ARC Raiders Riven Tides update is finally live. Along with a new map, a new ARC enemy and a wave of fresh content, it also introduces four brand-new items - and each one has a corresponding blueprint waiting to be collected.

The four additions in this update are: Crash Mat, Powered Descender, White Flag, and Tactical Mk. 3 (Smoke). Right now, the best map to hunt for them is Riven Tides, and they aren't particularly difficult to track down. Let's take a look at the spots where you're most likely to come across them.

Crash Mat

Function

Crash Mat is a Rare throwable. Toss it on the ground and it rapidly inflates into an air cushion. Landing on the mat reduces fall damage, but it won't make you immune to harm - so it won't save your life if you leap from an extreme height.

One advantage of Crash Mat is that it can be used mid-fall; activating it before you've covered roughly half the drop distance will take effect. Overall, this item is fairly average in power, but when you happen to pick one up or carry one along, it can genuinely help you suffer less fall damage.

Blueprint Location

Crash Mat blueprint is likely one of the most common drops on the new map. You can find it in practically any regular container - suitcase, trash cans, and especially lockers, with lockers being notably efficient.

The best farming spot on the new map is without a doubt Port Authority Building, where a room behind a standard door is packed with lockers. Tennis Court area also has quite a few lockers, making it a strong secondary location.

Additionally, map conditions do not seem to affect the drop rate. Riven Tides only features Night Raid condition, but the chance of finding Crash Mat blueprint is about the same as in a normal match.

Powered Descender

Function

Powered Descender also counters fall damage, but it's way cooler than Crash Mat. It provides a noticeable deceleration effect while you're falling, drastically reducing damage - and from certain heights, you can land completely unharmed.

To use it, you must activate it while airborne. Your character will descend more slowly and touch down more softly. However, the device doesn't have a long energy reserve; if you keep it active for too long, it will cut out and drop you straight down. Mastering the timing of activation is therefore critical.

Activating it earlier slows you down sooner but drains energy faster; activating too late leaves insufficient time to slow down enough. Generally, the higher the drop, the slightly later you should activate it. Moreover, the device follows the shared cooldown mechanic for charged items. If you use Snap Hook or Photoelectric Cloak at the same time, Powered Descender's energy will also be consumed, so make sure its energy is fully charged beforehand.

Powered Descender lets you jump down from any height, saving a great deal of time. That said, it isn't built for every altitude. The highest spots on the new map have been tested and work, but jumping from Launch Tower in Spaceport would probably exceed its limits.

Blueprint Location

Powered Descender blueprint is slightly rarer than Crash Mat, but still not terribly hard to locate. It shares the exact same drop pool as the crash mat blueprint, and the best spots are once again Port Authority Building and Tennis Court. It may take a little longer, but you'll definitely secure it in the end.

White Flag

Function

White Flag is a very interesting tool for signaling that you are a peaceful player who means no harm and simply wants to survive in this world. You can place it in your quick slot and walk around holding it, plant it somewhere, or wave it to show a more overtly friendly gesture.

Unfortunately, White Flag cannot be attached to your backpack; you must keep it in your hand at all times for others to see it. This slows your movement speed and stops you from equipping other items, which feels a bit awkward.

Blueprint Location

Although it's a simple little object, White Flag blueprint is much harder to track down than the two items above. And I still can't quite understand why raiders need a blueprint to make what is essentially a kindergarten craft - a piece of white cloth tied to a stick.

White Flag blueprint can spawn in trash cans, suitcase or lockers, but its most frequent source is the beach area of Riven Tides, through excavation activities tied to Dockmaster's Detector. Dockmaster's Detector can be obtained directly by accepting a new mission. If you happen to lose it, you can pick it up elsewhere, and there is no blueprint to craft it.

If the event isn't active or you'd rather not dig, you can still open regular containers and lockers to look for it, though the efficiency will certainly be lower.

Tactical Mk. 3 (Smoke)

Function

Tactical Mk. 3 (Smoke) is an upgraded version of Tactical Mk. 2. Its special ability is exactly the same: when your shield breaks, it automatically generates a cloud of smoke. But don't assume that a higher tier means a beefed-up smoke effect - it's not thicker or larger. The only improvements are an added implant slot, a secure pocket slot, two regular inventory slots, and a weight increase of 5 points.

So while this piece of gear isn't a game-changer, it remains quite useful in PvP. The smoke effect's value endures, and the extra weight is a nice bonus.

Blueprint Location

Tactical Mk. 3 (Smoke) blueprint is surprisingly easy to obtain because it shares the exact same drop locations as all other Augment blueprints. Those are the familiar Stella Montis Lobby  (during Night events), and the destructible security room at the bottom of The Blue Gate's underground Security Wing - specifically the room behind the destructible door. Map conditions don't matter much: Night, Electromagnetic Storm, Hurricane, and Closed Gate all work. During the day, there is still a chance for it to drop, but the odds are noticeably lower.

It's not a difficult blueprint to find. The only annoyance is that you'll likely collect a pile of other Augment blueprints you already own first, since they all share the same pool. Whether you find this one early simply comes down to luck.

