What is the best weapon in ARC Raiders?

Our pick is the Anvil hand cannon: 40 damage per shot, Heavy Ammo and strong ARC armor penetration. Embark raised it from uncommon to rare in Frozen Trail 2.0 because it was outperforming weapons within and above its rarity.

How many weapons are in ARC Raiders?

The ARC Raiders Wiki lists 26 guns across nine classes after Frozen Trail 2.0, which added the Bantam hand cannon and the Stiletto battle rifle.

Where can I buy the Anvil now?

Not from Tian Wen anymore. Since Frozen Trail 2.0 the Anvil and Hullcracker are part of the weekly Nomadic Envoys rotation instead.

ARC Raiders · Guides

ARC Raiders Weapons Tier List: All 26 Guns Ranked for 2026

ARC Raiders weapons tier list after Frozen Trail 2.0: all 26 guns ranked by damage, ARC armor penetration and cost, with who should use each one.

Apr 23, 202610 min readLast reviewed October 14, 2026By Priya NairUpdated 6 days ago

Tagsarc-raiders embark-studios weapons tier-list extraction-shooter

A raider in a dark helmet faces an orange-suited raider aiming a pistol from the doorway of a corrugated metal shed

How we ranked them

We haven't put hours into every gun. This ranking comes from the stat sheets on the ARC Raiders Wiki and from Embark's balance notes, read with three questions in mind. How hard does a shot hit? How well does it get through ARC armor? And how much does it cost you to bring and lose?

The second question matters more than new players expect. With few exceptions, a weapon's ammo type decides how well it penetrates ARC armor, from "very weak" for light ammo up to "very strong" for launchers and some energy weapons. A gun that barely scratches armored ARC is a gun that gets you killed on the way to extraction.

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The full tier list

Weapon	Class	Ammo	Rarity	ARC armor pen.	Damage	Fire rate	Tier
Anvil	Hand cannon	Heavy	Rare	Strong	40	16.3	S
Renegade	Battle rifle	Medium	Rare	Moderate	35	21	S
Bettina	Assault rifle	Heavy	Epic	Strong	16	28.7	S
Jupiter	Sniper rifle	Energy clip	Legendary	Very strong	60	7.67	S
Ferro	Battle rifle	Heavy	Common	Strong	40	6.6	A
Hullcracker	Special (launcher)	Launcher	Epic	Very strong	100	20.3	A
Osprey	Sniper rifle	Medium	Rare	Moderate	45	17.7	A
Tempest	Assault rifle	Medium	Epic	Moderate	10	36.7	A
Venator	Pistol	Medium	Rare	Moderate	16 (two shots of 8)	36.7	A
Dolabra	Shotgun	Energy clip	Legendary	Strong	50 hipfire, 40 aimed	Not listed	A
Equalizer	Special (beam rifle)	Energy clip	Legendary	Very strong	8	33.33	A
Canto	SMG	Medium	Rare	Moderate	6.5	56.7	B
Bantam	Hand cannon	Heavy	Uncommon	Strong	24	23.3	B
Vulcano	Shotgun	Shotgun	Epic	Weak	49.5	26.3	B
Il Toro	Shotgun	Shotgun	Uncommon	Weak	63 (9 pellets of 7)	14	B
Arpeggio	Assault rifle	Medium	Uncommon	Moderate	9.5	18.3	B
Torrente	LMG	Medium	Rare	Moderate	8	58.3	B
Aphelion	Battle rifle	Energy clip	Legendary	Strong	25	9	B
Rascal	Special (launcher)	Launcher	Rare	Very strong	75	13.7	B
Stiletto	Battle rifle	Light	Uncommon	Weak	19	11.2	B
Kettle	Assault rifle	Light	Common	Very weak	8.5	30	C
Stitcher	SMG	Light	Common	Very weak	6.5	45.3	C
Bobcat	SMG	Light	Epic	Very weak	6	66.7	C
Rattler	Assault rifle	Medium	Common	Moderate	9	33.3	C
Burletta	Pistol	Light	Uncommon	Very weak	10	28	C
Hairpin	Pistol	Light	Common	Very weak	20	9	C

Damage and fire rate are base values for the first version of each gun. Most weapons can be upgraded up to three times at the Gunsmith, which is what the I to IV numerals mean.

