ARC Raiders Best Secondary Weapons — Pistols, SMGs & Melee Compared

Secondary Weapon Class Quick Reference

Why the Secondary Slot Matters More Than Players Realize

The secondary weapon is the slot most players treat as an afterthought, and it's the slot that decides the most surprise fights. Your primary handles the engagements you plan for — the AR fights at medium range, the precision rifle holds long sightlines, the shotgun controls a held corner. The secondary handles the engagements you didn't plan for. The Raider who pushes you while you're reloading. The Crawler that closes the distance during your scope sequence. The doorway you rounded with a magnified scope when you needed a hipfire response.

Because surprise fights are by definition unscripted, the secondary's job is to be reliable rather than optimal. A heavy specialized secondary that you fumble during the swap costs more fights than a simple high-capacity pistol that swaps cleanly every time. Practice the swap keybind until it's muscle memory — fumbling the secondary at a corner is the most common preventable death in CQB.

Match the secondary to the range gap your primary leaves open. An AR primary covers medium range well but loses CQB to a faster-handling weapon — fill that gap with an SMG or shotgun. A precision rifle primary loses everything close, so its secondary should be the most flexible CQB weapon you can carry. A shotgun primary covers very short range but loses everything else — its secondary needs medium-range answer capability, which a compact SMG or even another AR can fill.

Pistol vs SMG vs Melee Head-to-Head

Verdict: For most players, a compact SMG is the highest-value secondary because it actively wins fights rather than serving as a passive backup. Pistols are the right pick when weight budget is tight or when your primary already handles CQB. Melee is a specialized choice for stealth-focused runs where the audio discipline matters more than raw damage output.

When to Run a Pistol Secondary

The pistol is the lightweight default. It costs almost nothing in weight or inventory, swaps quickly, and gives you a functional weapon when both primaries are dry or jammed. The classic mistake is dropping the pistol slot to save weight for one extra piece of loot — players who do this consistently regret it during extended firefights when reload timing leaves them defenseless mid-fight.

Choose a pistol secondary when your primary already handles CQB well (an SMG primary or a shotgun primary) and you don't need a second CQB weapon. The pistol's job in this configuration is pure emergency backup — it covers the rare scenario where your CQB primary runs dry or jams during a fight. The minimal weight cost means you sacrifice nothing for the insurance value.

Pistol mod priority is recoil reduction and suppressor (if available). The suppressor matters because pistol gunfire is a loud signature that travels widely, and a suppressed pistol can finish a wounded Raider without alerting nearby squads. Recoil reduction helps with follow-up shots in the emergency scenarios where the pistol matters most. Magazine extension is a third-priority mod — useful but rarely decisive in the role the pistol plays.

When to Run a Compact SMG Secondary

The compact SMG is the most actively useful secondary in ARC Raiders. Paired with an AR or precision rifle primary, it converts the loadout into a true all-range threat — the primary handles medium and long range, the SMG decisively wins CQB. Players who swap to the SMG before pushing a doorway, rounding a blind corner, or entering a tight indoor room consistently outperform players who try to do the same thing with an AR at hipfire.

The weight cost is the tradeoff. A compact SMG weighs more than a pistol and competes for inventory space with extra magazines or consumables. The compensation is that the SMG actively wins fights instead of passively backing up — across many runs, the SMG produces more kills, more extractions, and more loot than a pistol secondary in the same loadout. The currency value of those marginal wins typically exceeds the weight-budget cost.

Compact SMG mod priority is laser sight (improves hipfire precision when you peek without full ADS commit), extended magazine (gives you enough rounds to finish a fight without reloading), and ergonomic grip (faster ADS for the rare scope-up moment). Suppressor is situational — useful for stealth runs but increases weight in a slot already heavier than a pistol. Optic is generally not needed; iron sights or laser sight are sufficient at the SMG's effective range.

Secondary by Primary — Best Pairings

Verdict: Most loadouts pair an AR or precision primary with a compact SMG secondary. SMG-primary or shotgun-primary loadouts pair best with a high-capacity pistol secondary because the CQB role is already covered. Match secondary to the range gap your primary leaves open rather than picking the same class as the primary.

Secondary Weapon Mod Priority

1. Suppressor (if available) — biggest practical impact on secondary because secondary fire is usually emergency or finishing fire where stealth matters.
2. Recoil reduction — keeps the burst on target when you swap under pressure.
3. Extended magazine — gives you enough rounds to finish a fight without a reload that you don't have time for.
4. Laser sight (SMG) — improves hipfire precision when peeking corners without full ADS.
5. Ergonomic grip — faster ADS speed for the rare scope-up moment on SMG; helps swap speed indirectly.
6. Optic — generally low priority on secondary; iron sights or laser sight cover SMG and pistol effective ranges.

Melee as a Niche Pick

Melee weapons occupy the most specialized secondary slot. Their advantage is silence — a melee kill produces no gunfire signature, no muzzle flash, and no nearby-squad alert. For stealth-focused runs where audio discipline matters more than raw damage output, a melee secondary is a powerful tool. Solo runs in tight indoor zones, where you might encounter a single soft ARC unit or a Raider mid-loot, are the textbook melee scenarios.

The cost is severe range and reliability limitations. Melee requires point-blank distance and exposes you to retaliation during the swing animation. Against an aware opponent, melee is a losing trade in nearly every scenario. Reserve melee for runs where the opponent is unaware (sleeping ARC patrol pattern, looting Raider) and the audio cost of gunfire is genuinely prohibitive. For routine play, the SMG and pistol secondaries outperform melee on most metrics.

If you commit to a melee secondary, plan the entire loadout around it. Stealth-focused primary (suppressed weapon if available), light armor for movement, crouch-walk discipline as the default movement mode, and audio gear to detect targets before they detect you. A melee secondary in a loud loadout is wasted — the audio discipline that makes melee worth running has to extend across the whole kit.

Common Secondary Weapon Mistakes

• Dropping the secondary slot to save inventory weight for one extra piece of loot — emergency scenarios cost more than the slot saves.
• Carrying a secondary of the same class as the primary — wastes the range coverage benefit a different class provides.
• Putting premium mods on the secondary while the primary is still under-modded — primary fire decides more fights than secondary fire.
• Treating the secondary as decorative — players who never practice the swap fail to use the secondary when it matters.
• Running melee without the rest of the stealth loadout — melee is a stealth specialty pick, not a general-purpose tool.
• Ignoring suppressor on the secondary — the silent finish from a suppressed pistol or SMG is one of the most valuable secondary capabilities.
• Carrying a heavy secondary that competes with primary weight — your primary should always be the heaviest weapon in the kit.