ARC Raiders · Guides
ARC Raiders Vaporizer Guide: Weak Points, Shield and Loot
How to kill the ARC Raiders Vaporizer: fight from cover, bait its energy shield with a grenade, then hit the thrusters and the core under its belly.
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About the game
ARC Raiders
Embark Studios
The ARC Raiders Vaporizer is a flying laser drone that kills you fast in the open and dies fast once its shield is gone. It has 1,500 health against the Matriarch's estimated 23,000, so the whole fight is about cover and shield timing: get under a roof, bait the shield with a grenade, then dump damage into the thrusters or the exposed belly core while it can't shield again.
Updated 2026-10-14: rewritten against the ARC Raiders Wiki's Vaporizer, ARC, Close Scrutiny and Flashpoint update pages. The old guide said the Vaporizer flies on "eight small rotors, two per corner", that an Aphelion is the tool to ground it, that you can climb on a grounded one to plant a Deadline mine, that its laser has a "targeting-lock" tell, that it can't fire while shielded, that the Hullcracker is best for its "plating" (it has light armor), and that it's a "Red-zone-tier" threat (there are no zones). We found no source for any of that, and its advice to Wolfpack it after the shield drops misses the wiki's point that a Wolfpack is what triggers the shield.
Image: Vaporizers_from_below.jpg from the ARC Raiders Wiki gallery. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.
Vaporizer at a glance
| Vaporizer | |
|---|---|
| Added | Update 1.22.0, Flashpoint (March 31, 2026) |
| Armor | Light |
| Health | 1,500 |
| Primary attack | Laser beam that leaves pools of fire |
| Ability | Energy shield |
| Weak points | Thrusters; the underside panel exposes the core |
| XP | Destroy +500, scavenge chassis +600, scavenge thruster +500 |
| Unique loot | Vaporizer Regulator |
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Where you'll meet it
The Vaporizer arrived with the Flashpoint update alongside the Close Scrutiny map condition, an ARC Operation. In Close Scrutiny, groups of Surveyors scan for valuable materials while Vaporizers protect them, and the Surveyors call in ARC Assessors once they find something. The condition runs on Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport and the Blue Gate.
Vaporizers also show up the other way round. When you start breaching one of an Assessor's pylons, it calls in a swarm of flying ARC that can include Vaporizers, Rocketeers, Fireflies, Hornets and Wasps. The wiki's breaching tips are smoke grenades before breaching and looting, a Lure Grenade thrown away from your exit, or a Photoelectric Cloak to walk away clean.
The laser: don't be in the open
Its laser is line of sight, and it leaves pools of burning fire wherever the beam lands. The wiki's advice is simple: engaged without enough cover, a Vaporizer "will quickly end in your demise", so find a building or substantial cover before you start shooting. A roof matters as much as a wall, since it attacks from above. Don't stand in the fire it leaves behind when you reposition.
Frozen Trail made this easier. Embark's 2.0 notes say the Vaporizer's multi-target laser was adjusted "to give players a clearer window for dodging with fast traversal and dodge mechanics", so dodging toward cover should work more often than it did before 2.0.
The shield: bait it, then punish
Throwing a seeking or projectile grenade at a Vaporizer, a Seeker Grenade or a Wolfpack, triggers an energy shield like the Matriarch's. While it's up, the shield blocks all projectile damage, small arms included. When it drops, the Vaporizer can't shield again for a short time.
That flips the usual order. Don't open with your best grenade; open with a cheap one. Throw a Seeker to pop the shield, wait it out behind cover, and then use the Wolfpack or your heaviest gun in the window after it drops. The Wolfpack's 12 missiles lock onto nearby ARC, and the wiki lists Vaporizers among the bigger machines it's meant for.
Image: ARC_Vaporizer.png and Vaporizer_Regulator.png from the ARC Raiders Wiki, arranged by GameBrief. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.
Where to shoot
The wiki lists the thrusters as its weakness, and scavenging a thruster afterwards is worth 500 XP each. Shooting its underside knocks off a small rectangular panel that exposes the core. With light armor and 1,500 health, it doesn't need a launcher; any gun you can keep on target in the shield-down window works. For other picks, see our weapons tier list.
GODEEPER: The other big flying ARC works on a different rule: shoot only when it lands. ARC Raiders Turbine Guide →
What it drops
Its loot can include ARC Powercells, ARC Alloy, Electrical Components, Advanced ARC Powercells, ARC Circuitry, ARC Flex Rubber, Energy Clips, Heavy Gun Parts and its unique item, the Vaporizer Regulator. The Regulator is the reason to farm it: the Dolabra, a legendary energy shotgun from the same update, needs 3 Shredder Gyros, 3 Magnetic Accelerators and 2 Vaporizer Regulators at Gunsmith 3. This week Cassio, the Nomadic Envoy, also sells a Dolabra outright; our weekly reset guide has the price.
Our take
The Vaporizer is a cover check more than a boss. Fight it from under a roof and bait the shield with a Seeker before you throw anything valuable, and it goes down quickly. Fight it in the open with a Wolfpack as your opener and you'll waste the grenade and eat the laser. If you're breaching Assessors during Close Scrutiny, plan the getaway before you start the breach, because the swarm is what kills you, not one Vaporizer.
How we checked this
We rewrote this guide in October 2026 from the ARC Raiders Wiki's Vaporizer, ARC, Close Scrutiny, Wolfpack, Dolabra and Flashpoint update pages. We haven't fought a Vaporizer ourselves; the attacks, shield behavior and loot come from those pages.
Related Reading
- ARC Raiders Matriarch Guide: the boss whose shield the Vaporizer's copies.
- ARC Raiders Enemy Types Guide: every ARC machine, from Ticks to bosses.
- ARC Raiders Spaceport Guide: one of the four Close Scrutiny maps.
- ARC Raiders Best Squad Loadouts: kits that handle aerial threats.
- ARC Raiders Endgame Guide: What to Do After Frozen Trail: Trials, Gunsmith level 4 through the Outpost, Envoys stash space and the Expedition pause.
- ARC Raiders Crafting Guide: Workshop Stations and Recipes: how Workshop stations, blueprints and field crafting work after Frozen Trail.
References
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Disclaimer
This article is published for informational and entertainment purposes. It does not constitute professional financial, legal, or technical advice. Game performance, online services, patch schedules, and store listings change. Verify critical details (pricing, system requirements, regional availability) with publishers and storefronts before you buy. Affiliate links, where present, help support our editorial work and are labelled in our affiliate disclosure.
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