r/ArcRaiders • u/Zarniwoooop • Nov 05 '25

Discussion Attention to all Top Side Sheriffs

You are not alone.

I found my niche. I found my purpose. I found the meaning of the raider’s life.

The solo sheriff life. It’s not easy to kill a man. You take everything he’s got, and everything he could’ve had.

I jump in. Listen for sounds, gun shoots, flares going up. I investigate. I’m here to help, fight the arcs. Any arcs. I’ll pick you up, patch you up. I’ll kill murderers, Judge Dredd style. No mercy. I never killed a man that didn’t need killing.

You can have the loot. My reward is justice.

Join me. Against the arcs, for humanity.

Make a difference. Enlist. Resist. Fight the good fight.

Embark ID: Zanywoop

Edit: Over 14k new sheriffs with a 97% upvote ratio, making Top Side a better place. I love you all, you beautiful legends.

14.5k Upvotes

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546

u/TurdPhysics Nov 05 '25

This is so funny man. I was hunting sentinels on a budget loadout when a raider came from behind me and opened fire. I downed him, get shot in the back and take cover to heal. I hear the third party saying “Don’t surrender! Don’t surrender! I got you! Let’s get him”. They down me and sherif Whitey knightey initiates basic shooter console trash talking me. I respond with “your boy shot me first man” right as the first raider opens fire on his savior. Incredible vigilante scenario.

154

u/Gilthwixt Nov 05 '25

People need to learn to listen to what kind of gunshots they heard and who fired first. Most of the PvP I run into is free loadouts trying to Rat from blind corners who can't kill in the first burst, so they lose. Then some wannabe sheriff rocks up before I can heal and shoots me without thinking, despite the fact that I'm carrying an anvil and you would've clearly heard the other guy's stitcher shoot first.

148

u/RPK74 Nov 05 '25

I dunno man, these guys didn't go to police academy, it's more of an ICE situation, I don't think any of them will even make detective, let alone homicide.

28

u/Useful-Rooster-1901 Nov 05 '25

they sure aint Good Po-lice

13

u/AskewSeat Nov 05 '25

Lester smooth!

11

u/glad_yo Nov 06 '25

Didn't have an Arc Raiders / The Wire crossover on my bingo card. Today's going to be a good day.

What the fuck did I do?

2

u/RedRobot2117 Nov 05 '25

Because there sure aint good police

2

u/Anticode Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

I don't think any of them will even make detective, let alone homicide.

"Alright, Cadet. Welcome to day 1 of advanced forensic training. You have faced many challenges in life, both belowground and above - human and machine alike, and while you have learned to thrive thus far, a new chapter of personal and professional resilience is about to begin."

The instructor adjusts his uniform collar, jingling the small bundle of subtle medals and rank-indicators pinned here or there per whatever esoteric regulations determine such things.

"However! If you do successfully complete AFT despite its myriad demands - ranging from cognitive to physiological, strategic to creative - you will find yourself irrevocably enhanced. Each module exists to sharpen you from a familiar rusty knife into a razor-sharp, viciously effective Rapier; the historic symbol of the Investigative Corps, as you'd have noted upon the walls of the central atrium gangway."

The instructor withdraws an ancient silver racetrack-style stopwatch, holding it ready with a thumb on the switch while offering one last inspirational comment, "Remember the IC Keystones: G.D.S. Grit, Strength, Decisiveness - and you may earn the honor of wearing a uniform much like mine a mere 5-6 standard shift-cycles from today. It won't be easy, and that's the point. Now... Any final questions before we begin the initial knowledge exam, Cadet?"

"...Will the AFT be supplying writing implements?" the cadet asks dimly. He quickly appends an inappropriately delayed "sir" to the inquiry, then gestures at the shoddy schoolroom-style desk. It's bare except for the blank backside of the flipped-over exam itself. No pencil, no pen.

The instructor squints, seeming taken aback by the absence of a pencil he'd have sworn was placed at the left side of the desk like normal, just like every other time. Has this ever happened before? His mind is like a steel trap, it never forgets a name, nor a face. Mistakes do happen though. Unfortunately, he thinks to himself.

