Arc Raiders Weapon Tier List: Best Guns in Frozen Trail

Updated October 13, 2026 for Arc Raiders Frozen Trail. The tiers combine the current rankings and change with each balance patch.

The best guns in Arc Raiders right now are the close-range and mid-range specialists that win their own distance, while the dedicated anti-ARC launchers stay a niche you bring on purpose. Frozen Trail 2.0 moved the Anvil up a rarity, handed the uncommon hand cannon role to the Bantam, and changed how explosives bite into ARC armour. Two new weapons, the Bantam and the Stiletto, arrived with the update.

Arc Raiders Weapon Tier List After Frozen Trail

S Tier

These are the guns that define the current meta — they either win their range outright or stay useful no matter how a fight starts.

Vulcano

The Vulcano is an epic semi-automatic shotgun that inflicts enormous damage, yet its effective range is limited to a few metres, which makes it the clear best choice for close-quarters combat. It carries the highest raw DPS of any weapon in the game, which is why it is devastating at close range. The catch is a six-shell magazine, so a magazine mod is a priority on any Vulcano you pick up. Shotguns like this one are hard to balance because they control space simply by existing, and the pressure of hearing one nearby changes how enemies push doorways.

Dolabra

The Dolabra is a legendary energy shotgun that can shoot energy beams in either a wide cone or a medium-range blast. Without requiring much precision, it can bring down most players in two shots, and its crafting cost is lower than that of other legendary weapons. Taking one topside means risking serious value for a gun that can completely change a close-range engagement.

Anvil

The Anvil is a punchy hand cannon that delivers similar stopping power to a Ferro in a fast-firing and very lightweight package, with six shots and strong ARC armour penetration. Frozen Trail 2.0 moved it from green to blue rarity, with the developers saying it was outperforming weapons within and above its own rarity level while remaining a fan favourite. The Anvil Splitter can no longer be used as a mod and is now an improved upgrade option for the Amplified Anvil, while the Tech Mod slot was removed from the weapon. It rewards accuracy and pairs well with aggressive movement, though missing your shots feels awful.

Bobcat

The Bobcat is an epic light-ammo SMG that is essentially a souped-up Stitcher, and its blistering fire rate can melt even heavily armoured players very quickly. Its drawbacks are the usual SMG ones — poor range and high recoil — and a grip and barrel attachment go a long way toward fixing the control problem. If someone gets into Bobcat range while you are already on target, the fight can disappear unbelievably fast, and the game's many indoor fights and extraction ambushes give it endless chances to do its job.

Stitcher

The Stitcher is the starting SMG, and its bloom and low per-shot damage mean there is no point using it beyond a few metres. It has been hit hard: base damage dropped from 7 to 6.5, the headshot multiplier fell from 2.5 to 1.75, and per-shot dispersion rose by around 50%. Even so, it is still excellent at its actual job, and it remains rare to find a weapon so easy to craft and upgrade that still holds its own against better-kitted players.

Tempest

The Tempest is an epic assault rifle that feels like a better Rattler in all respects — increased damage, a much bigger magazine, comparable range, moderate ARC armour penetration and slightly improved handling. Its accuracy exceeds that of most standard weapons, so it feels consistent in a way the Rattler, Kettle and Stitcher do not, and it fires quickly enough to deal high damage at close and medium range. It only uses medium ammo rather than the more expensive heavy ammo, which tips it over the harder-hitting Bettina for many players. It wears out quickly and needs frequent, costly repairs for an epic weapon.

Canto

The Canto is a rare medium-ammo SMG that is powerful and well-suited to PvP as long as you control its violent recoil with attachments and controlled bursts. It is not too expensive to make for that power level. It provides an aggressive SMG role that does not become useless as soon as someone creates a little distance, making it a choice for players who prefer to keep moving rather than hold an angle.

A Tier

These guns are strong all-rounders that compete with the best in specific situations, and several of them are the cheapest way into top-tier performance.

Ferro

The Ferro is a common battle rifle that uses heavy ammo, and despite its rarity it is one of the best guns in the game because of high power and an incredibly low price — at the Gunsmith it costs two rubber parts and five metal parts. It is easily your best option against ARC enemies due to its high armour penetration, and it often breaks a player's shield or kills outright in a single shot. The downsides are that it is relatively heavy early on at 8kg and must be reloaded between every shot, which makes it hard to use in close range without a secondary. Start a fight with it, then switch to a faster-firing weapon rather than rushing after the first shot.

Kettle

The Kettle is a common assault rifle that shoots light ammo, is cheap and shows up in free loadouts, and has a larger magazine but a relatively slow reload. Its low armour penetration makes it nearly useless against ARC robots, but it burns through enemy players, and with 20 rounds in the magazine compared to the Rattler's default 12, it is easy to spam bullets down range. It has taken serious hits: fire rate was cut from 600 to 450, and base damage was later cut from 10 to 8.5 because players were turning a medium-range weapon into a true SMG. It is also, apart from the Hairpin and its integrated suppressor, the quietest gun in the game, which suits very light and stealthy loadouts.

