ARC Raiders PvE Doesn't Need Worse Loot. It Needs More Danger.

Embark Studios is officially experimenting with something that could dramatically change ARC Raiders: a dedicated PvE matchmaking toggle.

The limited test runs from October 13 through October 20, 2026 and removes player-to-player damage entirely. Players will still scavenge, complete quests, encounter other Raiders and fight ARC, but other players will no longer be able to kill them.

Embark is also reducing the overall value of loot in PvE during the test because friendly players currently extract more frequently and bring more value back to Speranza.

I understand the reason behind that decision.

I just don't think lowering the value of the loot is the most interesting long-term solution.

Keep the Treasure. Change the Journey Home.

PvPvE already has a natural balancing mechanism.

The better your raid goes, the more painful it becomes to lose.

You might have an expensive weapon, a full backpack, rare materials and the exact item you've spent several raids searching for.

Then another Raider appears.

Suddenly everything you've collected is at risk.

Remove hostile Raiders from the equation and much of that unpredictable danger disappears.

Embark's current solution is essentially:

I would approach it differently:

PvE should not feel like the discounted version of ARC Raiders.

The machines should become the reason you're afraid to lose what you've found.

1. Keep the Same Loot Economy

Ideally, an item should remain the same item regardless of which matchmaking option you selected.

• Same item sell values.
• Same blueprint rarity.
• Same container tables.
• Same weapon rarity.
• Same crafting materials.
• Same secured-room rewards.
• Same keys.
• Same quests.
• Same stash.
• Same character progression.

If an item is worth 8,000 Coins in PvPvE, that same object shouldn't suddenly be worth 5,000 because it crossed some invisible PvE border.

Instead of changing the value of what the player finds, change the probability of successfully getting it home.

2. Give PvE an ARC Threat Director

This would be the foundation of the entire system.

Every PvE raid could have a hidden or partially visible ARC Attention value.

The more disruption Raiders create Topside, the more aggressively the ARC network responds.

At first, nothing unusual happens.

Then nearby patrols begin investigating.

Then aerial ARC start actively searching.

Reinforcements appear.

Heavy ARC begin moving into the district.

Eventually the raid reaches something equivalent to:

Now that comfortable scavenging run has turned into:

"We have an entire backpack of expensive loot. We need to leave. Now."

That's extraction-shooter tension without needing another player to shoot you in the back.

3. Valuable Loot Should Create Danger

High-value loot doesn't need to be worth less.

Picking it up could simply have consequences.

Imagine entering a secured room and finding exactly what you've been looking for.

You grab it.

Somewhere outside, ARC patrol behavior changes.

An aerial unit changes direction.

A distant machine powers up.

Your squad suddenly has another decision to make:

"Do we keep looting, or do we get this thing home?"

That decision is far more interesting than quietly reducing the number shown underneath the item.

4. Turn PvE Extraction Into an Event

Extraction is one of the places where hostile players naturally create danger in PvPvE.

PvE needs something that fills that same gameplay role.

Call an elevator and perhaps you see:

That signal attracts nearby ARC.

Maybe Wasps investigate first.

Then Hornets.

Then something considerably heavier begins moving toward the extraction point.

Extraction has now become the climax of the raid instead of a quiet countdown.

5. Let ARC Interrupt Extraction

The system shouldn't simply spawn the exact same wave every time.

Sometimes extraction works normally.

Sometimes ARC interference causes the elevator, train or other extraction system to fail.

A nearby relay might need to be restarted.

Someone now has to leave cover, restore power and return while everyone else protects them.

Another squad of friendly Raiders could arrive and decide to help.

Those are exactly the kinds of unscripted little stories ARC Raiders is good at creating.

6. Make Greed Dangerous

One of the best balancing tools would be making total carried value influence ARC response.

A player carrying a modest amount of salvage isn't particularly interesting to the threat director.

A squad carrying an absurd amount of valuables after clearing half the map?

That's different.

Now heavier ARC could appear.

Patrol density could increase.

Extraction interference could become more likely.

The game isn't punishing you because you selected PvE.

It's punishing you because you got greedy.

That's a much better fit for an extraction game.

7. Eventually Bring Night Raids and Major Conditions Into PvE

Embark is excluding Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate from the initial PvE test because these activities were designed around greater tension and unpredictable player encounters.

For a limited beta test, that makes sense.

Long term, however, I wouldn't permanently remove that content.

I would redesign its danger around ARC.

PvE Night Raids Could Include

• More aggressive ARC detection.
• Reduced visibility.
• Flashlights increasing detection risk.
• Roaming elite ARC.
• Periodic electrical failures.
• Changing ARC patrol routes.
• Compromised extraction points.
• Higher ARC response to loud combat.

You don't need hostile players to make the Rust Belt terrifying at night.

8. Turn Hidden Bunker Into a PvE Mini-Dungeon

Hidden Bunker is exactly the sort of content that could become fantastic in a dedicated PvE ruleset.

Now the loot doesn't need a special PvE nerf.

You earned access to it through gameplay and still need to survive long enough to extract it.

