ARC Raiders: The 5 Best Builds to Survive Stella Montis (2026)

Since the opening of Stella Montis, ARC Raiders' most vertical and punishing POI, the question is no longer "which weapon to pick" but "which complete arsenal to bring to survive twenty-two minutes in an ARC fortress perched on snow-capped peaks". Season 3 (patch 3.4, June 2026) has shaken things up: a buff to the Voltaic, a slight nerf to the Ferro, the arrival of the Leviathan, and much more aggressive Wasp Swarm Elites. Here are precisely the five builds that the endgame community actually uses to clear the zone, open Prototype chests and come away with T5 blueprints, along with a precise methodology for preserving your medications, saving your AP ammo, and intelligently managing your limited inventory.

Stella Montis in 2026: why a real build changes everything

A former mining station converted into a fortress by the ARC machines, Stella Montis condenses everything the game has to offer that's most dangerous: denser patrols, tougher drones, rare extractions, and an exfil window that closes after twenty-two minutes. Loot there goes up to tier 5 (Prototype and Salvaged Prototype), but no armor below tier 4 can withstand a Sentinel shot. AP and Slug ammo become mandatory, otherwise you'll empty three magazines into a single armored unit while the Turret Watcher locks onto your team. A makeshift build is no longer enough: you need a clear role, a pair of complementary weapons, and a gadget loadout precisely tailored to the zone's specific threats. Veterans keep saying it: you don't go into Stella Montis to test a theory, you go in after checking every piece of your gear, every round of ammo, every medication, and after systematically identifying two alternative extraction routes in case of an emergency.

Understanding the threats before assembling your build

Before selecting a primary weapon, you need to map out what you'll be facing. Five enemies dictate your loadout, and every build must answer to at least two of them: Sentinel, Turret Watcher, Wasp Swarm Elite, Rocketeer Prime, and ARC bosses.

• Sentinel: a heavy bipedal machine with a frontal shield, immune to frontal headshots. It's neutralized with an EMP followed by shots to the back or joints.
• Turret Watcher: a static turret that locks on in 1.5 seconds. Without an EMP or an AP rocket, it makes the zone's bridges impassable.
• Wasp Swarm Elite: swarms of four to six explosive drones, resistant to standard buckshot but fragile against magnetized Slugs or a high-rate-of-fire SMG.
• Rocketeer Prime: an endgame variant that fires salvos of three homing rockets. Two weak points: the front optic and the dorsal tank.
• ARC bosses (Queen and Leviathan): the Queen repeatedly summons Wasps across three phases (shield, deployment, berserk); the Leviathan anchors itself to the ground and exposes its fuel tanks in phase 2.

Build #1 – The Peacekeeper: long-range anti-elite sniper

The Peacekeeper is the squad's "overwatch" role. Its mission isn't sustained DPS but rather opening every engagement by suppressing priority targets — Rocketeer Prime, Turret Watcher, enemy scout — before the team even enters the aggro zone.

• Primary weapon: Blackout (Bolt-Action Sniper, Prototype T5), fitted with an 8x Variable Scope, an Extended Barrel for armor pen, and a Cheek Rest to reduce sway after sprinting. The heavy Suppressor costs around 15% damage past a hundred meters but remains valuable for multi-kill setups.
• Secondary weapon: Ripper (SMG Salvaged T4), an essential CQC backup as soon as a Wasp Swarm closes in on the sniper.
• Ammo: 24 Sniper AP rounds for heavy targets, 180 standard SMG rounds for everything else.
• Gadgets: two EMP Grenades to disable Turrets for four seconds, two Smoke Grenades to cover a retreat, an ARC Hack Tool T3 that flips Turrets against patrols for twenty seconds.
• Armor: Prototype Marksman Helmet (+10% accuracy, no nightvision, to be offset with the Coffee Thermos), Salvaged Prototype Vest T5, Large Rucksack to absorb raid loot.

Ideal positioning: the western ridges, the Radar platform, or the Reservoir ridge. One absolute rule: never move without dropping a Smoke on your previous position — Rocketeer Primes will spot the slightest thermal trace. Ideally only one Peacekeeper per three-person squad: any more, and they'll fight over the same ridges and leave mid range exposed.

