The Amazon’s Arkfall Tips for Defiance

Mana from the Heavens

In Trion’s Defiance, an Arkhunter has opportunity that is literally falling from the skies on a regular, almost hourly basis. You have to be ready to roll, be locked and loaded, and have no excuses when meteors come calling. 

The first thing to know is what kind of situation you are dealing with here. 

Types of Arkfalls

Minor

Minor Arkfalls are one-shot deals. A single meteor has crashed and shows up on your map a single Arkfall icon circle. 

These vary by what kind of enemy they attract.

• Claimjumpers –  A minor 99’ers Arkfall. Just take them out until the crystal explodes.
• Hellbug Destruction – Shoot the crystal. The bugs are a distraction. Let the skitterlings do their thing.
• Hellbug Extermination – Five rounds of bug hunting. Stick and move.
• Mutant Conflict – Battle the uglies for five rounds.
• Mutant Mayhem – Take out the crystal, and any mutants if they’re in the way. Especially the cleaver guys. Ugh, I hate those guys.

TIP: Every so often, the mutants will place a fuel canister beside the crystal. Your EGO should tip you off. Blow it up.

• Prosperity in ’99 – A minor 99’ers Arkfall, but the crystal is the goal. You might find a lobber laying about to help damage it more quickly.
• Raider Decimation – Kill raiders and last long enough until the meteor detonates. Simple enough.

Raider Tip: Rioters can be a pain since their riot shield protects them. Any EGO power can help take them out, but it’s easier to just lob a grenade at their feet. Or dare to get in real close and BASH them.

• Raider Destruction – Blowing up the crystal is the goal, the Raiders are a distraction. But, the Raider Blasters will drop rocket launchers. Snag one when you can and nail the meteor to speed things up.
• Scrapper Destruction – A meteorite is the target and waves of Scrappers will come. Sometimes a damaged Scrapper will hover near the core, shoot it and it will explode hurting the crystal.

Scrapper Tip – Honestly the scrappers are not very vicious enemies during this type and they don’t come at you that hard. I simply strafe, firing constantly and focus on the cores. Most of the time, the bots never bother with me.

• Scrapper Disruption – A small meteor attracts waves of Scrappers that you must destroy.

Curiously, there are no current Arkfalls with Dark Matter enemies. Of course that might be for the best, considering how bad-ass they are.

Major

When a large cluster of meteors slam into Paradise, it’s a big deal. These major Arkfalls usually consist of 5 minor locations all marked on your map inside a larger red ring.

All of the minor locations must be finished before a final location is indicated on the map to where the last stage will take place.

These are the events that can draw a large crowd so competition can get fierce and the whole scene, especially during the final confrontation can be quite chaotic. Keep your eyes on the prize.

• Hellbug Uprising – This is a series of Hellbug Arkfalls where you destroy the crystal itself, not kill the bugs. The final battle is against a Hellbug Hellion which is the big tripod thing from the ads. But, the actual symbiot you’re after looks like a cicada on a stick that pops up and spits at you.

Hellbug Chrysalis Tip: Blast them when they pop up. They tend to spawn Archers. 

Hellion Tip: The glowing glands are your first target to both blow off its legs, but also to bring the symbiot out of hiding. As soon as the glands are low, reload and be ready for it to pop up like a Jack-in-the-Box.

• Mother of All Hellbugs – You must battle Hellbugs away from the Arkfall locations for at least five rounds before the meteor detonates. Then, face off with a Hellbug Matron. She’s a lovely thing and she spouts attack babies.

Matron Tip: The Matron’s weakness is her lovely face. Also, once she goes underground, quickly check your radar. You will see her move to a new location, but you’ll have time to be locked and aimed when she pops up.

Hellbug Blast Pods Tip – Prioritize killing these things. They can shoot biosludge and hit you from nearly anywhere inside the Arkfall area. 

• Revolting Hellbugs – A series of minor Hellbug battles where your goal is to take out the crystal. Various Hellbugs will be trying to stop you as the smaller ones attack the meteor. This culminates in a battle with a Mature Hellion,which has several maws that spit at you. Once damaged, the mature symbiot actually pops out and flies around. Just focus on him until he goes back to hide, then focus on the Monarchs. As soon as they’re about to die, reload and get ready for the Hellion to come back out.

Monarch Tip: Like all enemies, the Monarch has glowing weak points (chest and tail). When it rears up, hit the chest. When it rolls at you or someone else, dive clear then go for the tail. After a roll, the Monarch’s tail flexes – exposing the weak spots.

