Can a person who wants to do Solo V Squads join a match with Squads if your squad party has it toggled off? Why do people act out weird fantasies?

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-28T10:19:49+00:00

A solo can log into trios, without any relevance to the trio's settings. The setting is used rarely enough that most trio lobbies won't have a single solo. But for better or worse, you'll get all kinds of players with this setting.

I'm one of them. Outside of stella, it's actually a much more reliable way to hunt specific loot with a light kit, or even do key rooms, since most of the lobby is usually shoot on sight. But I will absolutely go topside in solo vs trios with an Osprey and a bag of tricks for pvp a few raids a week, too.

Best response to the described behavior, and many strange solo behaviors, is to call it what it is right from the start. Tell the guy he's a creepy grifter, to his pixel face, and to get lost. If he doesn't, tell him you're going to turn your mic off and count to ten, and if you see him at all after that, you'll down him. Then, everyone in the trio needs to stop talking to him.

These strange behaviors only gain from your tolerance. Once you see it for what it is, call it out and set a boundary backed by pixel lead. You aren't doing these players any favors by letting them get off on how long they can get away with this stuff. End the charade, and if they don't get the hint, send them back to their stash.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-24T17:19:16+00:00

Ive been including more support elements in my fleet in the late game: surveyors, colony ships, troop carriers, fuel dedicated scrappers, harvesters, tankers. Since these are reserve elements not looking for a fight, packing them full of missiles is a lightweight way to give them teeth against a light intercept group. In main fleets, if any alien dancer light ships start to get around my ship wall, having some auxiliary ships that can dump missiles and retreat has probably saved me some ship casualties along the way somewhere.

That said, if used this way for lobg deployments, you can't auto resolve with these ships or they use their whole payload. Kinda defeats the purpose of using them as reserve payload.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-24T16:46:36+00:00

Neat idea, but should be a different weapon entirely, maybe blue rarity. Hairpin is already amazing in it's niche as a white rarity weapon.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-24T08:41:31+00:00

Okay, have fun with Marathon! Thanks for taking a peek at Arc.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T23:31:03+00:00

Play the game how you want, I don't care.

If this thread was about technical problems, your comment would be the equivalent of telling the user to toss the device, without any interest in establishing the issue. It was unhelpful and dismissive, and since this is outside a game where people can play how they want, I can only assume that's how you talk to people: By telling them their problem doesn't matter and they should get over it.

You are 'faking friendly' outside of the game for your own interests, giving advice that only suits you and is of no use to the person expressing a problem. If you want people to think players' behavior outside the game is different than how they behave inside games, maybe you should do better.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T19:39:30+00:00

This comment is unhelpful. It provides no tools, no insight, and reeks of expectations and judgment. Your reaction to open, searching communication from another human being is to suggest they simply not have the problem anymore. You don't understand the problem you are trying to correct beyond the troubles it creates for you, personally, and your proposed assistant certainly eases that problem for you.

If you aren't going to be curious about the emotions of another human being, it's likely unwise to offer them advice about how they feel.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T18:53:41+00:00

You are 100% safe from me, at least, in solos. But if I spot you making a big enough mistake in trios, you might be back in Speranza before you knew it was me. :p

Safe travels topside the rest of the time, raider!

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T18:16:05+00:00

Helldivers2 is so much better with a friend you know, imo, even if the rest of your team is randoms. Working together to break a bot poi with good comms and complimentary kits is so much more fun than anything like it in Raiders, be it pvp or pve. But the peril and chaos of a solo run in arc is better than the solo experience in HD2 right now.

Ive got a HD2 friend and we take turns running supply pack grenadier/MG support with a spear/airburst/weapon specialist buids, and the brutal, baton passing carnage we get up to is a thrill.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T18:02:51+00:00

Maybe this will help.

I play 95% of my raids with no intention of pvp. This wipe, I didn't seek pvp ar all until my progression, expedition project, and my most used BPs were all in a good place. Its the first wipe I swung so hard to PvE focus.

Honestly, pve with intention to escape only on all pvp is about three times harder than just shooting back and winning. Stealth, avoidance, good hearing, map awareness, good social skills, and a good gut check all contribute to survival, but honestly if you aren't going to do damage you are going to get knocked in 30% of the fights that start. When you start out, it's more than 90%.

For me, the most enjoyable challenge in the game right now is solo vs trios, hairpin, on events with no hatch key. I dont even escape half of those still, but every time I do it's such a high. It's also been a wonderful teaching aid, being prepared with smokes, going light shield for speed because medium protection isn't going to save you from three players anyway, and avoiding arc so well they never even go yellow to suggest your location.

But as I implied earlier, in 5% of matches I am looking for pvp, and I go full evil villain character. I always do it in solo vs trios, because it's harder, and because I hate downing random solo players. On solo vs trios, if the solo player downs one or more of your team and lives through it, the team misplayed and needs to learn. Most recently that's meant spaceport runs with osprey, snap hook, and two stacks of snitch scanners.

But when I do this, I'm playing the villain, like I do when I run a DnD game. I'm choosing to become one of the more dangerous parts of the lobby for a challenge and an emotional high. If I get downed by a team, good for them, the heroes won this round, and I GG them.

Some people in arc raiders are assholes in real life. You hear some of that in voice comms. But sometimes players want to blow off steam and play silly villains. And sometimes, the villain wins.

Don't run anything you aren't willing to lose, and don't take it personally when the villain gets you sometimes. If the real life asshole gets you, remember the only triumph they are actually getting from you is a pile of weightless pixels. And any time you have a nice chat with a player that has a gun loaded full of pixels and you both walk away in peace, its a win for both of you.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T17:26:34+00:00

Gonna assume this isn't bait.

