The Skulker is a small ARC machine that arrived with ARC Raiders’ Frozen Trail update on October 8th, alongside the Bully and the Hydra. It doesn’t hit as hard as a Bully, and its armor is thin. It wins fights by staying out of your sightline, firing a quick burst from the rifle on its tail, and then sliding away before you can answer. You beat it by taking away its ability to move.
Quick answer: Hold hard cover and wait for the red laser that warns of a burst. Shoot its spherical legs between bursts to pin it in place, then empty a precision weapon like the Anvil or Renegade into its 230-health body.
Skulker part health and weak points
The Skulker moves on spherical leg components and uses a thruster to dart across a fight. Its legs are always exposed. You don’t have to wait for it to open up, so you can aim at them the moment it appears. Here is the health of each part:
| Skulker part | Health |
|---|---|
| Body | 230 |
| Leg (each) | 125 |
| Thruster | 40 |
| Medium armor plate | 28 |
| Light armor plate | 13 |
The body has the most health, so shooting it while the Skulker can still move costs you ammo and leaves you open to return fire. The legs are the real target. Losing even one or two of them makes the machine much easier to fight safely, and once its mobility is gone, it becomes a stationary target you can take apart at your own pace. The tail-mounted rifle is the other part worth shooting. Destroy it, and the Skulker stops dealing damage while you finish the job.
How the Skulker attacks
The Skulker fights in a loop. It finds an angle on you, stops, aims its scorpion-style tail rifle, fires a short gatling burst, and then backs off to set up somewhere else. Each round of that burst deals 12 damage. If you stand in the open for a full volley, your health drops fast.
The burst always comes with a warning. A red laser line paints your position just before the Skulker fires. Treat that as your cue to break line of sight. The pause also creates your opening, because the Skulker stays still while it aims. It also hugs the ground when it moves, which makes it easy to lose track of, especially against snow.
A Skulker that retreats has not given up. It is moving to a new angle, so chasing it right after a burst can walk you into its next shot, or into another enemy’s line of fire.
How to kill a Skulker in ARC Raiders
Fighting several Skulkers or a Skulker with a Bully
Skulkers often appear in groups, and they often show up alongside a Bully. Pick one Skulker, focus on it until it is destroyed, and only then switch targets, because every machine you remove cuts down the incoming fire. In a squad, call out the direction where a Skulker was last seen instead of having everyone leave cover to chase it. Keep one player watching the Bully, so the whole team doesn’t get pulled into chasing the smaller machines.
Best weapons and loadout for the Skulker
The Skulker is small and quick, so accuracy matters more than armor penetration. You need a weapon that can hit its legs between bursts.
| Weapon | Category | Ammo |
|---|---|---|
 Anvil | Hand Cannon | Heavy Ammo |
 Renegade | Battle Rifle | Medium Ammo |
 Osprey | Sniper Rifle | Medium Ammo |
 Bettina | Assault Rifle | Heavy Ammo |
 Hullcracker | Special | Launcher Ammo |
 Stiletto | Battle Rifle | Light Ammo |
Anvil deals heavy damage per shot and does well against headshots, which makes it a safe opener against the legs. Tian Wen no longer sells it, so you will need one already in your stash.
Renegade is a lever-action rifle that holds eight rounds and penetrates Moderate ARC armor. It favors powerful hits, precise aim, and extra damage from headshots. Tian Wen sells Renegade I for 21,000 Coins.
Osprey and Bettina both work well. The Osprey deals reliable damage at range. The Bettina fires slowly but hits hard with each round. A basic Ferro can also do the job if your stash is thin.
Hullcracker is an Epic launcher that fires explosive rounds, which detonate only upon hitting ARC. Its burst can be strong enough to take down a Skulker before it repositions, but one shot does not guarantee a kill. Tian Wen no longer has the Hullcracker in stock, and Launcher Ammo has a daily buying cap. Each stack costs 4,500 Coins and holds 24 rounds.
The Stiletto uses Light Ammo and fires semi-automatically, with precise aim and little recoil at first. Sustained shooting makes it tougher to keep steady, so fire in taps. Its magazine capacity increases from 10 rounds at level I to 16 at level IV.
Shield, ammo, and healing
Bring a shield, plenty of ammo, and enough healing to recover from one bad peek. Both standard shields are sold by Lance:
| Shield | Charge | Damage reduction | Price (Lance) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Light Shield | 40 | 40% | 1,920 Coins |
 Medium Shield | 70 | 42.5% | 6,000 Coins |
The Light Shield doesn’t slow you down. The Medium Shield costs you 5 percent of your movement speed. Against a lone Skulker, a Light Shield is enough. Tian Wen sells both Heavy Ammo and Medium Ammo for 900 Coins per purchase. Bandages and a couple of shield rechargers cover most fights, and the Looting Mk. 1 augment is a sensible choice if you are hunting Skulkers for their parts.
Where to find Skulkers
Skulkers live on Pendola Pass, the snowy map added in Frozen Trail. The map unlocks after 25 rounds played. They roam the outskirts and wait just outside buildings and shelters, so you will often run into one in the middle of a looting run. They also show up during map conditions such as Redirection, in low-visibility weather like blizzards and storms, around Turbines, and beneath the ARC Frigate.
Skulkers count toward Shani’s quest Tracks of the Beast. When the Destroy Skulkers weekly Trial is running, each kill is worth 500 points, so six kills reach the 3,000 points needed for three stars. You claim the score by extracting.
Skulker drops and the Skulker Targeter
A destroyed Skulker breaks into several lootable parts. The tail holds its unique part, and the rest of the wreck holds common ARC materials.
- Skulker Targeter (from the tail)
- Skulker Driver
- Heavy Ammo
- Advanced ARC Powercell
- ARC Thermo Lining, ARC Coolant, and ARC Data Module
- A chance at ARC Alloy
The Skulker Driver and the Skulker Targeter are different items. The Driver is a component. The Targeter is an Uncommon deployable that works like a small turret. It deals 9 damage to targets within 25m and fires at both ARC and raiders, which makes it useful for ambushes or for covering an extract. It tracks in a narrow cone, so aim it toward the approach you expect enemies to use. One Targeter on its own is weak, and a pair covers an approach better. You can also recycle Targeters into crafting materials, and they are used to craft Mobile-Fire Grip Fittings and the Canto Blueprint.
The Targeter can hit the player who deployed it. Position it so its shots won’t cross your loot spots or your squad’s escape route, and let teammates know before placing it. Any damage it inflicts on you does not count toward the Deal Damage using Skulker Targeter Trial.
Once you know the pattern, the Skulker is a manageable fight. Keep it in view, wait for the laser, take its legs, and finish the body while it can’t move.
