Cigar Funhouse

[iiak32484]

We’d been hearing whispers for weeks about some new queen-level ARC beast, but nothing really preps you for seeing The Matriarch up close. She’s not just big – she’s a moving fortress with a scream that rattles your bones. The first time my crew faced her, we strutted in with our usual guns-blazing style and got flattened in minutes. Between her stomps, plasma blasts, and the endless waves of smaller ARC critters, it was chaos from the word go. You’re trying to dodge, shoot, and not get boxed in, all at once. That plasma barrage? Forget it – if you’re not already moving when she charges it, you’re done. After five failed runs, we were seriously questioning if we’d ever get her down. And yeah, the thought of better ARC Raiders Items was the only thing keeping us motivated.



What finally clicked was realising brute force wasn’t going to work. Sitting around between runs, we started spotting patterns. Just before she let loose with her heavy attacks, these glowing vents popped open along her back and legs. That was the weak spot. We swapped gear, split roles, and went in with a plan. I took the bait job – grapple hook, jump pack, stay mobile, keep her turning. Two of the squad handled crowd control, blasting swarms before they got too close. Our last guy, the sharpshooter, had one job: hit those vents the second they lit up.



From the get-go, it felt different. Still messy, but the kind of messy you can work with. I was darting around, pulling her focus, while the others kept the smaller mobs off our backs. Every time our sniper yelled “vent!” and landed a perfect shot, you could see her stagger. It wasn’t easy – she’d turn on him in a heartbeat if I slipped – but we were chipping away. The swarm pressure was still brutal, but with explosives and suppression fire, it never got out of hand.



That last phase was pure madness. She went berserk, spraying acid everywhere, stomping like a maniac. My shields were gone, ammo running low, and every step felt like it might be my last. But we had her cornered. One final vent opened right on her head. Our sniper took the shot, and she went up in a massive explosion, the kind that makes you just stop and stare for a second. Watching her collapse wasn’t just about the loot – it was the payoff for hours of frustration, figuring her out piece by piece. And yeah, walking away with some seriously good cheap Raiders weapons didn’t hurt either.