ARC Raiders Solo or Squad: Which One Suits You Better?

The thing I agonized over most in ARC Raiders was whether to queue solo or with a squad. Squad up and you're splitting the loot and making enough noise to pull other teams into a fight; go solo and you die out of nowhere and come back empty-handed after a long trek. It took playing both to death before I realized this isn't really a "which is stronger" question. It's a question of what you actually want.

Don't Ask Which Is Stronger — Figure Out What You Want

Solo leans toward payoff, squad leans toward safety, and they pull in completely different directions — which is exactly why the community keeps arguing in circles over it.

• If you want loot efficiency and every high-value item funneled into your own stash, solo wins out.
• If you want XP, a steady climb to level 40, and fewer wipes, squad is clearly smoother.
• If you're new but hungry for PvP, run squads first to learn the map instead of feeding solo.

I spent my first month solo and got chased around by full teams every day. Eventually it clicked: squad up first to learn the routes and spots, then go solo to farm the high-value stuff. Two phases, two jobs.

Solo: Everything Is Yours, but Every Raid Is a Gamble

Playing solo feels closer to stealth survival — you're on your own, so your loadout and skills all go into stealth, escape, and self-reliance.

• You keep 100% of the loot, no splitting — every blueprint in a container is yours.
• Stick to the map's edge and you'll run into players about 70% less than if you cut through the middle, so stay out of the center hot spots.
• Bring a suppressed gun and smoke grenades. If you can't win it, drop smoke and run — a solo who flees loses a lot less than one who fights it out.

The best part of solo is "it's all mine," and the worst is the near-zero margin for error — one death and you lose everything. Per-run payout is high, but the extraction rate and carry capacity are both lower, so it's less consistent than a squad.

Squad: Someone

Squad buys you forgiveness — someon Revives You, but the Loot Gets Splite picks you up when you drop, you split the carrying, and you clear high-value zones faster.

• You get revives and shared supplies, and you can specialize — one hauls loot, one breaches, one covers.
• You open more blueprint containers and clear more points per raid, and the XP comes faster than solo.
• The tradeoff is splitting the loot, slower extractions, and making enough noise to pull in other teams.

Squad suits anyone who wants steady progress without carrying everything alone — but you have to accept giving up the good stuff, or the group falls apart eventually.

That Solo vs Squads Toggle Isn't for Regular Players

The January 2026 Headwinds update added a Solo vs Squads toggle that lets level 40+ solos deliberately queue into squad-heavy lobbies, and a lot of people flipped it on without understanding it.

• With it on, you get a 20% XP bonus at the end of the round whether you extract or die — high risk, high reward.
• But you're signing up to fight 1v3 on purpose, your extraction rate takes a nosedive, and it's harder to bring loot home.
• Loot, not XP, is the whole point of this game, so most reviews call the toggle pointless — regular players should leave it off.

I turned it on once and shut it right back off. Getting hunted by full teams for a bit of XP isn't worth it, unless you just want target practice and don't care about the outcome.

Solo or squad, at the end of the day it comes down to what you want. If you want every piece of loot in your own stash and can handle the loneliness, grind it out solo. If you want forgiveness, fewer wipes, and can accept splitting the haul, squad up. Once you've got the game figured out and want to get spicy, the 1v3 toggle is right there — but regular players really don't need to touch it. I've played both, and my advice is to learn the routes in a squad first, then go solo to farm the good stuff. That beats hard-locking yourself to one and grinding it to death.