News Tag: ARC Raiders Items

With the implementation of the major Arc Raiders update, Riven Tides, the weapon durability mechanic underwent a controversial adjustment.

The official statement clearly indicates that the core goal of this change is to address the excessively high maintenance costs of higher-tier weapons, while simultaneously allowing higher-tier weapons to have a longer lifespan than lower-tier weapons.

However, following the update's release, numerous discussions quickly emerged within the community regarding the imbalance in the weapon economy system, particularly the surge in the durability consumption rate of lower-tier weapons, causing concern among many players.

The following will examine the true impact of this Arc Raiders change on the weapon durability system from three dimensions: the adjustment logic, actual test data, and potential errors.

Adjustment Logic

Arc Raiders patch notes emphasize that higher-tier weapons should have a longer battlefield lifespan than lower-tier weapons.

This premise aligns with the typical Arc Raiders Items progression curve; players who invest more resources to acquire legendary or Epic weapons should logically receive a positive return in terms of durability.

However, Arc Raiders didn't simply increase the durability of high-tier weapons; instead, it significantly accelerated the wear and tear on low-tier weapons.

This dual-track adjustment led to a sharp increase in the repair frequency of both Common and Uncommon weapons in actual combat, sparking community-wide questioning of the weapon economy system.

According to test data, Common-quality weapons like Stitcher require approximately 10.24 sets of light ammunition to be completely destroyed, Kettle 9 sets, and Pharaoh 3.1 sets of heavy ammunition.

Anvil, a weapon that performs well in both PvE and PvP, now only requires 215 rounds to become completely unusable.

This means that in a relatively intense encounter, a player might run out of weapon lifespan before even retreating. For novice players or those with limited resources, this penalty significantly increases the cost of maintaining combat effectiveness.

Test Data

Based on the highest durability level four, the following data represents the test results for each weapon level from full durability to zero.

Among Common-tier weapons, the number of ammunition required for complete destruction varies significantly, mostly ranging from several hundred to over a thousand rounds.

Uncommon and Rare-tier weapons also exhibit considerable fluctuations, with some models requiring only a little over a hundred rounds to deplete their durability, while others exceed a thousand.

Epic-tier weapons range from extreme values ​​of over two thousand rounds to rapidly depleted models requiring only a little over two hundred.

Comparing community test records before and after the update reveals that the actual durability adjustments to almost all weapons were less than stated in the patch notes.

This phenomenon may stem from a conversion error between the underlying calculation formula and the percentage representation, or maybe the development team temporarily used a unique set of parameters before the patch went live.

Nevertheless, when translated into actual gameplay scenarios, the majority of players will rarely fire enough rounds in a single deployment to completely degrade even the most fragile Common weapons, except for a few outliers like Anvil.

Potential Error

From a design logic perspective, only excessively high maintenance costs for higher-tier weapons was explicitly listed as an adjustment target. Therefore, imposing faster durability loss on Common, Uncommon, and even Rare weapons essentially addresses a non-existent problem.

These lower-tier weapons are inherently inexpensive to manufacture and easy to repair, their economic burden is not a major source of player complaints.

The collateral penalty imposed by Arc Raiders at this level actually reduces players' options during resource-scarce phases, forcing them to rely on high-tier gear earlier or endure greater logistical burdens.

The update specifically mentions that Arc Raiders Items looted from downed enemy players will reduce durability loss by 15%. This design attempts to create a more interesting loot and reuse cycle in PvP combat: enemy-dropped weapons are relatively newer, encouraging players to actively change gear and reduce reliance on fixed builds.

However, considering the high elimination rate and low survival rate in PvP, the actual trigger frequency of this benefit may be limited. Players can only enjoy the durability reduction benefit if they successfully extract with looted weapons.

Given the precedent of several instances of unexpected values from the official release, these durability figures will likely be corrected in subsequent weekly updates.

Based on actual testing results, the overall durability balance in the current version is not as extreme as the percentages suggest, but there are indeed several design flaws that significantly deviate from the average for low-tier weapons.

Riven Tides' adjustments to Arc Raiders Items durability appear on paper to severely penalize low-tier weapons and moderately reward high-tier ones. However, real-world testing shows the actual impact is much milder than the patch notes suggest, with some weapons even receiving unexpected buffs.

Visual assessments in terms of ammo stacks indicate that the vast majority of weapons are not completely destroyed during a normal extraction, but the vulnerability of a few models, such as Anvil, does warrant attention. Future fixes are more likely to focus on numerical discrepancies rather than overhauling the entire system.

