ARC Raiders Best Squad Loadouts: Three Roles for a Trio

ARC Raiders best squad loadouts work when they split three jobs between three players instead of copying one build. Our setup is an anchor who soaks damage, a medic who keeps everyone standing, and a looter who carries the haul home. Each role is built on a real Mk. 3 augment, and each player brings a different ammo type so the squad never runs dry on one.

Updated 2026-10-14: rebuilt from the ARC Raiders Wiki's Augments, Shields, Skills and weapon pages and Embark's matchmaking post. The old guide recommended a "Bastinelli marksman rifle" (no such gun), medium and heavy "armor" with noise penalties (ARC Raiders has shields and augments, not armor pieces), medkits, stims and EMP grenades that aren't items, White, Orange and Red zones that don't exist, a "15-second Raider Hatch window", and said there are no revives. There are: downed raiders can be revived, and that changes the whole squad plan.

Screenshot: ARC Raiders Steam store page. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.

How a squad differs from solo

A squad is up to three raiders. Two things change when you add teammates. First, a downed raider isn't dead: a teammate can revive them, and a Defibrillator revives "quicker and with more health than a normal revive". That makes a dedicated reviver worth a slot. Second, matchmaking reads the whole group. Embark says it prioritizes "matching equal squad sizes where possible", and that every member shapes the squad's profile, with the leader getting no special weight. A trio is likely to meet other full groups, and players say those lobbies lean toward fighting: on r/ArcRaiders, u/GaptistePlayer described trios as "a PVP-centric mode in terms of how the playerbase plays it". Plan for raider fights, not just ARC.

What a squad doesn't get is shared inventory. Each player has their own augment, shield, Safe Pocket and backpack, so the build choices below are about splitting capacity on purpose.

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The three roles

Image: augment renders from the ARC Raiders Wiki (Combat_Mk.3(Aggressive), Tactical_Mk.3(Revival), Looting_Mk.3(Survivor)), uploaded by Atsuhiro, arranged by GameBrief. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.

Anchor

The anchor takes the first hit and holds the angle while the others work. Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive) is one of the few augments that takes a Heavy Shield, and it restores 2 health every 5 seconds when you haven't been hit for a while. Pair it with the Heavy Shield: 80 charge and 52.5% damage mitigation, for a 15% movement penalty. The Conditioning skill "Used to the Weight" softens that penalty, so the anchor is the player who should take it.

For weapons, the Bettina gives full-auto fire on heavy ammo with strong ARC armor penetration, and the Anvil is the best sidearm in the game for the same ammo. Use the two grenade slots on whatever clears a doorway.

Medic

The medic's job is to get people back up. Tactical Mk. 3 (Revival) has an integrated defibrillator, so you always have one ready, plus slower health regeneration than the anchor's (1 health every 5 seconds). The cost: it only takes a Light Shield, so stay behind the anchor, not beside them. If your squad would rather heal than revive, Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing) swaps that for three healing slots and a healing cloud when you're revived.

The Renegade is the medic's gun: medium ammo, long range and a big headshot multiplier, so you can help from cover. The Venator is a medium-ammo sidearm that fires two shots at a time.

Looter

The looter carries the run's value home. Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor) has the highest weight limit of any augment, three Safe Pocket slots, and health regeneration while downed and stationary, which buys the medic time to reach you. The Conditioning skill "Broad Shoulders" adds up to 10 more weight on top.

Give the looter the cheapest kit in the squad. A Ferro hits as hard as an Anvil, can be crafted at the Workbench from your first round, and costs little to lose. Add the silenced Hairpin for quiet work in buildings.

Image: Light_Shield, Medium_Shield and Heavy_Shield renders from the ARC Raiders Wiki, uploaded by Pyoid, arranged by GameBrief. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.

GODEEPER: Every augment's slots, shield compatibility and abilities. ARC Raiders Augments Guide →

Three squad setups

Standard trio (anchor, medic, looter). The default. Three ammo types (heavy, medium, heavy plus light), one reviver, one big Safe Pocket. Use it for normal loot runs on any map. Our maps guide helps you pick where.

Boss hunt. Swap the looter for a second damage dealer and bring very strong ARC armor penetration: a Hullcracker on the anchor and a Jupiter on the second gunner, with the medic unchanged. Launcher ammo and energy clips have had a daily purchase limit since Frozen Trail 2.0, so buy ammo the day before. Read the Queen guide or Matriarch guide first.

Budget run. Everyone on Workbench gear: Ferros, Light Shields and whatever augment you own. You'll lose fights you'd win in the standard trio, but you'll lose nothing you can't rebuild. It's the right setup for learning a new map together.

Before you queue

1. Pick roles in Speranza. Two players fighting over the Heavy Shield at the drop is a wasted minute.
2. Check ammo split. If everyone's on medium ammo, one of you swaps. Our weapons tier list has the ammo type for every gun.
3. Agree who carries the best loot. It goes to the looter's Safe Pocket, which survives a death.
4. Agree the exit. Whoever has a Raider Hatch Key says so before the drop. The extractions guide covers the options.

GODEEPER: Which machines need heavy ammo and which go down to anything, for planning your ammo split. ARC Raiders Machine Types Guide →

Our take

We'd build every trio around a reviver. A downed raider who gets back up keeps their whole kit, so the medic slot pays for itself the first time it saves an anchor. After that, give the heavy gear to the player who likes going first and the cheap gear to the one carrying the loot. If you play alone more than in a squad, our solo loadouts guide adapts these builds for one player.

How we checked this

We rebuilt this guide in October 2026 from the ARC Raiders Wiki's Augments, Shields, Skills, Defibrillator and weapon pages, the Workshop page for crafting, and Embark's matchmaking post and Frozen Trail 2.0 notes. The roles and setups are our recommendations, not results from our own squad play. The full source list is in our notes for this article.

Related Reading

• ARC Raiders Beginner Guide: for anyone in the squad who's new.
• ARC Raiders Loot Guide: what the looter should keep, sell or scrap.
• ARC Raiders Skill Tree Tier List: where "Used to the Weight" and "Broad Shoulders" sit.
• ARC Raiders Buried City Guide: tight streets that suit the anchor.
• ARC Raiders Spaceport Guide: open ground that suits the medic's Renegade.

References

• Augments, ARC Raiders Wiki
• Shields, ARC Raiders Wiki
• Skills, ARC Raiders Wiki
• Defibrillator, ARC Raiders Wiki
• Matchmaking post, Embark Studios
• Frozen Trail 2.0 update notes, Embark Studios