S tier: bring these when you can

Wiki renders of the Anvil, Renegade, Bettina and Jupiter, our four S-tier weapons, on a dark background Image: weapon renders from the ARC Raiders Wiki (Anvil IV, Renegade IV, Bettina IV, Jupiter), arranged by GameBrief. Game art is the property of Embark Studios.

Anvil. The best gun in the game for its cost, and Embark more or less agrees. In the Frozen Trail 2.0 notes it says the Anvil "is outperforming weapons both within and above its own level of rarity", which is why it moved from uncommon to rare. Heavy Ammo, strong penetration and a 2.5x headshot multiplier make it equally good at cracking ARC and dropping raiders. Pick it if you can aim. The catch is supply: Tian Wen no longer sells it, so you'll find it in the weekly Nomadic Envoys rotation or craft it at Gunsmith 2 with its blueprint, 2 Advanced Mechanical Components, 3 Heavy Gun Parts and 3 Hand Drills.

Renegade. A lever-action rifle with 35 damage, a 2.25x headshot multiplier and more range than any other medium-ammo gun except the Osprey. It's medium ammo, so it's only moderate against ARC armor, but it's the most forgiving long-range gun for raider fights. Tian Wen sells the first version. Skip it if you mostly fight ARC up close.

Bettina. The heavy-ammo assault rifle Embark kept buffing. Patch 1.26.0 raised its damage and its damage against ARC armor by around 33%, and 1.29.0 nudged the fire rate back up. It's the only full-auto gun with strong penetration that isn't a legendary. It's epic and heavy, though, so expect to lose a few.

Jupiter. The hardest-hitting rifle, with very strong penetration. Frozen Trail 2.0 fixed a bug that applied its damage twice to ARC parts behind a target, and Embark says that leaves it "stronger against armor, but slightly weaker against weak spots". It's legendary, holds five rounds and runs on energy clips, which now have a daily purchase limit. Bring it for Queen and Matriarch fights, not for a casual loot run.

GODEEPER: Kits built around these guns for one raider instead of three. ARC Raiders Best Solo Loadouts →

A tier: strong, with a catch

Ferro. The best day-one weapon: 40 damage, Heavy Ammo, strong penetration, and Tian Wen sells it cheap. You can also craft it from 5 Metal Parts and 2 Rubber Parts at the Workbench. The catch is right in the wiki's description: it "must be reloaded between every shot". Use it to open fights, not finish them. Our crafting guide covers its upgrades.

Hullcracker. A grenade launcher whose rounds only detonate on ARC, so it's useless against raiders and brilliant against machines. Frozen Trail 2.0 reworked explosive damage so it deals "over 50% more damage against armor plates" and around 30% less to fragile parts. Take it on boss runs. It moved to the Nomadic Envoys rotation alongside the Anvil.

Osprey. A scoped bolt-action with 45 damage and the longest range figure in the wiki's weapon table. It's the budget sniper: rare, medium ammo, sold by Tian Wen. Pick it if you hold angles. Skip it inside buildings.

Tempest. An epic full-auto rifle with a 25-round magazine and moderate penetration. Nothing about it stands out, which is the point: it's the steady medium-ammo choice when you don't have a Bettina.

Venator. A pistol that fires two shots at a time, with moderate penetration. Patch 1.17.0 trimmed its damage and headshot multiplier, but it's still the best sidearm that isn't a hand cannon.

Dolabra. An experimental energy shotgun that switches between a wide hipfire blast (20 m) and a focused beam when aiming (100 m), with strong penetration. It's legendary and burns energy clips, so we rate it below the Bettina despite the raw power.

