Arc Raiders Weapon Mod Guide: Every Slot & Tier Explained

Most raiders fall into one of two camps: they ignore mod slots entirely and run a bare gun into every fight, or they slap on whatever drops without understanding what it actually does. Both habits cost fights. A weapon mod in Arc Raiders is any attachment that changes how your gun handles, fits into one of seven slot types, and comes in up to three crafting tiers. Here’s exactly what each one does, what to build first on a budget, and which mods are free upgrades versus real trade-offs.

Table of Contents

• What Are Weapon Mods in Arc Raiders?
• The 7 Weapon Mod Slot Types
• How Mod Tiers Work (and Why Tier III Always Has a Catch)
• Dispersion vs. Recoil: The Two Stats Most Players Confuse
• Muzzle Mods: Full Stat Breakdown
• Underbarrel (Grip) Mods: Full Stat Breakdown
• Stock Mods: Full Stat Breakdown
• Magazine Mods: Light, Medium, and Shotgun
• The Tech Mod Slot: Anvil Splitter
• [Free Upgrades vs. Trade-Off Mods: A Quick Decision Framework]> (#free-upgrades-vs-trade-off-mods-a-quick-decision-framework)
• What to Craft First on a Tight Budget (Gunsmith 1 Mods)
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Weapon Mods in Arc Raiders?

Weapon mods are items you attach to a weapon to change its characteristics, things like recoil, bloom, magazine size, noise, and bullet velocity. You get them three ways: craft them at the Gunsmith in your Workshop, find them Topside during a raid, or buy them from the trader Tian Wen. Not every mod fits every weapon. Each gun has a defined list of compatible attachments, so check the weapon’s own page or in-game tooltip before you plan a build around a specific mod.

The 7 Weapon Mod Slot Types

Every weapon has some combination of these slots, though no single gun uses all of them:

That’s technically eight categories if you count Shotgun Muzzle separately from standard Muzzle, but they fill the same functional role on different weapon classes.

How Mod Tiers Work (and Why Tier III Always Has a Catch)

Most mods come in three tiers, and the tier you’re allowed to install depends on your Gunsmith level, not the weapon. Tier I needs Gunsmith 1, Tier II needs Gunsmith 2, and Tier III needs Gunsmith 3.

Here’s the rule worth remembering: Tier I and Tier II are close to pure upside. Tier III is almost always where a drawback gets bolted on. Compensator III gives you 60% reduced per-shot dispersion and 30% reduced max shot dispersion, a real jump over Tier II’s 40%/20%, but it also adds 20% increased durability burn rate. Stable Stock III cuts both recoil recovery and dispersion recovery by 50%, the single biggest stability swing in the game, but it costs you 20% increased equip and unequip time. Muzzle Brake III knocks down both horizontal and vertical recoil by 25%, with the same 20% durability tax as the Compensator.

That pattern holds across almost every mod family. It’s not a coincidence, it’s how the tier system is balanced: the game lets you have the best stats, but only if you accept a cost somewhere else. Once you internalize that as a rule rather than memorizing it mod by mod, it’ll keep applying even when new mods get added in future patches. If you haven’t leveled your Gunsmith past Tier 1 yet, our workshop upgrade guide walks through the fastest path to Gunsmith 3.

Dispersion vs. Recoil: The Two Stats Most Players Confuse

These are not the same thing, and mixing them up is the most common mod mistake in the game.

Dispersion is bloom, how wide your accuracy cone gets while you’re firing. Recoil is how much your whole crosshair physically shifts off target. A gun with bad dispersion will scatter shots even when your crosshair looks dead center on the target. A gun with bad recoil will visibly climb or kick sideways, moving your aim point itself.

The one-line rule: if your shots feel random despite aiming correctly, that’s dispersion, reach for a Compensator or Shotgun Choke. If your screen is visibly climbing or swinging during fire, that’s recoil, reach for a grip or Muzzle Brake. Mixing these up means spending crafting materials on a mod that doesn’t fix your actual problem. This distinction matters even more in PvP, where our best PvP weapons guide breaks down which guns lean harder on one stat over the other.

Muzzle Mods: Full Stat Breakdown

Compensator fixes dispersion. Muzzle Brake fixes recoil. Extended Barrel is the only muzzle mod built around range instead of accuracy, it speeds up your bullets and pushes back the distance where damage starts falling off, at the cost of more vertical kick. Silencers exist purely for noise reduction and don’t touch accuracy at all until Tier III adds the durability cost.

