Receive Damage from Pops: How to get the BEST score in ARC Raiders Trials
To receive damage from Pops effectively:
- Load into the Stellar Montis map
- Utilize our common route in the guide to move between all the Pop spawns
- Bring at least 3 Light Shields, plenty of Shield Rechargers and Bandages
- Bait in one Pop at a time, take the hit, heal up and bait the next Pop
- Each point-blank Pop explosion with full shield and HP gives you 540~ score
- As a result, 6 Pops dealing maximum damage to you is enough for the 3-star reward
- Extract when you’re ready
In this guide, we’ll go over the best ways to approach and receive damage from Pops to maximize your score for the 3-star reward or higher.
Trial Preparation
This trial can be done in all party sizes to an effective level. Whether that’s gaining your 3-star rating (which requires 3000 score) or pushing to maximize your points for promotion.
Scoring
The scoring for this Trial only comes from taking damage from a Pop. If a Pop hits you point-blank while you’re full shield, you’ll get around 540~ score. As a result, 6 pops can achieve 3-star reward status, anything above 6 Pops is to push the Leaderboard.
What you’ll need
For this Trial, the objective requires taking as much damage as possible from Pop explosions. As a result, we recommend bringing a self-defense weapon to pick off Fireballs and other annoying ARC that could get in the way, plenty of shield and health consumables and some extra shields:
Anvil IV or something cheap like a 
Ferro I- Any Augment is fine, however, we recommend the
Looting MK.3 (Survivor) incase of any accidents - At least 3 separate
Light Shield - 15+
Shield Rechargers - 30+
Bandages and/also 10+ Herbal Bandages - 60
Heavy Ammo
You can also opt for more potent and expensive healing items to speed things up, if you wish to. However, it is not a requirement.
Can I use a Free Loadout to receive damage from Pops for the weekly Trials?
While you do not need a powerful loadout for this trial, unless you’re able to craft many bandages and find more Shield Rechargers mid-raid, we recommend bringing in your own Loadout. A Light Shield can only withstand about 4 maybe 5 Pops, so while it may be possible to use a Free Loadout, try to bring your own if possible.
Map
This weekly Trial can be completed on any map as long as Pops spawn on them. However, we recommend using Stellar Montis for the Trial map of choice. It is very easy to move around and rotate on a route and there’s plenty of Pops. Check our Event Timers to know when your next chance is at any preferred condition you may have when playing.
The BEST Route for Maximizing Score
Some important things to keep in mind, is that this Trial is able to be completed solo or in a party. As a result, you can follow the same route as the guide in any party size or simply split up a little more for optimization.
Each Light Shield you bring can take about 5 Pop explosions directly before breaking. As a result, bringing extra is a must for pushing more than 3,000 score. You can only take 1 direct Pop explosion before needing to full heal and shield – or you’ll die.
You can start in any position on the map so long as you know the spawns for the Pops, using our Interactive Map. However, we have a general route you can follow below.
The key locations to search for Pops are:
- Lobby Metro
- Robotic Sandbox A
- Robotic Sandbox B
- Cultural Archive
- Business Centre
- Communications
- Assembly
- Various other locations if other locations have not respawned
The upper layer of the map can be weaved into the lower areas route also, there is no specific perfect path to follow, but this gives a good idea of where to go and look toward.
In the lower layer, for example, you can farm Lobby Metro, then head up top to Lobby or even move to Assembly. You can even move straight to Robotic Sandbox, many of the key areas link to each other smoothly.
Strategy
When you find some Pops, they’ll usually be accompanied by a Fireball or two, and even additional Pops. As a result, its crucial to get the Fireballs out of the way. If you can bait the Fireball first and destroy it away from the Pops, that’s ideal. If a Fireball explodes, the flames can instantly destroy Pops, so it’s vital they’re not interfering with your attempt.
Once the Fireball is out of the way, you can start tanking the Pop explosions, make sure they get right on top of you (and keep an eye out incase a second Pop comes out of nowhere, it’ll kill you otherwise).
You’ll have 0 shield and around 50-70% HP left after a direct hit, meaning each Pop will consume 1 Shield Recharger and at least 1 Herbal Bandage from you.
Each area that has Pops tends to contain at least 2-4 Pops. It’s very important to take each attempt slow, this Trial can go very wrong very quickly. After you’ve cleared an area, you can immediately follow the route along for another spawn spot.
Repeat this process, swap your Light Shield out for a fresh one in your inventory once your first is broken, heal up to full and repeat until you’re ready to leave!
There isn’t a particular “fastest” way to achieve 3-star rewards other than to follow the path into spawn locations and take every Pop you can get. You’ll need 6 pops dealing maximum damage to you for the 3-star reward!
Check our ARC Raiders guides for more weekly Trials assistance or download our official Overwolf App Companion
