ARC machines in ARC Raiders: every enemy type explained
Contents
ARC machines are the main threat on the surface, alongside other raiders. Below is the list of officially named machine types, drawn from the game’s general description and the patch notes for individual updates from Embark Studios.
The base enemy roster
The official game description page names the following ARC machines:
- Ticks — judging by the name, small and likely numerous.
- Snitch — the name alone hints at a detection or alert function.
- Leaper and Pop — short names with no additional description on the official page.
- Bombardier and Fireball — the names point to ranged or explosive attacks.
- Bastion — the name suggests a defensive role.
- Wasps, Hornets, Rocketeers — judging by the names, flying or ranged machines.
- Queen — officially named the boss, the strongest machine type in the general description.
The official general description doesn’t give detailed stats for each machine — it’s a list of names as part of the game world description, not a full bestiary.
What Flashpoint added (March 31, 2026)
- Vaporizer — a flying machine armed with a laser weapon, confirmed in that update’s patch notes.
- ARC Assessor — a large stationary machine that can be looted during the Close Scrutiny map condition.
- Shredders expanded. The same patch notes confirm that Shredder machines expanded their presence to the Blue Gate, Buried City, Spaceport, and Dam Battlegrounds maps under certain conditions.
What Riven Tides added (April 27, 2026)
- ARC Turbine — a flying machine with defensive abilities, per the update’s official description. It arrived alongside the new Riven Tides map — more on the map itself in our piece on maps and locations.
Map conditions affect the machines
The official Map Conditions page confirms that some machines and special behaviors are tied specifically to temporary map conditions rather than being permanently present on a location — meaning the same map can feel easier or harder depending on which condition is active that hour.
What is officially NOT said
- Exact health, damage, or speed values for any ARC machine aren’t given as numbers on any of the official pages we checked.
- A complete, final list of every machine as of August 2026 hasn’t been published as a single document — it has to be pieced together from individual patch notes, and may be incomplete if some update added a machine without mentioning it in the patch headline.
- The machines’ AI logic (how they pick targets, how they coordinate) isn’t disclosed officially.
- Whether there are other bosses besides Queen is neither confirmed nor denied on the official pages we checked.
Where this matters for your loadout
Knowing the machine types directly affects gear choices before heading out — more on that in our piece on gear and loot. The risk of running into these machines during extraction is covered in our piece on your first raid.
Frequently asked questions
How many types of ARC machines are in the game?
There's no exact official count, since the list grows with every major update. Officially named so far: Ticks, Snitch, Leaper, Bombardier, Pop, Fireball, Bastion, Wasps, Hornets, Rocketeers, Queen, plus the later additions ARC Turbine, Vaporizer, and ARC Assessor.
Who is Queen in ARC Raiders?
The official game description names Queen as the boss among the ARC machines — the strongest officially confirmed enemy on the general game description page.
What machines were added in the most recent updates?
The Riven Tides update (April 27, 2026) added the flying ARC Turbine. The Flashpoint update (March 31, 2026) added the flying Vaporizer, armed with a laser weapon, and the large stationary ARC Assessor.
Are there very large machines in the game?
Yes — the official description states directly that machines the size of a multi-story building sometimes show up on the surface, though it doesn't give exact sizes or name every such machine.