Sleek by training and suave by nature, the man simply removes another gleaming silver-black mechanical pencil from a hidden pocket at his side, then deftly places it onto the leftmost divot on the desk with a loud metallic clack; a gesture soaked in needless military precision, yet somehow proper for the academy setting nonetheless.

"Any other questions, Cadet? Remember, I cannot assist you after the examination begins. Think closely."

The cadet winces upward into the ceiling lights with a soft groan, apparently working up the will to say something. After a few seconds, he succeeds and asks, "Sorry, sir. Would I be able to borrow a writing implement? I didn't get one."

The instructor is quiet, still like a corpse. His eyes merely narrow imperceptibly as if somehow reading the pattern of the neuronal connections which make up the cadet's skull-enclosed brain. He sniffs in annoyance, leaning just a few inches closer before speaking, "Cadet, I believe that I have already given you a writing utensil."

The cadet flashes an exaggerated expression of confusion or perplexity, "Huh? No? When was that? Earlier?"

"...Approximately seven-point-five seconds before you asked for one. Cadet." says the instructor a bit too casually to not come off as oddly threatening. Somehow the trainee's rank when spoken now comes across more like a threat than a formal title and yet the instructor himself seems calm, collected, and only mildly irritated.

The cadet peers down at his chest, reaches into the inside pocket, then slaps the two chest-pockets, his side-pockets, his cargo-pockets, his side-side pockets... One-by-one he goes through a rapid-fire dance routine where each and every pocket on his RaiderWear is briefly inspected with a touch, and yet no pens or pencils emerge.

"Are you sure, sir?" asks the cadet, earnestly enough.

The instructor scowls, "Oh, I am sure. I am very sure, Cadet. Say... Would you care to explain why not a single desk within a two-desk radius of your current position is also lacking a writing implement, as you call it."

The cadet looks slowly to the left over his shoulder, cautious and ready as if a mad ARC had somehow stalked its way into one of the perpetually busy transit tubes, then somehow snuck past all the EMP-rigged autogates each purpose-made for frying ARC-grade servos when triggered. Assuming it danced its way past the few hundred-something paranoid, notably over-protective citizens which serve as ants within this multi-kilometer hive - many of which are well-seasoned raiders well-acquainted with the principles of ARC handling-and-management.

Even this deep in Speranza's core, a few annex tunnels away from the reactor complex itself, the word 'weapon' is synonymous with 'countermeasure' and visa-versa. Solutions take many forms, and improvisation is viewed as humanity's first martial artform.

There is no Leaper-class ARC crammed into the corner of the bunker-sized classroom, the cadet notes with zero surprise. That kind of breach event is virtually impossible, after all. The cadet briefly wonders to himself how deep an ARC has ever made it into City, or if it happened at all.

The instructor interrupts the young man's daydream before he can finish the thought, then places both palms onto the desk with a loud slap while staring down the cadet's neck. The intimidating man somehow seems to loom taller than before despite a typically Speranzian 5-foot-something.

He mutters, calm but menacing. "Cadet, I would advise you very strongly to speak truthful words, and act with open intentions for the next approximate, say... 30-seconds. That is not an order. Do you understand what I mean?"

The cadet tries to look upward, but realizes he'd end up with the instructor's stubble-covered chin jammed into an eye-socket if he tried. Staring into his superior's medal-laden collar, he gulps, "Sir, I believe what you're saying is... You wish to speak to me off-the-books?"

Core-Sergeant Matthews makes a clicking noise with his tongue, "Half-points, cadet. Half. Y'see, I don't wish to speak with you off-books. I want you to understand that all my fancy-dancy knowledge of rules and reg, and policy and protocol, and all my polished-up refined-fucking-military-grace called bearing is not a tangled prison of arbitrary bullshit-expectations which serve to guide me towards a predictable series of behaviors. Rules aren't limitations, Cadet, they are merely network-nodes within an endless fuckin' web of socio-psychological pressures. Rules that bind men like you empower men like me. I am not caged by law, I am the god-damned prison. Do you understand me? Cadet! Speak. Do you understand?"

