a second-pick once you have the Workshop recipes and a stable ammo economy. Solo players running Boss Hunter loadouts should prioritize Jupiter over Osprey; Squad Anchor and Pure Looter builds can stay on Osprey.

Do shotgun weapons work in PvP or only PvE?

Shotguns win PvP at indoor ranges. Buried City corridors, Acerra Spaceport cargo bay, and elevator stagings reward the Vulcano's one-shot ceiling. Shotguns lose PvP at outdoor ranges because a Bettina or entity:ferro player can trade at 40 meters where the shotgun's falloff zeros the damage. Pick your map, not your weapon, when deciding whether to commit to a shotgun loadout.