ARC Raiders Armor System Explained — Slots, Durability & Upgrading

Armor System Quick Reference

The Four Armor Slots and Their Importance

ARC Raiders uses a four-slot armor system that protects distinct body regions: head, chest, legs, and hands. Each slot independently absorbs damage hits to that body region, reducing the damage that reaches your health pool. The chest slot is the most impactful because the torso is the largest target area — most automatic fire and ARC machine attacks will land body shots, and chest armor intercepts the majority of these. Leaving any slot empty means that region receives full unmitigated damage.

Head armor is the second most critical slot because headshots carry a damage multiplier both from other Raiders and from certain ARC attacks. A headshot against an unarmored head can be immediately lethal, while a headshot against even basic helmet protection is significantly more survivable. The head slot should be filled before worrying about leg or hand armor in all circumstances.

Leg armor reduces damage from lower-body hits and also provides some mitigation against fall damage — relevant when navigating multi-floor industrial buildings where dropping from height is sometimes the fastest movement option. Hand armor has the smallest impact on survival but provides minor protection and may affect weapon handling statistics in some configurations. Fill legs before hands, and fill both before spending resources upgrading head or chest armor to the next tier.

Durability — How Armor Degrades

Every armor piece has a durability value that decreases as it absorbs incoming damage. When armor absorbs a hit, it reduces the damage reaching your health but also loses some of its own durability in the process. As durability decreases, the armor's protective effectiveness also decreases — a chest plate at 50% durability provides less protection than the same piece at full durability, even though it's the same item. Running degraded armor is meaningfully worse than running the same armor at full health.

When an armor piece reaches zero durability, it stops providing protection entirely. It doesn't break off your character — you still technically 'have' it equipped — but it provides no damage mitigation whatsoever. This is a common trap: players notice their armor is getting low but don't repair between raids, then wonder why they're dying faster than expected. Checking armor durability before deploying and repairing at the workshop should be part of your standard pre-raid routine.

Armor durability does not regenerate on its own. Without active repair at Stella Montis, each raid session further degrades your armor. Consecutive sessions without repair compound the durability loss, and armor that seemed adequate in session one may be nearly useless by session three. Establish a habit of repairing immediately upon returning to Stella Montis, before selling loot or visiting traders.

Durability Management Best Practices

• Check all armor durability values before deploying — never start a raid with degraded armor
• Repair at Stella Montis workshop after every raid session where you took significant damage
• If armor drops below 30% durability mid-raid, consider cutting the run short — degraded armor increases death risk substantially
• Carry a spare armor piece in your backpack for critical slots (chest, head) on high-risk runs if inventory allows
• Repair costs materials or Credits depending on the armor tier — keep repair resources available at all times
• High-tier armor at 50% durability may still outperform basic armor at full durability — check protection values, not just durability percentage

Repairing vs Replacing Armor

When armor is damaged, you have two choices: repair it at the workshop or replace it with a new piece. For crafted armor that you've upgraded and invested resources into, repair is almost always correct — the investment in that piece makes it worth maintaining. For basic found armor with no upgrades, calculate whether the repair cost is lower than the replacement cost through either crafting or trading. Often, basic armor is cheap enough to replace rather than repair, especially at early tiers.

Fully depleted armor (zero durability) can still be repaired, but the cost increases with the damage sustained. If an armor piece has been running at low durability across multiple raids, the accumulated repair cost may approach or exceed the cost of crafting a fresh replacement. Monitor this threshold and make replacement decisions before repair costs become uneconomical.

Workshop Upgrades — Enhancing Crafted Armor

Crafted armor can be upgraded at the Stella Montis workshop to improve its base stats, increase its durability cap, or add secondary properties that basic armor lacks. Upgrades consume additional crafting materials and are applied permanently to the specific armor piece. This investment makes upgraded crafted armor significantly more valuable than equivalent-tier found armor — you're essentially creating a customized version of the base item.

The upgrade path for armor follows a consistent structure: first-tier upgrades typically improve the base protection value and durability cap, making the armor tougher in both impact resistance and longevity. Second-tier upgrades may add properties like energy resistance, improved head protection efficiency, or reduced fall damage. Third-tier upgrades, when available, push the item into performance ranges that approach the next gear tier.

Upgrade decisions should be informed by your progression stage. Don't invest heavily in upgrading armor you're about to replace — upgrades don't transfer between armor pieces. Upgrade armor when you've confirmed it's at your current target tier and you expect to use it for multiple upcoming sessions. The sweet spot is applying upgrades after you've been using an armor piece effectively for several raids and before you start feeling the gear ceiling of that tier.

Armor Upgrade Priority Order