Choose solo if you want complete control over route, timing, speed and risk. Choose a duo or trio if you prefer shared decisions, coordinated movement and someone else to help execute a plan. Neither format guarantees safer raids, better extractions or more valuable loot in standard ARC Raiders: it remains a PvPvE game in which other Raiders and ARC machines can threaten every run.
A temporary exception is live from 13 October through 20 October 2026: Embark’s PvE matchmaking test disables player-to-player damage and lowers loot value. That test changes the risk calculation for a few days, but it is not a confirmed permanent mode.
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Solo or squad: the decision in one table
| Question | Solo | Duo or trio |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the pace? | You alone choose when to move, search, fight or leave. | The group agrees on movement and timing, so communication affects the pace. |
| How are decisions made? | One person owns the route and risk tolerance. | Players can divide decisions, call threats and coordinate engagements. |
| Does the format remove other-player danger? | No. Standard raids still include other Raiders. | No. Teammates do not make other Raiders harmless. |
| What does matchmaking promise? | Solo behavior is more likely to meet similar behavior, not guaranteed to do so. | The group’s behavior contributes to its profile; duo and trio histories are reported as separate tracks. |
| Best fit | Independence, flexible routes and playing at your own tempo. | Shared execution, callouts and coordinated choices. |
| Proven outcome advantage | None established for extraction, wins or loot. | None established for extraction, wins or loot. |
The practical answer is therefore preference-based, not a statistical claim. Pick the format that matches how you make decisions under pressure rather than assuming one queue is objectively easier.
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What solo play really gives you
Autonomy over every decision
Solo play removes the need to negotiate. You can change direction when a route feels exposed, stop searching when your inventory is sufficient, or leave immediately after reaching your own objective. There is no teammate waiting for a different room, no group vote over whether to investigate a sound and no need to keep a formation while crossing the map.
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That control is valuable when your preferred pace differs from your friends’ pace. A cautious player can spend longer reading an area; an aggressive player can accept an earlier engagement; a learner can repeat a route until its landmarks become familiar. The trade-off is that every decision, including the decision to disengage, belongs to one person.
Solo does not mean protected
In standard PvPvE raids, other Raiders remain a threat. A solo queue should not be read as a guaranteed player-versus-environment lobby, and you should not assume that everyone you meet will be friendly or hostile. ARC enemies also remain part of the danger. Autonomy changes who makes the decisions; it does not remove the game’s opposing players or machines.
One set of attention and information
Solo means one person must watch the environment, interpret sounds, choose a route and decide whether an encounter is worth the risk. That can feel clean and focused, but it also means there is no teammate to confirm what you saw or to keep track of a second angle while you search. Treat every unexplained sound, movement or delay as information you must resolve yourself before committing.
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- You want to practice routes without negotiating each move.
- You prefer making a fast retreat rather than waiting for a group decision.
- Your available play sessions are short or unpredictable.
- You enjoy the tension of owning the entire risk calculation.
- You become less effective when teammates disagree about whether to fight or leave.
What a duo or trio really gives you
Coordination, not a guaranteed win
One or two teammates let you share decisions. You can assign attention to different directions, agree on a route before moving and call out a change in risk as the situation develops. Those are real advantages in coordination, but the available evidence does not establish higher squad extraction, win or loot rates. A coordinated group can still make a bad decision, meet a stronger opponent or lose time arguing.
Communication becomes part of the skill
Squads work best when calls are brief and actionable: identify a location, describe the threat, state the intended movement and say whether the group is fighting or disengaging. Long explanations during a dangerous moment can create the same delay as indecision. Before entering a raid, agree on a few simple words for moving, stopping, leaving and regrouping so that everyone interprets them consistently.
Duo and trio are not identical
A duo has fewer voices and usually reaches agreement faster. A trio can distribute attention across more positions, but it also has more opportunities for split decisions and conflicting priorities. Neither size is inherently safer. Choose based on whether your regular group can maintain one plan, not on an assumption that an additional player automatically improves outcomes.
When a squad is the better fit
- You enjoy talking through routes and reacting to information together.
- You want a social session rather than a solitary test of judgment.
