ARC Raiders Weapon Tier List: Every Gun Ranked Right Now

Five months is a long time for an extraction shooter to go without touching a single weapon stat. ARC Raiders hasn't had a real balance patch since Patch 1.29.0 "Nomadic Envoys" landed on May 19, and Embark's own September update was cosmetic skins only. That stability is actually a gift for a tier list: every number below comes straight from Embark's published patch notes, not a snapshot that'll be stale by the time you finish reading.

01How We Ranked ARC Raiders' Weapons Right Now

This is our opinion, not a leaked spreadsheet. We built it by tracking every weapon change Embark has shipped across Patch 1.17.0, Patch 1.20.0 and Patch 1.29.0, then weighing how each change actually plays: does the gun kill faster, handle better, or survive longer between repairs than it did before. A weapon that got hit with a damage cut and a dispersion penalty in the same update drops hard. One that picked up faster reloads and tighter recoil climbs, even if nobody's posted a flashy clip about it yet.

We're not ranking anything from the upcoming Frozen Trail update. Embark has previewed new weapons for it, but without confirmed stats there's nothing to verify yet — more on that below.

One more factor we weighed: durability. Patch 1.29.0's notes confirmed that "multiple weapons received durability increases to address quick breakage issues," without publishing every individual value. We're treating that as a tiebreaker rather than a headline change, since Embark didn't attach exact numbers to most of the affected guns — anything we can't verify a specific figure for stays out of the hard stat comparisons below.

02S-Tier: Aphelion Is Still the Best Gun in the Game

Aphelion is the one weapon on this list that got an unambiguous, across-the-board buff and never gave any of it back. Patch 1.17.0 cut its base reload time from 4.5 seconds to 3.5, dropped time between shots from 0.9 seconds to 0.7, and slashed vertical recoil by roughly half while improving ADS settle speed by about 35%. Nothing since has touched it.

What that adds up to in a raid: you can hold a fight longer without ducking into cover to reload, you follow up shots faster, and the sight actually stops moving when you need it to. There's no weapon on the current patch that challenges Aphelion for an all-around pick, and until Embark says otherwise, it's the easy S-Tier.

03A-Tier: Jupiter and Bettina Reward Investment

Jupiter got the same Patch 1.17.0 treatment as Aphelion, just aimed at handling instead of damage output. Its ADS magnification improved from roughly 1.9x to 2.2x, equip time dropped from 1.2 seconds to 1.05, and unequip time fell from 0.9 to 0.75. It swaps in and settles on target quicker than almost anything else in its weight class, which matters more than raw stats in ARC Raiders' close-quarters scavenging fights.

Bettina's path here is messier but ends in the same place. An earlier durability pass hurt it badly enough that Patch 1.29.0 had to partially walk things back, restoring its base fire rate from 235 to 250. That same patch also reworked the Extended Barrel mod line into three tiers, with the top-end Extended Barrel III pushing bullet velocity bonus from 25% to 30% and extending the damage fall-off distance by 15%. Pair Bettina with a fully upgraded Extended Barrel and it earns its spot.

04B-Tier: Hullcracker and Rascal Handle the ARCs

The Hullcracker hasn't appeared in any patch notes we could verify across 1.17.0, 1.20.0 or 1.29.0 — it's the one constant on this list. That's not a knock; Embark's own Patch 1.29.0 notes used the Hullcracker as the reference point when introducing its replacement option, calling the new Rascal a "lightweight grenade launcher" and an "anti-ARC side-arm alternative" to it. If a gun needs no changes to stay relevant for five straight months, it belongs in B-Tier at worst.

Rascal itself is the newest weapon in the game, added in that same Nomadic Envoys update. Embark's description is blunt about the trade-off: slower to reload, less predictable aim than the Hullcracker, but it opens up a second way to deal with ARC machines instead of forcing everyone into the same loadout. It's situational rather than essential, which is exactly what keeps it out of A-Tier.

05C-Tier and D-Tier: Kettle, Venator, Stitcher and Il Toro Took the Nerfs

Four weapons on this list got weaker, confirmed in Embark's own numbers, and none of them have been touched since. Kettle's base damage dropped from 10 to 8.5 in Patch 1.17.0 specifically because, in Embark's words, it was overperforming as a starter light-ammo AR. It's still usable early on, just no longer the free lunch it used to be, which lands it in C-Tier.

Venator sits next to it for similar reasons: headshot multiplier down from 2.5 to 2.0 and base damage down from 9 to 8, same patch. It's not broken, but there's no situation where it beats Aphelion or Jupiter on the current patch.

