Complete PvP Beginner Guide for Arc Raiders

Thanks to Geck0 we will learn how to win fights in Arc Raiders with a clear breakdown of combat flow, positioning, teamwork, and communication. This complete PvP beginner guide will help you and your squad survive and succeed topside.

Understanding the Flow of a Fight

Every PvP battle in Arc Raiders can be broken down into three main steps:

1. Initiate
2. Follow Up
3. Follow Through

These principles apply to every encounter, regardless of your weapon or skill level. Mastering them will make you more consistent and adaptable in any situation.

1. Initiate: Controlling the Start of the Fight

The player who starts the fight first often has the best chance of winning. Proper initiation lets you frontload damage and start with a health advantage.

Tips for Effective Initiation:

• Stay close to cover at all times.
• Listen for footsteps, doors, or gunfire to detect enemies early.
• Move along paths with minimal line of sight to opponents.
• Identify common approach routes and be ready to react.
• Avoid unnecessary noise that gives away your position.

If you make the first move intelligently, you control whether the fight starts or not. This gives you the choice to engage, reposition, or ambush.

Avoid Common Mistakes:

• Breaking doors loudly instead of using quieter routes like windows.
• Running down the center of a hallway without cover.
• Failing to dodge or roll when ambushed.

2. Follow Up: Pressing the Advantage

Once the fight begins, the follow-up depends on how successful your opening was.

If your initiation landed solid damage, stay aggressive and push. If it didn’t, play cautiously—your location is already revealed.

Key Concepts:

• Time and distance work against you. The longer a fight lasts, the more likely enemies heal or reposition.
• Always carry a secondary weapon to avoid downtime while reloading.
• Use cover between engagements and reposition quickly.
• If you lose the health advantage, it’s better to reset and re-engage later.

The best players know when to stop pressing a fight. Survival is more valuable than a flashy elimination.

3. Follow Through: Securing the Win

Following through means finishing the engagement intelligently while minimizing risk.

Essential Practices:

• Expect enemies to peek aggressively when they know you’re pushing.
• Use line-of-sight blockers to heal, reload, or flank safely.
• If the fight resets, take a defensive angle and prepare to reinitiate.

After every engagement:

1. Move to cover immediately.
2. Reload both weapons.
3. Heal before looting.

Remember, the longer a fight drags on, the more likely you’ll be third-partied by another squad.

Playing Effectively with a Team

Even if you mostly play solo, understanding duo and trio tactics will make you better prepared when fighting coordinated teams.

1. Strategic Positioning: Stay Within Support Range

Stay close enough to your teammates to assist them during fights. Poor spacing or lack of awareness often leads to isolation and quick defeats.

Example Situation:
A teammate pushes too far while another stays behind. The isolated player gets downed instantly, leaving the team at a disadvantage. Had they communicated their position, both could have adjusted and supported each other.

Key Takeaway:
If you’re flanking wide, use clear communication to let your team know you can’t cover them. This gives them time to reposition defensively until you return.

2. Tactical Positioning: Maximize Every Action

Strategic positioning is about location; tactical positioning is about timing and utility.

Example Scenario:

• One player runs low on stamina and calls it out.
• The teammate takes cover and watches for grenades or pushes.
• When the grenade lands, both reposition and suppress the enemy.
• Once safe, one heals while the other maintains pressure.

This balance between aggression and defense keeps your team alive and effective.

3. Tempo Control: Dictating the FightTempo control determines who controls the fight’s pace—when to peek, push, hold, or fall back.

Example:
A duo waits for a trio on a staircase. They pick good cover with fallback routes, down an enemy, then push aggressively before the others can react. They trade positions intelligently, maintain cover, and keep constant pressure until the fight is over.

Even without perfect mechanical skill, they win because they controlled tempo and communicated efficiently.

4. Communication: The Key to Winning Fights

Clear, short communication is more valuable than constant chatter. Every successful team fight depends on concise and relevant callouts.

Focus on four essential callouts:

1. Reloading
2. Healing
3. Enemy damage
4. Movement

Each call should take no more than a few words. Combine this with pings, visual cues, and teammate HP indicators for full awareness.

Example Callouts:

• “Reloading.”
• “Healing behind truck.”
• “One hit top window.”
• “Pushing left.”

With consistent, minimal communication, your team can coordinate effectively without confusion.

Final Thoughts

Winning fights in Arc Raiders PvP isn’t about being the best shot—it’s about decision-making, coordination, and communication.

Focus on:

• Smart initiation.
• Aggressive but controlled follow-ups.
• Finishing fights while staying aware of positioning.
• Working closely with teammates.

Master these fundamentals, and you’ll turn chaotic encounters into confident victories.

Further Resources

• All of the Content that Geck0 himself has produced.
• Join our Discord Community to find teammates or share tips and tricks.
• Check out our Interactive Maps for the best locations of items or ARCs.
• Look at all Loot Value Tiers too, to make sure you extract out with the highest value.

Stay alert, stay coordinated, and good hunting.