The best guns in Arc Raiders are a surprisingly subjective thing. As objectively powerful as the Anvil is, and I do love it, I won’t hide the fact that I think I actually prefer using the common Ferro instead. My favourite weapon so far, though, has to be the Stitcher; it’s a breeze to use against other players.
Until now, it’s largely been a ‘vibe’ thing for me. Simply put, I like the way the Stitcher, Ferro, and Anvil feel compared to competition like the Kettle, Arpeggio, and Torrente, among others. And that’s lucky for me now that I’ve seen the maths behind it all.
Content creator ‘Min Max Lab‘, who’s been doing a bunch of excellent Arc Raiders science experiments lately, has worked out the efficiency of the most common and popular weapons by weighing up their max durability, how much is lost per shot, and how expensive each one is to repair. As cliché as it sounds, the results will surprise you.
Firstly, my beloved Stitcher is the most efficient of the bunch, wringing out 13,700 damage/1950 shots per full repair at level 4, which works out to just two credits per shot. This demolishes the Rattler IV’s average 11,900 damage per gun at 3.9 credits per shot. There’s a noticeable upgrade between its level 1 and level 4 versions, though it’s a consistently good pick no matter what.
On the other hand, I’m blown away by just how inefficient the Osprey is. If you fire just one and a half max ammo stacks, you’ll break a fresh Osprey. That’s not much at all, and totally feasible in just one match if you’re taking on tougher Arcs or players. Ignoring the Osprey’s scope, you’re much better off using a Ferro instead.
Then there’s the Venator, the oddball of the bunch. This rare pistol fires two shots per trigger pull and is generally considered to be one of the best guns in the game, at least for PvP. Looking at the numbers, it can deal a whopping 16,400 damage and a very efficient 91 magazines per full repair.
It’s well above the rest of the weapons Min Max Lab tested, and it’s most likely because the Venator is effectively shooting two bullets for the price of one. It’s not even that expensive to repair compared to some of the other options: the Venator is cheaper to repair on a per-damage basis than the lower rarity Anvil.
Of course, the numbers don’t tell the full story (as fascinating as they are). Not all weapons are equally easy to use, they weigh different amounts, and you’ll lose any of them in the blink of an eye if you’re not careful.