Equalizer. A legendary beam rifle with a 50-round magazine and very strong penetration. It's an ARC shredder for boss fights, heavy at 14.0 weight and too precious for a normal round.

Embark's art for the Flashpoint update showing two new weapons, the blue Canto SMG and the Dolabra energy shotgun Image: Embark Studios, Flashpoint patch notes 1.22.0 (arcraiders.com). Game art is the property of Embark Studios.

B tier: situational

The Canto (added in 1.22.0) is the SMG to use if you use one: medium ammo gives it moderate penetration where the other SMGs have almost none. The Bantam took over the uncommon hand cannon slot from the Anvil in Frozen Trail 2.0, with strong penetration but low accuracy and range. The Vulcano and Il Toro shotguns hit hard up close and fall off sharply, and shotgun ammo is weak against ARC armor. The Arpeggio is a tidy three-round-burst rifle. The Torrente carries 60 rounds and up but is "only accurate while crouched". The Aphelion is legendary and can't be upgraded, and its strong penetration doesn't make up for that. The Rascal is a single-shot launcher that, like the Hullcracker, only detonates on ARC. The new Stiletto is an accurate semi-auto rifle on light ammo, with weak penetration; the wiki calls it a good choice against lightly armored ARC. It has fans already: on r/ArcRaiders, u/SenzuYT wrote "I brought 200 rounds to riven tides and killed a vaporizer without running out, YMMV". That's a Riven Tides run against the Vaporizer, and it says as much about how much ammo the Stiletto eats as about its power.

C tier: early-game only

The Kettle, Stitcher and Bobcat all fire light ammo with very weak penetration, and patch 1.17.0 cut damage on both the Kettle and the Stitcher. They're fine in a Free Loadout and for your first few rounds; once you meet armored ARC, swap them out. The Rattler reloads two bullets at a time, which is as bad as it sounds. The Burletta is a plain light pistol. The Hairpin has a built-in silencer and a lot of stealth, so it's a pick only if you're sneaking past everything.

GODEEPER: Which machines need heavy ammo and which go down to anything. ARC Raiders Enemy Types Guide →

Our take

If you're new, buy Ferros and learn to land the first shot. Once you have the coins, trade up to the Renegade for raider fights and grab the Anvil whenever the Nomadic Envoys have it. Save the legendaries (Jupiter, Equalizer, Dolabra) for boss runs where losing them is worth the risk, and leave the light-ammo SMGs to the Free Loadout. For where the Anvil fits after the Bantam arrived, see our Anvil vs Bantam guide. If you want to push weapons past level IV, the Workshop upgrade guide covers the top Gunsmith level and Amplification.

How we checked this

We rebuilt this list on October 14, 2026 from the ARC Raiders Wiki's Weapons page and the individual pages for all 26 guns (stats, rarity, patch history), Embark's Frozen Trail 2.0 and 1.22.0 patch notes, and the Tian Wen trader page. The tiers are our reading of those numbers, not results from our own play. The full source list is in our notes for this article.

ARC Raiders Beginner Guide: Free Loadout kits and which starter gun to take.
ARC Raiders Queen Boss Guide: where the Jupiter and Hullcracker earn their cost.
ARC Raiders Matriarch Boss Guide: another fight for very strong penetration.
ARC Raiders Skill Tree Tier List: the skills that pair with these weapons.

References

Weapons, ARC Raiders Wiki: full roster, classes and base stats
Anvil, ARC Raiders Wiki: stats and the Frozen Trail 2.0 rarity change
Tian Wen, ARC Raiders Wiki: which weapons the gun trader sells
Frozen Trail 2.0 update notes, Embark Studios: Anvil, Bantam, Jupiter and Hullcracker changes
Flashpoint patch notes 1.22.0, Embark Studios
ARC Raiders on Steam

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