ARC Raiders Machine Types: How to Kill Every ARC Unit

ARC Raiders machine types split into two easy rules: fliers die when you take out their thrusters, and walkers die when you hit the yellow joints and rear canister. Everything else is knowing which unit to kill first (the Snitch, before it calls for help) and which ones need explosives instead of bullets. The table below has armor, health and weak point for every common ARC, all from the ARC Raiders Wiki.

Updated 2026-10-14: rechecked every unit against the ARC Raiders Wiki. The old guide said the Snitch always calls "two Wasps and one Hornet" (the wiki lists three possible groups), called the Pop a taser (it's a rolling bomb), put the Firefly's weak point on its underside with Medium Ammo drops (it's a fuel tank exposed during its attack; it drops Chemicals, not ammo), and described a blue/yellow/red scanner system, a 45-degree detection cone and an "always matte yellow" weak point rule that we couldn't source.

ARC Raiders machine types: quick reference

The Vaporizer, ARC Turbine, Queen and Matriarch are bigger fights with their own guides: Vaporizer, ARC Turbine, Queen and Matriarch.

BESTPRICE: Want ARC Raiders? These stores list it: Buy on Eneba → Buy on Green Man Gaming → Buy on Humble Bundle →

Fliers: Wasp, Hornet, Firefly, Snitch

Every small flier runs on four thrusters, and the wiki describes the same failure for all of them: destroy several and the drone loses control, and each crash into the scenery does heavy damage. That makes thrusters your target on all four, with one catch each.

Wasp. No armor, 110 health, and a rapid-fire gun that the wiki says can shred "the toughest Raider shields in seconds". It paints you with a red laser and hovers briefly before it fires, which is your window. Light Ammo is plenty. Wasps drop Light Ammo and the Wasp Driver, which the Gunsmith upgrade needs.

Hornet. Light armor and 200 health, but only the two front thrusters are armored. Get around it and shoot the rear pair. Its single stun round stuns you briefly and drains your shield, but it's a slow projectile you can dodge. Medium or Heavy Ammo is the right call for the armor, and Hornets drop Medium Ammo.

Firefly. The awkward one: heavy armor and all four thrusters armored. When it attacks, it extends a flamethrower and exposes a yellow fuel tank that takes increased damage. Shoot that. When it dies, it sets the area on fire for a moment, so don't stand under it.

Snitch. It doesn't attack. It finds you with a visible spotlight beam, alerts nearby ARC and calls in reinforcements: "a pair of Wasps, a Firefly and Hornet duo, or a single Rocketeer". The wiki adds that reinforcements are only guaranteed once it starts its third call, and that a few Medium or Heavy rounds usually kill it first. This is the one unit we'd always shoot on sight, because a Rocketeer is a much worse fight than a Snitch.

Image: ARC Raiders promotional screenshot, Embark Studios.

GODEEPER: The weapon you bring decides how fast the armored ones die. ARC Raiders Weapons Tier List →

Indoor threats: Tick, Pop, Fireball, Shredder

These are the ones that make buildings dangerous.

Tick. Ten health, and one Raider Tool swing destroys it, so melee it and save the ammo. You usually hear it first: Ticks spawn dormant on ceilings and rafters and make a robotic shuffling sound before lunging at your head. If one latches on, hold interact to knock it off.

Pop. A rolling proximity bomb with 20 health. It beeps faster as it gets close, then detonates after a short delay, hitting both shield and health. Switch to something fast-firing and kill it before it arrives. The wiki also notes it usually can't jump or climb, so getting up on something is a fallback.

Fireball. Usually deployed alongside Pops indoors. Its shell is heavily armored and Light Ammo bounces off, but it opens its front panel to use its flamethrower, and the core behind it dies to anything. Either wait for the panel or use a hard hitter like the Ferro or Anvil.

Shredder. Heavy armor, 385 health, and a shrapnel burst in all directions that's at its worst in tight spaces. It pauses to charge a bigger blast, and the wiki's advice is to hit the thrusters and use explosives during or just after that charge. A Jolt Mine in a doorway stuns it for a few seconds.