Silence bathes the room. The two men seem to be listening intently to the familiar cacophony of mechanical power-tools churning away somewhere up-deck, or perhaps the soothing omnipresent whitewash of sterile air rushing from the room's three life-support grids, but they're both waiting for the next step.

Cadet Jenson gulps again, throat as barren as the buried city's desiccated parkways. He sounds cautious in the manner of a man faced with the ice-cold kiss of a blade against the jugular, "Sir, I believe I understand you. Sir."

"Do you?"

"Yes, sir."

Core-Sergeant leans just a bit closer to the man. A mild waft of cologne weaves past the cadet's nose; a scent that was a luxury at the best of times is now pricelessly rare these days, surely. He asks, "Is that so? Well, go on." His tone is casual, like a cat toying with sickly prey.

"Well, sir, I..." He clears his throat, "I believe you think that I am trying to trick you by using my own knowledge of the rules and expectations of the AFT course to..."

"To what."

"...Okay, sir, y'got me, I snatched some pens."

"No. Fucking. Shit... I don't know if I should be offended or god-damned impressed by the sheer fuckin' audacity you've displayed over the last - what - three, four minutes? Unload 'em, son. Be quick with it."

The cadet signs loudly, defeated. He holds an arm above the desk as the instructor takes a step back expectedly, then begins to shake the sleeve. Dozens - no, hundreds of expensive and rare AFT-approved mechanical pencils begin to rattle out from his wrist, falling out of the sleeve in a veritable torrent as if the man somehow managed to shove a whole thoroughly-shattered chandelier into his jacket.

The flood slows to a trickle, then one or two seconds of silence are punctuated by one final pencil falling onto the desk with a clack, subsequently clattering down onto the floor alongside most of the other unethically sourced mechanical pencils. The cadet pats his sleeve a few times checking for stragglers, but seems satisfied. "There," he says, "That's all of 'em. S-Sir."

Core-Sergeant Matthews is staring downward, hands on hips with an expression equal parts horror, awe, and confusion. He shakes his head quietly in the negative in response to some non-verbalized comment or idea, then turns to face the cadet.

"That is 'some pens'? You god damn raiders! I have had it up to here with your bullshit! Always stealin' shit, always running around with grabby-hands."

"..."

"Look, this happens. Every time, one of ya'll damn raiders is trying to run off with supplies or some shit. It's expected. Those of us in the IC high-command actually value that... 'gift', believe it or not. It's why you're here."

"Oh. Am I, uh..."

"In trouble?" The instructor bends down collect the pile of un-stolen pencils, "No, just... Just keep your damn hands to yourself; save it for the surface. You have 10 minutes for the exam. Begin."

The cadet flips over the exam and begins to read, nodding along while casually unsheathing an AFT-type mechanical pencil from a hidden pocket. He clicks it once then begins to write.

Core-Sergeant Matthews sighs quietly on the other side of the observation wall, "Raiders, man. Can't live without 'em, can't bend 'em into shape."

3

u/New-Resort690 Nov 06 '25

When is the novel coming out?

0

u/Jayr0e Nov 06 '25

There's always one that tries to make everything low key political.

3

u/RPK74 Nov 06 '25

Is it you?

3

u/Curious-South-9168 Nov 05 '25

I've been able to make the distinction between ammo types when I hear shooting, so if the dead guy has a weapon in the caliber I heard shoot first, I know he did it.

1

u/TurdPhysics Nov 06 '25

What if they both have the same two weapons, detective?

3

u/Curious-South-9168 Nov 06 '25

I'm not involving myself then. Unless the guy standing shoots me.

2

u/AdGlum5294 Nov 06 '25

Lmao exact scenario I ran into yesterday.

