The Comet Igniter is a special ARC material in ARC Raiders, introduced with the Shrouded Sky update alongside the Hurricane map condition and two new enemy types. You need at least one Comet Igniter to complete stage two of the Weather Monitoring System project, and getting your hands on one is trickier than it sounds.
Quick answer: Comet Igniters drop from the new Comet enemy, but only when you destroy it before it self-detonates. Kill it with heavy weapons like the Hullcracker, Anvil, Ferro, or Bettina from a distance, then loot the core container it leaves behind.
What Is the Comet Enemy in ARC Raiders
The Comet is a sphere-shaped ARC robot that arrived with the Shrouded Sky update. It's visually similar to the ARC Surveyor — a large rolling ball — but behaves very differently. Where Surveyors flee when spotted, Comets charge directly at you, pause briefly to emit a high-pitched whine, and then explode in a wide area-of-effect blast that will kill you outright if you're caught in it.
You can identify a Comet by the single vertical light on its front and a strip of light running over the top. That light shifts from white to yellow to red as it detects and locks onto you. Once it turns red and starts rolling your way, you have only a few seconds to either destroy it or get clear of the blast radius.
Comets are heavily armored compared to Pops and Fireballs. Light weapons won't cut it — you need serious firepower to crack the shell before the Comet reaches you and detonates.
Where Comets Spawn Across All Maps
Unlike Pops and Fireballs, which tend to lurk inside buildings and structures, Comets patrol outdoors in open areas. They can appear on every map, not just during Hurricane conditions. While the Hurricane weather event increases their frequency, you'll encounter them during normal day and night cycles too.
Good spots to look for Comets include the square north of Plaza Rosa in Buried City, the dam near the Control Tower on Dam Battlegrounds, open areas between buildings in Spaceport, and the farms and fields of The Blue Gate. Comets drop in from the sky when they first arrive on the map, leaving a visible arc trail as they land. Their explosions are loud and distinctive, so if you hear one go off nearby, another Comet may be patrolling the same area.
How to Kill a Comet and Loot the Igniter
The critical detail most players miss early on is that you must destroy the Comet before it self-destructs. If a Comet detonates on its own, it leaves behind only a lootable outer ring containing common ARC parts like ARC Coolant and Advanced ARC Powercells. The Comet Igniter is housed in a separate core container that only appears when you kill the Comet yourself. The Shrouded Sky patch notes list the Igniter being unlootable after self-detonation as a known issue, so this behavior may eventually change.
Step 1: Spot the Comet from as far away as possible. Distance is your biggest advantage. The more ground the Comet has to cover to reach you, the more time you have to break through its armor.
Step 2: Open fire with a heavy weapon. The Hullcracker is the most efficient option — it can destroy a Comet in roughly one to two shots. The Anvil works but takes around six shots, so accuracy matters. The Ferro and Bettina are also effective. Avoid shotguns like the Il Toro unless you have no other choice, since closing distance with a Comet is extremely dangerous.
Step 3: If you prefer explosives, grenades are a strong alternative. Seeker Grenades home in on the target and deal solid damage. Three light impact grenades can also do the job if you get the drop on the Comet before it notices you. Heavy Fuze Grenades and Trigger 'Nades work well as an opening attack — follow up with a couple of heavy ammo shots to finish it off.
Step 4: Once the Comet is destroyed, look for two separate lootable objects. The outer ring contains standard ARC salvage. The inner core — a smaller, sphere-like container — holds the Comet Igniter. Loot both.
Why Comets Sometimes Don't Drop an Igniter
Even when you destroy a Comet before it self-detonates, the Igniter drop is not guaranteed every time. Players have reported looting multiple Comets without receiving one. There's ongoing community debate about whether this is an additional bug or intended RNG behavior. Some players have observed what appears to be an invisible, unlootable container at the Comet's wreckage, suggesting a loot-table issue that Embark Studios may address in a future patch.
Your best bet is to keep hunting Comets across multiple raids. They spawn frequently enough in outdoor areas that you should be able to collect what you need within a few sessions, especially if you bring a Hullcracker and prioritize open-area points of interest.
What the Comet Igniter Is Used For
The Comet Igniter's primary use is in the Weather Monitoring System project, specifically stage two. This multi-stage project was added alongside the Shrouded Sky update and requires a mix of standard crafting materials and new ARC-specific drops. Stage five of the same project requires a Firefly Burner, which drops from the other new enemy type introduced in the same patch.
Beyond the Weather Monitoring System, there's no confirmed crafting recipe or quest that currently requires the Comet Igniter. That said, stockpiling extras isn't a bad idea — future updates may introduce additional uses, and surplus Igniters can be sold for credits in the meantime.
The Comet Igniter is one of those materials that rewards preparation over luck. Bring a Hullcracker or Anvil, scan open areas for the telltale arc trail of a Comet dropping in, and put it down before it gets anywhere near you. Once you've secured the Igniter and looted the core, you're one step closer to finishing the Weather Monitoring System and moving on to the next challenge the Shrouded Sky update has waiting.