Two quotes from the business world come to mind when playing ARC Raiders, the latest hit extraction shooter from The Finals developer Embark Studios. They are against each other. The first is the innate part of me that prefers JRPGs as my video game genre of choice, and the second is the part that I have 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 offer some friendly advice to those with the same tendencies when heading to the Topside.
“Greed is good”
As many of my fellow RPG fans will agree, holding on to absolutely everything is almost default behavior when I play a game. At the end of a game like Final Fantasy 7 or Octopath Traveler, my inventory is full of unused consumables and old gear from the beginning of my journey. It's completely useless other than feeding the loot goblin that lives in my head, and I really should have sold it or repurposed it into something useful.
ARC Raiders is a genre designed specifically for goblins. Go out and bring back the brave souls. all loot. The tension of having to avoid the game's many dangers (both NPC and human) makes me feel more protective of the items I bring, and I don't want to part with any of them. But space is at a premium, so you have to constantly think about which items to drop. This is not good for my brain. I want – necessary – Everything.
This is where I need discipline to break away from lifelong habits. Extraction shooters are about gradual progression, achieving specific objectives with each run. You can't do it all at once. Sometimes you may need to farm junk loot to get basic resources like metal parts or wires. Sometimes you can find certain upgrade items, such as Lemons for Scrappy the Rooster or Rusted Tools, to improve your gunsmithing abilities.
It's important to remember that running is fast. You can't get too obsessed with loot, as you'll have your entire inventory within minutes of reaching the top. Slowly but surely we will get there.
“To collect, you have to guess”
A key part of running ARC Raiders is your loadout, especially as you progress and access better recipes. Given the dangers of running, where death means losing everything that isn't in your safe pockets, it's tempting to protect your loot by taking a free loadout with you on every run. After all, you worked hard for what you had hidden away.
The free loadout is perfect for a smash-and-grab type of run, popping in and out to complete quests or find relatively basic items. But the items of true value lie in much more dangerous areas, behind locked doors and guarded by more menacing enemies. To get there, you'll need better shields, more devastating weapons, and an abundance of supplies to keep yourself alive and thriving.
That means you have to use what you have, often. That high-level gun won't do you any good if you keep it in your stash, but it could be the difference between returning to Speranza alive with new blueprints or purples and losing everything you gained in a dangerous area.
This also applies to materials you naturally collect. Don't be afraid to use your resources to create better equipment before running. After all, that's the whole point of the genre. The gains are minimal, not every execution has to be perfect, and often the best strategy is quantity over quality.
Head to the Topside with a goal or two in mind, plan your route once you land, and stick to it. Don't be tempted to open every container you find until time runs out. It's a mad rush with players trying to escape.
In ARC Raiders, spreading yourself too thin is the enemy of progress. This is the exact opposite of the hoarding, methodical mentality that leads you to glory in many RPGs, but there's no other way to do it.
- released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Youth/Violence, Blood
- developer
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Embark Studio
- publisher
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Embark Studio
