ARC Raiders Store

As the only new enemy type introduced in ARC Raiders Flashpoint update, Vaporizer has likely given you a tough time recently. After all, even if you know its weaknesses, it still takes time to figure out the best strategy for engaging it.

If you haven't yet found a Vaporizer-elimination strategy that works for you, why not give the method we're about to introduce a try, one that utilizes Barricade Kit to get the job done!

Vaporizer overview

ARC Raiders Vaporizer is a large, airborne drone. Due to its formidable offensive and defensive capabilities, it is typically encountered in higher-difficulty missions or combat scenarios.

This enemy type attacks by locking onto your position and firing a laser beam. Even if you manage to dodge the beam itself, the ground where it strikes will catch fire; if you don't move further away immediately, you will still take splash damage from the flames.

Furthermore, every Vaporizer is equipped with a shield that automatically activates when under attack, deflecting incoming projectile damage. However, once the initial shield deactivates, there is a cooldown period before it can be triggered again.

To deal actual damage to Vaporizer, you must precisely strike its weak point: the core hidden behind a small rectangular panel located on its underside.

Consequently, regardless of the gear you are using, the standard approach to dealing with a Vaporizer is to first seek cover to avoid being hit directly by the laser beam, while simultaneously using a grenade to trigger the enemy's initial shield.

If you don't have a grenade, using a firearm works too; however, since the primary goal of this initial attack is simply to trigger and deplete the shield, throwing a grenade is a much safer option for you.

Once Vaporizer's first shield has deactivated, you can seize the opportunity, while remaining under cover, to unleash your most powerful weapon, continuously firing at the drone's underside until its core is exposed. Then, simply keep firing until the enemy crashes to the ground.

Upon destruction, Vaporizer drops various types of loot. Naturally, the rarest item among them is its exclusive drop: Vaporizer Regulator, an essential material required for crafting Dolabra.

What is Barricade Kit?

As a quick-use item, Barricade Kit serves as a deployable, temporary cover source. It possesses 500 health points; once these points are depleted, you must either deploy a new kit or quickly retreat to safety.

Unlike standard cover, Barricade Kit allows you to place additional traps directly onto it, enabling you to inflict extra damage on enemies even after you have vacated the position.

However, it is worth noting that deploying and retrieving Barricade Kit takes a few seconds, it is not an instantaneous action, and enemies also have the ability to dismantle it.

If you choose to retrieve Barricade Kit yourself as needed, its durability will instantly be restored to full capacity upon retrieval, ensuring it is ready for your next deployment.

There are various ways to acquire Barricade Kit: you can find them while scavenging, or you can exchange 1,920 coins with Apollo to redeem one (with a daily transaction limit of six).

However, the most highly recommended method is to craft it yourself at a Workshop. All you need to do is buy ARC Raiders Barricade Kit blueprints and gather a sufficient number of Mechanical Components.

Why choose Barricade Kit to counter Vaporizers?

When utilizing natural terrain features for cover while engaging Vaporizers, you will typically find yourself shooting out through doorways or windows.

However, this approach suffers from a critical flaw: if the opening of the door or window is too wide, enemy fire can still penetrate directly through these gaps and strike the interior of your cover position.

However, a quick note is that Vaporizers require a steady line of sight, held for approximately one to one-and-a-half seconds, before they can initiate an attack on a target.

If a Vaporizer merely catches a fleeting glimpse of you, and provided you react quickly enough to dart rapidly back and forth within its field of view, it will not open fire. Barricade Kit serves precisely this purpose: to create that crucial window of opportunity for you.

How to use Barricade Kit?

First, place your initial Barricade Kit in a corner adjacent to the opening of your cover position. Then, adjust the kit's angle so that it leaves only a very narrow gap between itself and the wall, just wide enough for you to quickly slip in and out.

Next, squeeze yourself into the tight space formed between the kit's base supports and its main body; once positioned, place a second Barricade Kit directly to your side, facing you.

This specific configuration effectively seals off Vaporizers' firing angles almost completely, preventing them from directing their ordnance into the interior of your cover position.

This tactic proves highly effective, particularly when a Vaporizer hovers mid-air searching for your whereabouts, allowing you to take it down with ease.

Even if it decides to fire its laser beam at you, it poses little threat, as its firepower cannot penetrate deep into cover. You simply need to roll backward into the deeper recesses of your cover to maintain a safe distance from the beam.

Even if your cover is destroyed, redeploying is a simple matter, unless the enemy manages to destroy all of your deployed Barricade Kits simultaneously.

If only one kit is damaged, you still have the other serving as a barrier, and repairing or replacing the damaged one is a straightforward task.

However, the downside to this layout is that your field of view outward is severely restricted, and the time required to secure a kill may be slightly longer.

Therefore, if you prefer, you can adopt an upgraded version of this approach: position the second cover kit, which would typically sit to the side, slightly further away from the wall.

This grants you significantly more maneuvering room than before without compromising the effectiveness of your cover. You can lean out to scout and fire, then quickly roll back into the depths of your cover for safety.

Of course, when placing the second kit in this configuration, you must be precise with its positioning; ensure the resulting gap is wide enough for you to move through, yet not so wide that it renders the cover ineffective.

Alternatively, you could try using your Barricade Kits to construct a large V-shaped cover structure, ensuring the pointed tip of the V faces outward, directly toward Vaporizer.

Theoretically, this defensive layout still leaves the interior of the cover open to enemy fire; however, in practice, the enemy's line of sight is typically obstructed so thoroughly that, in the vast majority of combat scenarios, they simply cannot acquire a viable firing angle.

When utilizing this layout, you should position yourself on either side of the doorway, using the kits as cover while nimbly weaving back and forth between them. This not only keeps you protected but also allows you to execute peek-and-shoot maneuvers with agility and confidence.

