ARC Raiders Weapon Tier List (Nomadic Envoys 1.29.1)

What changed since Flashpoint

The Nomadic Envoys patch (1.29.0) finished what Riven Tides started. The item:bettina picked up its second buff in two patches and now sits alone at the top of the assault-rifle conversation. A new break-action grenade launcher, the entity:rascal, arrives as a lightweight anti-ARC sidearm that slots next to the item:hullcracker rather than replacing it. ARC perception got reworked, which quietly reshuffles every weapon that depended on long unseen approaches.

The 1.29.0 ARC sound and sight pass buffed outdoor detection and nerfed sound through walls. Indoor approaches are easier; open-ground stealth runs need more cover discipline. Bush and tall-grass concealment got more granular, so positioning behind specific geometry now matters more than just being near a bush. None of this changes raw weapon stats, but it does change which weapons feel viable when you cannot guarantee an unspotted opener.

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 time-to-kill 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 against human Raiders, ARC penetration (Heavy and Energy ammo do the heavy lifting here), loadout flexibility (weight cost, augment compatibility), and what each weapon now does under the post-1.29.0 ARC behavior model.

S-tier

item:bettina is the lead pick for almost every loadout right now. Heavy-ammo full-auto at 250 RPM after the Nomadic Envoys fire-rate buff, on top of the Riven Tides damage bump from 14 to 16 and the dispersion fix that tightened the spread cone by 40%. The result: ARC armor penetration no Medium-ammo AR can match, plus a PvP profile that holds its own at mid-range. There is no engagement type the Bettina is bad at. The Workshop crafting cost is the only real friction.

item:anvil is the PvP secondary that makes other builds feel slow. 40 damage per round, Heavy ammo, hand-cannon accuracy out to 50 meters. Two-tap kills on Raiders, clean finishers behind a Bettina opener. The Anvil is the default Combat Mk. 3 secondary at the top end of extraction rates for a reason.

item:vulcano owns indoor engagements. 49.5 damage per pellet in a semi-auto action that does not force a pump cycle between shots. 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 is a real one, but on Buried City corridors and Acerra Spaceport cargo bays the Vulcano still beats anything else in the game.

item: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 is mitigated by pairing with a item:stitcher for the panic case.

item:jupiter is the anti-ARC sniper that punishes the red-core boss window. 60 damage per shot at 71-meter range, Energy ammo for the best penetration profile in the game. Solo PvE viability lives here. Pair it with a Hullcracker or a Rascal in the Special slot and the Boss Hunter loadout writes itself.

A-tier

item:tempest is the PvP-leaning AR when you cannot afford Heavy ammo. Higher fire rate than the Bettina (36.7 vs 250 RPM in the same per-second band once you do the math), Medium ammo availability, lower per-shot damage. The tradeoff turns the weapon into a human-damage specialist that falls off against Bastions and Rocketeers. With the Bettina now buffed twice running, the Tempest's case rests entirely on ammo economy.

item:il-toro is the pump-action shotgun that trades the Vulcano's fire rate for a 67.5-damage single pellet cluster. At point-blank it one-shots unshielded targets. The Vulcano's semi-auto uptime keeps it ahead in most indoor exchanges, but the Il Toro's per-pump ceiling still wins specific corridor angles where a missed pellet costs the engagement.

item: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. The 1.29.0 Combat Mk. 3 (Flanking) Medium Shield buff opens an alternative for players who wanted the suppression role but could not justify the weight; the Torrente keeps its slot for the dedicated anchor build.

item:osprey is the Medium-ammo sniper that beats the rarity gate. Common-tier drop, 45 damage per shot, 80-meter range. Cheaper than the Jupiter and available earlier; weaker against armored ARCs. New players running their first Boss Hunter pass should farm Osprey kills before committing Energy ammo to a Jupiter loadout.

item: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. The 1.29.0 durability lifetime increase makes it viable to actually carry into late-stage Riven Tides Beach trials instead of scrapping it after two raids.

item:hullcracker is the Launcher specialist. 100 damage per pump, the only weapon that strips entity:queen and entity:matriarch armor plates in two shots. PvP viability is narrow; Launcher ammo is scarce and the arc travel time gives a competent Raider time to dodge. The Hullcracker holds its primary anti-ARC slot even after the Rascal's arrival because the per-shot damage ceiling is higher and the mag capacity is not capped at one.

