That December 17 deadline for stacking enough ARC Raiders Coins sneaks up on you fast, and the worst thing you can do is keep throwing cash at expensive gear you are just going to hand over to some random camper. You do not need a meta build or perfect aim to hit the five million mark, you just need a loadout that is cheap, reliable, and easy to reset when things go wrong. Once you stop treating every raid like a high-risk hero run and start thinking in terms of profit per minute, the whole grind feels very different.
Low Cost Loadout That Actually Works
The core of the setup is simple. Use a Kettle 2 as your default, maybe upgrade to a Kettle 3 when you are feeling comfortable, and throw on an Extended Light Mag so you do not get caught reloading at the worst possible time. Damage is not insane, but it is more than enough to clear AI and scare off a greedy player who pushes too hard. Pair that with a Light Shield so you keep your mobility, and always take the Looting Mark I bag, because the whole point here is squeezing every coin out of the map, not flexing in gunfights. Three basic bandages, three shield chargers, and two stacks of light ammo are enough to keep you in fights that actually matter without burning through your budget.
Buried City Money Route
Once you have that kit, head straight to Buried City. Think of this map as a big cash run, not a deathmatch lobby. You want to cut out the dead time, so skip the low value corners and go straight for pharmacies, the Santa Maria houses, and Plaza Rosa. Those spots fill your bag fast with meds, valuables, and random junk that sells well. If you keep your runs tight, you are looking at something like fifty to seventy thousand coin profit in roughly six minutes, sometimes more if the lobby is quiet. Do not chase every shot you hear; if another player is not blocking a room you really need to hit, let them live and focus on filling your bag.
Connection, Ping And Not Losing Your Mind
The one thing that ruins this style of run more than anything is a bad connection. You finally have a full backpack, you are heading to extract, and suddenly your ping spikes and you are frozen in a doorway. Using a routing tool like Exit Lag can help smooth out those spikes and avoid random rubber banding, and some players notice it takes the edge off frame drops too. It is not magic, but when you are running back to back raids for an hour or two, even a small improvement keeps you calmer and less likely to tilt into dumb fights. Whatever you do, make sure your game is running stable enough that you are not losing fifty thousand coin hauls to lag.
Scaling Up Without Throwing Away Profit
After a few sessions, you will probably start feeling tempted to upgrade the kit a bit, maybe switch to a Kettle 4 or bring Raider Hatch Keys so you can dodge the most obvious extract campers. That can work, but the real money comes from consistency, not from flashy loadouts. Aim for quick loops where you grab high value loot, hit the extract as soon as your bag feels "good enough", and jump straight into the next raid. If you are sitting on gear worth fifty thousand and your path to the exit is clear, just leave, do not talk yourself into "one more room". If you ever feel burned out on the grind or short on time, you can even look at services like RSVSR where people go when they want to buy game currency or items instead of grinding every single coin themselves, but if you stick to the budget Buried City loop, you will be surprised how quickly that five million target stops feeling impossible.
