ARC Raiders Augments Explained

An augment is the single piece of gear that decides more about your raid than any weapon choice: it sets your backpack size and carry weight, how many quick-use slots you have, how many safe pockets protect items from an on-death drop, which shield tier you're allowed to run, and whatever passive bonus that specific augment carries. Pick the wrong augment for the raid you're about to run and no weapon loadout fixes it.

The three augment families

Augments split into three broad types, and the split maps directly onto the three things a raid actually asks of you: surviving fights, carrying loot out, and reacting fast mid-raid.

Combat augments are built around shields and grenade capacity, the pick when you're expecting direct engagements, PvP-heavy zones, or a Bastion/Queen-class fight. Looting augments are built around carry capacity (backpack slots, weight limit, and safe pockets), the choice when the raid's goal is maximizing what you extract rather than your win rate in a firefight. Tactical augments are built around quick-use slots and shield recharge speed, suited to a reactive playstyle that leans on gadgets and fast shield cycling over raw carry or combat stats.

What "safe pockets" actually protect

Safe pockets are slots that don't get dropped on death the way your general inventory does. That makes them the mechanic worth understanding before you pick an augment for a high-value raid: an augment with more safe pockets (the Looting-class Safekeeper variant is the commonly cited example) lets you carry your best weapons or rarest finds through a raid without the same downside-on-death exposure a standard Looting augment carries.

A reasonable default, and when to deviate

For most raids, a mid-to-high tier Looting augment is the sensible default: strong backpack and weight capacity, several safe pockets, enough quick slots to still carry meaningful combat utility, and, on some variants, a passive that helps you survive a downed state long enough for a teammate to reach you. It isn't the optimal pick for every raid, but it's rarely a bad one.

Deviate toward Combat or Tactical specifically when you already know the raid's shape in advance: heading into a Harvester Event or a zone known for heavy PvP contact favors Combat's shield and grenade capacity; a raid built around fast rotations and gadget cycling favors Tactical.

Related reading

For the skill-tree perks that stack on top of whichever augment you're running, see ARC Raiders Skill Tree: Full Reference.