Those are all the methods for acquiring each of the four new item blueprints in this update. You can be assured that by farming these locations, you'll quickly acquire all four blueprints, as none of them are truly ultra-rare drops.

Since its release, MLB The Show 26 has faced a number of issues, including unstable servers and login difficulties. These problems have gradually been resolved through updates from the development team. However, not long after launch, cheaters were already being spotted by the player base, and the situation has now become far more serious. Cheating is spreading at an alarming rate.

Cheaters are no longer isolated individuals; they have organized themselves into groups, complete with their own set of cheating guidelines. If this issue is not effectively addressed, the experience of every single MLB The Show 26 player could be ruined.

The Cheating Program

Players have discovered that a highly skilled individual developed a cheat program that automatically controls PCI for the user. The only thing the user needs to do is press the swing button. This external tool handles the most demanding part of the game - the part requiring sharp judgment and fast reflexes - turning the game into a one-button puppet show.

Initially, the program had a fatal flaw: it could not read submarine pitching deliveries. This directly led players to stock up on low-sidearm pitchers like Tyler Rogers, Darren O'Day, or even Hoby Milner in their bullpens as a defensive measure against cheaters.

However, a foolish cheater openly showed off on TikTok, exposing a new version of the interface that could successfully attack low-sidearm pitchers. Using an external cheat so blatantly in a sports game built on fairness is, without a doubt, an insult to those who continue to play honestly.

Internal Guidance Document

After an MLB The Show 26 content creator lost to a cheater - perhaps out of a desire to show off - the cheater invited him into a Discord server. It turned out that the cheat was not being used by just a few dozen people, but by thousands.

Inside, the creator figured out the server's internal operating guidelines. Every user of the cheat program was explicitly required to either send a Friendly Quit offer or simply forfeit the match if matched against an opponent whose name had the prefix "TTV" (Twitch TV), in order to avoid drawing attention.

Later, a player named Kyle publicly released the internal guidance document from that cheating Discord server. Titled as 2026 MLB The Show Black List – April 2026 Update, the document has already been viewed over a million times online, revealing a well-organized, large-scale cheating network.

MLB The Show 26 Block List

Within this Discord server, there exists a block list that includes almost all active MLB The Show 26 content creators. The document uses color-coded icons to classify targets. Blue indicates streamers or content creators who have been added to the list in the past two to three months, forcing users to regularly update their block lists.

The document even provides step-by-step instructions, telling users to turn on cross-platform matchmaking, navigate to their profile icon, switch to the block list page via the friends list, and manually enter each ID. Blocking these players in advance eliminates the chance of encountering them in a match.

The document includes an alphabetically ordered list of the top 100 streamers that must be blocked. A yellow marker on the list means a mandatory block - cheaters are absolutely not allowed to play against anyone marked in yellow. The document is incredibly detailed: it not only lists the streamers' main accounts but also their alternate accounts one by one.

The most absurd part of the document concerns the rules for self-disguise. It clearly warns users: if your online batting average exceeds .450, you risk being discovered and reported by other players.

The "professional advice" given in the document is to recommend that cheaters keep their batting average around .430. Intentionally controlling your stats to pass as a normal player is the goal.

If a cheater fails to strictly follow the block list, or if they encounter a player with "TTV," "TikTok," "YouTube," or similar tags in their name and do not forfeit or request a Friendly Quit, that user may lose "part or all of their cheating privileges."

The document also reminds users that if they match against a player with a World Series icon, a 1000rating icon, or a Flawless scoreboard banner, they have likely run into a streamer or another cheater. In that case, the safest course of action is still to abandon the match.

Developer's Response

All signs indicate that this is by no means a freely available program. According to analysis by some community members, the server - which has nearly 40,000 users - likely provides access to the cheat for around $30 per month.

If this estimate is correct, the operators of this single server are raking in over $1.2 million each month in illgotten gains.

A community manager has already taken notice of the situation. They are actively gathering all evidence and information related to the cheaters and reporting it to the development department. The challenge, however, lies in identifying these cheaters. The official team may need some time to find a solution, but we believe a largescale ban wave will be coming before long.

How to Deal with Cheaters?

The core appeal of this game has always been that even if a player does not have many MLB The Show 26 stubs, they can still enjoy competitive play. The game generously provides many ways to acquire players for free. Moreover, a skilled player with an ordinary roster can still defeat a team stacked with top cards.

If you are playing in Ranked Seasons, Battle Royale, or any other mode and feel that your opponent's swing timing is suspiciously perfect, immediately check their match history. If you have reason to suspect they are a cheater, be sure to use the report function after the match. Complaining alone will not improve the environment; only reports backed by specific evidence will give the development team leads to investigate. True toptier players have nothing to fear from scrutiny.

The joy of competitive gaming lies in the mental satisfaction of overcoming an opponent through your own effort - a feeling that makes you look forward to the next match. The pleasure gained from winning with a cheat program is castrated; it will quickly drain all the fun from the game, killing its remaining lifespan. So say no to any cheater.