Renegade

The Renegade is a battle rifle that easily outstrips the far more common Ferro, dealing slightly less damage but firing much faster and performing better over long distances. Each upgrade improves its fire rate, and a fully upgraded Renegade is a weapon that is very scary to go up against. It is the weapon to pick if you want the best chance of wiping out a squad of enemy raiders by yourself. It is a good, versatile alternative to the Ferro that is a bit more suited to medium range and PvP, ideally fired from an elevated position.

Bantam

The Bantam is a new uncommon heavy-ammo revolver that took over the uncommon hand cannon role when the Anvil moved up to rare. It uses heavy ammo and sits somewhere between a cheap precision sidearm and the harder-hitting Anvil playstyle. Its biggest appeal is efficiency: you get a hand cannon that rewards accurate shots without risking an expensive high-rarity weapon every raid. The developers said the Bantam's balance is more suitable for the uncommon hand cannon role than the Anvil's was.

Stiletto

The Stiletto is a new uncommon light-ammo semi-auto battle rifle, positioned as an early-game alternative to the Renegade. Battle rifles usually live or die by how efficiently they punish people at medium range, and light ammo should make the Stiletto relatively easy to keep up compared with something using heavy ammo. It is a good option for players who want controlled range damage without carrying something as expensive as the Renegade or the Aphelion.

Osprey

The Osprey is a rare sniper rifle that shoots medium ammo and is the only weapon with a scope, dealing reliable long-range damage. It comes uniquely pre-equipped with a long-range scope, which makes it far easier to hit shots over great distances, and it hits a little harder than the Ferro with every shot. The downside is its smaller niche: you cannot unequip that scope, so if a player closes the distance the Osprey becomes more of a liability than a tool. It is also surprisingly light at just 7kg.

Venator

The Venator is a rare medium-ammo pistol that fires two shots at once, and it has been the bane of many players in PvP. It outdamages pretty much every weapon besides a shotgun in close range while being more versatile, and it is not all that rare or expensive. It has been through multiple rounds of nerfs: the fire rate bonuses from its upgrades were reduced, base damage was cut from 9 to 8, and its headshot multiplier fell from 2.5 to 2. Even after all of those nerfs it is still pretty good, and it remains a staple of PvP loadouts.

B Tier

These are solid choices that reward skilled play, but each is outclassed by a similar gun that does the same job better.

Bettina

The Bettina is an epic assault rifle that shoots heavy ammo, with high damage but a slow rate of fire. It received one of the biggest buffs in the game: base damage went from 14 to 16, damage against ARC armour rose by roughly 33%, bloom was reduced by around 40%, and dispersion recovery improved by about 30%. It reliably shreds players and is a powerhouse against ARC machines, so it is the gun to bring against a Queen, Bastion or Bombardier. The issue is consistency — when a raider appears ten feet away and everything turns into chaos, there are easier guns to trust. It is also a full-auto weapon using heavy ammo, so every bullet of damage costs more than almost any other gun.

Il Toro

The Il Toro is a hard-hitting shotgun that is excellent when fighting a squad of raiders in a darkened corridor, though its range is as short as you would expect. Landing shots squarely on target is likely to kill in two or three shots, so the tactic is to peek, shoot, return to cover, and repeat. The developers directly targeted its DPS and range: pellet damage dropped from 7.5 to 7, base fire rate went from 43 to 38, dispersion increased, reload time jumped from 4.3 to 5.7 seconds, and damage fall-off became harsher. Those were small nerfs in practice, and shotguns keep one gigantic advantage in an extraction game — you get to choose where the fight happens.

Jupiter

The Jupiter is an endgame sniper rifle that uses energy clips to fire massively powerful shots over great distances with very little damage falloff. It deals 60 damage per hit with a 2x headshot multiplier, strong ARC armour penetration and five rounds in the magazine, so one clean opening shot can immediately put somebody under pressure. Frozen Trail 2.0 fixed an unintended behaviour where its damage propagated twice to ARC parts behind the intended target, leaving it stronger against armour but slightly weaker against weak spots. It comes with no attachment slots, and needing energy clips is an obvious downside.

Arpeggio

The Arpeggio is an uncommon medium-ammo assault rifle whose three-round bursts are great for PvP but not as effective against ARC enemies. Its greatest advantage is accuracy and control, making it the first truly versatile weapon you will find other than the Anvil, with no massive downside like the Rattler's low magazine capacity. It has enough control to work at medium range and enough damage to punish someone who stays exposed, without demanding a specific playstyle. The problem is that solid is basically the definition of this tier — you are never upset to have one, but you drop it the moment a meta rifle shows up.

