ARC Raiders thumbnail ideas
that survive the trip topside.

A good ARC Raiders thumbnail shows one raid in one look: a raider against a giant machine, a bag full of loot at the extraction, a betrayal at the last second. Below: 6 examples generated with Base.Tube to show what an ARC Raiders thumbnail can look like, using the game's look and characters, then the colours, five layouts and the text that reads at phone size.

Generate an ARC Raiders-style thumbnail (opens the Base.Tube Studio in a new tab)

See all 6 examples or open the ARC Raiders thumbnail maker

ARC Raiders thumbnail: a raider crouching behind a wrecked car under a giant ARC machine with a red eye, an old bus behind, text SOLO
Machine fight: one raider under a giant ARC
Examples

6 ARC Raiders-style thumbnail examples

Every example is generated with Base.Tube in the game's own look, with its real characters and places. No real people, no copied thumbnails. Select one to see the prompt behind it.

  • Machine fight: one raider under a giant ARC
  • Face cam: betrayed by another raider
  • Before and after: from nothing to a full stash
  • Extraction: a full bag and a drone overhead
  • Raider story: making friends with strangers
  • Machine fight: the red eye up close, no words
Base.Tube Studio

Make an ARC Raiders-style thumbnail for your next video.

Describe your video in one line. Base.Tube makes three ARC Raiders thumbnails in your channel’s style, ready to download and test on YouTube.

  • Three ideas for each video
  • Your face and your channel’s style
  • Change anything in plain words
Generate an ARC Raiders-style thumbnail (opens in a new tab)
Style recipe

The ARC Raiders thumbnail style, rule by rule

Palette

  • Dust orange #E07A2ESunsets over the ruins and warm backgrounds for extractions
  • Sky teal #5FB7C2Open skies above Dam Battlegrounds and calm wide shots
  • ARC red #E3322BMachine eyes, warning lights and danger moments
  • Loot yellow #FFD23FThe one word or the rare item that must grab the eye
  • Rust brown #5A3B26Ruined buildings, rusty metal and shadows
  • Outline black #0B0B10Thick text outlines and drop shadows
Composition
One idea per image: a raider facing a machine many times their size, a full backpack at the extraction lift, a split between a poor run and a rich one, a betrayal. Use the size gap between raiders and ARC machines; it is the game's strongest image. Keep the bottom-right corner empty, because YouTube shows the video length there.
Text
Zero to three words in capitals, in a heavy condensed font, white or yellow with a thick black outline. Short results work best: "SOLO", "FULL BAG", "BETRAYED".
Faces & expressions
Raiders wear masks and helmets, so the pose does the work: crouching behind cover, sprinting to the lift, looking up at a Bastion. A face cam of the creator adds the shock or the laugh the masks cannot show.
Background
A real map in the game's retro sci-fi light: the sunny ruins of Dam Battlegrounds, the half-buried streets of Buried City, the rockets of the Spaceport. Warm dusk for extractions, smoke and red light for fights. Blur it so the raider and the machine stay sharp.
Props & details
  • ARC machines such as Ticks, Wasps, Leapers, Rocketeers and Bastions
  • A backpack overflowing with loot and rare parts
  • The extraction point with its countdown
  • The underground hub of Speranza
  • Red arrows and circles on the key detail
Layout recipes

Five layouts for ARC Raiders thumbnails

  1. Machine Fight

    A small raider against a giant ARC machine. The size gap is the story, and red machine eyes make the danger obvious. For boss kills, solo fights and "how to beat" videos.

    Prompt idea16:9 YouTube thumbnail for an ARC Raiders video: a lone raider facing a giant ARC machine (Bastion or Rocketeer) in a ruined map, red machine eyes, smoke, short text in yellow capitals, keep the bottom-right corner clear, be creative with the composition

    Generate a Machine Fight layout in the Base.Tube Studio (new tab)

  2. Extraction

    The end of the raid: a raider reaching the extraction with a full bag, the countdown running, enemies closing in. Made for loot runs and close-call videos.