9. Add Roaming ARC World Threats

PvE could also occasionally introduce threats that fundamentally change the route players planned to take through the map.

Something enormous has entered the area.

The important part is that players shouldn't necessarily be expected to kill it.

Raiders could:

• Avoid it.
• Distract it.
• Lure it away.
• Temporarily disable it.
• Use buildings and terrain to escape it.
• Fight it with other nearby Raiders.

That preserves ARC Raiders as a sandbox rather than turning every PvE encounter into a traditional boss room.

10. Make ARC React to How Players Fight

PvE becomes much more replayable if ARC adapts to what Raiders are actually doing.

Stealth would consequently become a legitimate PvE strategy rather than simply slower combat.

11. Make Friendly Raiders Matter

One of the most interesting parts of Embark's proposed PvE mode is that other players remain in the world.

They simply can't damage one another.

That means player interaction can still create stories.

Imagine being chased by a heavy ARC unit and suddenly seeing another trio nearby.

You call for help.

They start firing.

Now six strangers who never queued together are fighting the same machine.

Someone gets downed.

Someone else revives them.

A Raider drops a battery or some ammunition.

Everyone celebrates for approximately five seconds and then disappears in completely different directions.

That's still ARC Raiders.

12. Add Raider Distress Signals

PvE could create even more social encounters through an optional distress system.

Nearby players could choose to investigate.

Helping might grant a small amount of XP, reputation or another modest reward.

Nothing valuable enough to turn reviving into an exploitable farming loop.

Just enough to encourage players to think:

"Someone needs help over there."

13. Introduce Dynamic Public ARC Events

PvE could periodically create map-wide events that naturally pull unrelated Raiders together.

Same economy.

More gameplay required to access it.

14. Sometimes PvE Should Force You to Abandon Loot

PvP naturally creates moments where the correct decision is:

"Forget the loot. Run."

PvE needs those moments too.

A previously manageable part of the map suddenly becomes overwhelmed.

You can stay and fight.

Or you can abandon the building you were looting and survive.

Sometimes that means leaving something valuable behind.

That creates economic loss naturally instead of arbitrarily changing the item's value.

15. Please Don't Turn ARC Into Bullet Sponges

There is one extremely easy way to make this entire idea less interesting:

Difficulty should come from:

• Positioning.
• Detection.
• Enemy combinations.
• Flanking.
• Reinforcements.
• Resource pressure.
• Environmental hazards.
• Interrupted objectives.
• Changing patrol patterns.
• Extraction pressure.

A dangerous combination of several ARC types is interesting.

The same ARC with several million hit points is not.

16. Make Topside More Dangerous the Longer You Stay

Another way to control PvE income is time.

Players shouldn't be able to methodically vacuum every useful item off the map with minimal resistance.

Every extra building you search becomes another gamble.

17. Give PvE Players a Reason to Bring Their Best Gear

PvE cannot become:

Free loadout + giant backpack = unlimited money.

High-level PvE activities should naturally make players want to bring powerful equipment.

Players should eventually be telling their squad:

"We're doing Hidden Bunker tonight. Bring the good stuff."

That means high-end equipment maintains a purpose even without hostile Raiders.

18. Death Still Needs to Hurt

PvE should absolutely retain extraction consequences.

If you die Topside, the expensive equipment and valuable loot you carried should still be at risk.

PvE shouldn't mean Creative Mode.

19. Let PvE and PvPvE Offer Different Kinds of Tension

Neither mode has to invalidate the other.

Those are two genuinely different experiences built on the same ARC Raiders foundation.

20. Keep One Shared Progression System

Embark's idea of allowing players to seamlessly switch between PvE and PvPvE is absolutely the direction I'd keep.

A night of ARC Raiders could look like this:

1. PvE raid with friends.
2. PvPvE solo raid.
3. PvE Night Raid.
4. PvPvE Frigate.

No separate character.

No second stash.

No arbitrary "PvE equipment" classification.

You're still playing ARC Raiders.

The Economy Problem Can Be Solved Without Nerfing Loot

Embark's concern makes sense.

Friendly players have higher extraction rates, which means PvE could potentially inject considerably more value into the shared economy.

But there are two variables here:

Embark can reduce expected income by lowering the first variable.

Or it can make the second variable interesting.

Imagine both modes allow a Raider to accumulate 100,000 Coins of potential loot.

Those numbers are only an example of the design concept, not a proposed exact balance target.

The important distinction is this:

Don't make the purple item worse. Make escaping with twelve purple items dangerous.

The player now thinks:

"I pushed my luck too far."

Instead of:

"The game gave me worse rewards because I selected PvE."

What I'd Like Embark to Test Next

That would create two versions of ARC Raiders that still feel connected to the same game.

Embark's own numbers show why this conversation is worth having. According to the studio's PvE Toggle announcement, 37% of the population falls into its friendly co-op group, another 27% are mixed players, and 51% of surveyed players expressed interest in a dedicated PvE option.

That is a substantial part of the ARC Raiders audience.

If PvE eventually becomes permanent, I hope it grows beyond simply disabling player damage and lowering a loot multiplier.

Give the ARC the job hostile Raiders used to have.

Let them hunt us.