Mature Hellion Tip: Aim for the underside of its tail to do the most damage. Be ready to roll when it first pops out to prevent being body slammed.

TIP: The obvious suggestion here is to leave the Skitterlings the Hell ALONE. Their focus is taking big bites of out the crystals and giving you the Arkhunter an opening to do some real damage.

• Scrapper Uprising – A series of minor Scrapper battles before facing a Progenitor Core (the big claw bot in the pic). An odd name for a Boss Scrapper repair bot. It maintains a group of armatures that shoot or try to slam you. Take out their heat sinks, then hit the Core while it tries to fix them. A lot of small scrappers will be running around too, but they tend to be a minor nuisance. 

Scrapper Tip: The armatures can only reach so far when they try to slam you, so keep a good distance and be ready to roll sideways when they target you. 

Arkfall Courtesy

Though Arkhunters live solitary lives of prospecting, there is still some concepts of good manners while battling an Arkfall.

• Get Out of the Car! – If you want to make people hate you in the shortest time, just drive around an Arkfall running over enemies. No one gets credit. No one gets any loot. You might get some roller XP. Well, that and the ire of the other hunters around you. I admit I’m guilty of occasionally running down a Mature Hellbug before popping out of my Plum Crazy Challenger, but I’m saving meself a few bullets.
• Overkill – Most times you can’t have enough firepower, but during Hellbug Arkfalls where you’re nursing the skitterlings to take big bites out of the crystal, a guy with a grenade lobber or rocket launcher is a problem. You end up killing all the babies as collateral. The same can happen when using a beam weapon.
• Reviving – Having to self-revive means that if you die again, you end up far away from the Arkfall, so do your fellow hunters a favor and give them a boost when they’re down and hopefully they will do the same for you. It’s quick and you get XP and maybe a new friend out of the deal.
• Spamming – Save your Clan invites or trade offers until after. They can be distracting and folks may just end up ignoring you if you keep campaigning for them to join ‘the baddest clan in the wastelands.’

What You Bring With You

• EGO Powers – During Arkfalls, the BLUR power is just about useless except to dodge enemies or run back to an ammo box. CLOAK is not very helpful since you will almost always be firing a weapon during an Arkfall. OVERCHARGE is very common and obviously helpful. I tend toward DECOY since it allows me to focus on big enemies or the crystals and let the other baddies chase my hologram. 

As for Perks, there are many that can help do more damage or help keep you alive during Arkfalls. Experiment with mixing and matching them in your load. I actually have a specific Arkfall loadout.

Among my personal favorites, Fortitude,  Cellular Armor, Thick Skinned and Preparedness, which reloads your unequipped weapon. This means I can just swap my two S.A.W.s with no reload time wasted.

• Weapons – There is just cause for nearly every weapon in the Defiance arsenal, but be mindful of area weapons like grenades, rockets and beamers when it comes to the Hellbug Arkfalls. Just about anything that can do high damage to the crystal is useful. P

Personally, I am big supporter of Light Machine Guns (namely SAWs). These bullet hoses can pour firepower into the crystal, easily dispatch enemies and have large magazines. During Major Arkfalls, having a heavy weapon as your secondary is good for dealing with larger baddies (like Monarch Hellbugs) and the Boss enemies (Matrons, Progenitors).

Quick Tips

• Map and Mark – When you check your map for Arkfalls, note the nearest Fast Travel. Then, paste a map marker on the Arkfall. Now, once you’ve Fast Traveled, you can hop in your ride and the GPS is already set.
• Ammo Boxes – Upon arrival, find a nearby ammo box on your radar and mentally note where it is. There should always be one not too far away.
• Stay Mobile – Though not as hectic as PvP, enemies will still hone in you.
• Advanced Prep – In between Arkfalls, find the time to reset your weapons, upgrade, and clear out the junk from your inventory to be ready for the next.
• Strafe – Being able to fire while on the run helps. I tend to shoot from the hip this way to keep a better view.
• Roll With It – Dive roll not only dodges attacks, but helps get that bio crap off your feet faster (I hate Hellbug Blast Pods and Archers).
• Always Go With The Glow – Anything glowing on an enemy is your primary target.

Good hunting out there. Feel free to post your own ideas in the replies. Maybe I’ll run into you sometime.  You can buy me a drink at The Crater.