ARC Raiders: How to 3-Star Week 20 Trials – Fast Solo Guide

Why Week 20 Trials Feel Weird (and How to Beat Them Fast)

After spending a whole evening fumbling around with lightning and half-reading the Trial descriptions, I finally got consistent three stars in ARC Raiders Week 20 in just one or two raids. The Week 20 set is deceptively simple: you’re not asked to extract loot or kill bosses, but to do five very specific things, often under Electromagnetic Storm conditions.

This guide breaks down how I now clear all five tasks efficiently:

• Deliver Carriables to Field Depots
• Damage Hornets
• Damage Bombardiers
• Damage flying ARCs inside the Spaceport walls
• Get hit by lightning during an Electromagnetic Storm

If you route your raids properly and bring the right weapons, you can realistically finish the entire Trials set in 1-2 raids, solo or in a trio.

Step 0 – Map & Loadout Setup (Do This Before Queuing)

The breakthrough for me came when I stopped trying to do everything everywhere and focused on two maps:

• Spaceport – Best for: lightning, flying ARCs inside walls, Hornets, Bombardiers.
• Dam Battlegrounds – Best for: dense carriable spawns and easy Hornet/Bombardier farming.

My general approach now is: Spaceport first (especially if there’s an Electromagnetic Storm active), then Dam Battlegrounds to mop up any remaining progress, especially for carriables.

Recommended Weapons & Gear

Here’s the loadout I settled into after experimenting:

• Hullcracker – My go-to for Hornets and Bombardiers. Two to three well-placed hits will shred most big ARCs.
• Aphelion – Great for tagging flying ARCs at range, especially around Spaceport walls.
• Jupiter or Renegade – Reliable for Bombardiers; Jupiter’s splash helps hit weak spots, Renegade is safer at range.
• Any reliable mid-range secondary – For cleaning up smaller threats while you’re moving carriables.

On the utility side, I strongly recommend:

• At least one shield/heal focus per squad – Lightning and Bombardiers both chunk your health hard.
• Movement or survivability perks – You’re often exposed while carrying crates or baiting lightning.
• Extra ammo or ammo crate – You don’t want to run dry mid-Matriarch fight or during a Hornet wave.

Don’t make my early mistake of bringing only close-range weapons. Week 20 is a long-range week: flyers, Bombardiers, and storms all reward playing back and picking your shots.

Task 1 – Deliver Carriables to Field Depots

I underestimated how much progress this task gives; a handful of good deliveries can push you straight to three stars. The catch is that you’re completely vulnerable while carrying.

Key points from my runs:

• Field Depots exist on all maps, but Dam Battlegrounds has the densest cluster of carriables close to depots.
• Carriables usually spawn within roughly a 100m radius of a depot. If you find a depot, do a slow 360° scan; look for crates, batteries, and other interactable objects with carry prompts.
• While carrying, you can’t use weapons. You can still sprint, slide, and jump, so use terrain to break line of sight.

My efficient routine on Dam Battlegrounds:

• Land, immediately spot your nearest Field Depot.
• Clear nearby mobs before you start carrying anything.
• Grab the closest carriable, sprint straight to the depot, drop, then repeat in a small loop.
• If a fight breaks out mid-run, drop the carriable, kill the threats, then pick it back up.

What wasted me the most time early on was trying to “just push through” with a crate while getting shot. Every downed run with a carriable in hand is basically wasted progress; it’s almost always better to clear first, carry second.

Task 2 – Damage Hornets (Aim for the Rotors)

Hornets are bulkier cousins of the Wasps. They’re common around exfil zones and contested objectives on both Spaceport and Dam Battlegrounds. I initially tried to face-tank them and dump mags into the body; that’s painfully inefficient.

The trick is to aim at the posterior rotors – the spinning assemblies at the back. Once I started targeting those, Hornets went from bullet sponges to quick kills.

• Use Hullcracker or heavy ammo guns (Ferro, Anvil, Renegade).
• Line up shots on the rear rotors; a couple of hits will destabilize them.
• Once they stagger, follow up with body shots to finish.
• Keep some stamina/energy in reserve and dodge roll as soon as a Hornet locks on or wind-ups a big burst.

If you need to farm Hornet damage quickly, camp near exfil sites or objective markers on Dam Battlegrounds. They naturally drift in, and you can chain rotor shots for quick Trial progress.

• Use Hullcracker or heavy ammo guns (Ferro, Anvil, Renegade).
• Line up shots on the rear rotors; a couple of hits will destabilize them.
• Once they stagger, follow up with body shots to finish.
• Keep some stamina/energy in reserve and dodge roll as soon as a Hornet locks on or wind-ups a big burst.

If you need to farm Hornet damage quickly, camp near exfil sites or objective markers on Dam Battlegrounds. They naturally drift in, and you can chain rotor shots for quick Trial progress.

Task 3 – Damage Bombardiers (Break the Knees)

Bombardiers are probably the most dangerous part of this Trials set. Their rockets hit hard, and if you try to rush them in the open, you’ll just feed them revives.

The cleanest way I found to farm Bombardier damage is to join a Matriarch hunt. Bombardiers reliably spawn near the Matriarch as bodyguards, so you can get guaranteed encounters instead of wandering the map hoping for random spawns.