    Prompt idea16:9 YouTube thumbnail for an ARC Raiders video: a raider sprinting to the extraction point with a backpack full of loot, countdown on screen, ARC drones behind, warm dusk light, short text, keep the bottom-right corner clear, be creative with the composition

    Generate a Extraction layout in the Base.Tube Studio (new tab)

  3. Before and After

    A split frame: a free loadout and a rich one, an empty stash and a full one, a first raid and the hundredth. Each side gets its own colour so the change reads in one glance.

    Prompt idea16:9 YouTube thumbnail for an ARC Raiders video: split before/after, the same raider with nothing on a grey left side and fully geared with rare loot on a glowing yellow right side, short text, keep the bottom-right corner clear, be creative with the composition

    Generate a Before and After layout in the Base.Tube Studio (new tab)

  4. Face Cam

    A creator's face reacting next to the raid: a betrayal, a surprise machine, a lucky find. Use your own face; our examples use an invented streamer.

    Prompt idea16:9 YouTube thumbnail for an ARC Raiders video: an invented streamer with a headset reacting with shock on one side, a tense ARC Raiders moment on the other, short text, keep the bottom-right corner clear, be creative with the composition

    Generate a Face Cam layout in the Base.Tube Studio (new tab)

  5. Raider Story

    The social side of the game: raiders teaming up, trusting a stranger, or turning on each other at the lift. Two or three raiders and one clear tension.

    Prompt idea16:9 YouTube thumbnail for an ARC Raiders video: two raiders in a tense standoff near the extraction, one hiding a weapon behind their back, ruined map behind, one or two words, keep the bottom-right corner clear, be creative with the composition

    Generate a Raider Story layout in the Base.Tube Studio (new tab)

What makes an ARC Raiders thumbnail work

ARC Raiders videos all share the same ingredients: raiders in masks, ruined retro sci-fi maps and giant machines. A viewer scrolling past a dozen of them needs to see in one second what is different about yours. Was it a solo kill, a backpack full of rare parts, a betrayal at the extraction?

Many viewers see your thumbnail small: on a phone, in the sidebar, on a TV across the room. Fine detail like item tooltips and stash grids disappears at that size. Shapes, size gaps and colour survive. Every rule on this page follows from that.

Use the size of the machines

The strongest image in ARC Raiders is a small human next to a huge machine. Put a raider in the lower part of the frame and let a Bastion, a Rocketeer or a swarm of Wasps fill the rest. The viewer understands the danger before reading a single word. For close calls, go the other way: an extreme close-up of a Leaper's red eye next to a helmet visor says "ambush" on its own.

One result per raid

Each kind of ARC Raiders video has its own result to show:

  • Machine fights: the machine huge, the raider small, red eyes and smoke.
  • Extractions: the overflowing backpack, the countdown, enemies behind.
  • Progression: a split frame between the free loadout and the full stash.
  • Raider stories: two raiders and one tension, trust or betrayal.
  • Reactions: your face next to the moment that made you shout.

Pick one. A thumbnail that tries to show the fight, the loot and the betrayal at once shows none of them.

Colours that tell the story

The game already has a colour language: warm sunlight on the ruins, red lights on the machines, bright loot. Keep red for danger and machine eyes, yellow for loot and your main word, and let the warm orange and teal sky set the mood. A sunny frame with one red threat stands out more than a dark, muddy one.

Text: short results, thick outlines

Three words is the upper limit. Use capitals, a heavy condensed font and a thick black outline. The words should say what the image cannot: "SOLO", "FULL BAG", "BETRAYED", "0 TO RICH". To compare heavy display fonts, see the YouTube thumbnail fonts guide.

