Arc Raiders Damage Fireflies Trial Guide

The Firefly ARC enemy is a flying drone introduced in the Shrouded Sky update. Think of it as a Hornet that went through a phase, discovered flamethrowers, and never recovered. It combines aerial mobility with a continuous fire stream capable of burning through your shields at a pace that will make you reconsider every decision that led you topside. On the bright side, it drops the Firefly Burner component when destroyed: which is extremely useful for crafting and the Weather Monitoring System project, if you enjoy useful things.

Points only count if you extract safely. You can deal 40,000 damage, curse every ancestor of every developer involved, and then die to a Pops around a corner: and earn zero. Extract. Always extract.

Trials rotate weekly, presenting five challenges simultaneously. Double points are available on maps running major conditions such as Night Raid, Electromagnetic Storm, Close Scrutiny, and Hurricane. If a Close Scrutiny event is active during your session, you would be genuinely foolish to ignore it. Not that foolishness has ever stopped anyone.

Know Your Enemy: The Firefly

Before you can efficiently damage something, it helps to understand what that something is doing while you shoot at it. The Firefly is an aerial ARC unit that patrols open outdoor areas. It does not have fixed spawn coordinates pinned to a map: it spawns wherever the game feels like ruining your day, specifically in open zones where flying ARC patrols already operate: Wasps, Hornets, Snitches.

Attack Behavior

• Flamethrower jet: The primary reason you will hate this unit. It emits a continuous fire stream that deals heavy damage and does not care about your feelings or your shields.
• Aerial repositioning: It flies. It repositions. It keeps its fire stream aimed at you with the dedication of someone who has nothing else going on.
• Close-range lethality: At short range, it can kill Raiders with startling speed. Maintain distance. This is advice that sounds obvious and is routinely ignored.

Loot

Destroying a Firefly drops the Firefly Burner, a rare crafting component used in the Weather Monitoring System project and various crafting recipes. If you are going to stand outside getting torched anyway, at least collect something for it.

Audio Cue

Fireflies are audible before they are visible. Listen for aerial drone activity and flamethrower fire sounds overhead. If you hear it and do nothing, that is technically your fault.

Spawn Locations By Map

Fireflies do not have fixed spawn points, but they reliably appear in open outdoor zones across most playable maps. The following table summarizes where to find them and what conditions improve their frequency. Note that Buried City: Old Town is particularly relevant this week, as the Damage ARC Enemies in Old Town Trial overlaps with Firefly spawns, meaning you can complete multiple objectives at the same time if your attention span allows it.

For the fastest 3-star reward Arc Raiders Fireflies run, load into Old Town (Buried City) with a Close Scrutiny modifier active. The 2x score multiplier turns a mediocre session into a completed challenge without requiring you to stay topside longer than your nerves can handle.

The question of best weapon for Firefly Trial Arc Raiders has a broadly consistent answer across loadout budgets: heavy damage, armor penetration, and enough range to avoid the flamethrower radius. Here is the breakdown, sorted by practical effectiveness rather than what looks impressive in a screenshot.'

Do not shoot the propellers. Destroying propellers sends the unit into a death spin where environmental collision deals the remaining damage: and that damage does not count toward your Trial score. Aim for the body. Every time. Even when a propeller is right there, looking at you.

If budget is a concern: and given the respawn costs in this game, it often is: the Ferro plus Seeker Grenades loadout covers the majority of Firefly engagements at minimal cost. Dying with an expensive loadout is a personality flaw. Plan accordingly.

Scoring Strategy: How to Hit 4,000 Points

The Arc Raiders Firefly Trial score system rewards sustained damage output, not kill streaks. Every point of damage dealt to a Firefly counts, which means a careful player methodically working through patrol routes will outperform someone who charges in, takes a flamethrower to the face, and calls it strategy.