Underbarrel (Grip) Mods: Full Stat Breakdown

Angled Grip targets horizontal recoil, Vertical Grip targets vertical recoil, and Horizontal Grip handles both directions at once but can’t be crafted, you’ll need to find it Topside or get lucky with a drop. All three grips trade ADS speed once you reach their strongest version, so they’re a better fit on a gun you’ve already got aimed in than on something you need to snap onto a target fast.

Stock Mods: Full Stat Breakdown

Stable Stock is about how fast your aim settles back down after you stop firing, not how much it moves in the first place. That makes it the strongest pick for any gun you fire in short bursts and need to re-aim quickly afterward. Lightweight Stock is the opposite philosophy entirely, it sacrifices stability for raw handling speed, which only pays off if you can control recoil manually. Both Lightweight Stock and Padded Stock are blueprint-locked, you need to find the blueprint Topside once before you can craft them at Gunsmith 3, but once you’ve got the blueprint, you can craft as many as you want. Kinetic Converter has no blueprint in the game at all right now, so it’s loot-only no matter what, and it trades accuracy for fire rate on guns where you’re mag-dumping into a single big target rather than tracking multiple enemies.

Magazine Mods: Light, Medium, and Shotgun

There’s no version of any magazine mod, at any tier, that comes with a downside. That makes them the single easiest “yes” in the entire mod system. If a weapon has an open magazine slot and you have the materials, fill it. More rounds means fewer mid-fight reloads, and reloading is exactly when you’re most vulnerable, no return fire, no ability to finish off a hurt enemy. For more on how durability burn actually affects your gear over a full raid, see our weapon durability breakdown.

The Tech Mod Slot: Anvil Splitter

The only confirmed Tech Mod is the Anvil Splitter: +3 projectiles per shot, 70% reduced projectile damage per pellet. There’s no blueprint for it currently, so it’s loot-only no matter how high your Gunsmith level is. This isn’t a stat upgrade in the normal sense, it changes how the weapon functions. You’re trading single hard-hitting shots for a wider, weaker spread, which can be strong against multiple smaller targets and far less reliable for single-target precision. Treat it as a build-altering choice rather than a default pick.

Free Upgrades vs. Trade-Off Mods: A Quick Decision Framework

If you don’t want to read every stat table above, here’s the short version.

Equip without thinking (no real downside):

• Any Extended Magazine, at any tier
• Compensator I or II
• Muzzle Brake I or II
• Stable Stock I or II
• Silencer I

Weigh the trade-off first:

• Any Tier III muzzle mod (Compensator III, Muzzle Brake III, Shotgun Choke III all add durability burn)
• Any Tier III grip (loses ADS speed)
• Stable Stock III (loses equip/unequip speed)
• Lightweight Stock and Padded Stock (blueprint-locked, then craftable, but both come with built-in handling trade-offs)
• Kinetic Converter, Horizontal Grip, Silencer III, and Anvil Splitter (no blueprint exists yet, loot-only, and each carries its own trade-off)

This is the same Tier III pattern from earlier, just turned into something you can scan in ten seconds before a raid.

What to Craft First on a Tight Budget (Gunsmith 1 Mods)

At Gunsmith 1, you’re limited to Tier I mods, and they’re built from common materials: Metal Parts, Plastic Parts, Rubber Parts, Wires, Duct Tape, and Steel Springs. None of these require rare drops, so this is purely a question of sequencing.

Start with whatever magazine mod fits your weapon. It’s free value with zero downside, and it directly reduces how often you’re caught reloading. After that, decide between a Compensator I or Muzzle Brake I based on the dispersion-versus-recoil test above: if your problem is bloom, go Compensator; if it’s visible kick, go Muzzle Brake. Stable Stock I is also worth an early slot on anything you fire in bursts rather than single taps, since it’s pure upside at this tier and pairs well with either muzzle choice.

Don’t reach for Tier I grips first unless horizontal recoil specifically is what’s losing you fights. They’re useful, but the magazine and muzzle slots tend to matter more on a fresh weapon. For a full early-game gear plan beyond just mods, check our budget loadout guide.