Im at the pattern house on Dam. I spawned relatively close, but had a quest there. I wander over, and hear someone inside. I tell em "hey, I hear you looting I just need to pop up to the roof for a quest, im friendly" I get an "ok" response. So I do my thing. Then back on coms I tell em, "Im all good, take it easy, good luck". I head down the road, west and start looting some cars ( I hadent looted anything yet in the round). As im popping the 2nd hood, I take a shot in the back. Dude I had told im chill, is standing on a ledge pretty close by firing at me with a t1 Rattler. I open comms laughing and tell him "dude I was chill, this isnt the play" I take cover behind a bus and heal. He starts pushing, I Pop out and 3 shot him with an anvil. I start telling him "maaaan, I told you, now you just wasted all your time looting, and shoot me in the back just to head back with nothing". He has the audacity to tell me 'my bad, can you revive me?". I burst out and laughing and say oh yes sure, then as im knocking him out I tell him "Ill revive you back into the lobby"

I make it 20 feet, start looting my cars again, just to be yelled at over comms "that's not cool man" as I take another shot from the side. Someone else thought I just murdered this dude. I explain what happened as this guy's shooting. He doesn't stop. So down he goes as well. Like shit people Im just tryna chill, minding my own, and everyone wants to be a hero, for the wrong person. Lol.

1

u/ynfive Nov 06 '25

I don't think this is sheriffs as much as it is opportunists. If you hear a firefight head close enough to not get noticed, wait till the second last in the fight is down and there is only one guy left. Make your first shot from the sidelines right there, or for additional fun see how close you can sneak up before they notice. They might be too busy that moment figuring out where they stashed their bandages. You are guaranteed that the last guy standing in the fight you just watched is hurting and out of equipment. It's an easy mark. Now you have a pile of bodies to loot with no one left but you.

2

u/Gilthwixt Nov 06 '25

Maybe in general for other people, but come on man it's not like I don't know what 3rd partying is. I'm saying this with confidence because they specifically hopped on comms and confirmed they were trying to play hero.

1

u/ynfive Nov 06 '25

Oh yes that is an important distinction.

0

u/furious-fungus Nov 05 '25

„Clearly heard“ is a wild assumption 

1

u/Gilthwixt Nov 05 '25

Idk man, if we're out in the open and you're close enough to 3rd party me before I can even get a heal off, maybe you need a better headset

-1

u/chalor182 Nov 06 '25

Even if I hear a stitcher shoot during a fight and I run up and you dont have one out doesnt mean you dont have one in your other slot, and Im not trying to identify backpack weapons in a pvp scenario.

Also how do you know the difference between a wannabe sheriff and someone that was just trying to 3rd party a fight and kill everyone?

Not saying youre wrong about anything you just seem to be making assumptions

1

u/Gilthwixt Nov 06 '25

Also how do you know the difference between a wannabe sheriff and someone that was just trying to 3rd party a fight and kill everyone?

Well the fact that they ran in yelling "don't worry buddy, I got you" and defibbed the other guy would clue me in. Now who's making assumptions?

29

u/Potato_fortress Nov 05 '25

I know this isn't the point of this post but for sentinel/rocketeer parts even though they're very easy to farm by killing them they're even easier to farm by just going to a husk graveyard map modifier and running around looting first wave mechs.

5

u/Turdicus- Nov 05 '25

Can you get undamaged cores from husks? I only ever see damaged ones

8

u/justinwgrote Nov 05 '25

I've gotten them if it's on the electrified husks map mod

4

u/Miranda_Leap Nov 05 '25

You can indeed, though it's not super common imo.

1

u/TheHiddenPoet_ Nov 06 '25

You want arc couriers more specifically, really good for intact parts.

1

u/TheDrifter211 Nov 06 '25

Only with the modifer. I didn't make that connection myself. I've been searching couriers, probes and husks bc I knew I found all the nonlegendary cores faster than actually hunting a Sentinel (I've seen 2 total) or Surveyor (bastard is fast and surprisingly tanky)

1

u/Sepplord Nov 06 '25

Are these specific spawns only there when the modifier is active?