An ARC Raiders thumbnail background that stays behind

The map sets the mood. Dam Battlegrounds in daylight says "loot run", the streets of Buried City say "chase", the Spaceport says "big raid", and the underground hub of Speranza says "gear and trading". Blur it or darken the edges so the raider and the machine stay sharp. More ideas in the YouTube thumbnail backgrounds guide.

Faces behind masks

Raiders wear helmets and masks, so their faces cannot show fear or joy. Let the pose do it: crouching behind cover, sprinting with the bag, looking up at a machine. If your channel shows your face, a face cam reacting next to the raid adds the emotion. The examples on this page are generated with Base.Tube and use the game's look and characters; their face cams show invented people.

Size and checks

Upload at 1280 × 720 pixels, in 16:9. For file size and format limits, see the YouTube thumbnail size guide. Keep the bottom-right corner empty, where YouTube shows the video length. Then put your thumbnail next to other ARC Raiders videos in the YouTube thumbnail preview and compare versions with the thumbnail tester. No tool can predict how many people will click before a video is live. When you connect your channel, Base.Tube shows the real impressions and click-through rate of each video.

Checklist

Do this, not that

Do

  • Show the size gap between a raider and an ARC machine; it reads instantly.
  • Keep one clear result per image: a kill, a full bag, a betrayal.
  • Use red only for danger and machine eyes, and yellow for loot and the main word.
  • Keep the text to three words or fewer, with a thick dark outline.
  • Leave the bottom-right corner clear for the video length.

Don't

  • Don't fill the frame with stash screenshots, prices and item tooltips.
  • Don't show a raider standing alone in an empty field; give them a machine, a lift or a rival.
  • Don't use a dark, muddy image; the game's sunny ruins are part of what makes it recognisable.
  • Don't use thin fonts or small text; they disappear on a phone.
FAQ

Questions about ARC Raiders thumbnails

What makes a good ARC Raiders thumbnail?
One raid in one look: a raider against a huge machine, a full backpack at the extraction, a betrayal at the last second. Show it large, use red for danger and yellow for loot, and add one to three words. Look at it at phone size; if you cannot tell what happened in one second, remove something.
What is a good ARC Raiders thumbnail background?
A real map that matches the mood. The sunny ruins of Dam Battlegrounds suit loot runs and first raids; the streets of Buried City suit chases; the Spaceport suits big wide shots; the underground hub of Speranza suits gear and trading videos. Blur or darken it so the raider and the machine stay in front.
What font works for ARC Raiders thumbnails?
A heavy, condensed, all-caps display font with a thick black outline. Free fonts with that feel include Anton, Bebas Neue and Oswald, all on Google Fonts. The game's retro sci-fi look also suits slightly rounded fonts, as long as they stay thick enough to read when the thumbnail is small.
How do I make an ARC Raiders thumbnail?
Decide what the video promises: a machine kill, a rich extraction, a betrayal. Capture or generate that moment with the machine or the loot large in the frame, add one to three words in a heavy outlined font, export at 1280 × 720 pixels and compare it with other videos in a feed preview before you upload.
How do I show a betrayal or a team-up in a thumbnail?
Put two raiders in the frame and show the tension: one aiming at the other's back, one hiding a weapon, both reaching for the same bag. Add a face cam reacting if your channel shows your face, and keep the text to one word, such as "BETRAYED" or "TRUST?".
Is there a free ARC Raiders thumbnail maker?
Any free image editor works if you follow the rules on this page. If you would rather describe your video and get options, the Base.Tube Studio generates ARC Raiders thumbnails: pick one of the five layouts, say what happens in your raid, and keep the version you like.
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Base.Tube Studio

Make an ARC Raiders-style thumbnail
for your next video.

Describe your video, pick a layout, and generate options in the Base.Tube Studio. Once the video is live, connect your channel to see its real impressions and click-through rate.

Generate an ARC Raiders-style thumbnail (opens the Base.Tube Studio in a new tab)Free channel audit (opens the Base.Tube Studio in a new tab)