What is the Fireball's weak point in Arc Raiders?

The core, and it is only exposed while the machine is attacking. The Fireball has to open its armor plating to use its flamethrower, which uncovers an unarmored core behind the panel. Keep your weapon aimed at the front of the shell and fire the instant the hatch opens, because the window closes when the burst ends.

What ammo do you need to kill a Fireball?

Medium or heavy ammo if you plan to shoot the closed shell, because light ammo is ineffective against it and will bounce off. If you wait for the hatch to open instead, ammo class matters far less, since the exposed core is soft enough for any weapon to destroy. Guides most often name the Ferro and the Anvil, both heavy ammo weapons that can end it in one hit through the open shell.

Where do Fireballs spawn in Arc Raiders?

Indoors, almost exclusively: bunkers, underground areas, tight hallways and enclosed rooms, and rarely out in the open world. Named maps across sources are Dam Battlegrounds, The Spaceport, Buried City, Blue Gate and Stella Montis, with the Metro entrances on Buried City and the underground bunker on Blue Gate called out specifically. Spawns are randomized and not guaranteed on any given raid, so a dry run is normal.

Do Fireballs explode when they die in Arc Raiders?

They leave fire behind. arcraiders.wiki says a destroyed Fireball coats the nearby surroundings in a blanket of fire that will light Raiders on fire, and Arc Raiders Atlas describes it as an area of effect fire blast on death. The burn also keeps ticking for a few seconds after you are alight, even once the machine is already destroyed, so hold position and loot after the ground stops burning.

Is the Fireball worth farming in Arc Raiders?

Yes, mostly for the Fireball Burner it drops. That uncommon throwable is needed for the Test Case quest, sits behind the What Goes Around quest, and eight of them plus three Toasters and five ARC Motion Cores are required to upgrade Refiner 1 to Refiner 2. Destroying one also gives 100 XP plus loot XP, though sources disagree on the loot half.

Can you outrun a Fireball in Arc Raiders?

Not in a straight line, since it rolls fast and closes distance aggressively, but you can break its pursuit. arcraiders.wiki lists vaulting over edges the Fireball cannot navigate as a defensive option, so a ledge ends the chase. Embark also patched a bug in the 1.2.0 North Line update where Fireballs would get stuck on security gates instead of pursuing, so do not count on world geometry stopping one.

Arc Raiders Fireball: Weak Point, Loot and How to Kill It

The Fireball only exposes its core in the moment before it burns you. Time that window, skip the shell, and stay clear of the fire it leaves behind.

Category: ARC Machines, Every Enemy · Updated 2026-08-03

The Fireball punishes you for holding the trigger. Its shell shrugs off light rounds, and the only moment it is genuinely soft is the moment it is about to set you on fire.

What it is

A spherical ARC unit built for close range. arcraiders.wiki describes it as a small, spherical machine designed for sustained close-quarters combat, deployed in large indoor facilities and typically alongside a Pop. Dexerto rates its threat as moderate and its armor as heavy. Read "small" as a body description, not a rank: no source shows an official size or tier label in the game UI, so any tier chart elsewhere is inference.

How you know one is nearby

It rolls. The wiki's lore entry calls it a fast-moving, ball-shaped machine usually spotted rolling around indoor areas, and Dexerto and Nerdschalk agree: fast, low to the ground, closing distance aggressively. Watch for movement at floor level down a corridor, not at eye height. We have not found a source documenting a distinctive audio cue, so treat the visual as your tell.

One traversal fact is worth banking: it cannot follow you over ledges, and arcraiders.wiki lists vaulting them as a defensive option. It also used to get stuck on world geometry, per Embark's official 1.2.0 patch notes (North Line, November 13, 2025): "Fireball enemies will no longer get stuck on security gates and will pursue the player accordingly."

If you have read that the Fireball's roll is machine learning driven, nothing published supports that: Embark's statements on reinforcement learning locomotion name only Leapers and drones. More on that: AI systems.

How it attacks

It rolls at you, opens its front panel, and unleashes a long burst of flame. That is the whole cycle, and the reason this fight has a rhythm you can play against. Two things about the fire catch people out:

The burn outlives the burst. Once you are alight you keep burning for a few seconds, whether or not the machine is still attacking, and whether or not you already destroyed it.
The corpse burns too. arcraiders.wiki warns that Fireballs coat the nearby surroundings in a blanket of fire once destroyed, which will light Raiders on fire. Arc Raiders Atlas describes the same event as an area of effect fire blast on death.

One detail is unsettled: arcraiders.wiki, Dexerto and MMOexp describe a single front panel feeding one flamethrower, while Arc Raiders Atlas alone describes side panels and dual flamethrowers. Do not plan a flank around it.

Where to shoot it

The core, and only while the panel is open. The lore entry puts it cleanly: to use its flamethrower, the Fireball has to open its armor plating, exposing a weak spot that trigger-happy Raiders have been known to exploit.

The sequence the sources converge on:

Let it come to you. Game Rant's version is to let it approach and open its hatch to arm the flamethrowers, rather than chasing the shell.
Keep your weapon aimed at the front of the shell while it closes, so the shot is already lined up.
The instant the hatch opens, put rounds inside it. Game Rant's phrasing: shoot inside the hatch to take it out instantly.
Strafe sideways or vault an obstacle as it fires, then reset.

What to bring

If you intend to shoot the shell at all, you need medium or heavy ammo. arcraiders.wiki is explicit that light ammo weapons are ineffective against the shell and will bounce off, and Atlas and MMOexp agree.

