ARC Raiders patch 1.36.0 has landed with a matchmaking tweak that many players have wanted for ages, and it does make a real difference if you bounce between squad sizes. The system now keeps Solo, Duo, and Trio behaviour apart, so the way you play while hunting ARC Raiders Items in one mode should no longer spill straight into the others.
That matters because plenty of players do not play the same way every time. You might run Solo like a ghost, avoiding trouble and clearing quests. Then you hop into a Trio with friends and suddenly it is all pressure, pushes, and gunfights. Before this update, those styles could blur together. Now, each squad size gets its own matchmaking profile, which should make the whole thing feel a bit fairer.
What Changed in Matchmaking
The important part is pretty straightforward. Solo playstyle tracking is now separate from Duo and Trio. Same goes for the other two. So if your Solo runs are calm and objective-heavy, that should stay tied to Solo. If your Trio nights are loud and aggressive, that stays in Trio.
For a lot of people, that is the whole point. You do not always want one mode to define the next. If you like sneaking around on your own, you should not feel dragged into a more fight-heavy lobby just because your group sessions are different. The update cuts that connection, and honestly, it sounds like the game is finally paying attention to how people actually queue up.
How It Works In Practice
Players who like a more careful pace should notice the change first. If your Solo habit is to complete contracts, grab supplies, and avoid messy fights, that behaviour stays in its own lane. Your Trio squad can still go in hard without rewriting your Solo identity.
- Play Solo, Duo, and Trio normally.
- Let each mode build its own behaviour profile over time.
- Keep in mind that actions in one squad size should not affect the others now.
- Expect matchmaking to react more closely to how you play in that exact setup.
That is the cleanest way to think about it. You are basically no longer one blended profile with three different moods. You are three separate versions of the same player, and that should stop a lot of the weird cross-over people were complaining about.
More Than Just Matchmaking
The patch does not stop there, though. ARC Turbine loot is worth more now, which is good news because the old reward felt a bit stingy. There are also fixes for disappearing Turbines, stomps that ignored walls, and a few odd bugs around item displays and terrain problems.
On top of that, the update keeps pushing fair play changes, with better anti-cheat work, reporting feedback, and item duplication prevention. It is the sort of patch that does a little bit of everything, but the matchmaking change is the bit most players will actually notice in day-to-day matches, especially if they swap between squad sizes a lot. If you are also keeping an eye on ARC Raiders Materials, it is worth remembering that the broader economy and loot flow are still being adjusted alongside these playstyle changes.