The Frozen Trail update brought a new map, new tools, and a new ARC machine that has been downing Raiders all over Pendola Pass: the Bully. It looks slow and a little clumsy from a distance. Then it hears you, lets out a cry that sounds like something from War of the Worlds, and charges straight through the snow at a speed nothing its size should have.
You will have to deal with it eventually. The Outpost project asks for 300 damage against one, the Tracks of the Beast quest needs you to ping one, and the Bully Fragmenter it drops is required to upgrade the Research Station. This guide covers everything you need before that first encounter: what the Bully is, where it spawns and how to track it by sound, which weak points actually matter, what weapons and gadgets get the job done, and what to grab from the wreckage once it finally pops.
What Are Bullies in ARC Raiders?
The Bully is a new mid-size ARC enemy introduced with Frozen Trail. Embark designed it to behave like an aggressive guard dog, and the comparison holds up in every encounter.
Size and movement
Many players pictured something dog-sized before launch. In reality the Bully is closer to the size of an elephant, a real "chunker" that is visible from a long way off.
It moves on four long, gangly legs and crosses rough terrain as easily as a Leaper does.
It charges in a straight line, rolls sideways, and frequently overshoots its target. According to Embark, the turn-back after an overshoot takes about 4 seconds.
Even when wounded or missing a limb, it remains very fast.
Temperament
The Bully is easily alerted and extremely aggressive. Once it aggroes, it releases a loud bark-and-growl cue and heads straight for your position. It does not relent, so stealth or distance is the only way to avoid a fight once it has your scent. One preview player who got stuck in the open was downed instantly, which sums up the threat level.
Where it fits among the ARC
It is tankier than anything in its size class. In testing it absorbed three Wolfpack grenades and kept fighting; four Wolfpacks or two Deadlines are the going rate for a kill.
It is not Queen-tier health, but it is far more mobile and unpredictable than a Queen, Matriarch, or Bombardier, which is what makes it hard to damage.
It often arrives as a pair, and in later raids it has been seen patrolling alongside groups of Skulkers.
Now that you know what you're up against, the next step is tracking one down.
Where and How to Find Bullies
A common question in the first days of the update was "Can Bullies be found on all maps?" The short answer is no.
Pendola Pass only (for now)
At launch the Bully spawns exclusively on Pendola Pass, the new frozen mountain region. Players have speculated it could migrate to other maps later, the way the Shredder did, but Pendola Pass is a long way from the Rust Belt maps and nothing has been confirmed. If you need Bully damage for the Outpost, queue for Pendola Pass.
Known spawn areas
There is no fixed map pin, and you should not expect the same building every drop. The Bully patrols rather than camping a single spot. That said, players have reported consistent sightings in a handful of zones:
The open valleys and wide snowfields between points of interest
Near the Fallen Emperor, with one sighting cluster to its east
Around both sides of the Commissary Supermarket
The Northern Tracks area, which the Tracks of the Beast quest sends you through
One Reddit poster noted finding two Bullies on his very first raid without even looking. Another reported that a Bastion sometimes spawns in a Bully slot instead, so a quiet valley does not always mean a Bully is around.
Use your ears
The single most reliable tracking tool is sound. The Bully is loud in two distinct ways:
Patrol audio: a heavy gallop across open snow that carries a long distance. Nothing else on the map sounds like it.
Aggro audio: a screeching, horn-like cry when it locks onto you. Once you hear this, it is already coming.
If you have run several raids without seeing one, stop sprinting through the valleys and listen. The gallop usually points you toward it long before the silhouette appears.
Spawn triggers through projects and quests
Two pieces of content reliably put you in front of a Bully:
The Outpost project. Stage 3, Safeguard the Building Site, requires you to deal damage to flying ARC and to deal roughly 300 damage to a Bully. Because this project is tied to the Outpost build, raids run for it are a dependable place to look.
Tracks of the Beast. This Pendola Pass quest from Shani asks you to visit the Northern Tracks and Almatera Station, ping a Bully and a Skulker, and optionally deliver loot. Rewards include 5,000 XP, three Showstoppers, a Grappling Hook, and an extra Wolfpack if you bring back a Skulker Targeter.
For the Outpost objective you only need damage, not a kill. For the quest, you only need a ping. In both cases, plan your approach before the Bully notices you, because once it does there is no walking away.
Finding one is the easy part. Surviving the next ninety seconds is where the real work begins.
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How to Kill Bullies in ARC Raiders
The Bully is beatable, and once you know its patterns, it becomes one of the more enjoyable fights in the game. The trick is to stop treating it like a slow walker and start treating it like a fast, armored brawler.
Its three attacks
Learning the attack set is the first step, because each one calls for a different response.
Cluster grenade (long range)
Launched from a distance, the projectile flies up and splits into a spread of smaller explosives that rain down on your position.
Reported range runs 100 to 200 meters, and the explosives will come through windows and doorways if you hide in a flimsy building.
This is the attack the Bully Fragmenter replicates once you loot it.
Shotgun salvo (close range)
Up close it dumps a concentrated scatter blast, similar to a Shredder's attack but tighter and faster.
A charging laser gives you roughly 1.5 to 2 seconds of warning, and the attack repeats with almost no cooldown: blast, pause, blast, pause.
This is the attack that kills. Two or three hits in the open will end a Raider in blue shields.
Minigun-style burst
As it closes distance it opens up with sustained fire from its mounted gun. Preview players described it as shredding anything not behind hard cover.
One detail that catches squads out: the Bully can split its attention. While the scatter gun is tracking one player, the grenade launcher can target another. Flanking from multiple angles does not guarantee safety.
The weak points
The Bully's body is heavily armored and eats rounds for very little return. Spraying the torso is the fastest way to empty your bag with nothing to show for it. Instead, focus on three locations.
