The Worst Gun Meets The Biggest Boss
In Arc Raiders, the Hairpin pistol has a reputation. It is cheap, quiet, and almost everyone agrees it is one of the weakest guns in the game. Most players try it once, shrug, and move on to something that actually feels powerful.
On the other end of the food chain sits the Matriarch. This machine is one of the nastiest enemies you can run into. It is huge, heavily armed, and backed up by an army of smaller bots. Think of it as the final boss that shows up in the open world.
The Matriarch is stacked with dangerous tools. It has massive cannons, gas mortars, and a shield to soak up punishment. On top of that it can call in extra enemies during the fight, including:
- Rocketeers that bombard you from range
- Bastions that soak up damage
- Leapers that jump in and harass you up close
Normally you want top tier weapons, plenty of backup, and a solid plan before you even think about engaging a Matriarch. But content creator The Gaming Merchant decided to do something a little more unhinged.
The Hairpin Challenge Run
Instead of rolling in with legendary gear, The Gaming Merchant armed up with three level 4 Hairpins, around 1,200 bullets, some medical supplies, and a few lure grenades. No heavy hitters, no fancy builds, just pure stubbornness and a very underappreciated sidearm.
The strategy was simple but demanding. They found a good position, stayed patient, and focused on the Matriarch’s weak knee joints. Every shot had to count because the Hairpin does not have armor penetration. If you are not hitting weak spots, you are basically tickling the boss.
The result was surprisingly impressive. After around 14 minutes of steady shooting and roughly 650 bullets spent, the Matriarch finally went down. Not a single one of the three Hairpins broke during the fight, which says a lot about how efficient the weapon can be in the right situation.
To be fair, the run was not totally solo. Other players eventually joined the battle and helped out, and a decent chunk of the damage came from clever use of lure grenades. Even so, The Gaming Merchant ended the round with just under 9,000 damage dealt to the Matriarch while using one of the slowest, weakest sounding weapons in the game.
Watching the fight play out is pretty funny near the end. As other raiders burn through their ammo with more popular guns, you can see some of them standing around with nothing left to shoot, just waiting for the Hairpin enjoyer to finish the job. Around the 12 minute mark it turns into a bit of a spectator sport.
What This Says About The Hairpin And Arc Raiders
This run highlights a couple of cool things about both the Hairpin and Arc Raiders in general.
First, the Hairpin is not actually useless. It is just extremely specialized. While it is not great at shredding armor or bursting enemies down, it has some big hidden strengths:
- It is very cheap to acquire, so there is low risk if you lose it
- It is quiet, making it a decent pick if you want to be sneaky
- It has surprisingly strong damage per bullet, adding up to around 1,000 damage per magazine
Because of that high damage per magazine, The Gaming Merchant was able to stay in the fight far longer than other players using more ammo hungry weapons like the Stitcher. When the dust settled, the supposed worst gun was the one still firing.
Second, the run is a reminder that you do not actually need legendary or epic weapons to take down Arc Raiders’ toughest enemies. What you really need is:
- Good aim at weak points
- Patience to play the long game
- Smart positioning so you are not constantly dodging every attack
- Basic survival tools like med supplies and grenades
The story also shows how Arc Raiders leaves room for creative challenge runs. If a player with enough determination can kill a Matriarch using an underdog pistol, that opens up room for all kinds of weird builds and self imposed challenges.
That said, even after seeing the Hairpin shine in this very specific scenario, it is still not going to replace more practical options for most players. Weapons like the Anvil are only a bit harder to find, hit much harder, and do not require you to constantly aim for unarmored weak spots just to do meaningful damage.
In other words, the Hairpin is not secretly the best gun in the game. But it is a lot better than its meme status suggests, especially if you value ammo efficiency and do not mind a slower, more methodical playstyle.
The big takeaway from this Matriarch takedown is simple. Do not write off common gear just because it is not flashy. In a game like Arc Raiders, knowledge of enemy weak points, patience, and resource management can sometimes matter more than the color of your loot. And every now and then, the so called worst weapon can become the hero of the run.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/14-minutes-and-650-bullets-later-one-determined-arc-raiders-player-somehow-killed-a-matriarch-with-the-worst-gun-in-the-game/