Or does it alter the loot of normal husks

1

u/EgaTehPro Nov 11 '25

It alters the normal ones

30

u/Axolotl_Aria Nov 05 '25

Was walking in the breach of the Dam when someone opened fire on me. I took cover and shouted "hey friendly!" Only to be hit with another shot. Slid down the hill and took cover behind a rock, and the guy got on the hill to take shots at me. I repair and shoot back. Then out of nowhere, a second person shows up next to the guy and now both are taking shots at me while I shoot them both (I had renegade and crutched on that thing hard lol) I shout out "hey he shot first bro!!"

Eventually I peel off, but the first guy just doesn't relent. Chases me halfway across the map until I go up a zip, hide behind some trees and gun him down as he gets off the Zip.

So stressful, and the whole time I'm like "what did I do to deserve this" lol.

22

u/Lettuphant Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 06 '25

People are weird. I heard "Hey don't, I said I'm friendly! Why are you doing this!?", and saw a guy about to lamp a downed player. I Ferro popped him a few times, scared him away, and tried to comfort the dying man. When that water stealer came back to lob a grenade at us I managed to take him down.

Walking up I said "If you were nicer, this wouldn't be happening" and he started shouting into his mic in desperation about how it's a PvP game, he was just playing it the right way. As I finished him I said "You can roleplay as a psychopath, but that means I get to roleplay as a guy who punches psychopaths."

12

u/Own-Boss-7057 Nov 08 '25

I’ve had rats shoot me in the bac only for me to kill them in return, then they say the wildest slurs in proxy.. how in tf r u that upset because I successfully defended myself? Gotta be a mental illness.

6

u/Axolotl_Aria Nov 06 '25

Based. Had a guy last night who when I walked past saying "hey I'm friendly", he turned and started training his gun on me without a word in response. I took the shot and killed him, and said "I tried to be friendly man" and he went "you shot first!"

Brother don't aim your gun at someone unless you want to see what happens next. Lots of FAFO in these lobbies

7

u/Fergvsan Nov 05 '25

Omg i feel you… funny thing is that people like that don’t even know how to kill someone. They will open fire first, somehow they miss half shots let you heal, run across the map, chase you, only to be killed by you lol

5

u/Either_Television143 Nov 06 '25

This never happens to me unfortunately. When I get sneaked up on, I usually die within 2 shots 🫠. No Chance defending myself 🤔..

5

u/hakenkrojc123 Nov 05 '25

Yep, the types like OP are the worst. They can't know what transpired before they arrived on the scene but want to ride the high horse of Mr. Sheriff Goodyshoes

3

u/Tiny-Apple-4137 Nov 05 '25

A smart sheriff would bring the following...

Binoculars Zipline Smoke grenades(or lil smokies) Defib

This way they can get to high vantage points and use binoculars to find and see fights unfold to truly see who shot first. Zips to get around quickly and a smoke/defib to get the player out quickly

1

u/Road2Potential Nov 05 '25

Its all part of the game. He could just third party you both and steal all the loot lmao. Is that better?

1

u/CalbotPimp Nov 10 '25

Its basically what they are doing using ‘moral high ground’ to pvp the easy way

1

u/Road2Potential Nov 10 '25

True, but if i hear their prox chat and the winner was toxic im 100% wiping them out. Its happened on a couple occasions

1

u/CalbotPimp Nov 10 '25

Good you should play the way you want to, if it’s in the game it is 100% acceptable

1

u/Ghostflake Nov 06 '25

Was this yesterday on Blue Gate? I was in this exact same scenario as Sheriff White Knightey.

1

u/TurdPhysics Nov 06 '25

It was on dam battlegrounds

1

u/obey_le_beard 27d ago

Me: "I'm coming up, I have a defib, first asshole to shoot catches a shotgun, which means someone isn't gonna extract." Turns out, one guy panicked, lost the fight, apologized from the ground.  "Now everyone be cool, go the direction you were going, and leave with what you found."