1. The yellow leg joints
Each of the four legs carries a yellow joint, less shielded than the plating on a Queen or Bombardier, so you can spot them immediately.
Hammering a joint dismembers the leg, the same way you take apart a Leaper. Pick one joint and have the whole squad focus it rather than spreading damage across separate plates.
The difficulty is purely tracking: the Bully rarely stops moving, so lining up charge-up shots on a joint is unreliable.
2. The mounted cannon
Strip the armor on the head housing and a yellow weak point appears on the main gun.
Destroy it and the Bully loses its weapon entirely. It keeps charging, but it can no longer hurt you.
3. The exposed mouth during the fire-up
This is the weak point most players miss. In the half second before the Bully fires, it opens its head and reveals two yellow canisters inside.
Land a shot there just before it fires and the attack is cancelled, leaving the Bully immobile for several seconds while you pour damage in.
Timing it feels like "poetry in motion," as one tester put it, and it turns the Bully's most dangerous move into your best opening.
Positioning and cover
Every preview group arrived at the same conclusion: fight the Bully near hard cover or not at all.
A building or a narrow lane kills its speed. It cannot roll sideways or overshoot when it is boxed into a corridor.
Keep something solid between you and the scatter gun, then step out between salvos to hit joints.
Do not rely on thin walls or open windows against the grenade attack. Deeper rooms are safer.
Use the 4-second turn-back after an overshoot. That window is where you get free hits on the legs.
Gadgets that change the fight
Frozen Trail's new tools were practically designed for this enemy.
Tether Launcher. Tether a leg to the ground to slow it. In testing, a squad tethering together could nearly lock it in place. Timing matters: fire the tether right before the shotgun burst, not while you are still running, and remember it only needs to hold until the timer ends.
Showstopper grenades. These stall its erratic movement for a few seconds and let you line up joint shots or a charged weapon.
Deadline. Two Deadlines kill a Bully, but placing them is awkward because it keeps moving. A Photocloak helps you set them without drawing the charge, and a tether pin right before detonation guarantees it stays on top of the blast.
Wolfpack grenades. Effective but expensive: three did not finish one, so budget four.
Yank grenade. Less useful here than against Wasps and Hornets, but it can pull the Bully off a teammate in an emergency.
Weapon choices
Preview and launch-week testing produced some clear winners and a few surprises.
Hullcracker. Multiple players called this "the play" against the Bully. Rounds landed on the joints or under the body during a tether pin do serious damage.
Aphelion. In a head-to-head test of the three legendary energy weapons, the Aphelion came out on top. Its five-shot magazine fires two beams at a time on a half-second interval, which lines up perfectly with the mouth-opening window. It is also the only legendary that accepts attachments, so a lightweight stock helps with tracking. One energy-weapon tip: never reload before the magazine hits zero, or you waste the whole battery.
Jupiter. Great on paper for popping limbs, but the one-second charge is hard to time on a target that never stands still. Works far better once the Bully is tethered or stalled.
Equalizer. Very strong ARC armor penetration, yet it struggled the most here. Sustained beam damage needs a target that holds still, and the Bully does not oblige.
Precision rifles (Renegade, Osprey, Scoped amplified Renegade) do well if you can track moving joints from mid range. Shotguns and fast-fire SMGs are poor picks: too close for safety and too weak on the armored sections.
A step-by-step approach
Putting it all together, a clean Bully kill tends to look like this:
Hear the gallop, locate the Bully, and position yourself at a building edge or lane before it aggroes.
Open on a single leg joint while it charges. Let it overshoot, then hit the same joint during the turn-back.
When the charging laser lights up, duck behind cover, or if you have the reflexes, shoot the open mouth to cancel the shot.
Pin it with a tether or Showstopper, then drop Hullcracker rounds, a Snap Blast, or a Deadline under it.
Repeat until the legs come off and the core pops. Stay alert for a second Bully or a pack of Skulkers nearby.
Once the dust settles, the reward is worth the ammo you spent.
What Loot to Get from Bullies
A dead Bully does not leave a single container. It shatters into a pile of lootable parts, so knowing which piece to search first matters, especially when the explosion has just told every Raider in the area where you are.
The Bully Fragmenter
The headline drop is the Bully Fragmenter, an Epic-tier item that is literally the cluster grenade the Bully was throwing at you.
Thrown, it splits into eight explosions dealing roughly 40 damage each in a 5-meter radius.
It works best in a tight room or under a stationary target such as a Bastion. Throwing it across open snow wastes most of the fragments.
It is also a crafting material: you need Fragmenters for a new quest and to upgrade the Research Station from level 3.
Expect about one Fragmenter per Bully, so stock up over several raids if you are pushing the Research Station toward Amplified Research.
If you do not plan to throw it, it can be sold or recycled into crafting materials.
Where the Fragmenter sits
Search the main body and the broken core first, then the gun housing. Those two pieces give you the best chance at the Fragmenter. The limbs do not carry it.
Everything else it drops
Main body: shotgun shells and grenade launcher ammo alongside the Fragmenter.
Legs and limbs: Mechanical Components, ARC Alloy, and assorted ARC parts.
General ARC drops: the usual mix of medium and heavy ammo and recyclable scrap.
Hold onto the specialized parts rather than selling them straight away. The Research Station, the Gunsmith IV upgrade, and the amplification trees all consume ARC materials, and the Bully is one of the more reliable sources on Pendola Pass.
Loot etiquette and safety
Big ARC fights are loud and attract company. Grab the body and gun pieces first, then the limbs if the area stays quiet. Assists for destroying ARC are shared, so a random who helped you drop it may go for the same pile.
