ARC Raiders Fast Leveling Guide — Level Up Fast in 2026

Your XP per hour is directly proportional to raid cadence — short, consistent raids beat long, ambitious ones.

Stella Montis (Best for levels 1-30): Spawn → Loading Bay (Bastion kill) → 3 Warehouse containers → 2 Underground lockers → Extract at West Elevator. 10-12 minutes, 8,000-12,000 XP per raid. This is your bread-and-butter leveling route.

Spaceport (Best for levels 30-50): Spawn → Control Tower (3 Wasps) → Tarmac loop (5-6 Wasps, Hornets) → Server Room → South Train Station extract. 12-15 minutes, 12,000-18,000 XP per raid. Use container XP trick (open every container you pass, even if you do not take the loot).

Buried City (Best for levels 50-75): Night Raid recommended. Spawn → Collapsed Tunnel (6-8 Ticks) → Central Chamber (4 Fireballs + Pops) → East Corridor elite room → Maintenance Shaft → Extract. 10-14 minutes, 15,000-22,000 XP per raid. Swarm clearing with automatic weapons gives the fastest combat XP of any map.

Cadence rule: If a raid takes longer than 18 minutes, you should have extracted and started a new one. The only exception is the final raid of a session where you can gamble on a high-value run.

Your gear during leveling should prioritize speed and consistency over power.

Levels 1-15: Free Loadouts only. Do not spend a single credit on gear until you have consistent extraction streaks. Every credit spent on gear that you might lose is a credit not going into Stash upgrades and skill unlocks.

Levels 15-30: Budget leveling loadout (6,000 credits): Anvil assault rifle + Venator handgun + light armor + 2 medkits + 1 ammo stack. Light armor keeps your sprint speed high and raid times low. The Anvil handles all PvE content in this level range.

Levels 30-50: Mid-tier leveling loadout (12,000 credits): Bobcat SMG or Tempest (if you can afford it) + Venator + medium armor + Adrenaline Shot + 2 medkits + 2 ammo stacks. The Tempest is the best all-around weapon for both PvE and PvP after its overhaul.

Levels 50-75: Advanced leveling loadout (20,000 credits): Tempest assault rifle + Venator handgun + medium armor + Photoelectric Cloak + 2 Adrenaline Shots + 3 medkits + 2 heavy ammo stacks. By this point, gear cost is negligible compared to the XP bonus from maintaining extraction streaks.

Universal rule: Backpack upgrades are the most important investment for leveling. Each backpack tier adds 20-30% more loot extraction value per raid, which directly increases your loot XP. Upgrade your backpack before any other gear slot.

Every container interaction in ARC Raiders awards 200 XP regardless of whether it contains items. This is widely underutilized by new players.

If a typical raid has 25-30 containers and you open every one you pass, that is 5,000-6,000 XP just from opening containers. Over 10 raids, that is 50,000-60,000 XP — equivalent to 4-5 extra levels in the early game.

The technique: Sprint through your route and open every container along the way. Do not stop to check contents — open it while moving past. If you hear a high-value item, circle back after clearing the immediate area. Otherwise, keep moving.

Combine this with the Loot Speed passive from the Survival skill tree to reduce container interaction time by 40%. Silent Loot further reduces the audio profile, letting you open containers without broadcasting your position.

Combined XP per raid: Container XP (5,000-6,000) + Combat XP (3,000-5,000) + Survival/Loot XP (4,000-6,000) = 12,000-17,000 XP per 12-minute raid. At 5 raids per hour, that is 60,000-85,000 XP per hour during the optimal leveling window.

Since you cannot respec skills and max level is 75 (enough for two full trees), choose your order carefully:

Phase 1 (Levels 1-25) — Survival Tree: 1. In-Round Crafting (unlock immediately — craft healing/shields mid-raid, extends raid endurance by 50%) 2. Loot Speed I+II (container interaction time -40%, faster raid cycling) 3. Silent Loot (reduce audio of container opening) 4. Survival Instinct (low health warning, saves you from death by ARCs)

Phase 2 (Levels 25-50) — Mobility Tree: 1. Marathon Runner I+II (extended sprint duration) 2. Youthful Lungs I+II (reduced stamina drain) 3. Dodge Roll Distance (evasion + fall traversal) 4. Slide Momentum (maintains speed after slide-jump)

Phase 3 (Levels 50-75) — Finish Survival or Mobility: If you prefer solo play: finish Survival tree (resource passives, self-heal bonuses) If you prefer group play: finish Mobility tree (team speed buffs, shared stamina) Conditioning tree is viable if you consistently fill your inventory — take Carry Capacity passives at any point if inventory management is your bottleneck.

Critical warning: Do not spread points across all three trees. You want one complete tree before starting the second.