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why can't i use a medium shield in arc raiders

You can’t use a Medium Shield in ARC Raiders until your augment supports it, which is why the game just refuses to equip it even if it’s in your inventory.

The Real Reason You Can’t Equip It

Arc Raiders quietly ties shield size to your loadout augment, not to your level or the shield itself.

  • Looting / Free Loadout augments = only Light shields.
  • Combat MK1 or Tactical MK1 augments = unlock Medium (and later Heavy) shields.
  • If you’re on a looting-focused augment, the Medium Shield slot stays greyed out, even though you own one.

So the game isn’t bugged; your current augment is simply incompatible with Medium Shields.

How To Actually Use a Medium Shield

Follow this flow and your Medium Shield should become equip‑able:

  1. Go to the Raider Den and find Lance at the Clinic.
  1. Get one of these augments:
    • Combat MK1
    • Tactical MK1
  1. Craft or buy the augment using basic materials like Metal, Rubber, and Fabric.
  1. At the Loadout Station, equip that augment in your augment slot.
  1. Once that’s active, reopen your loadout: the Medium Shield slot should light up and let you equip it.
  1. Equip the Medium Shield before deploying; you cannot change augments or shield tier mid‑mission.

If the slot is still locked, double‑check you didn’t accidentally swap back to a Looting or Free Loadout augment.

Quick Stats & Why Medium Shields Matter

Medium Shields are designed as a middle ground between speed and tankiness.

  • Around 45% damage mitigation (better than Light, weaker than Heavy).
  • Small movement penalty, roughly ~5%, so you stay fairly mobile.
  • Great for combat‑focused runs where you expect to take hits but don’t want Heavy‑shield slowdowns.

Common Misconceptions (From Player Discussions)

Public forum and Reddit threads show a lot of people assuming:

  • “I must be under‑leveled” – level is not the issue; augment type is.
  • “My game is bugged” – in nearly all cases, switching to Combat/Tactical fixed it.
  • “The UI should tell me this” – many players complain the game never clearly explains the augment–shield link.

One player on Reddit explicitly solved their “can’t equip medium shields” problem by swapping off a looting augment to Combat MK1, which immediately unlocked the shield slot.

Mini FAQ

Q: Why can’t I use my Medium Shield even though I own it?
A: Your current augment only supports Light Shields. Swap to Combat MK1 or Tactical MK1 at the Loadout Station.

Q: Can I switch augments during a mission?
A: No, you have to equip the augment (and the Medium Shield) before deploying.

Q: Do Medium Shields slow me a lot?
A: Only slightly; the movement penalty is small compared to Heavy Shields, which are much slower.

TL;DR: You can’t use a Medium Shield in ARC Raiders because your augment isn’t a Combat or Tactical one; swap to Combat MK1 or Tactical MK1 at the Raider Den, then equip the shield at the Loadout Station before you deploy.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.