Mobility first
Light Shield Setup
Trades some protection for movement and carrying flexibility when routes matter more than open trades.
Defense systems
ARC Raiders Armor & Shields
The official overview frames defense through Shields and Augments. Use that system to balance protection, movement, carrying capacity, gadgets and squad role.
ShieldsProtection layer
AugmentsBuild layer
WeightCore tradeoff
CapacityLoadout tradeoff
Defense System Index
Searchers often say armor, while official ARC Raiders material emphasizes shields and Augments.
Protection first
Heavy Shield Setup
Prioritizes defensive capacity while increasing the importance of weight and stamina support.
Offensive slots
Combat Augments
Augments that bias a loadout toward fighting, gadget capacity or specialist combat roles.
Squad utility
Tactical Augments
Support-oriented options including officially referenced healing and smoke variants.
Choose Protection by Mission
There is no best armor setup without a route, squad role and extraction goal.
| Mission profile | Defense priority | Supporting skills |
|---|---|---|
| Fast objective or loot route | Lighter setup that preserves movement and carry flexibility. | Nimble Climber, Marathon Runner, Broad Shoulders. |
| Expected PvP contact | More shield capacity with stamina support for repositioning after a trade. | Used To The Weight, Fight Or Flight, Effortless Roll. |
| Heavy ARC objective | Protection and utility capacity, with enough weight margin for ammunition. | Loaded Arms, Stubborn Mule, Traveling Tinkerer. |
| Squad support | Tactical Augment choices that add healing, smoke or recovery utility. | Good As New, In-Round Crafting, Downed But Determined. |
Skill recommendations support movement, inventory and recovery. They do not claim to increase a shield's listed value unless the in-game skill tooltip explicitly says so.
Official Sources
Official terminology and recent Augment references.
- Everything You Need to Know About ARC Raiders Official ARC Raiders source
- Riven Tides - Patch Notes 1.26.0 Official ARC Raiders source
- Live Update 1.39.0 Official ARC Raiders source