Choose The Extraction Point First

Pick the extraction point you plan to use, then choose a short loot route that moves toward it. Do not cross the entire map without a specific objective. Longer routes create more chances to lose useful items before you can extract.

Official ARC Raiders screenshot showing a raider moving through a damaged outdoor combat zone.
Your first route should be short, readable, and pointed toward an exit before the map starts getting loud.Embark Studios / Steam

Reserve The Safe Pocket For Important Items

The safe pocket is not for whatever you grabbed first. Save it for quest items, rare crafting pieces, or anything you specifically came topside to recover. If you fill it with low-value clutter, you are giving up the one system designed to soften a bad death.

Listen before you shoot

Machines reveal positions, create distractions, and block routes. Walk around fights that do not protect an objective or extraction point. Gunfire attracts ARC units and players, so unnecessary noise is a major risk for new raiders.

Official ARC Raiders screenshot showing raiders and ARC machines in a large exterior space.
ARC machines can be fought, avoided, baited, or used as cover against other players. Shooting is only one option.Embark Studios / Steam

Use Low-Risk Gear While Learning

Use free or low-risk loadouts while learning zones, extraction timing, machine behavior, and player traffic. Expensive equipment will not compensate for an unfamiliar route.

Inventory discipline wins raids

Pick a category for the run: quest materials, workshop upgrades, sellable valuables, or combat supplies. If you try to keep everything, you will carry too much, sort too slowly, and hesitate at the exact moment you should be leaving.

Leave when the run has already worked

A successful beginner run can be short: secure one important item, collect a few useful resources, and extract. Once the objective is complete, leave instead of adding unnecessary risk.