Once you’ve got a handle on mods themselves, the next step is matching them to a specific weapon. Our best loadout guide and weapons tier list cover which guns are worth modding in the first place, and our blueprint farming guide covers where to find blueprint-locked mods like Padded Stock and loot-only mods like Horizontal Grip mentioned above. If you’re still getting your crafting station running, our how to craft guide covers the basics from scratch.

Key Takeaways

• Weapon mods fill 7 slot types: muzzle, shotgun muzzle, underbarrel/grip, stock, light/medium/shotgun magazine, and tech mod.
• Tier I needs Gunsmith 1, Tier II needs Gunsmith 2, Tier III needs Gunsmith 3.
• Tier III mods almost always add a trade-off, usually durability burn, slower ADS, or slower equip/unequip time.
• Dispersion (bloom) and recoil (crosshair movement) are different problems with different fixes, Compensator for dispersion, Muzzle Brake or grips for recoil.
• Magazine mods and low-tier Silencers, Compensators, Muzzle Brakes, and Stable Stocks have no real downside, equip them whenever the slot is open.
• Kinetic Converter, Horizontal Grip, Silencer III, and Anvil Splitter currently have no blueprint and can only be found Topside. Lightweight Stock and Padded Stock need a blueprint too, but once you’ve got one, you can craft them at Gunsmith 3.
• The Anvil Splitter is the only known Tech Mod and changes how a weapon fires rather than simply improving it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best weapon mod in Arc Raiders?

There isn’t a single best mod, it depends on what’s actually wrong with your gun. If bloom is the issue, a Compensator is the strongest pick. If recoil is the issue, a Muzzle Brake or matching grip wins instead. Match the mod to the specific problem rather than chasing a universal answer.

Do weapon mods get removed if I die?

Mods stay attached to the weapon, and if you die without extracting, you lose whatever gear you were carrying, mods included along with the weapon itself. Anything safely stashed before the raid is unaffected.

Can I swap mods for free, or do they get consumed?

You can remove and re-attach mods freely between raids without losing the mod itself. Swapping doesn’t consume materials again, only crafting a new one does.

What’s the difference between dispersion and recoil mods?

Dispersion mods, like the Compensator and Shotgun Choke, control how wide your accuracy cone gets while firing. Recoil mods, like the Muzzle Brake and the grips, control how far your crosshair physically moves off target. They solve different problems and aren’t interchangeable.

Do all weapons have the same mod slots?

No. Each weapon has its own defined set of compatible slots and mods, and some guns have far fewer options than others. Check the specific weapon before planning a build around a mod it might not even support.

Is Tier III always better than Tier I or II?

Statistically yes, but it almost always comes with a trade-off, typically faster durability burn, slower ADS speed, or slower equip and unequip time. Whether that trade-off is worth it depends on the weapon and how you’re using it that raid.

Which mods have no downside at any tier?

Magazine mods are the clearest example, none of them carry a stat penalty at any tier. Compensator, Muzzle Brake, Stable Stock, and Silencer are also downside-free at Tier I and II, the trade-offs only appear once you hit Tier III.

Where do I get weapon mod blueprints?

Blueprints drop Topside, most commonly from Residential Containers, with some Tier III blueprints gated behind specific map conditions. Once you’ve extracted with a blueprint, the recipe unlocks permanently at your Gunsmith.

What does the Anvil Splitter do?

It adds 3 extra projectiles per shot while cutting damage per projectile by 70%. It turns a single precise shot into a wider, weaker spread, which suits multi-target situations better than single-target precision.

Should I craft mods or loot them?

Craft whenever you can, it’s the more reliable method since it doesn’t depend on finding the right drop. Lightweight Stock and Padded Stock both need a blueprint before you can craft them, but once you’ve looted that blueprint once, you can craft as many as you want at Gunsmith 3. Kinetic Converter, Horizontal Grip, Silencer III, and Anvil Splitter are a different story, none of them have a blueprint in the game right now, so looting is currently the only way to get those four.

What materials do I need for Tier III mods?

Tier III mods generally require Mod Components alongside a secondary material like Wires, Duct Tape, or Steel Springs, depending on the mod type. Mod Components are noticeably rarer than the Metal Parts and Plastic Parts used for Tier I, which is part of why Tier III mods carry a real opportunity cost beyond their stat trade-offs.