Arc Raiders Final Trials Guide – 3 Stars on All

Final week of the season, where the game kindly hands you a checklist of things to do and then proceeds to fill the lobby with people who have been grinding this since day one. How wonderful. These are the six objectives standing between you and that dopamine hit of a three-star rating:

1. Damage Fireflies
2. Damage flying ARC enemies inside Spaceport walls
3. Damage Queens or Matriarchs
4. Open ARC Probes
5. Open containers inside the Traffic Tunnel (Bluegate only)

The good news is that most of these are genuinely manageable if you read this guide with the attention span of an adult. The bad news is that the Queen trial will make you question every life choice that led you to this game. We will address that in full detail, with the appropriate level of contempt it deserves.

One critical thing to understand before we get into it: you must extract alive for your damage points to count. This is not a footnote. This is the rule that has ended more three-star runs than any robot ever could. Die in the raid, and the game politely deletes your contribution to the universe. Keep that in mind every time you feel brave.

Pro Tip Always prioritize 2x condition maps; Electromagnetic Storm, Locked Gate, Night Raids. Double multipliers mean you need half the effort for the same result. Since you will inevitably put in half the effort anyway, this is important math.

Fireflies are the kind of enemy that looks annoying on paper and is moderately annoying in practice. Introduced in the Shrouded Sky update, these aggressive hunters spawn outdoors and do not patrol; they hunt. They will close distance on you rather than hovering at range like their flying cousins. Treat them accordingly, or do not, and enjoy the consequences.

800 pts/per Firefly; you need 5 kills for three stars

The defining feature of the Firefly is its yellow gas tank on the underside. That is the weak spot. Hit it, get a quick kill, collect your 800 points, move on with your life. Ignore it, and the Firefly will close range, release a gas hazard around you, and ruin your afternoon. The choice, technically, is yours.

Recommended Approach

Spaceport is your best map here. The open terrain lets you spot Fireflies before they spot you, which is the single most valuable thing you can do this week. The Arc Raiders trials for firefly farming reward patience: don't sprint into buildings looking for them. Let them come to you from a distance where your heavy ammo weapon has room to breathe.

Seeker Grenades or the Jupiter work excellently here. The Jupiter does tremendous damage to flying ARC enemies, though landing shots consistently requires the kind of focus that coffee provides and panic removes. Anvil Renegade grenades are another solid choice for area suppression if your aim on moving targets is, shall we say, developing.

Warning Do not attempt to outrun a Firefly in open terrain. It will chase you down. Find cover or stand and fight. Running is not a strategy; it is just dying at a higher altitude.

Point Efficiency at a Glance

The Rocketeer column there is not a mistake. If a Rocketeer happens to be in your general area and you have the tools to deal with it, the Arc Raiders three star strategy basically writes itself. Two Rocketeers and you are done. One well-placed Wolfpack grenade from behind covers most of the fight, assuming you enjoy living.

This trial is geographically simple: stay inside Spaceport walls, shoot things that fly. The challenge is that not all flying ARC enemies are created equal, and the game will absolutely allow you to spend twenty minutes killing Wasps for 240 points each while you could have taken down a Rocketeer for 2,000. Life is full of choices, and some of them are wrong.

You need roughly 8 to 10 small flying ARC enemies, or alternatively two Rocketeers to hit the three-star threshold. The math is not subtle. The Close Scrutiny event is particularly relevant here because it throws Vaporizers at you, which score comparably to Rocketeers. Check the event timer when you drop in and plan accordingly.

Target Priority Order

1. Rocketeers first; 2,000 points each, two of them and you are done. Bring Wolfpack Grenades, approach from behind cover, and use heavy ammo weapons. The Osprey or Anvil are ideal given how hard these things hit back.
2. Hornets and Fireflies; 400 to 800 points each. Aim for the rear thrusters on Hornets and the underside gas tank on Fireflies. Consistent, reliable points.
3. Wasps only as a last resort; 240 points each. The Snitch Scanner farming loop is a trap. You will spend more time herding them than it is worth. Respect your own time.

The Hidden Bunker's North Trench Tower deserves a mention here: it provides excellent sightlines for flying enemies while keeping you out of the line of fire from other players. Set up mines or barricades, bring ranged weaponry, and let the points come to you. It is the rare case in this game where sitting still is the correct answer.

Damage Queens & Matriarchs

Ah. Here we are. The trial that everyone hates, nobody talks about honestly, and half the lobby is already racing toward before you have finished loading in. The Queen and Matriarch trial is the unambiguous low point of this week, and the game knows it, and it does not care.

The core problem is simple and maddening: you are not trying to kill the boss. You are trying to deal more damage to it than the eight other players who had the exact same idea and also read a guide. The moment the boss spawns, it becomes a chaotic group activity that nobody organized and everyone is failing at in their own special way.

Critical Rule If you die during the fight, all damage points are lost. This is not a joke. Extract alive or everything you just did was decorative. The game will not acknowledge your sacrifice.

The fastest way to deal burst damage to either boss is the Snap Hook + Deadline Mine combination. Mount the boss, place two Deadline Mines before jumping off, and immediately follow up with Wolfpack Grenades. Executed correctly, this delivers 2,700+ damage in under 10 seconds. Executed incorrectly, you are on top of a giant murderous robot with no good way down.

