If you have been dropping into Arc Raiders recently, you have probably seen the arguments about free loadouts blow up, especially since Stella Montis went live. The chat, forums, and even in-game comms are full of it. Some players want them nerfed so hard they are useless. Others think they should just be removed. There’s even that odd suggestion to delay those loadout users from spawning until halfway through the match. But honestly, none of these takes seem to get to the heart of why it feels so off-balance.
Stella Montis makes the problem worse, no doubt. It’s a tight, high-pressure map that throws you into fights fast. You barely have time to get your bearings before you have company. And most of the time? That company is the “naked runner” who queued with nothing but the free kit. It’s just a pistol, some ammo, a shield, and a couple meds—basic stuff. But in close quarters, that’s enough to put a geared player down if the free loadout guy pushes hard and catches you off guard.
Here’s the kicker. If you’ve spent your own stash on a good rifle, armour, and supplies, you play safe. You hold angles, check corners, avoid unnecessary risks. Losing that kit hurts. Gear fear is real, and it’s part of what makes Arc Raiders tense. Free loadout players don’t have that. They can sprint straight to every fight they hear, trade aggressively, and if they die… so what? They just requeue. If they win, they walk away with all your hard-earned loot. It’s low risk, high reward, and it changes the way battles unfold—especially on maps built for quick clashes.
Cutting free loadouts entirely would wreck the experience for newbies and anyone in a slump, creating a huge gap between rich and broke players. Weakening the free kit too much just kills any hope of making a comeback. And delaying their spawns only frustrates them, without fixing the mindset that makes the playstyle so aggressive. The truth is, free gear itself isn’t the villain—it’s how the game currently rewards that rush-it-anyway approach, which disrupts the tactical rhythm lots of us enjoy.
The best fix needs to change incentives without shutting newcomers out. Give reasons for even free-kit runners to slow down, maybe by tying more rewards to survival time or objectives completed. Shift the focus from pure rush-and-loot to smart play. That way, you keep the game accessible, but fights feel fairer. Right now, if things stay as they are—especially with maps like Stella Montis—the gap between cautious players and reckless ones will keep widening, and it will not be in a good way for the long-term health of Arc Raiders. That balance needs to come back, for everyone’s sake, and that includes anyone swinging a so-called “starter” gun or hauling top-tier ARC Raiders weapons.