Turrets and scouts: Sentinel, Turret, Spotter, Surveyor

Sentinel. A turret on rooftops and ledges with 300 health. It tracks you with an orange laser, then several lasers converge and it fires a Heavy Ammo round after a short delay. It has long range, so distance won't save you; cover will. Its reaction time and fire rate are slow, so bait the shot from cover and then hit the yellow canister on its swivel arm.

Turret. The indoor version: no armor, 80 health, a visible sweeping scanner. Avoid the beam or kill it with a few rounds.

Spotter. Flies in pairs alongside a Bombardier and marks you with a laser so the Bombardier can hit you, even from places it couldn't otherwise reach. Kill both and a new pair respawns, so the wiki's advice is to get indoors where the Bombardier can't shoot rather than keep spending ammo on Spotters.

Surveyor. Not a fighter. It rolls away faster than you can sprint the moment it senses you, and only opens its armor to expose the core while it's transmitting a laser into the sky. Stun it with a Hornet Driver or Showstopper so it can't flee.

Image: ARC Raiders promotional screenshot, Embark Studios.

The big four: Rocketeer, Leaper, Bastion, Bombardier

These are where you spend grenades. If your extraction route can go around them, take it.

Rocketeer. 1,100 health and heavy armor. It lines up four yellow lasers that turn red just before it fires missiles, and two missiles can down you, so fight it from inside a building or behind something solid. Like the small fliers, it falls when two thrusters go; the tops of the thrusters have no armor if you can get above it. The wiki's ARC page also lists the silver canister on its back as a weak point and suggests two Wolfpack Grenades.

Leaper. 1,100 health, four legs, a shockwave, and a leap that the wiki says crushes Raiders "even when they were sprinting away at full speed". Weak points are the eye and leg joints. The cheapest kill it lists: throw a Blaze Grenade onto it, wait for the burn to end, throw another, then finish it with one or two Heavy Ammo shots. Leapers turn up on every map except Stella Montis.

Bastion. 2,050 health and a gatling gun that it fires for three seconds at your last seen position after a loud screech. Shoot the yellow kneecaps or the yellow canister on its rear: destroying either stuns it briefly, and breaking the canister peels back the rear plate to expose a bigger weak spot. Stun items (Hornet Drivers, Showstoppers) leave it helpless, and Blaze or Wolfpack Grenades work well.

Bombardier. The biggest health pool here at 2,670, with a long-range mortar fed by its two Spotters. Same yellow kneecaps and rear cylinder as the Bastion. Deal with the Spotters, then attack right after it fires its artillery, when the wiki says it's vulnerable.

Our take

Learn three units properly and the rest follow. The Snitch, because a dead Snitch never gets to its third call. The Hornet, because flanking it is the habit that also handles the Firefly and Rocketeer. The Bastion, because hitting a joint to stun it is the pattern for every walker. Carry one stun item and one Blaze Grenade on any run where you might meet a big one, and walk past the ones you don't need.

How we checked this

We rewrote this guide in October 2026 from the ARC Raiders Wiki's ARC overview and its page for each machine. We didn't test damage numbers ourselves; armor, health, weak points and drops are the wiki's.

Related Reading

• ARC Raiders Enemy Types Guide: ARC Units Ranked by Threat: the same machines ranked by how dangerous they are.
• ARC Raiders Weapons Tier List: which guns handle armored ARC.
• ARC Raiders Augments Guide: augments for ARC-heavy runs.
• ARC Raiders Best Solo Loadouts: kits for handling ARC without a squad.
• ARC Raiders Beginner Guide: the basics before any of this matters.
• ARC Raiders Workshop Upgrade Items Guide: what the ARC parts you collect are for.

References

• ARC, ARC Raiders Wiki: every variant with drops and tips.
• Wasp, Hornet, Firefly, Snitch, Tick, Pop, Fireball, Shredder: ARC Raiders Wiki unit pages.
• Sentinel, Turret, Spotter, Surveyor: ARC Raiders Wiki unit pages.
• Rocketeer, Leaper, Bastion, Bombardier: ARC Raiders Wiki unit pages.