Why Arc Raiders Free Loadouts Spark So Much Debate
Arc Raiders has a simple idea that has turned into a big argument in the community: free loadouts. These are basic starter kits that give you a low level gun, some ammo, a shield and a bit of health. You do not risk any of your own gear when you use them.
On paper that sounds great, especially for new players. In practice, free loadouts have become a lightning rod for complaints, especially on Stella Montis, the smallest and most intense map in the game. Because free loadout players have nothing to lose, they can rush, play recklessly and sometimes grief other players without any real consequences.
Many players feel these fearless raiders are ruining matches, while others see them as an important tool for learning the game without pressure. The truth sits somewhere in the middle.
Free loadouts can absolutely enable aggressive and annoying behaviour. A duo with free kits might push into a better geared trio just for the chaos, turning the match into their personal fight club. You will sometimes run into players who clearly loaded in just for mindless PvP with no loot at all on their bodies.
However, from extended time in the game, these all in grief squads are not actually as common as some clips and posts make them seem. In many cases it is the players with the strong guns and stacked loot who are more eager to take fights, simply because they want to test their gear and show it off.
At the same time, free loadouts play a crucial role for beginners. They let new players or cautious friends jump into raids without the fear of losing rare weapons and items. If you want to bring a new friend along, using a free loadout lets you show them the ropes, revive them often and take risks without worrying about burning through your hard earned equipment.
So free loadouts are both a pressure relief valve for new players and a potential tool for reckless play. The question is how to balance the system without breaking what makes it useful.
Should Free Loadouts Spawn Late In The Match?
A popular solution floating around Reddit, Steam discussions and even streams from big names like Ninja is simple: do not let free loadout players spawn at the start of a match. Instead, push them into the raid later than players who bring their own gear.
The logic is straightforward. If you bring your own loadout, you are taking on real risk, so you should get the best chance at rewards. If you choose a free kit with zero risk, then the game should lower your reward potential by spawning you after the good loot is mostly gone.
In this proposed system, geared players would get priority for early spawns. Free loadout users would always load into “used” raids, which many see as a fair trade off. Ninja summed it up clearly by saying that people with free loadouts should never get fresh raids.
On the surface this feels like a clean fix. It addresses the idea that free loadout players are getting too much value for zero risk. But there is a major problem: late spawns in Arc Raiders already feel bad for everyone.
When you spawn into a raid late, most of the high value loot has been picked clean. Many extraction routes have been used or are already more dangerous. Enemy players are more desperate, aggressive and better positioned. If you are serious about progress, late spawn games often feel like a write off before you even take your first step.
Worse, late spawns can create unfair fights in the opposite direction. You might spend the first half of a match grinding through enemies and fighting off other raiders, burning through your health and ammo, only to run into a fresh squad that just spawned in with full resources. That kind of encounter feels cheap, and it affects geared players just as much as free loadout users.
Because of this, building a “fix” for free loadouts on top of a spawn system that already frustrates players is not ideal. It risks turning free loadouts into an even worse experience while also making the wider spawn issues harder to address cleanly.
How To Think About Free Loadouts As A Player
If late spawning free loadouts is not a great solution, what can players actually do about aggressive free loadouters in the current game?
The most useful change might not be a balance tweak at all but a mindset shift. Instead of treating every weapon and item like something to hoard and protect at all costs, you can start viewing your gear as temporary tools meant to be used and eventually lost.
When you act like every loadout is essentially free, or at least not yours to cling to forever, a few things happen.
- You feel less tilted when you die and lose items.
- You become more comfortable taking smart risks instead of camping in fear.
- Free loadout players become less scary because you are not over attached to your current kit.
- Matches feel more like a series of fun runs than high stress, all or nothing bets.
This does not mean throwing your gear away or playing without any thought. It simply means accepting that in extraction style games, loss is part of the loop. Guns will be used, scrapped or dropped on the battlefield. That cycle is not a failure, it is the core of the experience.
Free loadouts will likely continue to be adjusted by the developers as more data and feedback pile up. They could end up weaker, more limited or tied to some form of scaling reward system. For now, they remain a powerful entry point for new raiders and a controversial tool for risk free aggression.
If you are frustrated with them, try treating your own loadouts a little more like theirs: something you can afford to lose. When you stop gripping your inventory so tightly, the presence of free loadout players becomes a lot easier to live with, and the game itself becomes more fun run to run.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-players-want-to-condemn-free-loadouters-to-a-life-of-late-spawns-but-i-dont-think-anyone-should-arrive-midway-through-a-match-ever/
