Two quotes from the business world spring to mind when I play ARC Raiders, the hot new extraction shooter from The Finals developer Embark Studios. They counter one another; the first an innate part of preferring JRPGs as my video game genre of choice, and the second something I am having to force myself to do in the name of progress.
But I can’t have it both ways, and neither can you. So I’m here to provide some friendly advice to those who may have the same tendencies when heading Topside.
“Greed Is Good”
As many fellow RPG fans will relate, holding onto absolutely everything is almost default behaviour when I’m gaming. Come the end of games like Final Fantasy 7 or Octopath Traveler, my inventory is packed with consumables and old equipment that hasn’t seen use since the early days of my journey. It serves no purpose at all other than feeding the loot goblin that lives inside my head, and should really have been sold or repurposed into something useful.
ARC Raiders is of a genre that feels designed specifically for those goblins; go forth brave souls, and bring back all the loot. The tension of avoiding the game’s many dangers, both NPC and human, makes me feel even more protective of the items I bring back, and I’m loath to let any of it go. However, space is at a premium, so I must constantly agonise over which items to drop. This is not good for my brain. I want – need – all of it.
This is where I need to train myself out of the habit of a lifetime. Extraction shooters are all about incremental progress, chipping away at a specific goal each run. You can’t do it all at once. Sometimes you’ll need to farm trash loot for basic resources such as Metal Parts or Wires. Other times you’ll be looking for specific upgrade items, such as Lemons for Scrappy the Rooster or Rusted Tools to improve your Gunsmith capabilities.
It’s important to remember that runs are quick. You can have a full inventory within a couple minutes of getting topside, so you absolutely cannot get too attached to loot. You’ll get there, slowly but surely.
“You Have To Speculate To Accumulate”
A key part of any ARC Raiders run, especially as you progress and gain access to better recipes, is your loadout. Given the jeopardy of runs, with death meaning you lose everything not in a safe pocket, it’s tempting to just go with the free loadout each run and protect your spoils. After all, you worked hard for what’s in your stash.
The free loadout is good for smash-and-grab type runs, where you’re in and out to complete a quest or find a relatively basic item. However, items of true value are in areas of much higher risk, behind locked doors and guarded by more menacing enemies. To reach them, you’ll need better shields, more devastating weapons, and plentiful consumables to keep yourself alive and thriving.
That means you need to use what you have, and often. That high-level gun is no use sitting in your stash, but could be the difference between getting back to Speranza alive with a new blueprint or a purple, and losing everything you gained from those risky areas.
This naturally also extends to the materials you gather, too. Don’t be afraid to use up resources to craft better gear before a run. After all, this is the entire point of the genre – gains are marginal, not every run has to be perfect, and often the best strategy is quantity over quality.
Head Topside with a goal or two in mind, plan your route once you land, and stick to it. Don’t be lured into opening every container you find until the time runs out, and you’re in a mad dash with desperate players for extraction.
In ARC Raiders, spreading yourself too thin is the enemy of progress. It’s the opposite of the hoarding, methodical mindset that guides you to glory in so many RPGs, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
- Developer(s)
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Embark Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Embark Studios