With the second ARC Raiders expedition window approaching, it means you'll have to work harder than ever to complete more raids and accumulate enough coins for the expedition.

To do this, in addition to skillfully using your weapons during combat, you'll also need to carry enough grenades. They can bombard individual ARCs, disrupt flying ARC movements, and are also effective against other players.

Currently, there are more than a dozen types of grenades in the game, each with different effects, but in terms of destructive power, Wolfpack and Trailblazer are definitely among the best.

Interestingly, if you want to craft these grenades from scratch, oil is one of the most common and highly demanded important raw materials.

While you can obtain oil through trading in Celeste, farming it yourself isn't difficult. The key is to develop the most efficient farming route so that you can obtain enough oil to craft multiple grenades in one or two outings.

Next, we will introduce a usable farming route and provide you with the recipes and other relevant information for crafting top-tier grenades.

Why is oil so important?

In ARC Raiders, oil itself is not a rare item, but the key is that it is one of the necessary materials for crafting Explosive Compound, which is another essential high-level material for crafting various grenades.

This means that as long as you intend to acquire and use grenades in the game, ARC Raiders oil will be a regular item on your supply list, and it's best to bring some back every time you go out.

How to obtain oil?

This item will randomly appear in various loot areas and containers during scavenging. You can also exchange 6 Assorted Seeds for 1 oil at the vendor Celeste, or recycle the following high-level items to obtain oil:

• Blaze Grenade
• Coolant
• Explosive Mine
• Heavy Fuze Grenade
• Motor
• Polluted Air Filter
• Synthesized Fuel
• Turbo Pump
• Water Pump

Considering that the daily gameplay of ARC Raiders involves going out to complete raids, searching and farming during combat is the most common and recommended method. As for seeds, we recommend saving them for exchanging for rarer materials.

What can oil be used for?

First, some items can be crafted directly using oil and other materials, including:

• Blaze Grenade: 1 Explosive Compound, 2 Oil, Blaze Grenade Blueprint
• Explosive Compound: 2 Crude Explosives, 2 Oil
• Renegade I: 2 Advanced Mechanical Components, 3 Medium Gun Parts, 5 Oil

These three items can then be processed with other materials to craft rarer items or gear. For example, 1 Wire and 1 Blaze Grenade can craft 1 Blaze Grenade Trap, while Explosive Compound has a wider range of applications:

• Blaze Grenade: 1 Explosive Compound, 2 Oil, Blaze Grenade Blueprint
• Deadline: 3 Explosive Compounds, 2 ARC Circuitry, Deadline Blueprint
• Explosive Mine: 1 Explosive Compound, 1 Sensor, Explosive Mine Blueprint
• Fireworks Box: 1 Explosive Compound, 3 Pop Triggers, Fireworks Box Blueprint
• Heavy Fuze Grenade: 1 Explosive Compound, 2 Canisters
• Trailblazer: 1 Synthesized Fuel, 1 Explosive Compound, Trailblazer Blueprint
• Wolfpack: 3 Explosive Compounds, 2 ARC Motion Cores, Wolfpack Blueprint

Best farming route in Stella Montis

Theoretically, oil can be found in all game maps, but as the newest and most intense, and dangerous map, Stella Montis has more high-value areas.

Therefore, if you can handle it, raiding this map offers the highest chance of bringing back a large amount of oil at once, not to mention you can also harvest other materials needed for crafting grenades.

Starting from Loading Bay

Loading Bay is a high-value looting area in Stella Montis. After entering, you need to be wary of enemies that may appear at any time while searching the green containers for items that can be broken down into oil, such as Polluted Air Filters or Water Pumps.

To avoid your inventory filling up before you finish farming (you'll definitely find other high-value items), it's best to immediately salvage them and convert them directly into oil to stack in your inventory.

It's worth noting that there is a hidden area on the other side of this area where you can obtain a lot of improvised explosives, and sometimes you may also find grenade boxes or oil hidden in black travel bags.

If you find these areas or containers have already been looted, don't leave in disappointment. You can still search them again, as many players only focus on rare items like blueprints and overlook common but versatile materials like oil.

Search for and defeat Bastion

After clearing Loading Bay, you can follow the zipline down to continue searching a larger area of containers for more oil or other resources. However, sometimes there may be an ARC Bastion patrolling around these containers.