How I handle them now:

• Kill the Spotters first. These small drones call in the Bombardier’s rockets. Removing them drastically lowers pressure.
• Use Aphelion or Jupiter to stay at mid/long range while you pick at weak spots.
• Aim for the knee joints and lower legs; damaging the legs slows them and exposes them longer.
• Hullcracker also works beautifully – two to four shots into weak spots will chunk them.
• If you’re running Renegade, keep your distance and abuse cover; never stand still during their rocket salvos.

You don’t need full kills for the Trial, just solid damage. I often tag a Bombardier hard, then focus other threats while teammates finish it off; all that contributed damage still counts.

Task 4 – Damage Flying ARCs Inside the Spaceport Walls

This one confused me at first because the wording is vague. What finally worked was treating the whole Spaceport interior as my hunting grounds and staying inside the massive perimeter walls at all times.

The Trial tracks damage on any flying ARC (Hornets, Wasps, flying probes, etc.) as long as:

• You are on the Spaceport map, and
• Both you and the target are inside the outer walls (not out on the far outskirts).

What I do now in a Spaceport run:

• As soon as I land, I check the map and visually confirm the wall line; I don’t wander beyond it.
• I run along the main internal routes and objective zones, looking up frequently for any flying ARCs.
• I use Aphelion to tag them as early as possible and swap to Hullcracker or primary to finish.
• During Electromagnetic Storms, flying ARCs tend to clump up more; I farm a ton of progress here while also working on the lightning objective.

If you’re in a squad, I recommend assigning one player to “sky duty” – always watching for flyers while the others focus on ground threats and carriables.

Task 5 – Get Hit by Lightning During an Electromagnetic Storm

This is the new and slightly scary one. I wasted several runs trying to “accidentally” get hit by lightning, only to find out it’s way more reliable – and safer – than it looks.

How to Consistently Bait Lightning

• Queue into Spaceport and watch for the Electromagnetic Storm event in the top of the screen or pre-raid selector.
• Once the storm is active, listen and look for the crackling sound and glowing blue spots on the ground – those are the lightning markers.
• Move onto a blue-lit spot and stand still. A bolt will strike that location after a short delay.
• Let it hit you. Your shields and health will take a big chunk, so make sure you’ve got a quick heal or shield recharge ready.
• After the hit, immediately back off and heal so you don’t get finished by stray shots or a second bolt.

Standing on higher ground or open areas makes the blue markers easier to see. I usually find a relatively safe rooftop or plateau inside the Spaceport walls, clear nearby mobs, and then wait for a marker to appear.

Don’t try to combine lightning baiting with carrying crates; I tried that once and lost both the carriable and half the raid to a messy wipe. Do the lightning first, then move on to other objectives.

One-Raid Checklist: My Fast Week 20 Route

Here’s the route that finally let me clear almost everything in a single good lobby (with a backup Dam run if needed):

• 1. Queue Spaceport with Electromagnetic Storm active.
• 2. As soon as you land, stay inside the perimeter walls.
• 3. Prioritize lightning: find blue ground markers, take one safe hit, heal up.
• 4. While the storm rages, farm flying ARCs: look up constantly, use Aphelion/Hullcracker to tag everything airborne.
• 5. Hunt Hornets: rotate around exfil zones and high-traffic objectives, aim at rotors for quick kills/damage.
• 6. Trigger a Matriarch hunt (if available): use it to farm Bombardier damage; kill Spotters first, then punish knees with Hullcracker/Jupiter.
• 7. Deliver any easy carriables you find along the way to nearby Field Depots, but don’t overcommit if the area is hot.
• 8. If carriable progress is still low, queue Dam Battlegrounds: run tight loops around depots and do focused delivery runs until you hit three stars.

Played cleanly, this usually takes me one focused Spaceport raid plus, at worst, a quick Dam run for extra crates.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Looting mid-raid instead of doing Trials. I lost whole storms looting buildings while the perfect lightning and flying ARC conditions were active. When the storm is up, ignore loot and focus on objectives.
• Chasing flyers outside the walls. If you sprint beyond the Spaceport perimeter line, your damage might not count for the “inside walls” task.
• Fighting while carrying. Dropping a carriable to clear enemies is almost always the right move. Dying with it in hand means zero progress and wasted time.
• Face-tanking Bombardiers. Always clear Spotters and use cover. Don’t stand in the open trading shots with them.
• Taking multiple lightning hits in a row. One bolt is plenty for the Trial. Heal up and move on; there’s no medal for getting fried twice.

Wrap-Up – Turn Week 20 Into a Quick Farm

Once you know where to stand and what to shoot, Week 20 stops being this weird, random-feeling checklist and turns into a fast set of objectives you can knock out in an evening:

• Use Spaceport storms for lightning and flying ARCs.
• Farm Hornets’ rotors and Bombardiers’ knees with heavy-hitting weapons.
• Clean up carriable deliveries on Dam Battlegrounds with safe, short routes.

Once I stopped wandering and started treating the Trials like a route instead of five separate problems, three stars became consistent instead of lucky. Follow the route above, tweak it to your squad’s playstyle, and you should see the same thing: Week 20 goes from “what is going on?” to a quick, reliable star farm.