ARC Raiders Squad Guide: Build and Keep a Trio

TLDR

ARC Raiders lets you play solo or in parties of up to three, and Embark says matchmaking prioritizes equal squad sizes where it can. Since July, the game also tracks your playstyle separately for solo, duo, and trio rounds. Use open party to pull friends in, agree on how you treat other raiders before you drop, and keep your proximity mic under control. The game was ninth on GamesChart's week 45 Steam list with a 30-day peak of 185,443 players, so finding people is not the hard part. Finding the right people is.

How squads and matchmaking work

The cap is three. Embark's launch overview says matchmaking will prioritize squads against squads and solos against solos. Its matchmaking notes add two goals: fairness, which includes matching equal squad sizes, and enjoyment, which it pursues by matching players on playstyle. Playstyle is a sliding scale, not a friendly lobby and a hostile lobby. Similarity is "more likely, not guaranteed."

Three details matter for a group:

• Everyone counts. Per the same notes, each squad member influences the squad profile and the leader has no special weight. One player who starts every fight changes the lobbies the whole trio sees.
• Squad size has its own history. Update 1.36.0 split playstyle tracking, so a friendly solo player can run PvP-heavy trios without one habit bleeding into the other.
• Defending is treated differently. Update 1.39.0 began testing a change where only fights you start count toward your playstyle. If another squad hits any of your squadmates first, your whole squad counts as defending. Jumping into a fight already underway counts as starting one. Embark called it a test, so check the current notes.

Solo players at level 40 and up can also use a Solo vs Squad toggle that puts them in the squads queue with a 20 percent XP bonus. A trio may meet one of them.

Get friends into one squad

Update 1.13.0 added open party. Set your party to open and Embark and platform friends can join without a fresh invite each time, even while you are in a round and waiting in the lobby for the next match. Squadmates can invite people too, not only the leader, and linked Discord friends can be invited or join an open party.

Practical steps:

1. Everyone adds each other by Embark ID or platform friends list before the session.
2. One person opens the party and the others join from the friends list.
3. After a round, stay in the lobby so a late friend can slot in.
4. Check platforms. Steam lists cross-platform multiplayer, and Embark's notes say turning crossplay on or off changes the matchmaking pool and wait time, not the tone of encounters. Our cross-platform squads guide covers mixed groups.
5. If someone is on Xbox, note that hotfix 2.4.1 on November 5 fixed several Xbox crashes, and Embark's 2.3.0 notes still list Xbox instability as a known issue.

Voice, pings, and strangers

Embark's communication help page says squads can ping objects, locations, ARC, and other players. Voice chat is in Settings, under Audio, and each mode can be open mic or push to talk. Proximity voice chat reaches raiders outside your squad, which the page frames as a chance to persuade them to become allies.

That makes proximity a social tool and a leak. Anything you say on an open proximity mic can be heard by whoever is close. Put proximity on push to talk, keep plans on party voice, and use pings for callouts. If talking to strangers makes you tense, these voice chat tips help, and pings carry a lot.

Playing well as a trio

These are suggestions, not game rules.

• Name a caller. One voice decides when to loot, when to leave, and whether to talk to the squad ahead.
• Split the work. One player watches for other raiders, one handles ARC threats, one manages loot and the extraction route.
• Stay within reach. Reviving a downed squadmate means getting to them, so do not scatter across a map.
• Decide your tone together. The matchmaker looks at all three of you, so a quiet trio and an aggressive trio get different rounds.

What to agree before you drop

1. Posture toward other raiders. Do you approach, avoid, or hold fire unless fired on? Agree on who may start a conversation or a fight.
2. Mic rules. Who talks on proximity, and on what button.
3. Extraction plan. Pick a time or condition to leave, so nobody gets greedy alone.
4. Loot and gear. Settle who carries what and how you handle a squadmate's lost kit.
5. A reset signal. A word that means stop, regroup, and leave.

The good teammate checklist covers the habits behind most of these.

If your friends list is thin

Open party helps once you have a few names, so build the list. Play a few solo rounds on the friendly end of the scale and use proximity voice with players who are clearly cooperative. Add the ones who play the way you do, and ask them for a trio. The complete LFG guide has post templates. A teammate-matching app such as Player 2 can pair you with players who own the game and play when you do.

What may change

As of November 5, 2026, Embark runs weekly store updates and fixes every three weeks. A PvE matchmaking toggle test ended on October 20 after more than 30 million PvE rounds. Embark said it expects to follow up in November and did not say whether PvE servers will stay. In that test, squad separation was not prioritized, so groups of different sizes met more often. Treat all of this as likely to shift and recheck the patch notes before you plan around it.