Build #2 – The Ironclad: heavy anti-Sentinel assault

The Ironclad is the point-man. He's the first into every room, aggroing the Sentinel and tanking the Rocketeers while the squad flanks. His weapon pairing is designed to strip down heavy armored units without relying on the rest of the team.

• Primary weapon: Ferro (Heavy Assault Rifle, Prototype T5) — the game's best sustained DPS against armored targets, a 60-round magazine in heavy configuration, rounded out with a Heavy Barrel, a Vertical Grip, a Red Dot Sight, and the Extended Mag T3.
• Secondary weapon: Sledgehammer (semi-auto Grenade Launcher, Salvaged T4), which one-shots grouped Wasps and rips off a Sentinel's back plate in two shots.
• Ammo: 240 AR AP rounds, 12 40mm HE grenades for corridors and phase 2 of the Leviathan, 6 40mm EMP grenades for burst zones.
• Gadgets: a T4 area-effect Combat Medkit, six Bandages, a Stim Injector, three Frag Grenades, two Incendiary Grenades, and above all the Deployable Barricade — a mobile eight-second shield that literally saves the squad when a Turret wakes up.
• Armor: Prototype Assault Helmet, Salvaged Prototype Heavy Vest (–8% speed but +40% explosive resistance), Combat Rucksack.

In combat against the Leviathan, the Ironclad camps one of the fuel tanks and blows it up with the Sledgehammer as early as phase 2. He absolutely avoids duels with the higher-level Watcher Turrets: that job falls to the Peacekeeper. In season 3, the 8% nerf on non-armored targets cost him some versatility, but the AP ammo buff more than compensates on Sentinels. The unwritten rule: ideally only one Ironclad per squad, with two being even clearly counterproductive since both players systematically end up competing for the same priority targets.

Build #3 – The Field Medic: versatile support-hacker

The Stella Montis raid on Hard Difficulty without a medic is strongly discouraged. The Field Medic isn't just a kit carrier: he's also the backup hacker who flips Turrets on the fly and manages the squad's ammo logistics.

The Salvaged Prototype Recon Helmet is essential for its night vision capabilities in the mining tunnels, while the Prototype Medic Vest offers an extra medkit slot and +15% to healing speed. Typical positioning: two to three meters behind the Ironclad, in semi-cover, ready to sprint toward a downed player. Against the Queen, the Field Medic spams Beacons to divert the repeatedly summoned Wasps and precisely manages revives via his Defibrillator. An underrated detail: Painkillers cancel out the fractures caused by frequent falls in the mining tunnels, which avoids dragging along a slowed-down player during the already very tight extraction window.

Build #4 – The Demolitionist: anti-boss and anti-heavy armor

Without a Demolitionist, the Leviathan simply isn't doable in under eight minutes. His niche: massive burst damage on high-health-bar targets and rapid clearing of ARC enemy-dense zones.

• Primary weapon: Longshot (single-shot Rocket Launcher, Prototype T5). A shot to the Leviathan's tank removes 18% of its bar in phase 2. Essential mods are the Guidance Module (1.2s lock-on on heavy ARCs) and the Reinforced Warhead (+20% damage against heavy armor).
• Secondary weapon: Nightingale (Marksman DMR, Salvaged T4). Useful between rocket shots, it shares AP ammo with the Peacekeeper if the squad organizes the exchange.
• Ammunition: 8 HE Rocket, 4 AP Rocket, 90 DMR AP.
• Gadgets: two Demolition Charges (to place on the Queen room's door for an alternate access), three Frag Grenades, two Thermite Grenades that immobilize a Sentinel for three seconds, one Deployable Turret Mine that one-shots grounded Wasp Swarms.
• Armor: Salvaged Prototype Combat Helmet, Prototype Explosive Vest ("25% to explosive self-damage, mandatory with the Longshot), Ammo Rucksack (+10% explosive capacity).

The Demolitionist plays at forty to sixty meters from bosses, under cover. Its slow reload leaves it vulnerable to melee: the Ironclad is there to tank while it re-arms. In open areas, it opens patrol fights with an AP rocket then switches to the DMR to finish off stragglers. Crucial detail: the Prototype Explosive Vest is genuinely mandatory, since without it the slightest rocket fired too close exposes its wearer to area damage that eliminates them instantly.