If you play the hatch window instead, ammo class matters far less, because the exposed core is soft and the wiki says any weapon can destroy it. Multiple guides name the Ferro and the Anvil, both heavy ammo weapons with high ARC armor penetration. Boosting Ground reports a Ferro ending a Fireball through the open shell in one hit. We have not seen that same one-shot claim made for the Anvil, so treat it as the recommended heavy option rather than a guaranteed instant kill. Compare setups on the loadout planner and parts on the item database.

Where it spawns

Indoors, almost exclusively. arcraiders.wiki says Fireballs are often found in bunkers or underground and rarely appear in the open world. Boosting Ground: search inside buildings, tight hallways and enclosed rooms.

Maps named by Dexerto and Arc Raiders Atlas: Dam Battlegrounds, The Spaceport, Buried City, Blue Gate and Stella Montis. No spawn source we found covers Riven Tides. Specific stops, from the wiki, Boosting Ground and Nerdschalk:

Dam Battlegrounds: Control Tower and Research & Administration first, then Water Treatment and its tunnel, the Hydroponic Dome Complex and the Testing Annex. Lowest difficulty here, and the usual farming pick.
Buried City: the Metro entrances, which frequently spawn Pops alongside Fireballs.
Blue Gate: the large underground bunker in the upper right.
The Spaceport: Flight Control and Control Tower B6.

Spawns are randomized and not guaranteed on any given raid. Route planning starts on the map pages.

The mistake that gets people killed

Emptying a magazine into the closed shell. Every source circles this one, and it compounds with light ammo, because those rounds literally bounce. MMOexp names wasted ammunition on light weapons against the shell as a major tactical error. Hold fire, let it commit, then shoot the hatch.

The runner-up: pushing in the moment it dies and walking into the fire it dropped. Dexerto says stay clear of the burning area and Atlas says maintain distance when the ARC dies. Loot once the ground stops burning.

Is it worth killing

Yes, and the reason is the drop, not the XP. Destroying one gives 100 XP plus loot XP on top, though sources disagree on that second half. Drops listed by arcraiders.wiki: ARC Powercell, ARC Alloy, Crude Explosives, Fireball Burner, ARC Coolant and ARC Thermo Lining.

The Fireball Burner is the reason to go looking. It is an uncommon throwable that creates a small pool of fire damaging both ARC and Raiders for ten seconds, and a damaged version can be recovered afterward. It is also gated progression:

Eight Fireball Burners, three Toasters and five ARC Motion Cores upgrade Refiner 1 to Refiner 2.
One is required for the Test Case quest.
It is the item behind the What Goes Around quest.
Combined with an Air Freshener it crafts into Flame Spray.

Eight of anything means a farming route, which is why Dam Battlegrounds keeps coming up. For the rest of the haul: keep or sell.

When to walk away

A single Fireball with a clean sightline and a ledge to vault is close to a free kill. A pack of them in a metro tunnel is not.

Skip it when multiple Fireballs share a tight interior, or when one is mixed in with Ticks and Pops. Dexerto notes groups are especially dangerous alongside Ticks, and that enclosed spaces let them overwhelm you with speed and area damage. Nerdschalk says avoid open engagements inside rooms and stay in cover.

What nobody has published

Health, armor and damage numbers. The wiki lists a health figure with no corroboration and no stated scale, Atlas gives none, and no source publishes flamethrower or burn damage. Anyone quoting a precise time to kill is guessing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Fireball's weak point in Arc Raiders?: The core, and it is only exposed while the machine is attacking. The Fireball has to open its armor plating to use its flamethrower, which uncovers an unarmored core behind the panel. Keep your weapon aimed at the front of the shell and fire the instant the hatch opens, because the window closes when the burst ends.
What ammo do you need to kill a Fireball?: Medium or heavy ammo if you plan to shoot the closed shell, because light ammo is ineffective against it and will bounce off. If you wait for the hatch to open instead, ammo class matters far less, since the exposed core is soft enough for any weapon to destroy. Guides most often name the Ferro and the Anvil, both heavy ammo weapons that can end it in one hit through the open shell.
Where do Fireballs spawn in Arc Raiders?: Indoors, almost exclusively: bunkers, underground areas, tight hallways and enclosed rooms, and rarely out in the open world. Named maps across sources are Dam Battlegrounds, The Spaceport, Buried City, Blue Gate and Stella Montis, with the Metro entrances on Buried City and the underground bunker on Blue Gate called out specifically. Spawns are randomized and not guaranteed on any given raid, so a dry run is normal.
Do Fireballs explode when they die in Arc Raiders?: They leave fire behind. arcraiders.wiki says a destroyed Fireball coats the nearby surroundings in a blanket of fire that will light Raiders on fire, and Arc Raiders Atlas describes it as an area of effect fire blast on death. The burn also keeps ticking for a few seconds after you are alight, even once the machine is already destroyed, so hold position and loot after the ground stops burning.
Is the Fireball worth farming in Arc Raiders?: Yes, mostly for the Fireball Burner it drops. That uncommon throwable is needed for the Test Case quest, sits behind the What Goes Around quest, and eight of them plus three Toasters and five ARC Motion Cores are required to upgrade Refiner 1 to Refiner 2. Destroying one also gives 100 XP plus loot XP, though sources disagree on the loot half.
Can you outrun a Fireball in Arc Raiders?: Not in a straight line, since it rolls fast and closes distance aggressively, but you can break its pursuit. arcraiders.wiki lists vaulting over edges the Fireball cannot navigate as a defensive option, so a ledge ends the chase. Embark also patched a bug in the 1.2.0 North Line update where Fireballs would get stuck on security gates instead of pursuing, so do not count on world geometry stopping one.