Fast 3-Star Path (Minimum Risk)

1. Load into Old Town (Buried City) during a Close Scrutiny event for 2x score.
2. Patrol the four Old Town sub-areas: Main Street, Santa Maria Houses, Plaza Rosa, Red Tower.
3. Engage Fireflies, Wasps, and Hornets at range. Use Seeker Grenades when three arrive together.
4. Deploy Snitch Scanners in the area to passively spawn additional Wasps for extra points.
5. Once you reach 4,000 score, walk to the Metro extraction within Old Town. Pops and Fireballs near the Metro can push you over if you are slightly short.
6. Extract. Do not die on the way to the Metro. This step is non-negotiable.

High-Score Leaderboard Path

1. Farm Snitch Scanners in advance by shooting Snitches on any map and looting the Scanner. Stack 3 per slot; carry up to 9 per run.
2. Load into Blue Gate with the Locked Gate modifier or Old Town during Close Scrutiny for double points.
3. Use Wolfpack Grenades to handle Rocketeers and Vaporizers (after destroying their barrier) for large score chunks.
4. Maintain constant engagement with flying ARC; each Snitch Scanner spawns two Wasps, turning your inventory into a points-farming engine.
5. Extract with as much score as possible accumulated. Dying at 9,800 is not impressive. It is a tragedy.

Score Multiplier Windows

Close Scrutiny and Locked Gate are the most reliably accessible 2x modifiers. Night Raid also qualifies. Hurricane is technically available but adds conditions that will test your composure in ways this guide cannot prepare you for.

One of the underappreciated realities of Arc Raiders weekly Trials is that multiple objectives can be completed simultaneously if you choose your engagement zone wisely. The Damage Fireflies trial overlaps neatly with several other objectives active during a given week.

If you are the type of person who refuses to enter a raid without a plan for extracting three objectives simultaneously, Old Town during Close Scrutiny is your cathedral. Firefly spawn locations Arc Raiders within Old Town overlap with Wasp and Hornet patrol routes, which means a single competent session can check off three Trials entries and leave you feeling unreasonably accomplished relative to the actual effort involved.

Solo vs. Squad: Expectations vs. Reality

The Damage Fireflies Trial is one of the more forgiving challenges in the weekly rotation because it scales across all party sizes. This does not mean it is forgiving in absolute terms: it simply means the game will allow you to fail at it regardless of how many friends you bring.

Solo Play

Solo is viable with the right loadout and the correct emotional detachment from outcomes. Use the Ferro for cost-effective range damage, Seeker Grenades for grouped encounters, and avoid lingering under a Firefly's fire cone like someone who has never read a single guide. Pilgrim's Peak offers favorable positioning for solo players who want sight lines without committing to urban density.

Squad Play

Squads scale favorably because shared damage counts toward individual Trial scores. A coordinated squad running Wolfpack Grenades, Seeker Grenades, and at least one Hullcracker can clear aerial ARC spawn waves at a pace that solo players will describe as "unfair" and then immediately attempt to replicate. Use this knowledge with something resembling efficiency.

Free Loadout Note

The Free Loadout option can technically reach 4,000 score for the 3-star reward, particularly during a 2x modifier event. It will not push you up the Speranza Hotshots leaderboard, but if the leaderboard was your goal, you probably already own a Hullcracker.

Mistakes You Will Make Anyway

In the interest of documenting human nature as much as game mechanics, here is a list of errors that this guide will not prevent but feels obligated to mention:

• Shooting propellers: Damage from environmental spin-out does not count. This is in two sections of this guide. You will still do it.
• Dying after hitting 3,800 score: An experience so common it qualifies as a genre.
• Ignoring the 2x modifier: Loading into a non-modifier map when Close Scrutiny is available is the single most avoidable mistake in this entire activity.
• Standing under the Firefly at close range: The flamethrower jet at close range will kill Raiders quickly. The word "quickly" is doing significant work in that sentence.
• Not farming Snitch Scanners in advance: Three Scanners per slot, up to nine per run. They are free to farm. There is no reason not to have them.
• Extracting through a hot zone with a full score: Finding the Metro early and knowing your exit route is preparation. Not doing this is a choice, and not a good one.