ARC Raiders Shotgun Silencer (S5): 50% Noise Cut, Worth It?
The Shotgun Silencer cuts your Il Toro or Vulcano firing noise by roughly 50% — great for stealth farming, weak for pure PvP. Here's why it's spiking in Trials Season 5 and whether it's worth crafting.
The Shotgun Silencer is worth crafting if you farm quietly with an Il Toro or Vulcano — it cuts firing noise by roughly 50% — but it's a weak pick if you only brawl in close-range PvP, because it takes the muzzle slot away from your Choke. That trade-off is exactly why the mod is showing up in more catalogs right now, and it's tied to something that changed with the latest patch.
What changed, and when
As of Live Update 1.36.0 (July 7, 2026), ARC Raiders is running the Fourth Expedition and Trials Season 5 at the same time. Live Update 1.36.0 launched alongside the Fourth Expedition and Trials Season 5, significantly increased ARC Turbine loot value, added separate Solo/Duo/Trio matchmaking tracking, and launched the ARC Raiders x THE FINALS crossover.
Buried in the same patch is a small change with big consequences for stealth players: weapons dropped on the ground now display their installed mods. Combine that with a competitive Trials season where every fight you don't get third-partied into is a fight you win, and suddenly "how loud is my gun" matters a lot more than it did a month ago. That's the demand signal we're seeing in the market — muzzle mods, and the Shotgun Silencer in particular, are moving.
Field note: after enough runs you stop measuring a good raid by kills and start measuring it by how many fights you got to choose. A quieter shotgun buys you those choices.
What the Shotgun Silencer actually does
Let's be precise, because this mod gets misunderstood constantly. The Shotgun Silencer is an Epic modification that is compatible only with the Il Toro and Vulcano, and it moderately reduces the amount of noise produced when firing. On the numbers, the Shotgun Silencer offers 50% noise reduction specifically for shotgun platforms.
A few honest clarifications, because sources online disagree and players get burned:
- It only fits two guns. Only the Il Toro and Vulcano can equip it — if it won't attach, it's almost always because the weapon isn't one of those two, not a bug.
- It's a muzzle mod, so it competes with your Choke. The Shotgun Silencer occupies the muzzle slot, so you cannot run Choke II or III plus the Shotgun Silencer together — you must choose one, and it does not stack, it replaces. That single fact drives the entire "worth it" debate.
- Its real value is information control, not damage. Most players dismiss it because they evaluate it through PvP burst logic, but its real strength is information control.
Why it matters this season
Here's the practical read. A shotgun is a point-blank tool, so the Choke's tighter spread genuinely raises your kill consistency. That's why some build guides flatly skip the silencer — noise reduction has low value on a close-range shotgun, and the muzzle slot is too important for spread control. If you push fights for a living, that's correct.
But Season 5 rewards the opposite playstyle just as much. If you're clearing ARC patrols, running loot routes, or digging in beach zones, an unsuppressed blast is a dinner bell for every player and machine nearby. A quieter shotgun shrinks the radius of enemies that come investigate — that's the concrete benefit, tested the boring way: fire an unsuppressed shotgun near one patrol, then repeat suppressed at the same distance, and you'll notice a reduced secondary investigation range — that's the functional value.
Silencer vs Choke: the honest comparison
| Shotgun Silencer | Shotgun Choke III | |
|---|---|---|
| Slot used | Muzzle | Muzzle (same slot) |
| Main benefit | ~50% quieter shots | Tightest pellet spread |
| Best for | Stealth farming, PvE routes, third-party avoidance | Close-range PvP, one-shot consistency |
| Downside | No spread help; you lose the Choke | Loud; every fight is broadcast |
| Rarity | Epic | Tier III |
Run the Silencer when your raid plan is "loot and leave"; run the Choke when your raid plan is "push and win." You genuinely cannot have both in the muzzle slot, so pick based on the run, not on a one-size verdict. If you want a deeper dive on which shotgun to build around it, our Il Toro vs Vulcano context in the S5 mod blueprint priority guide breaks down the platforms.
How to get it
Two routes, and neither is instant:
- Loot it. It can be found directly as loot in the world.
- Craft it. The Shotgun Silencer can be acquired through scavenging or by crafting once the blueprint is unlocked at the Gunsmith workshop level 3.
The catch is the blueprint hunt. The blueprint unlock is what most players struggle with, and because it sits inside the general attachment pool, blueprint dilution can significantly slow acquisition. In plain terms: you're rolling against every other mod recipe in the loot table, so it can take a lot of runs to see the one you want.
What to bring on the blueprint hunt
- A silenced or suppressed primary so you're not fighting the exact noise problem you're trying to solve
- Enough healing to survive extended PvE routes near locked containers
- Backpack space you're willing to lose — never carry your only good gear on a farm run
- A clear extract plan; blueprints are worthless if you die holding them
Risk note: with dropped weapons now showing their mods, dying with a silenced shotgun literally advertises your build to whoever loots you. Treat farm runs as expendable and extract early once you've got the recipe.
What to expect next
With Trials Season 5 live and matchmaking now split by squad size, expect the stealth-vs-aggression debate to keep splitting the community — which keeps muzzle mods in demand. Don't overpay for tiers you don't need: high-rarity Tier 3 mods often don't help much more than Tier 1–2 while costing significantly more and carrying penalties, so don't overspend. The Silencer is a situational tool, not a straight upgrade — buy into it because your playstyle is quiet, not because a tier list told you to.
Grinding the blueprint through a diluted loot pool can eat a weekend of raids, and every death on a farm run now hands a stranger your build. If you'd rather skip the RNG and go straight to a quiet loadout, you can top up with ARC Raiders Coinsfrom $0.80 and kit out your Il Toro or Vulcano the moment you drop in. It's your time — spend it raiding, not re-rolling recipes.
