Looming over the landscape, the Rocketeer is a large, heavily armored, long-range ARC artillery unit. It dominates open areas with missile barrages that create dangerous zones and force Raiders to keep moving or find hard cover.
ARC appears to position Rocketeers in key places to guard high-threat locations or simply roam and pressure Raiders. They are also capable of wiping out fortified human positions in areas that are otherwise difficult to reach.
Combat role and behavior
The Rocketeer stays airborne using multiple thrusters. These thrusters count as weak points, but they are large and require substantial damage to destroy.
Its targeting pattern is easy to read once you know it.
It aims four yellow lasers that track the Raider. Once the lock is nearly complete, the lasers turn red shortly before firing one to four missiles. Each missile hits hard, and two solid hits can be enough to down a Raider.
If you fight it in the open without proper cover, the Rocketeer can end the engagement very quickly.
How to dodge the missiles
When the targeting laser disappears, it signals a full lock-on. At that moment, do one of the following:
- Dodge roll
- Get behind solid cover
Be careful even behind cover, since missiles deal splash damage and can still hit you depending on angles and proximity.
Weak points and how to damage it
Thrusters
If you can get above it or climb onto it, the top of the thrusters is a great place to attack since that area has no armor. Focus on damaging two thrusters in particular. Destroying two thrusters will cause it to crash. If it falls from high enough, it can die from the impact. Any flying ARC that remains grounded too long will eventually ignite.
Eyebrow and top weak point
Another reliable approach is to shoot off its “eyebrow,” ideally using a weapon with high ARC Armor Penetration. This exposes a weak point on top that can be shredded with a high fire rate weapon or anything with short reload downtime.
Explosives
Snap Blast Grenades are extremely effective when placed on top of the unit, and a few good sticks can take it out quickly.
Utility tricks and crowd control
- A Showstopper grenade can bring the Rocketeer to the ground for a few seconds if you hit a rotor, which creates a strong window to attach mines or climb on.
- If you hit the core with a Showstopper, it will stun it briefly but it will stay airborne.
- A Lure Grenade can be weaponized if another ARC is nearby. If you stick the lure onto a different ARC, the Rocketeer may target that ARC and damage it.
Riding the Rocketeer
Like other flying ARC, it is possible to ride on top of a Rocketeer using a Snap Hook or careful positioning. A stun from a Showstopper or Hornet Driver can also drop it to the ground and make climbing easy.
Once on top, you can damage it with any weapon, including melee. Dealing 50 damage to any enemy while riding a Rocketeer can grant the Death From Above achievement. Be aware that if you stay on too long, the Rocketeer may perform a flip to try to throw you off.
Scanner behavior stages
If you successfully hide from its view, its alert behavior cycles through stages.
The red scanner stage lasts about 20 seconds before shifting to yellow for a similar duration. When it reaches the blue scanner stage, you can see its thrusters recovering from an angled position back to a straight posture.
Main debris loot
- ARC Alloy
- ARC Powercell
- ARC Motion Core
- ARC Circuitry
- Advanced ARC Powercell
- Heavy Gun Parts
- Rocketeer Driver
- Heavy Ammo