1. Snap Hook onto the boss. Do not do this while it is actively spinning or charging.
2. Place two Deadline Mines on the body before jumping. You can place them both before you need to disengage.
3. Back off and immediately throw Wolfpack Grenades into the core area.
4. Unload with Hullcracker, Jupiter, or Equalizer targeting the red core or leg joints.
5. When the shield comes back up, disengage. You have already done more damage than most of the lobby.

Queen vs. Matriarch: Pick Your Suffering

The general consensus leans toward the Matriarch for lower competition. The Queen's Harvester event is a beacon for every player in the lobby, which means you will be sharing your precious damage output with a crowd of strangers who are also trying to get three stars and also brought Wolfpack Grenades. The Matriarch at least has the dignity of a more private encounter.

When targeting the Matriarch specifically, the vents under its head open up the core for additional damage. Hit those first. The Dam Battlegrounds walkways offer an excellent elevated position to manage its movements without getting stepped on, which is, objectively, a bad outcome for your health bar.

Realistically, anything above 4,330 points gets you three stars. You can absolutely hit 6,000 to 8,000 on a good run. Anything close to 15,000 means you essentially soloed the boss and deserve some form of recognition that the game will not provide.

Open ARC Probes

This is the palate cleanser of the week. After the psychological damage of the Queen trial, the game offers you this: walk up to a fallen machine, press a button, get 1,334 points. You need to do this approximately three times. That is the entire trial. Cherish it.

1,334 pts/per probe searched; need 3 for three stars, do 4 to be safe

The optimal condition for Arc Raiders probe farming is Electromagnetic Storm on Spaceport. Storm conditions dramatically increase the number of probes falling from the sky, and Spaceport's flat terrain makes them visible and accessible. You can realistically hit 30,000 to 40,000 points in a single run under these conditions. This is the game being generous. Accept it without suspicion.

What Counts as a Probe Search

The trial tracks whether you personally breached and searched the probe. It does not require you to actually pick anything up from it. More helpfully, it does not matter if another player has already opened the probe; as long as you search it yourself, it counts toward your progress. This is one of the few cases in this game where other people's effort directly benefits you. Enjoy the novelty.

1. Drop into Spaceport on Electromagnetic Storm. If that condition is not available, Bluegate works as a secondary option.
2. Bring zip lines or Snap Hooks for rooftop access. Probes land on elevated surfaces frequently.
3. Listen for the beeping sound probes emit; this is an audio cue, not decoration. Follow the beeping.
4. Watch for black smoke plumes from crashed probes on the ground. They are visible from a distance.
5. Spread out as a team to cover more ground. This trial rewards map coverage, not clustered play.

If you are running this with a squad, assign each player a zone of the map. Three zones, three probes minimum, done in under fifteen minutes. If you are playing solo, use Adrenaline Shots to maintain movement speed and cover the search area efficiently. The ARC probe search tips are genuinely this simple. The rest of the week was not. Take the win.

The final trial of the season is, fittingly, the most mentally unchallenging thing this game has asked of you all season. Go to Bluegate. Open things. Collect points. That is the trial. The game spent eight weeks building up to this.

The Traffic Tunnel area covers three connected zones: the Security Wing, the main Traffic Tunnel, and the Maintenance Wing. Every single lootable object in this entire area counts toward your progress. Lockers. Boxes. Cars. Everything. The containers inside the traffic tunnel trial is essentially asking you to do what you were already doing anyway, just in a specific location.

Mandatory Note This trial can ONLY be completed on Bluegate. Not Spaceport. Not anywhere else. Bluegate. If you are currently in a different map wondering why your container searches are not registering, now you know.

How to Maximize Your Run

The single highest-leverage decision you can make for this trial is choosing a 2x condition run. Locked Gate, Electromagnetic Storm, and Night Raid all qualify. At 200 points per container, you need 20 opens to hit three stars. The tunnel area has well over 30 lootable objects if you hit every wing. You will be done before you have time to feel anything about it.

Watch for the Shredder patrolling the tunnel. It does not need to become your problem, and it very much will become your problem if you ignore it. Let it pass before you start methodically looting, or bring something capable of dealing with it quickly. The Bluegate traffic tunnel loot guide is mostly just this: avoid the robot, open the boxes, leave.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 total points is realistic for an attentive run. There are enough containers in the area that three stars is essentially guaranteed if you are moving efficiently and not getting distracted by player conflict. This is the season finale trial. It is supposed to feel easy. It is not a trick.

You do not need a different loadout for every trial, because most of this week happens to reward the same core selection of weapons. The game has, perhaps accidentally, designed a week where one thoughtful loadout covers four out of five objectives without modification. The remaining objective (the Queen) requires you to bring things you might die anyway.

If you are running solo and want to cover most trials in a single drop, the ideal setup is a Jupiter primary, Wolfpack Grenades, Snap Hook, and two Deadline Mines. This covers Fireflies, flying ARC enemies, and gives you viable options against the boss. It will not cover the Traffic Tunnel, but that trial is a different map entirely and requires nothing more than a functional pair of hands.