And there you have it, a reliable strategy for using Barricade Kit to counter Vaporizer. If this piques your interest, give it a try right away!

Typically, the most exciting additions in any ARC Raiders update are the new map events (provided, of course, that new ones have been added). These events not only offer increased rewards but also dictate the overall level of danger during your raids.

The most recent Flashpoint update introduced a new event dominated by a specific type of ARC device: Assessors. This event is known as Close Scrutiny.

While the true danger lies not in the devices themselves, but rather in the enemies they attract, mastering a few tips for quickly looting the contents of Assessors will allow you to extract sooner, thereby avoiding unnecessary combat with additional foes.

In this guide, we will outline effective strategies and gear recommendations for dealing with Assessors, enabling you to swiftly clear Close Scrutiny event.

How do Assessors work?

When a Close Scrutiny event spawns on the current map, red beams of light will periodically appear in the sky; these serve as a visual harbinger of ARC Assessors' arrival.

Assessor device itself is a large, stationary tripod-mounted machine containing three lootable compartments. Opening these compartments yields various rewards, the rarest of which is Assessor Matrix, an item obtainable exclusively through this method.

Assessors will not directly attack you; however, damaging or breaking them triggers an alarm that attracts other nearby ARC units to your location. Naturally, this also includes other players who may be looking to loot the device themselves.

The indispensable Photoelectric Cloak

Before diving into specific strategies for handling Assessors, you must first familiarize yourself with Photoelectric Cloak, and ideally, ensure you bring one along every time you attempt a Close Scrutiny event.

This item falls under Quick Use category in-game. Although it boasts a high Epic rarity level, fortunately, crafting it does not require a specific blueprint; you simply need the necessary base materials and a related workshop.

Once you equip the cloak, your movement speed will be reduced; however, you will gain an invisibility effect. Regardless of your actions, whether moving, looting, or interacting with objects, no ARC enemy will be able to detect you.

Since PvP encounters in standard raids can be particularly treacherous, you might be accustomed to filling your inventory slots with high-damage weaponry, meaning Photoelectric Cloak often sees limited use. However, it proves to be an incredibly practical and effective tool, specifically within the context of Close Scrutiny events.

One important caveat to note is that using the cloak consumes energy. Furthermore, even if you equip multiple cloaks, they all draw from and share a single, unified energy meter. Energy will only begin to regenerate once you deactivate the cloak and cease using its invisibility effect.

The most common method: Smoke Grenades

Currently, assuming you have Photoelectric Cloak equipped, the method most players choose to minimize exposure time and evade enemies is the use of Smoke Grenades.

Although these grenades deal no direct damage to enemies, once thrown, they generate a cloud of smoke that obscures the line of sight for both PvP and PvE enemies for 20 seconds. This creates a window of opportunity for you to quickly loot the area and extract.

Given that you may encounter an Assessor more than once during a single run, you will need to carry a substantial supply of Smoke Grenades; however, crafting this item requires the corresponding blueprint.

Therefore, if your budget allows, it is best to buy ARC Raiders blueprint on IGGM! This will enable you to stockpile Smoke Grenades much faster and in greater quantities.

Alternatively, if you don't mind the extra hassle, you can opt for Li'l Smoke Grenade, which can be crafted without a blueprint. It functions identically to the standard Smoke Grenade, but its smoke lasts for only 6 seconds.

Consequently, you will need approximately three Li'l Smoke Grenades each time you attempt to breach an Assessor. The optimal moments to deploy them are:

• One second before you begin the breach.
• When the breach progress reaches approximately one-third completion.
• Immediately upon the completion of the breach.

Rest assured that the breach progress will not be interrupted during this process. The time gained should be sufficient for you to finish looting; once done, simply activate your Photoelectric Cloak and extract.

Utilizing bushes for concealment

In certain maps, such as Buried City and Dam Battlegrounds, bushes or dense foliage may be found in the immediate vicinity of where Assessors spawn. You can leverage these natural cover spots to your advantage, potentially eliminating the need to use Smoke Grenades entirely!

First, ensure that ARC enemies, drawn to your location by Assessor's alarm, do not have their optical sensors glowing red (indicating a red alert or hostile lock-on).

Instead, look for a yellow glow, which signifies that they are currently in Search Mode and have not yet pinpointed your exact location.

Under these conditions, you simply activate your Photoelectric Cloak and crouch quietly within the bushes, most enemies will be unable to detect your presence and will eventually wander away (a mechanic introduced in Patch 1.23.0).

Furthermore, if other players in the area happen to be spotted by the enemies before you are, you can take advantage of the ensuing chaos to rush in and loot the supplies directly, without needing to expend any Smoke Grenades.

Even if ARC bots spot you during this process, do not panic. Simply activate your cloak immediately, take cover behind the nearest piece of terrain, and give the enemies a moment for their aggro status to reset.

Stockpiling repair and crafting materials

It is worth noting that crafting Photoelectric Cloak or Smoke Grenades both requires various materials. Furthermore, the cloak is prone to damage during use and must be repaired promptly.

To ensure this, you should regularly farm and stockpile the following materials:

• Photoelectric Cloak crafting: 2x Advanced Electrical Components, 4x Speaker Components
• Photoelectric Cloak repaired: 1x Advanced Electrical Components, 2x Speaker Components
• Smoke Grenade crafting: 14x Chemicals, 1x Canister, Smoke Grenade Blueprint
• Li'l Smoke Grenade crafting: 5x Chemicals, 1x Plastic Parts

The above outlines a reliable strategy for safely looting Assessors while minimizing combat encounters as much as possible. May every one of your Close Scrutiny expeditions be a bountiful success!