A Guide to ARC Raiders' Trials: How to Stop Being a 'Rookie' and Get Free Loot

Guide
Written By NLM Team

So you just hit level 15, and now the game is yelling at you about "Trials". You're probably confused, and you might even have gotten a few random reward boxes without knowing why.

Let's clear this up. Trials are not a new questline. It's a weekly ranked, high-score chase, and it's your main path to some of the best cosmetics in the game.

How the Hell Do Trials Actually Work?

When you open the Trials menu, you'll see five objectives, like "Damage Hornets" or "Search Supply Drops". These five challenges reset every week.

This is the part that everyone gets wrong: This is NOT a cumulative marathon. The number on that screen is your single best score from one successful raid.

And that brings me to the most important rule, the one that's making you rage: If you fail to extract, you get zero progress. You can spend 40 minutes killing 100 Ticks, but if you get domed at the extraction, your score for that trial is a fat, round zero.

For each of the five trials, you can get three reward boxes by hitting point thresholds—usually 1,000, 2,500, and 4,000 points. These are the green, blue, and purple boxes you've been getting. They show up right in your stash and usually contain random blueprints, weapons, or items.

How to Rank Up (And What You Get)

Your total score from all five trials is placed on a weekly leaderboard with 100 other players. This is your "rank."

At the end of the week, your placement determines if you rank up.

  • Rank 1-30: You climb two ranks (e.g., Rookie I to Rookie III).

  • Rank 31-60: You climb one rank.

  • Rank 61-100: You stay right where you are.

Why rank up? For the real rewards. These are permanent cosmetic unlocks that are automatically claimed when you hit a new tier.

This is how you get the good stuff. "Rookie" ranks give you the Happy Jig Emote and Black Eye Face Style. "Tryhard" gets you the Archeologist Backpack. "Wildcard" nets you a Mastery Medal Charm and the Bow and Arrow Emote. And "Daredevil" finally gets you that sweet Patrol Outfit.

The One Simple Trick to Ranking Up Fast

So, how do you get a massive score and dominate the leaderboard?

It's simple: Do your trials during Night Raids.

Any "major map event", which right now is just the Night Raid, gives you double points for all trial objectives.

Yes, it's way riskier. There are fewer extraction points, and other raiders are way more aggressive. But the payoff is huge. One good night raid where you focus on a single objective, like damaging Hornets, can be enough to get you 4,000+ points for that trial and carry you to the top of the leaderboard for the week.

So, stop trying to do all five at once. Pick one objective, load into a night raid, farm it like crazy, and get out alive.

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NLM Team
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