In ARC Raiders, survival is never about luck - it depends on your preparation and choices before each encounter. As you graduate from the initial Light Shield and begin pursuing a more reliable margin for error on the battlefield, Medium Shield becomes your most solid defensive line.
While not as lightweight as Light Shield, it gives you real confidence when pushing, holding positions, and counter-attacking. This article will teach you how to acquire and use Medium Shield in ARC Raiders.
About Medium Shield
Medium Shield is a rare defensive item in ARC Raiders, providing 70 shield points and 42.5% damage reduction. It weighs approximately 7 kg and slightly reduces movement speed by 5%.
However, you also need to know that shields don't function like a second health bar - they only reduce damage taken. Therefore, even when the shield is fully charged, you will still lose health with each attack. This means that health management is just as important as keeping the shield charged.
Generally, prioritize charging the shield when your health is above 50%, and use healing items like bandages when your health is below 50%. Remember, a full shield won't save you when your health is extremely low.
How to Obtain?
Prerequisites
Many ARC Raiders players make this mistake: finding ARC Raiders Medium Shield in Topside and immediately trying to equip it, only to find that their enhancement mods don't support it. You need to know that early in the game, enhancement mods are only compatible with Light Shield.
To unlock Medium Shield, you need to obtain a Combat MK. 1 or Tactical MK. 1 enhancement component. The specific process is as follows:
First, obtain a basic free-configuration enhancement resource. You can find it during extraction missions or craft it at the equipment workbench.
Then, take this resource to Lance at Speranza Clinic to obtain the upgraded enhancement. Once you equip Combat MK1 or Tactical MK1 enhancement at the equipment workbench, Medium Shield will be unlocked.
Farming Maps
Medium Shields appear in Mechanical and Military loot pools, so prioritize areas with Tech Chests, Industrial Machines, and Raider Camps. Avoid civilian areas, as Military-grade equipment rarely spawns there.
The most reliable way to obtain them is by searching for undiscovered chests on specific maps. Players report high chest spawn rates in Buried City, Dam Battlegrounds, Spaceport, and The Blue Gate - especially in less competitive areas at the map edges.
Playing during off-peak hours can also increase your success rate. Once you acquire a valuable component from ARC Raiders, evacuate quickly; hesitation often results in losing your hard-earned equipment.
Crafting
If you find farming maps too inefficient, you can craft them at Equipment Workbench. The recipe requires 4 Batteries and 1 ARC Circuitry. Lance will sell these items for 6,000 coins after you reach account level 12, with a daily limit of 3 purchases.
How to Use?
Recharging Your Shield
In ARC Raiders raids, if your shield energy runs out, you'll need to use consumables to restore it. The basic ARC Energy Battery restores two bars of shield energy and can be obtained from defeated ARC machines, ARC pods, and couriers.
Shield Recharger restores four bars of shield energy and can be crafted at a crafting table. For faster energy restoration, you can choose Surge Shield Recharger, which restores five bars of Medium Shield energy at once. It can be obtained from Medical Lab or Lance for 3,600 coins.
Shield Repair Strategies
One of the most effective long-term strategies for maintaining a Medium Shield supply is to utilize a simple material management cycle. Crafting a shield requires 4 Batteries and 1 ARC Circuitr. Repairing a damaged shield requires 1 Battery and 1 Arc Circuitr, restoring approximately 50 durability points.
However, due to the scarcity of ARC Circuitrs, repairing severely damaged shields is often inefficient. Instead, you can recycle damaged shields for 1 ARC Circuit, then use that circuit and 4 Batteries to craft a new shield.
This creates what players call an infinite shield loop, which is generally more material-efficient than repeated repairs.
Strategic Usage in Combat
Medium Shield excels in intense ARC Raider PvP combat. The extra durability gives you more leeway when breaking through doorways or gaining advantageous positions, allowing you to survive longer in prolonged battles than opponents using Medium Shield.
While the item does incur a slight movement speed penalty, it's minimal, and you can still effectively reposition yourself.
To mitigate the 5% movement speed reduction, invest skill points in Used to the Weight skill in Conditioning branch of Skill Tree, which reduces the movement speed penalty from heavy shields.
In combat, you can apply pressure to your opponent. If you take damage, use grenades or smoke grenades to create space and quickly reset your shield or health based on your condition, then confidently peek out again to fire.
If you want to build a PvP loadout around Medium Shield, consider pairing it with Stitcher. It's extremely cost-effective in intense combat and can help you deal with most enemies.
This concludes our article on how to obtain and use Medium Shield in ARC Raiders. This item grants players sufficient durability to maintain an advantage in combat and avoid immediate defeat.
Finally, a reminder: Medium Shield is suitable for players who intend to hold their ground and win the battle, rather than fleeing the battlefield. If your strategy relies on dodging all enemy attacks, then Light Shield is the best choice.
