What Are Trials in Arc Raiders?
Trials in Arc Raiders are a weekly competitive mode where you race other players for the highest scores across five rotating challenges. Think of it as a leaderboard driven raid report. Each week you get a new set of objectives and your best single run score for each challenge is what counts toward your overall ranking.
Every objective you complete adds points to your Trial Score and your place on the leaderboard. To climb higher, you need to understand how scoring works and where to farm each objective efficiently.
One of the key tricks is to aim for special map conditions. Events like Night Raid, Electromagnetic Storm, and Hidden Bunker can give you double Trial Score points, so it is usually worth waiting for these conditions before going for serious runs. You can also queue with two other players which not only helps you survive but often lets you share score contributions, meaning you all benefit from playing well together.
How Scoring and Weekly Challenges Work
Every week brings five Trial challenges, each with its own scoring objective. Only your personal best score from a single run for each challenge is added to your total ranking. That means you want focused, high quality runs rather than endless low scoring attempts.
Here is how to handle this week’s Trial challenges and set yourself up for strong leaderboard positions.
Best Methods for Each Week 5 Trial Challenge
Dealing Damage to Rocketeers
Rocketeers are elite Arc enemies that can be annoying to track down consistently unless you know where to look. One of the best farming spots is Dam Battlegrounds at Night. Rocketeers often spawn:
- Near the North Complex Elevator at Power Generation
- Southeast of Hydroponic Dome Complex close to the dam wall
- Between Research and Administration and the Red Lakes Balcony Lift
Another reliable route is the Spaceport map during the Hidden Bunker event. Head to rooftops near the Launch Tower where Rocketeers spawn regularly and the event also gives you an extra ten minutes to work with.
Rocketeers usually respawn roughly every ten minutes, so if you keep cycling through these hotspots you will steadily farm damage. Bring high damage weapons, Wolfpack Grenades, and barricades to hold positions safely while you burn them down.
Downloading Data During Hidden Bunker
Hidden Bunker is a timed event that appears on different maps and is crucial for this weekly challenge. When it is active, your job is simple:
- Activate antennas in each corner of the map to unlock the Hidden Bunker
- Head inside once it opens
- Download data from the computers to complete the event
The difficulty is less about mechanics and more about timing and survival. Hidden Bunker is only active for one hour per day, so you need to plan around the schedule. Community tools like MetaForge offer event timers so you can see exactly when the event will be live in your region.
During the event, be ready for ambushes from other players. Most of the challenge is waiting out the download while avoiding campers who want to claim your progress or loot.
Searching First Wave Husks
This objective sounds confusing but it is actually straightforward. First Wave Husks are pre placed Arc corpses scattered across the map. They include Barons, Rocketeers, Wasps, and Hornets, usually half buried in the ground.
To progress this challenge you just need to loot these husks. It does not matter if another player has already cleared them as long as you open their inventory. That means even contested areas are still worth visiting.
Spaceport is an excellent map for this challenge. There are around 38 husk spawns concentrated heavily in the southwest section near:
- Fuel Processing
- Fuel Lines
- Fuel Storage
- Departure Building
On a normal run it is very possible to three star this task just by pathing through these zones. If you time it with a Night or Hidden Bunker condition, you will also earn double points for the same effort.
Damaging Snitches
Snitches are flying targets that can be annoying but rewarding if you build around them. The challenge is simple in theory: shoot down as many Snitches as you can. The difficulty comes from staying safe and finding angles without drawing too much attention from other players.
To optimize this challenge, get to high ground and use long range weapons. Good spots include:
- The top of Control Tower on Dam Battlegrounds
- The roof of Departure Building on Spaceport
From these vantage points you can scan the skies and pick off Snitches without being too exposed. While the challenge is available on any map, crowded and cramped maps like Buried City make it harder to hold a safe sniping position.
Damaging Ground Based Arc Enemies
This is the most straightforward Trial challenge because it counts almost every ground based Arc enemy. Everything from bosses to small units contributes, including:
- Queen and Matriarch
- Leapers and Bombardiers
- Bastions and Pops
- Fireballs and Ticks
With recent nerfs to powerful tools like the Hullcracker, you cannot melt enemies quite as easily, but the task still comes down to aggressive hunting. Spaceport with Hidden Bunker active is a strong choice again thanks to the extended timer and bonus score. Bring heavy hitting gear like Anvil, Showstoppers, Blaze Grenades, and Deadline mines to quickly wipe groups of Arcs.
If you prefer Dam Battlegrounds, target specific spawns:
- Leapers around Water Treatment, Red Lake, Breach, and Testing Annex
- Bombardier at Primary Facility
- Bastion near Hydroponic and Pipeline Tower
Keep moving, chain fights, and squeeze as many engagements as possible into every run.
Trials Rewards and Why They Matter
Trials offer two reward tracks: weekly challenge rewards and longer term seasonal rewards.
Challenge rewards are tied to your score on each weekly set of objectives. These usually grant loot boxes that can include valuable blueprints and other useful items for your Raider progression.
Seasonal rewards are where things get more interesting. At the end of a season your overall rank unlocks exclusive cosmetics and flair. Current seasonal rewards include:
- Rookie II: Happy Jig emote
- Rookie III: Black Eye face style
- Tryhard I: Archaeologist backpack color
- Tryhard III: Briefcase backpack attachment
- Wildcard I: Mastery Medal backpack charm
- Wildcard III: Bow and Arrow emote
- Daredevil I: Patrol outfit and headgear
- Cantina Legend: Scarlet Black color for the Patrol outfit
These items let you flex your performance and dedication to everyone in the Cantina and out on the surface. If you care about cosmetics and bragging rights, pushing Trials each week is absolutely worth your time.
Run during bonus conditions, coordinate with teammates, follow the farming routes above, and you will give yourself the best chance to climb into those upper tiers before the season ends.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-trials/
