The 'Free Kit' in Arc Raiders Is a Brilliant Feature That Is Currently Ruining the Endgame
There is nothing quite as humbling or infuriating as bringing top-tier gear into a raid only to be pecked to death by a swarm of players who literally have nothing to lose.
I saw a meme on the subreddit today that depicted anyone complaining about free loadouts as a hysterical "Karen," and I laughed. Then I went to fight the Queen, got swarmed by three squads of players wearing nothing but lint and holding rusty pistols, and I stopped laughing.
Let me be absolutely clear before the mob comes for me with their pitchforks and free hammers. I love the free loadout system. I think it is the single best innovation Embark Studios brought to the extraction genre. It removes the paralyzing "gear fear" that usually makes these games a miserable spreadsheet simulator.
When I want to just vibe with my friends on Stella Montis, run around like an idiot, and treat the game like a deathmatch, the free kit is a godsend. It lets us have fun without bankruptcy. It keeps the servers populated. It is necessary.
But right now, that same brilliant feature is actively poisoning the endgame.
The Economics of a Suicide Squad
Here is the scenario that is driving me, and apparently a lot of other "Karens," up the wall.
I gear up for a serious run. I bring my best armor, my fully upgraded weapons, and my expensive consumables. I am risking about 50,000 credits worth of gear because I want to take down a high-value target like the Queen or Matriach.
I get to the objective, and what do I find? I find five different teams of players running the free kit.
They have absolutely nothing to lose. Zero. If they die, they are back in the lobby and queuing again in ten seconds. If they kill me, they hit the lottery.
This creates a "suicide squad" mentality. They don't play tactically. They don't value their lives. They just throw bodies at me until I run out of ammo. It’s like fighting a swarm of mosquitoes, except the mosquitoes have shotguns and VOIP.
The Risk-Reward Ratio is Broken
This is where the math falls apart. In an extraction shooter, the thrill comes from the gamble. You wager your gear against the potential loot.
When I fight another geared player, it’s a fair wager. I want his stuff, he wants mine. But when I fight a free kit player, the wager is rigged.
I have everything to lose. He has nothing to lose.
If I kill him? I get... nothing. Maybe a bandage and a rusty gun that isn't worth the inventory slot. I actually lose money because I spent expensive ammo to kill him.
If he kills me? He gets the best loot in the game.
There is zero incentive for me to engage these players, but I have no choice because they are everywhere. They clog up the high-tier zones, turning tense tactical encounters into a chaotic mosh pit of people who don't care if they live or die.
We Need a Cover Charge
I am not asking Embark to remove the free kit. That would kill the game for casuals, and I use it too often to be that hypocritical.
What I am asking for is a barrier to entry for the big leagues.
High-tier activities like the Queen encounters, Night Raids, or specific hardcore map variants should have a minimum gear score requirement.
If you want to enter the zone where the best loot drops, you should have to put some skin in the game. You should be required to wear armor. You should have to bring a weapon that costs money.
This does two things. First, it ensures that everyone in that specific lobby has something to lose, which forces them to play more carefully and tactically. Second, it makes the PvP rewarding. If I win a fight at the Queen, I want to loot a body that actually has something on it.
Keep the Chaos, Just Contain It
Let Stella Montis be the PVP thunderdome. Let the casual maps be a free-for-all where naked players run wild. That energy is fun, and it serves a purpose.
But the endgame needs to be protected. It feels awful to spend 30 minutes preparing for a raid, only to be chipped to death by a squad that is treating the game like Call of Duty because they paid nothing to be there.
So yes, maybe I am being a "Karen." Maybe I am the guy in the meme yelling at the manager. But when the manager lets people into the VIP section without checking their tickets, the VIP section stops being special really fast.
I want to fight you. I just want you to wear a shirt when I do it.
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