ARC Raiders patch 1.36.0 lands with one change that regular players will notice almost straight away: matchmaking now treats Solo, Duo, and Trio runs as separate habits, which makes a lot more sense once you've spent a few nights farming with different squad sizes and swapping between ARC Raiders Items along the way.

Before this update, your behaviour in one queue could spill into another. So if you played Solo like a careful scavenger, then jumped into Trio with friends who wanted every fight, the game could blur those patterns together. That is where the frustration came from. A lot of us do not play the same way every time. Sometimes you're just doing quests, grabbing loot, and keeping your head down. Other times, you are pushing hard and chasing PvP.

The new system breaks that link. Solo playstyle stays in Solo. Duo stays in Duo. Trio stays in Trio. That sounds small, but in practice it should make matchmaking feel less random. If you are calm and objective-focused when you queue alone, that style should not get dragged around by a loud, aggressive three-stack. And if your squad loves action, that should not ruin your quieter runs either. It is a cleaner split, and it should fit how most people actually play.

How the split works in practice

Old habits used to bleed across modes. Now they should not. You can think of it like three separate profiles, each building its own picture of you. That is better for players who change pace depending on who is online. It also means the game can read your behaviour with a bit more honesty. If you keep Solo runs peaceful, the game should notice that. If your Trio loves pushing fights, that should be tracked on its own too.

What players are likely to feel after the update

The easiest way to see the difference is by looking at the kind of run you are doing and the kind of reward pressure that usually comes with it. Here's a simple comparison from a player's point of view.

Playstyle impact by squad size

That split matters because it cuts down on the little annoyances people have been talking about for months. You should not feel like one intense evening with friends is rewriting your next Solo lobby. At the same time, it gives the game a better chance to place you with people who behave in a similar way. That is the hope, anyway. It will still be ARC Raiders, so there will be chaos. But it should be chaos that fits the queue you picked.

The patch is not only about matchmaking either. ARC Turbine loot has been bumped up, some nasty map and quest bugs have been cleaned up, and a few UI bits are now easier to read at a glance. The bigger point, though, is that the game is trying to respect how different each run can feel. If you play Solo one night and Trio the next, those experiences should finally stand on their own. For players who want a steadier grind and better control over what they earn, even ARC Raiders Materials for sale can make more sense when the game itself is reading your sessions properly.