ARC Raiders PvE Beta: How the No-Player-Damage Mode Worked

What the PvE Beta Was and What Mattered Most

With Update 2.1.0 (October 13, 2026), ARC Raiders got a beta PvE queue: players could not damage each other, while ARC machines behaved as usual. The test ran for one week, October 13 to 20, and as of 11/13/2026 it is over. Below is how the mode worked, how it differed from regular raids and who it suited.

The mode removed the main worry of an extraction shooter: that a random Raider at extraction turns out to be hostile. The rest of the game stayed the same, with the same maps and the same ARC, only with trimmed loot. It was not a separate campaign, just a different queue for the same character.

Two facts shaped the rest. Loot in PvE was lower than in the regular PvPvE queue, and five map conditions were switched off. The details are in the table and sections below.

Combat Rules: What Was Off and What Was Not

Raider-to-Raider damage was disabled entirely, so guns and melee did nothing to teammates or strangers. Workarounds were closed too: according to the test description, stun and fire throwables did not affect other Raiders.

Other Raiders still shared the lobby. PvE did not make raids private, so you could still run into strangers Topside and interact with them. According to player reports, Barricades and Ziplines kept working, and pushing someone off a height was still possible.

ARC machines remained a threat in PvE. One detail covers being downed: after an ARC machine took you down, it left you alone for 8 seconds. After that, ARC could target you again if you moved.

PvE Loot and How the Queue Worked

You turned PvE on from the map select screen. You picked the PvE queue instead of regular PvPvE, chose an available map and entered the raid. The character was the same, and you could return to the regular queue on your next run with nothing locking you in.

Loot in PvE was reduced, and Embark Studios did not publish an exact figure. According to the test descriptions, the reason is the economy: players who avoid PvP already extract more often, and without hostile Raiders the success rate would climb even higher, so the value of what you bring back was cut. For the duration of the test, those same descriptions say PvPvE baseline loot was raised slightly to compare both queues.

In practice, PvE gave calm gathering for quests and everyday needs. If your goal was maximum income or filling the stash, the lower loot value took the point out of the mode. For players saving resources for a stash expansion or a crafting station upgrade, the regular queue stayed faster. And rare finds like a weapon blueprint made more sense to chase where loot was not trimmed.

Matchmaking: Solos, Duos and Trios Together

The PvE queue did not separate squads by size. Solos, Duos and Trios could land in the same raid, so a solo player could expect to meet full squads. That was a social plus: it was easier to find partners for the next run.

There is a practical reason too. When players are split into two queues and each queue is split again by squad size, finding a match can get noticeably slower, especially in quieter regions. A single pool softened that problem, and the developers warned in advance that queue times might grow during the test.

PvE did not touch the rating behind regular aggression-based matchmaking. Your PvE matches had no effect on who you met in PvPvE, so you could switch between queues without worrying about spoiling your matchmaking.

Unavailable Map Conditions

Five conditions were switched off in PvE: Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate and Redirection. The list was expanded shortly before the beta started. These are mostly conditions with valuable loot, while PvE was meant for calm resource gathering and quests.

The Frigate was the most visible exclusion. It is a Pendola Pass condition from the Frozen Trail update of October 8, 2026, and it could not be tried in PvE. Regular maps and the remaining conditions stayed available, so exploring and gathering worked as usual.

Quests were available in PvE, but if a quest required one of those five conditions, you probably had to finish it in PvPvE. It was best to check a quest's condition in the game before entering a raid.

Who PvE Suited and How to Use It

The mode worked best as a training ground. It was a convenient place to learn an unfamiliar map without fear of an ambush and to calmly work on quests that were not tied to the disabled conditions.

Another use was hunting big ARC. You could try for the Queen or the Matriarch without risking valuable loot to another player, since PvE removed the most unpleasant part of the risk.

It was also a gentle entry for newcomers and players climbing levels. Those still working through leveling could gain raid experience without a constant threat from other Raiders, and those assembling a skill tree could test how a build holds up against ARC. And before a raid with keys, you could learn the route through the map in advance.

It did not suit players chasing maximum income and risk. With loot value cut and some conditions removed, a fast-money plan was not worth building on the mode.

Test Results and What Is Known Now

The test ended on October 20, 2026. Embark Studios said it would remove the PvE toggle after the beta and review data and player feedback. As of 11/13/2026, no decision on whether the mode will return permanently has been announced. In an interview with GamesRadar, the Embark CEO said a permanent PvE mode would be easy to add, but that is an executive's opinion, not an official promise.

The practical takeaway: it is too early to count on the mode coming back. If it does, watch for the familiar traits - reduced loot, a combined squad pool, a separate rating and five unavailable conditions. Those are the rules the test checked.

For now, the main content of ARC Raiders is regular PvPvE raids with every map condition, Frozen Trail activities included.