Arc Raiders and its terrifying machine monsters
Arc Raiders is packed with some of the most creative and brutal machines you will find in a co op shooter. These enemies are not just bullet sponges. They react to what you do, break apart in interesting ways, and force you to think on your feet in every fight.
Shredders can be delayed from tearing you apart if you shoot their propulsion. Legendary energy weapons can rip armor plates off elite Arcs, exposing weak spots. Flying robots will sputter and struggle if you knock out their engines, sometimes crashing down in a dramatic heap. The result is a game where every encounter feels like a mini boss fight against a living machine.
On top of that, Arc Raiders lets you do something completely ridiculous and incredibly cool. You can actually ride some of these flying enemies, using them as improvised vehicles in the middle of a firefight. It is chaotic, dangerous, and absolutely on brand for a game about desperate humans fighting impossible odds against a machine invasion.
Riding Rocketeers and the Death From Above achievement
One of the wildest things you can do in Arc Raiders is ride a Rocketeer. These enemies are already horrifying to fight on the ground. They bombard you with rockets, hurt you fast, and generally make every raid more stressful. So the idea of jumping on top of one and turning it into your personal airborne battle platform sounds insane for a reason.
The game actually rewards this madness with an in game achievement called Death From Above. The challenge is simple on paper but brutal in practice. Deal 50 damage to an enemy while you are on top of a Rocketeer. That enemy can be another Arc, another player, or even the Rocketeer you are riding, but you have to manage all of this before you get thrown off or blown up.
Only about 1.5 percent of Arc Raiders players on Steam have managed to pull this off. Considering how tough Rocketeers already are, that number almost feels high. To complete the achievement, players have to:
- Survive long enough to find a Rocketeer.
- Get close without being instantly killed.
- Bring it down or stun it so they can climb on.
- Ride it while it rockets back into the air.
- Deal at least 50 damage to something before getting thrown or killed.
From the point of view of anyone watching this happen in game, it must look legendary. Imagine seeing a player lit by explosions, standing on a roaring machine like some sci fi version of a sandworm rider. It is easy to see why anyone who pulls it off feels like a mythological hero for a moment.
For comparison, only 1.4 percent of players have completed the A Tale for the Ages achievement, which asks you to kill a Queen, one of the most dangerous enemies in the game. Just 1.1 percent have earned Just Dropping In by getting crushed by a supply drop. That puts Death From Above among the rarest and most cinematic challenges Arc Raiders has to offer.
How to actually pull it off
If you want to chase this achievement yourself, you will need planning, patience, and a bit of luck. A helpful community tip from player Acez outlines a straightforward method that gives you the best chance of surviving the stunt.
The basic strategy looks like this:
- Bring a Showstopper grenade. This is key. The Showstopper can stun a Rocketeer and force it down to the ground, which is your window to mount it.
- Stun the Rocketeer. Wait for an opportunity when you are close enough but not already about to die from rockets. Hit it with the grenade so it falls.
- Climb on fast. Once it is down, move quickly to get on top before it recovers. Timing is everything here because you are incredibly vulnerable on the ground near a Rocketeer.
- Let it take off. When it recovers and shoots back into the air, you stay on your new metal mount. This is where the fun and terror really begin.
- Open fire. As it flies, start shooting. You can fire at nearby enemies on the ground, at other Arcs, at players, or just unload into the Rocketeer itself. As long as you do 50 damage before you die or fall off, the achievement will pop.
There is no real way to make this completely safe. You are standing on an unstable rocket spewing killing power in all directions. You are probably going to die. But that is part of what makes Death From Above such an appealing challenge for dedicated players. It is less about efficient farming and more about pulling off a heroic and ridiculous moment that you will remember.
If you are already deep into Arc Raiders, this achievement can be a fresh goal to chase while you farm better loot, practice Trials, or fine tune your builds. If you are newer to the game, it is also a good reminder of how many strange interactions and systems are hiding beneath the surface. Between best skills to survive the surface, weapon builds that you really do not want to lose, and high level Expeditions, Arc Raiders is built to reward experimentation.
So if Rocketeers terrify you, maybe the best cure is to turn one into your ride. You might not live to tell the tale, but for a few seconds you will be the most spectacular thing on the battlefield.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/only-1-5-percent-of-arc-raiders-players-have-turned-a-rocketeer-into-a-mobile-weapons-platform-and-im-baffled-its-even-that-common/
