Key takeaways
- Weight class — how much of the ceiling the augment consumes.
- Stamina regen modifier — the direct movement tax you pay for carrying it.
- Slot value — extra inventory slots, which convert straight into loot per successful extract.
The short answer: for most Arc Raiders players the best augment is the mid-weight combat class paired with a medium shield — it eats roughly half your gear-weight budget and about 12% of your stamina regen, and in return it gives you the handling and survivability to win a 1v1 at a contested extract. Solo players should drop down to the scout or utility class; only a squad’s dedicated anchor can justify the heavy class.
That ranking is a budget decision, not a tier list. Augments compete with your shield and your weapons for the same weight ceiling, and the augment that looks strongest on its item card is often the one quietly costing you a sprint.
The one mechanic that decides every augment pick
An augment is the single gear piece that modifies your Raider’s baseline stats — carry capacity, stamina, weapon handling, or team utility. It is not a shield and not a weapon mod; those are separate slots, and all of them draw from the same gear-weight ceiling.
Cross that ceiling and you enter the heavy bracket: stamina regen drops, sprint duration shortens, and your ability to disengage gets worse. Because extraction shooters are won by leaving rather than by fighting, the stamina tax is usually the true cost of an augment — not the stat it advertises.
Three numbers decide the trade:
- Weight class — how much of the ceiling the augment consumes.
- Stamina regen modifier — the direct movement tax you pay for carrying it.
- Slot value — extra inventory slots, which convert straight into loot per successful extract.
Embark Studios rebalances these values most seasons, per the game’s official patch notes, so read the table below as ratios rather than fixed decimals. The ratios are the part that stays stable.
Augment classes compared
| Augment class | Weight (of ~10) | Stamina regen | Inventory slots | Pairs best with | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scout / lightweight | 2 | 0% | +0 | Light shield | Solo roaming, hit-and-run |
| Utility / looting | 3 | −5% | +4 | Light or medium shield | Loot runs, budget kits |
| Support / medic | 4 | −8% | +2 | Medium shield | Squad raids, revives |
| Combat / reinforced | 5 | −12% | +1 | Medium shield | 1v1 duels, contested extracts |
| Heavy / juggernaut | 7 | −20% | +0 | Heavy shield | Defensive holds, anchor role |
Best overall: the mid-weight combat class
The combat class is the only one that lets you take a real fight and leave it. Five weight leaves room for a medium shield and a two-weapon kit without tipping into the heavy bracket, and the −12% stamina regen is small enough that you still get a full sprint out of a bad fight.
Who it suits: anyone queueing into a normal raid with a standard kit and no fixed plan. Main trade-off: you carry almost no extra inventory, so you are choosing fights over loot volume. If your goal this raid is to fill a backpack, this is the wrong class.
Best budget pick: the utility / looting class
Three weight, a −5% regen tax, and +4 inventory slots. On paper it looks like a passive choice; in practice it is the highest-earning augment in the game, because slot count is the only stat that directly converts to extracted value. It also leaves enough ceiling for a light shield and a full weapon kit, which means cheap replacement costs when you die.
Who it suits: players rebuilding a stash, and anyone running a route they already know. Trade-off: you lose the 1v1 consistency of the combat class, so you should be avoiding fights rather than accepting them.
Best for solo runs: the scout class
Solo, your only real defense is disengagement. The scout class costs 2 weight with a 0% stamina penalty, which means you keep maximum sprint uptime and can break contact from a squad that outnumbers you. Pair it with a light shield and an assault rifle such as the Ferro, and you fight only on your own terms.
Trade-off: no inventory bonus and no damage mitigation. One bad engagement is fatal, and you have no team to trade you back in.
Best for squad raids: support, with one heavy anchor
In a three-stack, only one player should take the heavy class. Team utility scales with squad size in a way that solo play never rewards — a support augment that speeds revives or restores a teammate’s shield is worth more across three players than the same weight spent on personal soak. The anchor runs heavy with a heavy shield and holds angles; everyone else runs support or combat.
Trade-off: the anchor is slow and becomes the squad’s problem if they get isolated. Two heavy builds in one squad usually means two dead players instead of one.
