Arc Raider is an extraction shooter, and that means it's a shooter with a bit more depth and more game systems than most. Many of these mechanics relate to crafting and progression, whether it's through loot systems or a ranking system.
The ranking system in Arc Raiders is very different from the ranking systems in most other shooters, especially non-extraction shooters. Rankings in Arc Raiders aren't about competitive PvP progression, at least not always. Instead, it's about timed, weekly challenges that you'll complete in hopes of getting a higher score than other players.
What are exams?
Trials in Arc Raiders are weekly challenges that are shared between players. Specifically, you will be placed in a random group of 100 players who will all compete for some of the highest scores.
How to place in exams
They exist there are five different exams available each weekeach of which represents a different task. For example, Damage Wasps, Destroy Fireballs, Download Data and more are all possible tasks included in Trials. Instead of your progress carrying over between raids, the game will record any of your most impressive raids as your score.
For example, if you scored 400 in one raid and 100 in another, your score would not be 500. Your score would be 400.
Yours high scores on all five exams are then added up for your weekly rank pointsand that is the point value that is in competition with other players.
At the end of the week, the top third of players rank up twice, the middle third of players rank up once, and the bottom third of players stay where they are.
Trial Rewards
There are several different reward paths in the trials.
- Each individual Trial in a given week will reward you with one cash for various milestoneswhich are 1000, 2500 and 4000 points. This is separate for each individual trial and does not represent a competition for direction with another player.
- At the end of the week, your current Rank will reward you with other rewards. Every single rank from Rookie I gives you a new reward, meaning the further up the ranks you go, the more rewards you get.
How to place quickly in exams
Each map has a certain part of the challenge mode active, be it a Night Raid, Electromagnetic Storm or something else. There will be a 2x symbol in the upper left corner of the box describing what a particular map variant is and any map variant with that symbol will reward you with double your exam scores.
For Trials level-up runs, you'll want to load into them, at least if you're trying to compete for first place. You'll also want your gear to be specifically tailored to complete this quest at the highest possible level, and this will vary depending on what the quest is.
