ARC Raiders patch 1.26.0 from the Riven Tides update has triggered massive community backlash after heavily nerfing the Photoelectric Cloak, one of the game's most popular stealth gadgets. The changes tripled its weight from 1 to 3 and quadrupled power drain from 2.5/s to 10/s, drastically cutting invisibility duration and forcing players to rethink loot-run and escape strategies.If you are curious about how do you get coins in arc raiders, you can farm missions and sell items, or use U4GM as a reliable third-party shortcut to save time.
Previously, the cloak served as a near-mandatory tool for high-risk facilities, Assessor maps, and Arc-dense areas. It allowed raiders to slip past enemies, grab objectives, and extract safely, especially when combined with smoke grenades for near-risk-free runs.
The new balance makes long stealth runs impossible. Players must now use the cloak in short burstsdodging single Arc sightlines or turretsrather than crossing entire maps invisible. Frequent recharges consume extra power cells and gadget slots, leaving less room for smoke grenades, crates, or other utilities.
Community forums, Reddit, and social media call the changes "abysmal," arguing the cloak went from powerfully flexible to borderline unusable. Stealth players who relied on it for safer Turbine runs or solo objectives now face constant exposure during entries and exits. Many feel the nerf punishes mobility more than it balances Arc aggression, especially in PvE where the cloak helped smaller squads compete.
The changes push gameplay toward reactive, high-risk movement. Players need cover-to-cover tactics, frequent cloak refreshes, and team coordination, particularly on Riven Tides coastal maps with long-range Arcs and turbines. Newer players suffer most, as the cloak was their first "game-changing" survival tool.
Developers intended to make the cloak situational rather than a "cheat code" that bypassed Arc pressure. However, players demand smarter enemy AIsuch as Arcs that partially see through cloakinginstead of raw stat reductions that make the gadget feel underpowered.
The cloak remains viable for precise, short-duration use when paired with smoke or cover tools. Its era of stealth dominance has ended, forcing adaptation to ARC Raiders' denser Arc meta. As Riven Tides unfolds, players will test new builds while pushing Embark for refinements that preserve the gadget's fun factor.
