ARC Raiders Dev Admits They Need To Fix Weapon Balance; “Cost Should Not Fill A Skill Gap”

ARC Raiders design lead Virgil Watkins has admitted that they need to rebalance the game’s expensive, high-level weapons.

In an interview with GamesRadar, he said this:

I think we’re definitely a bit off on some of the cost to benefit ratios, certainly on those [higher-tier] weapons. It was trying to follow a curve of, by spending more and more money, you’re gaining an edge.

Not a clear one, like, I’m using a purple weapon, therefore I win this fight, period. We don’t want that. Cost should not inherently fill a skill gap or a tactical awareness gap or things like that.

Virgil also explained that the original intent is that:

…any given weapon in capable hands should be capable of winning a fight if you’re playing smartly.

Virgil is open to changing how weapon rarity works, and also how weapons are priced. But ARC Raiders is not like Borderlands; as an extraction shooter, Embark Studios can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.