How to kill the Matriarch in Arc Raiders

The Matriarch is Arc Raiders’ most powerful enemy at time of writing, a huge evolution of the Queen that summons other enemies, is covered in plate armor, can use force field shields, missile strikes, and far more. There is no greater threat in the game, and if you choose to fight one, you’ll need to bring the best equipment possible, and come with at least three allies to help you, all similarly equipped.

But even then there’s no guarantees of anything, so to give you the best chance possible, we’ll lay out the Matriarch’s weakness, the best weapons to use against it, and what you need to know about strategies. We’ll even lay out the rewards and loot you can get, so you know if it’s worth it or not.

Arc Raiders Matriarch weaknesses

The main weakness of the Matriarch in Arc Raiders is the Core, followed by the Leg Joints. The Core is kept inside the main body, a huge red spherical reactor, but you’ll need to crack the armor plating around it to reach that.

The best way to do that is to launch attacks on the curved top of the Matriarch’s body, the little concave cap, which breaks away more easily than most other armor sections, but obviously is not easy to get to. If you can shatter that, you can access the core easily. If you can Snap Hook up there and put a Deadline mine on it, you’ll do huge damage! Alternatively, her face plates are also weaker than most armored sections, but this does put you squarely in her crosshairs.

The other weakness, as mentioned, is the leg joints, or knees. These aren’t quite as vulnerable as the core, but if you can break them, you can break off the Matriarch’s legs, which does do damage and reduces its ability to stomp on players. If you’re targeting these, better to communicate with your allies which ones to focus fire on.

Best Loadout and Weapons to defeat the Matriarch in Arc Raiders

To kill the Matriarch, you’ll need long range, armor-piercing weapons and explosives that are also ammo-friendly, as this is a long fight and you don’t want to run out (alternatively, just fill your backpack with spare bullets). Here are some examples of gear to bring with you:

• Anvil: The Anvil is one of the best Arc Raiders guns, and if you upgrade it to level 4, it’ll serve you very well. Long-range, armor-piercing, pretty good with ammo, and with a strong damage multiplier when targeting weak points.
• Hullcracker: Use this grenade launcher to break the armor on the Matriarch, before swapping to the Anvil to shoot the exposed areas afterwards.
• Wolfpack Grenades: You should save these for quickly handling the high-peril summoned Arc robots. A Wolfpack can destroy a Bastion or Rocketeer nearly instantly and with little challenge, taking major perils off the field that could otherwise spell doom for many.
• Snap Hook and Deadline: This high-risk/high-reward combo is famous for a reason, ziplining up onto the main body and planting high level explosives on either the core or the armor protecting it. You’ll need to escape quickly afterwards though.
• Either Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive) or Tactical Mk. 3 (Defensive) Augment: Playing defensively and for durability is essential here. It’s not impossible to evade its attacks, but ultimately you want to be insulated for when you make a mistake.
• High level healing items: Shield charging and healing alike: this is the moment to bring all the high-level healing items you’ve been saving in storage.
• Defibrillator: Make sure you’re healing your teammates and even other teams, as defeating a Matriarch is a collaborative effort and ultimately you’ll need everybody if you’re going to have a chance.
• Ziplines: If you don’t have a Snap Hook, the ability to quickly transport across the map is still useful, and there’s merit in bringing these with you, especially if it’s somewhere your allies can also use.