- You and your friends can agree on when to disengage.
- You are comfortable adjusting your own plan when the group’s information changes.
- You prefer shared responsibility for scanning, navigation and timing.
Standard ARC Raiders is still PvPvE
The normal format combines player competition with ARC-machine threats. That combination is why neither solo nor squad should be marketed as a safety setting. A solo player can encounter another Raider, and a group can encounter an opponent that makes its numerical advantage irrelevant. The important distinction is where the decision burden sits: entirely with one player, or distributed among a team.
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How matchmaking actually affects solo, duo and trio
Playstyle is a continuum
Embark’s 20 May 2026 explanation describes matchmaking as a continuous model based on several signals, including prior-round playstyle and how players engage with other Raiders. It is not a binary friendly-versus-hostile switch. Similar behavior is more likely to meet similar behavior, but the studio’s wording is explicit: Similarity is more likely, not guaranteed.
Your behavior shapes future lobbies gradually. A single peaceful or aggressive encounter does not permanently label your account, and changing your approach takes time to influence the pattern. This is why a player should not interpret one unusually quiet or violent lobby as proof that a queue is fixed to one tone.
What the system does not use in the way players often assume
- Loadout cost does not drive matchmaking, so an expensive kit is not evidence that the next lobby is deliberately harder.
- Survey feedback does not tune your immediate next lobby.
- Changing crossplay changes the available matchmaking pool and may change queue time, but it does not guarantee a friendlier or more hostile set of encounters.
These limits matter when comparing formats. A solo player should not expect a peaceful queue simply because no teammates are present, and a squad should not assume that its equipment value determines the opposition.
Separate histories by squad size
A community-maintained current reference reports that solo, duo and trio histories are tracked separately after Update 1.36.0, dated 7 July 2026. This means your behavior in one group size is not necessarily treated as identical to your behavior in another. The report is a patch reference rather than a promise that every lobby will behave alike, so use it to understand the likely structure, not to predict a specific opponent.
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The Solo vs. Squads option is not currently available
The same current update reference reports that Update 2.0.0, released 8 October 2026, removed the Solo vs. Squads option while Embark re-evaluates it. Do not look for that toggle as a way to force a particular opponent mix. If the live client changes after this article’s publication, rely on the options shown in the current game rather than an older guide or screenshot.
Removing that option does not erase the distinction between playing alone and playing in a group. It only means the matchmaking menu is not presently offering a direct solo-versus-squad separation control.
The temporary PvE matchmaking test: 13–20 October 2026
What changes during the test
Embark announced a PvE matchmaking toggle running from 13 October at 11:00 CEST through 20 October 2026. In those sessions, player-to-player damage is disabled and overall loot value is lowered. Matchmaking does not prioritize separating groups by squad size, so selecting the test does not mean solo players will be placed only with solos or groups only with groups.
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Maps and conditions excluded from the test
The announcement excludes Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate and Redirection conditions. If your preferred session depends on one of those conditions, the toggle may not provide the experience you expect.
Queue-time trade-offs
Embark warns that matches may take longer in low-population regions or during quiet hours. A longer wait is a population effect, not evidence that the mode is safer or more successful. Weigh that delay against the value of temporarily removing player-to-player damage.
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Why the test should not guide permanent advice
On 13 October, Embark’s Store Update 2.1.0 described the toggle as a beta test. Feedback and in-game data will inform whether the studio makes it permanent. Treat the 20 October end date as a hard editorial boundary: after the test, verify whether the toggle remains, changes rules or disappears before relying on any of these conditions.
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Pick solo when these statements are true
- I would rather make one imperfect decision quickly than wait for agreement.
- My route and extraction timing change often, and I do not want to coordinate every adjustment.
- I am comfortable treating other Raiders as an unresolved possibility in every standard raid.
- I want practice that exposes my own navigation, timing and risk choices without group variables.
- I can accept that no published evidence proves a solo extraction or loot advantage.
Pick duo when these statements are true
- I have one teammate who communicates clearly and accepts a shared plan.
- We can state a retreat condition before an engagement begins.
- We want social coordination without managing three competing priorities.
