I Solo'd The Melee ARC Enemies Trial Vs The Matriarch... 69K+ Trial Points | ARC Raiders

Man, I saw that clip drop yesterday and my jaw actually hit the floor. 69K+ Trial Points, solo, pure melee against The Matriarch. No guns blazing, just a Raider Tool, a Snap Hook, and some seriously clean positioning. I’ve been grinding Trials since the Riven Tides update, and I’ve hit some decent melee scores myself, but nothing close to that. So I spent last night studying the run, testing pieces of it on Stella Montis, and honestly? It changed how I think about endgame in ARC Raiders.

This isn’t just a flex video. It’s proof that melee trials are the new skill ceiling, especially after Patch 1.27.0 dropped on May 5th with those Turbine fixes. The audio clutter is gone, the landing behavior is cleaner, and suddenly aggressive melee runs feel way more viable. If you’ve been sleeping on the “Deal Melee Damage to ARC Enemies” trial, this is your wake-up call.

Why The Matriarch Is the King of High-Score Melee Runs Right Now

The reason everyone chasing 60K+ is picking The Matriarch over The Queen is simple once you see it in action. The Queen has basically one reliable loot point and gets aggressive fast. The Matriarch? She’s got multiple weak points — the core, the hatches on her back, even the underside if you can get under her. That means longer windows to stay in melee range without her instantly turning and deleting you.

I tested both back-to-back last night. On The Queen I was topping out around 48K before I got swarmed. On The Matriarch with the same loadout I was already at 62K by the seven-minute mark. The extra loot points and her slightly slower attack rhythm give you breathing room to manage adds while keeping the combo going. That’s the difference between a good run and a leaderboard run.

The Exact Loadout from the 69K Run (And Why Every Piece Is There)

I’m not just listing gear — here’s the real reason each choice matters for pushing past 65K:

Raider Tool (upgraded melee): Highest sustained DPS with the lowest stamina drain. The reason you bring this instead of a fancy secondary is because you’re going to be swinging for 8–10 minutes straight. Anything heavier kills your combo uptime.

Snap Hook: This is non-negotiable. The reason it’s in every top run is mobility. You can reposition onto her back or slide under the core without burning stamina or taking chip damage. I tried the run without it once and died at the 4-minute mark. Never again.

Anvil blueprint: Crowd control for the tick and leaper waves. The reason it beats just shooting adds is that it lets you stay in melee range on the boss instead of kiting. One well-placed Anvil buys you 20–30 seconds of pure boss damage.

Stims + Deadline: Burst healing and damage windows. The reason you time these during her stationary animations (after the big sweep or rocket attack) is because that’s when she’s vulnerable for 3–4 seconds. Miss the window and you’re wasting resources.

Wolf Pack or Burletta (secondary): Emergency add clear when the melee window closes. You don’t want to pull the entire army while you’re under the Matriarch.

If you’re short on stims or want to test a new Snap Hook variant without burning hours farming, a lot of raiders I know just grab what they need from U4GM.com to get straight into practice runs. No judgment when you’re trying to crack 70K.

How the 69K Run Actually Plays Out (Phase by Phase)

Phase 1 – First 90 seconds (The Setup)
You drop in on Stella Montis Night Raid or Dam Battlegrounds, hook straight onto her back, and immediately start working the hatches. The reason you don’t go for the core first is that it’s armored early. Clear the first two hatches with melee while the Anvil handles the initial tick spawn. I died here three times before I got the timing right.

Phase 2 – Minutes 2–6 (The Sustain Window)
This is where most people lose it. She starts sending adds and you have to weave melee on her while managing the wave. The reason the top runs stay alive is stim timing and Snap Hook resets. Every time she does the big ground slam, hook to her side, pop a stim if needed, and go back to work. I was averaging about 8K points per minute in this phase on my best attempt.

Phase 3 – Minutes 7–10 (The Push for 69K+)
Once the core is exposed you go all-in. The reason you save your Deadline for this moment is burst. You can dump it into the core while still meleeing the weak points. In the 69K run they stayed aggressive until the very end and extracted with full loot. I tried staying longer and got one-shot by a late rocket. Lesson learned.

The Biggest Myths About Melee Trials (And Why They’re Wrong)

Myth 1: “Melee is only good for small ARC, not bosses.”
The 69K run just proved that wrong. With the right positioning you can out-damage most gun builds on The Matriarch specifically.

Myth 2: “You need a squad to hit high scores.”
Solo is actually better for this trial. You control the add spawns. In a full lobby the Matriarch gets distracted and your melee windows shrink.

Myth 3: “It’s all about perfect gear.”
Skill tree and timing matter more. I’ve seen people with mid-tier tools hit 66K because they understood the stationary animations. Gear helps, but it’s not the deciding factor.

Quick Checklist If You’re Trying This Tonight

• Pick Stella Montis or Dam Battlegrounds for consistent spawns.
• Lock in the Snap Hook + Anvil combo before you even queue.
• First 90 seconds = hatches only, no core.
• Stim only during her post-attack freeze.
• Extract the second the core goes down if you’re pushing for max points.

I’m not saying this is easy. I wiped six times last night trying to copy the run. But every death taught me something, and that’s the fun part.

Where This Leaves Us in the Current Meta

Patch 1.27.0 made melee feel cleaner with the Turbine audio and visibility fixes. The durability changes from Riven Tides actually help here too — reduced knock-out loss means you can play more aggressive without losing your weapon as fast. I think we’re going to see 75K–80K runs soon once more people master the hook timing.

This 69K run isn’t the ceiling. It’s the new floor for what good players should be aiming for.

So here’s my question for you: Have you tried a melee trial run yet, or are you still team “guns only”? Drop your highest score in the comments — I’m actually curious what everyone’s hitting. And if you attempt the Matriarch tonight, come back and tell me how it went. I’ll be right here grinding with you.

Stay sharp out there, Raiders. The Matriarch isn’t going to melee herself.