Stitcher and Il Toro are the two hardest-hit guns on the entire list, and they both land in D-Tier. Stitcher's headshot multiplier fell from 2.5 to 1.75, base damage dropped from 7 to 6.5, and per-shot dispersion rose by roughly 50%. Il Toro got it even worse one patch later: pellet damage down from 7.5 to 7, fire rate cut from 43 to 38, dispersion up from 4.5 to 6, total reload time stretched from 4.3 seconds to 5.7, and damage loss from falloff increased from 40% to 50%. Embark's own patch notes said the goal was making Il Toro "more dependent on upgrades and mods" to stay effective at range. Until that investment pays off, there's no reason to run either gun over the picks above.

Quick Tier Rankings

1. 1Patch 1.17.0 cut its reload from 4.5s to 3.5s, dropped time between shots from 0.9s to 0.7s, and nearly halved vertical recoil — the fastest-feeling marksman option in the game.S-Tier
2. 2ADS magnification improved to ~2.2x and equip/unequip times both dropped in Patch 1.17.0, so it settles on target faster than almost anything else in its class.A-Tier
3. 3A durability nerf hurt it, but Patch 1.29.0 restored fire rate from 235 to 250 and upgraded the Extended Barrel mod line — net positive with a full build.A-Tier
4. 4Untouched across every patch we checked. Embark's own 1.29.0 notes used it as the comparison point for the new Rascal — still the default anti-ARC answer.B-Tier
5. 5The newest weapon, added in Patch 1.29.0. Slower to reload and less predictable than the Hullcracker per Embark's own description, but it fills a real gap.B-Tier
6. 6Base damage cut from 10 to 8.5 in Patch 1.17.0 because it was overperforming as a starter AR. Still usable, no longer a free lunch.C-Tier
7. 7Headshot multiplier down from 2.5 to 2.0 and base damage down from 9 to 8 in the same patch. Playable, but outclassed by Aphelion and Jupiter.C-Tier
8. 8The two hardest-hit guns on the list, nerfed across damage, dispersion, fire rate and reload in back-to-back patches. Avoid both until Embark revisits them.D-Tier

06What Frozen Trail Could Shake Up on October 8

None of this is set in stone past October 8. Embark's own Frozen Trail First Look confirmed a new Pendola Pass map, new ARC enemy types, a grappling hook, and two new weapons: the Stiletto battle rifle and the Bantam revolver. The update also introduces Amplified Weapons, a fifth quality tier that lets existing guns branch into new upgrade paths — which could quietly change where some of the weapons above land without Embark touching their base numbers at all.

The Frozen Trail Update is just around the corner. Are you ready to gear up and face whatever is waiting for us beyond the Rust Belt? Join us now on YouTube for a live premiere and take a first look at some of the upcoming content from the Frozen Trail Update, coming October 8.

— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) · Sep 23, 2026 on X

We're deliberately not ranking the Stiletto, the Bantam, or Amplified Weapons here. Embark hasn't published damage numbers, fire rates, or upgrade costs for any of it yet, and a tier list built on preview footage instead of real stats isn't worth your time. Check back after October 8 once the patch notes are live.

07Loadout Notes Worth Keeping in Mind

If you're building around Aphelion or Jupiter, prioritize whatever recoil or handling mods you've already unlocked — both guns' buffs are entirely about control and speed, not raw damage, so mods that reinforce that identity get more value than they would on a pure damage pick. If you're running Bettina, the upgraded Extended Barrel III is close to mandatory now that it's the primary payoff patch for the gun; without it, you're playing a weaker version of what Patch 1.29.0 actually shipped.

And if you've been avoiding the Rascal because it's new, it's worth a trial run specifically against ARC patrols rather than other Raiders — Embark built it as a Hullcracker alternative, not a universal upgrade, and it shows in exactly the fights you'd expect.

If you're still running Kettle or Venator out of habit from your first few runs, this is a good patch to break that habit. Neither gun is unusable, but both took direct damage and headshot cuts specifically because Embark judged them to be overperforming for new Raiders — once you're past that early stretch, there's nothing holding you to them anymore. Stitcher and Il Toro deserve a harder look: both took multiple simultaneous nerfs across two separate patches, and Embark's own language around the Il Toro change ("more dependent on upgrades and mods") is as close as the studio gets to telling you a weapon needs outside help to compete.

The short version: on the patch live today, build around Aphelion or Jupiter if you want the most reliable gun in your loadout, lean on Bettina with a full Extended Barrel III if you prefer a mid-range rifle, and keep Hullcracker or Rascal in your back pocket specifically for ARC encounters. Everything else on this list is playable, but it's playing from behind until Embark revisits it — or until Frozen Trail changes the conversation entirely on October 8.