B-tier

item:arpeggio and item:rattler are the mid-range assault rifles that feel fine until you pick up a Bettina and remember what 250 RPM with Heavy ammo actually does. The Arpeggio's 3-round burst has a measured fire cadence that some players swear by; the Rattler's full-auto Medium profile is unremarkable.

item:stitcher, item:bobcat, and item:canto are the three SMGs. The Stitcher is the established pick (45.3 rps Light ammo, low weight, reliable). The Canto's Medium ammo lets the SMG slot cross into human combat; its slot in any flanking-augment build is now stronger thanks to the Medium Shield compatibility added in 1.29.0. The Bobcat is the Light-ammo alternative when the Stitcher is unavailable.

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

Rascal is the new break-action grenade launcher from Tian Wen, added in 1.29.0. Special slot, Launcher ammo, single-shot magazine, weight 4.0. The trick: its projectiles only detonate when they hit ARC, so it does zero PvP work. Against ARC, three hits drop a Shredder cleanly and the lightweight profile makes it a real option as an anti-ARC sidearm next to a Heavy primary. The case against it is the single-shot mag and the unpredictable launch arc that a Hullcracker does not share. For boss-hunter loadouts that already carry a Hullcracker, the Rascal becomes a complement, not a replacement; for solo Raiders who want anti-ARC coverage without the Hullcracker's weight, it earns the Special slot.

Niche / Situational

item: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.

item: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.

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

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

item:dolabra is the Flashpoint addition. Semi-auto Energy shotgun, Legendary drop rate, and a known issue at 1.29.0 release where it deals no damage to training-range dummies. The weapon stays parked here until a hotfix resolves the damage application and community sample size grows.

ARC perception changes the route, not the gun

The 1.29.0 sound and sight pass is the quiet shift that most weapon discussions miss. Outdoor ARC detection at distance is now stronger. Sound through walls is weaker. The implication for tier placement is indirect: weapons that depend on getting close unseen (the Vulcano, the Il Toro, the close-range Stitcher build) gained value on indoor maps and lost some on open-terrain raids. Snipers that wanted to operate from cover (the Jupiter, the Osprey, the Renegade) still work but require better pre-engagement positioning behind specific geometry rather than just being near a bush. None of this moves a weapon's letter grade on its own; it does change which weapon to bring to which sector.

How to read the tier for your own builds

Weapon tier alone does not equal build strength. A Bettina in a Looting Mk. 3 (Cautious) loadout weighs more than the augment wants, which means running below the optimal speed ceiling for 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 does the math live so you can watch the ceiling shift as you add items.

For the augment-side breakdown that pairs with these weapons, see the ARC Raiders Augment Tier List. For the full PvP loadout that wraps around the Bettina + Anvil pairing, the PvP Brawler Build Guide walks the shield, augment, and skill allocation step by step. The current Meta Snapshot covers the archetype-level shifts behind these rankings.

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 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), Hullcracker (Launcher), and Jupiter (Energy sniper) are the three most reliable picks. The new Rascal slots in as a lighter Hullcracker alternative when you need anti-ARC firepower in the Special slot without the weight. Pair any of them with a Hornet Driver in your quick-use slots to stun the target during the weak-point window.

Is the Bettina still S-tier in Nomadic Envoys?

Yes, and stronger than ever. The Riven Tides 1.26.0 rebalance lifted damage from 14 to 16, fixed dispersion (-40%), and raised range. The Nomadic Envoys 1.29.0 patch then pushed base fire rate from 235 to 250 RPM. Two consecutive buffs landed on the same weapon. The role did not change; the buffs just removed any remaining doubt about S placement.

Should I craft a Jupiter or an Osprey as my first sniper?

Osprey first. It is the Common-rarity sniper a new player can afford to lose in a raid. The 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 the Jupiter; Squad Anchor and Pure Looter builds can stay on the 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 Ferro player can trade at 40 meters where the shotgun's falloff zeros the damage. Pick your map first, then your weapon when deciding whether to commit to a shotgun loadout.

What is the Rascal and where does it fit?

The Rascal is a break-action grenade launcher added in Nomadic Envoys. It only detonates on ARC contact, so it has zero PvP utility. Use case is anti-ARC sidearm or solo boss-hunter coverage when you cannot justify the Hullcracker's weight. Three-hit kills on Shredders are confirmed; against bosses it complements the Hullcracker rather than replacing it.