why can't i wear medium shield arc raiders
You can’t wear a Medium Shield in ARC Raiders until your augment supports it.
The Core Reason
Medium Shields are locked behind specific loadout augments, not character level.
- Light Shields work with your starter augments (Free Loadout, Looting), so they equip fine.
- Medium Shields only work if you’re using a Combat or Tactical augment (e.g., Combat MK1, Tactical MK1), so the slot stays greyed out or unequippable without them.
Think of it like this: your augment “tells” the game which shield tiers your Raider is allowed to use.
Quick Fix: Step‑by‑Step
- Go to Lance at the Clinic/Raider Den.
- Craft or purchase one of these augments:
- Combat MK1 or
- Tactical MK1.
- Use the Loadout Station and equip that new augment in your slot.
- Once that augment is active, your Medium Shield slot unlocks and you can equip your Medium Shield.
If the slot is still greyed out, you’re probably still using a Free Loadout or Looting augment, which only allow Light Shields.
Why the Game Does This
- Shields are tied to augments so the game can separate looting/support builds (fast, Light Shields) from combat builds (tougher, Medium/Heavy Shields).
- Medium Shields give noticeably better mitigation (around mid‑40% damage reduction) with only a small movement penalty (~5%), so the devs gate them behind combat augments.
An example: if you’re running a loot‑focused build with a Free Loadout augment, you move faster but are locked to Light Shields; swap to Combat MK1 before a raid and suddenly your Medium Shield becomes available.
Medium vs Light vs Heavy (for context)
Here’s a simple view of how the shield tiers differ.
| Shield type | Damage mitigation | Movement penalty | Compatible augments | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Shield | About 40% | None | Almost all, including Free Loadout & Looting | Fast looting, scouting, high mobility |
| Medium Shield | About 42–45% | ≈5% | Combat/Tactical augments like Combat MK1, Tactical MK1 | Balanced combat, decent tankiness with okay speed |
| Heavy Shield | Roughly 50%+ | Big penalty (around 15%) | Higher‑tier Raider/Combat augments | Tank builds, low mobility, high survivability |
Extra checks if it still won’t equip
If you’ve done the above and still can’t wear your Medium Shield, quickly verify:
- You actually equipped the Combat/Tactical augment (not just crafted it).
- You didn’t forget to switch back from a Looting/Free Loadout augment before starting your run.
- You’re not in a special test/server environment with restricted equipment options.
If you tell me your current augment name and what you see on the shield slot (e.g., “greyed out, lock icon, message text”), I can help pinpoint the exact blocker.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
