What to know
- Players can bypass the Kettle’s intended fire-rate limits using input exploits.
- The semi-auto rifle behaves like a high-RPM weapon, deleting shields quickly.
- The exploit is most impactful in close- to mid-range PvP encounters.
- A fix is expected, but until then, awareness is your best defense.
In ARC Raiders, balance hinges on clear weapon strengths and weaknesses. The Kettle rifle is meant to be a humble, semi-automatic starter gun. Recently, however, players uncovered an exploit that removes its biggest limitation—fire rate—turning it into one of the most lethal weapons you can run early on.
This has quickly become a hot topic in the community, especially among PvP-focused Raiders who are suddenly losing fights far faster than expected.
How the Kettle is supposed to work
Under normal conditions, the Kettle is designed around deliberate pacing:
- Semi-automatic firing with a strict click-to-shoot rhythm
- Moderate damage balanced by low rate of fire
- Reliable accuracy that rewards controlled shots
How the Kettle exploit changes everything
The exploit centers on bypassing the weapon’s fire-rate limiter through external input behavior. When abused, the Kettle fires far faster than human clicking should allow.
The result is, well, dramatic:
- Time-to-kill drops sharply, even against shielded targets
- Recoil and bloom remain manageable, keeping shots on target
- Close-quarters fights become extremely one-sided
In practice, it feels less like a starter rifle and more like a fully automatic PvP meta weapon.
How to recognize the exploit in a fight
You can’t see the exploit directly, but there are tell-tale signs during combat:
- Kettle shots sounding unnaturally rapid and consistent
- Shields breaking almost instantly from a single rifle
- Minimal pauses between shots, even at long bursts
If a Kettle feels like it’s firing faster than any semi-auto should, you’re likely facing an exploiter.
Will the Kettle exploit be fixed?
Given ARC Raiders’ active development and prior balance adjustments, a fix is widely expected. Likely solutions include stricter server-side fire-rate checks or changes to how semi-automatic weapons register input.
Until then, the exploit remains a talking point—and a reminder that even small loopholes can dramatically reshape an extraction shooter’s meta.
Should you 'exploit' Kettle's macro
In our opinion, this player-found dynamic for the Raids is a no-brainer when it comes to PvP trials. However, exploiting this can lead to a permanent 'fix' as this amounts to a serious power imbalance for in-game players.
It is safe to say that the Raiders are enjoying this for now, but it is still a bug or glitch that shall be resolved soon. So, I recommend exploiting while it lasts and running with that!
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