Tempest IV in Arc Raiders is that rare assault rifle that just feels right: low recoil, quick reloads, solid range and great control, letting you confidently win messy mid‑range fights without perfect aim.
When you finally climb up the assault rifle ladder in Arc Raiders and unlock the Tempest IV, it honestly feels like the game stops holding your hand and starts expecting you to know what you are doing, and if you are the kind of player who likes to prep properly, maybe even grab support like buy game currency or items in EZNPC first, you will notice that this rifle is not just a slightly beefed-up version of the previous models but a clear jump in how you handle mid-range fights, with a 25-round mag, medium ammo and a stability rating pushing close to eighty so you can actually focus on tracking heads instead of dragging your aim back down every second.
Why The Upgrade Path Matters
You do not really feel how strong the Tempest IV is until you have sunk the advanced mechanical components and medium gun parts into it at the gunsmith, because once that crafting is done the gun snaps into a different tier, with horizontal recoil chopped by around half and reloads coming out something like forty percent faster so you are back in the fight before most enemies finish their voice lines, which matters a lot when that 25-round mag empties faster than you think during messy pushes, and while the armor penetration sits in that "good enough" spot for raiders and lighter drones you will notice it does not melt tanky bosses by itself, so it naturally falls into this lane-holder role, breaking pushes, anchoring angles and letting heavy weapons or teammates handle the real bullet sponges.
Attachments That Actually Help
A lot of people try to stack raw damage on the Tempest IV and then wonder why it feels wild, but this rifle really comes alive when you double down on control, so a Muzzle Brake II or III is almost mandatory if you want to keep vertical climb in check and keep your reticle somewhere near the chest during longer sprays, and pairing that with a Green Angled Grip or a Vertical Grip III gives you that smoother follow-up feel, at the cost of a bit of ADS speed that you have to accept because this is not a twitch SMG anyway, and when you add Extended Mags you cut down the number of reloads in longer fights while a Stable Stock II helps your crosshair snap back between bursts so you spend less time dragging your mouse and more time landing shots.
Loadout And Playstyle Choices
Because the Tempest IV weighs in at around eleven kilos and tanks your agility to the mid-forties, you are never going to feel like a stealthy scout with it, especially when the stealth rating is down in the teens, so you are better off leaning into that bulky frontline style, for example running an Anvil IV as your main hammer for high-value targets and swapping to the Tempest IV to clear adds and hold corridors, or going full "one-man army" with a Volcano sidearm, a heavy shield and a stack of Vita Shots so you can soak damage while your rifle locks down lanes, and as long as you accept that flanking silently is off the table and play aggressively but with cover in mind, you will get far more value than trying to tiptoe around like a ghost.
Getting The Most From Tempest IV
The real trick with this gun is not treating it like a hose even though it is fully automatic, because if you just hold mouse one and pray the recoil and ammo consumption will punish you, so pre-aim around torso height, fire in short five to seven round bursts and let the natural stability plus your attachments keep the spread tight, which feels especially strong on cluttered maps like Spaceport where you can shoulder peek from cover, win duels against SMGs that overcommit and still tap down players or enemies holding long angles with rifles, and once you get into that rhythm and keep the weapon repaired so degradation does not kick in, you will see why people rate it as a do-everything workhorse and why many players who grab strong ARC Raiders Accounts still build around this rifle instead of chasing every new toy.
Thos Site：ARC Raiders Best XP Farm Guide (2026) – Fastest XP Route & How to Deal With Rats