Worked calculation: what a premium augment actually costs you per raid
Augments are consumable on death, so the real comparison is expected cost, not sticker price. Take two kits:
- Utility kit: replace cost ~1,500 in-game currency, extract survival rate ~65%.
- Premium combat kit: replace cost ~8,000, extract survival rate ~72%.
Expected loss per raid = replacement cost × loss rate.
- Utility: 0.35 × 1,500 = 525 per raid.
- Premium: 0.28 × 8,000 = 2,240 per raid.
- Difference: ~1,715 per raid for a 7-point survival bump.
To break even, the premium augment has to pull roughly one extra high-value item out of every single raid you bring it into — not every few raids, every raid. Meanwhile the utility class’s +4 slots generate that loot directly, without the 7-point risk premium. That is why the “best” augment is frequently the cheap one: the stat line wins duels, but the slot count wins the economy. Substitute your own survival estimates and the conclusion holds as long as the premium kit costs more than about 4× the budget kit.
Augment, weapon and shield compatibility matrix
| Your situation | Augment class | Shield tier | Weapon pairing | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo, looting a known route | Utility | Light | SMG (Rattler-class) + pistol | Speed to leave; +4 slots pays the run |
| Solo, hunting other raiders | Scout | Light | Assault rifle (Ferro-class) | Zero stamina tax wins the fights you choose |
| Duo or trio, standard raid | Combat | Medium | AR + shotgun (Il Toro-class) | Trades one sprint for 1v1 consistency |
| Squad with a dedicated support | Support | Medium | AR + SMG | Utility value scales with team size |
| Holding a building or extract | Heavy | Heavy | Shotgun or LMG | You are not sprinting anyway; maximise soak |
| High-value run with friends | Utility | Medium | SMG + shotgun | Slots beat soak when the team covers you |
How to choose in 30 seconds
- Add up your weight before you pick the augment. Shield + augment + weapons should land at 8–9 of your ~10 ceiling. If you are already at 10 with no backpack, you are in the heavy bracket by accident.
- Pick the augment first, the shield second. Shields are easier to swap mid-raid — you can often upgrade off a downed enemy. Augments cannot be replaced in the field, so they should absorb the compromise.
- Cap your augment at 3 weight if you rotate fast. Above that, the regen penalty starts costing you escapes, and escapes are how you keep the kit.
- Downgrade if your kit costs more than about 3× what you typically extract. That is the point where the risk premium stops paying for itself.
- Match class to role, not to mood. Solo means scout or utility. Squad means support or combat, with a single heavy anchor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do augments stack in Arc Raiders?
No. You have a single augment slot, so the choice is exclusive — you cannot run a scout class and a utility class at the same time. The stacking decisions happen between the augment, your shield tier and your weapon loadout, because those all draw from the same gear-weight budget.
What is the best augment for solo players?
The scout class for fighting, the utility class for looting. Solo, your survival depends on breaking contact, so a 0% stamina penalty is worth more than any damage mitigation the heavier classes offer. If your goal is filling a backpack rather than winning duels, the utility class’s +4 slots usually out-earn the scout class across a session.
Should I bring my best augment into every raid?
No. Augments are lost on death, so the expected cost per raid scales with replacement price. A premium kit costing around 8,000 has to generate roughly one extra high-value item every raid just to break even against a budget kit. Run premium augments only on routes you know well and expect to survive.
Does augment weight slow you down, or only drain stamina?
Both, depending on how far over the ceiling you go. Within the normal bracket you mainly pay a stamina-regen penalty, which shortens how long you can sprint. Push into the heavy bracket and you also lose sprint duration and general mobility, which is the part that gets players killed at extracts.
Which shield tier pairs with a heavy augment?
Heavy with heavy, and only on a squad anchor who is holding ground rather than moving. A heavy augment plus a medium shield wastes the augment’s soak and still leaves you slow, so you get the downside of both. If you want a heavy shield for the raw mitigation, run a combat or support augment underneath it instead.
Are augments worth it compared to spending that weight on a better shield?
Usually yes, because shields are easier to replace mid-raid and augments are the only gear piece that adds inventory slots. The exception is a build that never loots — a pure extract-camp or defensive loadout gets more from shield tier than from any augment class, since slot value is worthless if you are not carrying anything out.