Build #5 – The Ghost Scout: infiltration and advanced hacking

The Ghost Scout is the only genuinely viable build in solo Stella Montis Hard, and the ideal complement to the Peacekeeper in a squad. Its mission: hack the central command room to disable all exterior Turrets for sixty seconds — which triggers the premium extraction window.

• Primary weapon: Voltaic (Suppressed electric SMG, Prototype T5). Electric ammo gives +30% damage against ARCs, silenced by default. Mods: Extended Mag T3 (60 rounds), Reflex Sight, Foregrip, Subsonic Ammo Kit.
• Secondary weapon: Marksman (Silenced DMR, Salvaged T4). Eliminates Snitches and Grunts with a silent headshot — a non-negotiable requirement to avoid triggering the lockdown.
• Ammunition: 240 SMG Electric, 60 DMR Subsonic.
• Key gadgets: three EMP Grenades for cameras and Watchers, two Decoy Grenades (sound lure, fifteen seconds of distraction), ARC Hack Tool T5, Master Lockpick to open Prototype chests without a key, Signal Jammer that blocks Wasp respawns within twenty-five meters for forty-five seconds.
• Armor: Prototype Recon Helmet (nightvision + footstep noise reduction), Salvaged Prototype Stealth Vest (reduced silhouette on ARC radar, +20% crouched movement speed), very light Recon Rucksack.

The Ghost Scout never engages a Sentinel, let alone a boss, solo. His golden rule: bypass, hack, get out. An overconfident player trying to finish off the Queen at the Voltaic systematically ends up in the raid's pile of wipes. Paired with a Peacekeeper overwatching him during the hack, he cuts completion time in half.

Recommended squad composition

No perfect build without a coherent comp. Here's what the meta uses in 2026, depending on group size and objective.

The rule repeated within the clan: never two Peacekeepers in the same squad. They step on each other's toes on sniper positions and leave the mid range exposed. Conversely, an Ironclad and a Demolitionist complement each other perfectly during boss phases: the former holds aggro, the latter methodically destroys exposed tanks. In experienced teams, a very specific rule is added: the Field Medic systematically stays equidistant between the tank and the demolitionist, never glued to the sniper, who needs to stay extremely mobile.

General tips for surviving Stella Montis

• Always bring at least two EMPs per squad: a Turret Watcher can wipe an entire composition in four seconds if no one can disable it.
• Stella Montis fuel is flammable. An Incendiary Grenade placed in the mining corridors clears a patrol without using a single AP round.
• Never engage the Queen in phase 1 without having secured two emergency exits — she spawns Wasps on a loop and cuts off the main extraction as soon as phase 2 begins.
• The Armor Repair Kit is more cost-effective than an Extra Vest in your pocket: repairing a Prototype plate costs fewer slots than carrying a second one.
• In season 3, Stella Montis is the only zone that drops T5 blueprints. Never exfil without at least attempting to open a Prototype chest in the command room.

What patch 3.4 really changes

Since the June 2026 update, the meta has shifted on several fronts. The Ferro loses 8% damage against unarmored targets but implicitly gains effectiveness against armored ones thanks to the global buff to AP ammunition. The Voltaic gains 15% electrical damage against endgame ARCs: it becomes the best stealth SMG in the game, which explains the Ghost Scout's meteoric rise. The arrival of the Leviathan makes the Demolitionist mandatory in any comp aiming for a Nightmare raid. Finally, the trajectory overhaul of the Wasp Swarm Elite (more aggressive, more unpredictable) favors the Marlin in Buckshot configuration: the Field Medic is therefore more versatile than ever, and his role in health safety is reinforced as a result.

Conclusion: build your arsenal, not your team around a single weapon

The lesson from Stella Montis' last eight months is clear: no single build does it all, and each role covers exactly two to three threats. A Peacekeeper without Ironclad will get chewed up by the first Sentinel; a Demolitionist without Field Medic will spend half their time healing; a Ghost Scout who engages a boss isn't coming back. Choose the build that fits your playstyle, then build the rest of the squad around complementarity — not the other way around. And above all, head out with a clear extraction plan: at Stella Montis, it's not ARC fire that kills you, it's the twenty-two minutes ticking away too fast.