- We are willing to give up some individual control for shared information.
Pick trio when these statements are true
- All three players can keep the same objective in mind.
- Someone can make a final call when opinions differ.
- The group has a concise vocabulary for movement, threats and disengagement.
- We understand that an extra teammate increases coordination demands as well as available attention.
A disciplined solo routine
The following routine does not promise a better result; it is a way to make solo autonomy useful.
- Set one primary objective. Decide what you are trying to accomplish before moving so that an attractive detour does not silently replace the original plan.
- Choose a risk threshold. Decide in advance what information would make you leave. A pre-committed exit rule prevents a single interesting discovery from consuming the entire run.
- Pause at transitions. When moving between areas, stop long enough to interpret new sounds and movement rather than carrying the previous assumption into a new space.
- Separate information from commitment. Seeing or hearing another Raider does not require an immediate fight. First decide whether contact helps your objective.
- Leave when the objective is complete. Solo play rewards the ability to stop. Do not convert a satisfactory run into a larger gamble solely because more opportunities remain.
A disciplined duo routine
- Assign a caller. One player makes the final movement or disengagement call when time is short; the role can change between raids.
- State locations precisely. Use landmarks or directions that both players can identify instead of vague calls such as “over there.”
- Confirm movement. Before crossing or changing route, make sure both players heard the decision. A plan that only one player heard is not a squad plan.
- Use a retreat trigger. Agree on a condition that ends an engagement, such as losing the intended route or taking an unacceptable risk.
- Regroup before searching. Do not let one player’s discovery pull the other into an unknown position without a shared update.
A disciplined trio routine
- Define the formation’s purpose. Decide whether the group is moving together, watching separate directions or rotating between those roles. Avoid three people improvising three plans.
- Keep calls short. Identify the place, the threat and the next action. Save explanations for a safe pause.
- Nominate a tie-breaker. If two players want different routes, one person should resolve the disagreement quickly rather than allowing the group to stall.
- Check that nobody is isolated. Before entering a new area, confirm that all three players can continue from the same position.
- End the raid as a group decision. A player who wants to leave should be able to explain the risk clearly, and the caller should make the final choice before the situation worsens.
How to judge whether the format suits you
Do not use one successful extraction as proof that a queue is superior. Embark has not published comparable solo-versus-squad extraction, win or loot rates in the material available for this comparison, so there is no verified percentage that can settle the question.
Instead, track process measures over several sessions:
- Did you understand why you chose a route?
- Did the group or solo plan remain clear when conditions changed?
- Did you leave when your own pre-set risk threshold was reached?
- Were failures caused by an avoidable decision, incomplete information or an unavoidable encounter?
- Did the format make you want to play another raid?
These observations answer the reader’s real question—whether the format fits their habits—without pretending that unreported statistics exist.
Common mistakes to avoid
Assuming solo means PvE-only
Standard solo raids still contain other Raiders. Only the announced temporary PvE test disables player-to-player damage, and that test has its own dates, lower loot value and exclusions.
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Assuming squads are statistically safer
Coordination can improve your options, but no comparable published rates prove a squad advantage. Presenting teamwork as a guaranteed survival multiplier overstates the evidence.
Reading matchmaking as a promise
Embark’s model makes similar behavior more likely to meet similar behavior. It does not guarantee a friendly or hostile lobby, and behavior changes future lobbies gradually.
Looking for a removed toggle
The latest located update reference says Update 2.0.0 removed Solo vs. Squads on 8 October 2026. Check the current client instead of following instructions that tell you to select it.
Confusing a temporary test with the permanent game
The PvE toggle is a beta test ending 20 October 2026 unless Embark changes its status. Its rules should not be used as a timeless description of ARC Raiders.
Bottom line for your next raid
Play solo when independence and personal control are the point. Play duo or trio when communication and shared execution are what you enjoy. In standard PvPvE, neither choice guarantees safer raids, better extractions or higher-value loot. The matchmaking system may make similar playstyles more likely to meet, but it cannot promise the tone of your next lobby. During the 13–20 October 2026 PvE test, player damage is disabled and loot is reduced; after 20 October, verify the live rules before making the same choice.
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