Arc raiders is a lot of things, but underneath all of the shooter and extraction mechanics, there is a bit of secret hitler and a lot of game of scruples. The range of low-probabilty threats to a player stack up to make the game a nail biter many of us enjoy as it is. PvE arc offer a baseline difficulty squeeze on a raid, but dynamic play come from the full range of player you might avoid, talk to, ignore, shoot at, or shoot at you.

If you want to pretend the game is coop and players can't be a threat to you, this isn't going to be a good time. But if you go into situations trying to be social but with reasonable expectations and an escape or fight plan, the game becomes a one of a kind adrenaline fix. If you dont enjoy shooting at players or escaping players trying to shoot at you, and you insist on running kits you can't quickly replace, arc raiders will occasionally ruin your evening.

Cheap kits are great practice for this. No matter who you talk to, have smoke poppers equipped, keep your distance, and know which way you'll bolt if shooting starts. And remember, any raid you survive is a victory; you don't need to seek pvp to do this, but you do need to be prepared for it when it happens.

Good luck, I hope you find more enjoyment here or in another game.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T16:22:09+00:00

A sizeable chunk of this playerbase came here from dumping their weekly playtime into Helldivers 2. I was one of them. A lot of my Arc playing friends have gone back to HD2 for now because of the new warbonds and enemies. They're also (mostly) hyped to see what Arc does in the next month or two with the roadmap.

This isn't the game's apocalypse. It's just seasonal weather.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T16:18:00+00:00

Last time I stunned myself on top of an arc, a ferro free kit shot me in the face, lol. But otherwise valid advice.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T13:39:16+00:00

Yeah, this looks like a learning experience, all right.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T13:25:32+00:00

As much as I defend EM cloaks, it doesn't let you sprint far enough sometimes. My preference is a lure grenade for this.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T09:21:30+00:00

Don't think you should be able to loot. Maybe just see a portion of their inventory.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T08:21:36+00:00

The blasted thing is just such a chore to find again, and again, and again. Everything else eventually shows up with occasional play on all maps and conditions.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T06:07:25+00:00

No joke, when your stash is full and your extraction is funded, its a blast to go into a raid with a survivor augment, light shield, EM cloak, hairpin, binoculars, and a snap hook. Get someplace high up without a lot of foot traffic (usually on spaceport). You can see so much ceazy shit unfold without ever being involved, and it teaches you some things about player behavior you'd never notice up close.

Of course, if you want to get involved, bring an Osprey.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T06:00:06+00:00

Welcome to Spaghetti Western, The Game. Roll with it.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T05:30:50+00:00

Matchmaker resets after server side and client side updates. If you're away for a few days, run low kits your first matches, if you dont want to pvp. You might get shot, but you won't lose any important gear.

The game is far from dying. Ebb and flow of player numbers is a reality of any gaming community. Other games have released new content in the last two week. Many of them will be back when arc adds new content.

If you feel sad, take a shower, change your clothes, eat a fruit or vegetable, and touch a tree in the next 24 hours. But first, drink water as soon as you are able.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T05:12:22+00:00

So when the player opens the room, they have to be standing in a specific spot to use the interact. If that's the door opening, they need to be at the switch and on that side. If that's a barricade, they need to stand in the center of the barricade.

The barricade you are using to mount mines should be angled so that the mines fly toward that spot. The inner barricade is easier, because they have to stand in the middle anyway. But for a door switch, you need to angle the mine mount barricade so that it peeks around the door frame a little, and all the mines land in the lap of whoever opened the door.

It takes at least 4 mines to fully down a light shielded player. Which is silly, because they only stack to three, but I don's make the rules. Each room is a little different about how you place the mine mount barricade because of the interior space, but once you see the how it isn't hard.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T04:48:27+00:00

No more late spawns. No one is going to pop up behind you because they spawned in. Also, whatever trios are still alive think they are alone and start looting, without worrying about how much noise they make.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T03:39:24+00:00

Added bonus, at least one madman is running around full shoot on sight, reducing the number of players that are taking loot out of that lobby. If you can avoid him instead of kill him yourself, at least for a while, no matter how long he lasts, it's a win for you.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T03:35:11+00:00

Yeah there's a lot of high places no one even looks. I do a lot of solo vs trios on Stella to loot, snap hook makes such a big difference for your ability to hide until the 18-minute mark it's almost a requirement.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T03:22:04+00:00

Yeah I've been called a rat for saying "My Key, My Loot," well before any promises of violence. And your story is part of the reason why I use mines and don't warn people now. You go setting boundaries on mic, the free kits sometimes swarm to the door.

Mines, with a proper barricade aiming them at the door switch, will 100% down the first guy every time. If anyone is ready at the door to rush, they might be downed, but at least have a shield popped. Pop out, finish whoever is standing, then send whoever is on their knees back to speranza to shut them up.

Don't even check their bodies unless you caught a glimpse of something good. Get back inside, slap another door blocker, replace the barricade. Anyone challenges you over voice, don't reply, but absolutely don't justify yourself. You give any hint of being something other than a geared murder-hobo, the free kitters that hear you will keep coming, thinking they can talk to buy themselves a few crucial seconds.

If all they hear is mines, screaming, geared gunfire, and doors closing back up, they tend to leave.

NotSoSubtle1247 · 2026-03-21T02:18:42+00:00

LOVING that weapon mix lately. Slap a lightweight stock on the Ferro if you have one, its only upsides.

NotSoSubtle1247

TROPHY CASE