Burletta

The Burletta is a fast-firing semi-automatic uncommon pistol that is lightweight, fairly cheap, and does not rely on upgrades to be useful. It packs a decent amount of damage and can down an enemy raider very quickly against light shields. It is a tidy little sidearm and a phenomenal pairing with the Ferro, just understandably outclassed by several larger and rarer guns. It is quick, comfortable and perfect as a secondary when you need to finish someone without committing to another long reload.

Rattler

The Rattler is a common medium-ammo assault rifle that serves as a perfectly fine early-game weapon but quickly gets replaced once you can craft higher-tier guns. It suffers against ARC due to low stability and punishingly poor magazine capacity, though early-game raiders find it a decently strong ally in mid-range fights against other players. It has no magazine attachment slot, so you are all but forced to upgrade it to at least rank III before it gains enough reliability for PvP threats, which makes it a pain to receive on a free loadout. It can look much better when the person using it is much better than the enemy, but once opponents bring properly upgraded weapons you notice its limitations quickly.

Torrente

The Torrente is the only LMG currently in the game, and it is the heaviest gun, slowing you down quite a bit while equipped. It suffers from a lot of bloom and inaccuracy, and while you are noticeably more accurate crouching, that is still a big disadvantage. On the flipside it packs massive and consistent damage, outpacing even the epic Bettina for damage per second, and comes with a 60-round magazine by default. It can put out sustained pressure and is not useless, but with limited weapon slots and inventory space, and every gun at risk of being lost, it is not worth a higher tier.

Rascal

The Rascal is a break-action grenade launcher that is a smaller, cheaper alternative to the Hullcracker, built specifically for destroying ARC enemies. It hits for 75 damage, has very strong ARC armour penetration and weighs only 4 kilos, making it convenient when you want dedicated anti-ARC firepower without committing to something heavier. Its explosives only detonate when they hit ARC, so against actual raiders it does almost nothing. It is best for PvE and boss fights.

C Tier

These weapons are situational — effective in a niche role but outclassed overall, and often expensive for what they deliver.

Aphelion

The Aphelion is an experimental legendary battle rifle that feels like a cross between a Renegade and an Arpeggio, firing two shots per trigger pull. Its stats do not really justify the expense or rarity, since the Renegade is more versatile, nearly as strong and far less overt. It can absolutely destroy somebody when everything lines up, but that is the problem — you are carrying legendary value for a weapon that still asks too much of you. It feels better after the fixes, just not any higher than this tier.

Equalizer

The Equalizer is the only true beam weapon in the game, designed almost exclusively for fighting ARC rather than enemy players. Its beam is extremely effective against ARC and can quickly melt through the more heavily armoured sections of ARC enemies. Against another player things go badly: it has quite poor damage potential overall, and its beam is like a beacon telling players to come and kill you for your legendary loot. It is great for PvE but disappointing for PvP, and you are risking an expensive legendary for something extremely specialised.

Hullcracker

The Hullcracker is a grenade launcher that is quite literally useless against other players, because its explosive projectiles only detonate when hitting ARC machines. It is designed to break through ARC armour and deal massive damage, and it is the go-to for dealing with elite ARC machines like the Matriarch and Queen. Frozen Trail 2.0 reworked the explosive damage formula for ARC, so explosive weapons like the Hullcracker deal over 50% more damage against armour plates but around 30% less against more fragile parts. Because it is useless against players you need another weapon for raiders, and carrying one makes you an immediate target for hostile raiders.

Hairpin

The Hairpin is the only weapon in the game with an integrated silencer, and it is very accurate, making it an excellent and very cheap sidearm for loot-focused missions where you want to stay stealthy. It is a common single-action pistol with a built-in suppressor, 20 damage per shot, good handling and extremely low noise, which makes it very useful for quietly clearing small threats without advertising your position. Its incredibly slow fire rate gives almost no room for missed shots, and its armour penetration is very weak. It is more of a stealth tool than something you want in a serious fight, because its damage output is appalling.

What Frozen Trail 2.0 Changed

Frozen Trail is the biggest update since launch, adding the Pendola Pass map, the Frigate and Redirection map conditions, the Bully, Skulker and Hydra enemies, and the Bantam and Stiletto weapons. The Anvil moved from green to blue rarity, and the Bantam took over the uncommon hand cannon role with a balance the developers considered more suitable for it. The Anvil Splitter became an improved upgrade option for the Amplified Anvil rather than a mod, and the Anvil lost its Tech Mod slot. The Jupiter's double-propagation bug was fixed, leaving it stronger against armour but slightly weaker against weak spots. Explosive damage against ARC was reworked so explosive weapons deal over 50% more damage against armour plates and around 30% less against fragile parts.

If unlocking the blueprints behind these guns is the part you would rather hand off, an ARC Raiders Weapon Blueprint Boost covers the farming and the extraction for you.