Its slow movement but predictable attack patterns characterize this enemy. The best way to deal with it is to find cover to avoid its machine gun fire and use heavy ammunition to prioritize targeting its knees and rear cylinders.

After defeating it, you can not only loot more containers but also obtain an ARC Motion Core as one of the dropped items, which is another material needed to craft Wolfpack.

Besides oil, you can easily find Crude Explosives in these containers, which can be used to craft other grenades and launcher ammo.

Travel to the lobby

Another worthwhile location to loot in Stella Montis is the lobby, because often your respawn point is located there. So why not take a stroll around and grab some oil? However, if your respawn point isn't there and you're far from the lobby, then you don't need to go there.

If you're lucky, you might find some Synthesized Fuel here, a material necessary for crafting Trailblazer. But if you prefer other grenades, you can recycle Synthesized Fuel for more oil.

That's all the information for this guide. Hopefully, it will help you craft more powerful grenades and complete each raid more efficiently!

In ARC Raiders, every item has its own function and purpose. Some are weapons that can be used directly in combat, some are raw materials that can be processed into higher-level items, and then there are miscellaneous items, such as assorted seeds.

These seeds are not part of ARC Raiders crafting system and cannot be recycled, but they can help complete specific tasks or be sold for more coins, allowing you to trade for other materials you need when resources are scarce.

Based on this, we will introduce you to the main information about seeds and all the ways to obtain them.

What are assorted seeds?

Assorted seeds is the general term used in ARC Raiders for these seeds, as they cannot be categorized and grown into specific crops through planting. Players usually refer to them simply as seeds.

The main uses of ARC Raiders assorted seeds are three: trading with NPC Celeste, selling them for coins (each worth 100 coins), and completing the quest Root of the Matter.

What items does Celeste sell?

There are multiple NPCs in ARC Raiders, some of whom not only have their own storylines but also run shops where you can obtain additional resources.

Currently known vendor NPCs include Celeste, Tian Wen, Apollo, Shani, and Lance, but only Celeste accepts seeds as currency instead of ARC Raiders coins. The tradeable materials and the required number of seeds for interacting with her are as follows:

• Chemicals: 1 Seed
• Fabric: 1 Seed
• Metal Parts: 1 Seed
• Plastic Parts: 1 Seed
• Rubber Parts: 1 Seed
• Heavy Gun Parts: 15 Seeds
• Light Gun Parts: 15 Seeds
• Medium Gun Parts: 15 Seeds
• Moss: 10 Seeds
• Processor: 10 Seeds
• Rope: 10 Seeds
• Sensors: 10 Seeds
• Speaker Component: 10 Seeds
• Synthesized Fuel: 14 Seeds
• Syringe: 10 Seeds
• Voltage Converter: 10 Seeds
• Battery: 5 Seeds
• Canister: 6 Seeds
• Duct Tape: 6 Seeds
• Great Mullein: 5 Seeds
• Magnet: 6 Seeds
• Oil: 6 Seeds
• Simple Gun Parts: 7 Seeds
• Steel Spring: 6 Seeds
• Wires: 4 Seeds
• Complex Gun Parts: 60 Seeds
• Exodus Modules: 55 Seeds

Some of these items can also be obtained by crafting using relevant materials and blueprints, but most are raw materials for crafting higher-level items. In addition, all the above items can be sold for varying amounts of coins.

How to complete Root of the Matter quest?

This quest is given by Celeste. First, you need to travel to Buried City map and enter Research Building. The building has entrances on all four sides, so it's relatively easy to enter while minimizing the chance of encountering enemies.

After entering the building and eliminating some ARC enemies, the quest will further require you to find the seed vault in the "room with a great view".

This room is located in the center of the first floor of the building. If you can see Marano Park from the window after entering, you've found the right room. Then you will see the seed vault on the left side of the room; interacting with it will drop an Experimental Seed Sample.

Next, take the sample back and give it to Celeste to complete the quest. You will then receive 1000 coins and a succulent-shaped backpack charm as a reward.

Although this quest doesn't reward you with seeds, it clarifies the existence of seeds in the game, preparing you for subsequent mechanics and gameplay related to seeds.

How to obtain seeds?

Roughly speaking, there are two ways to obtain seeds in ARC Raiders: scavenging and recycling, but each can be further refined, and we will introduce them to you one by one.

Scavenging seed vault in Stella Montis

While the seed vault in specific missions is located in Buried City, the seed vault in Stella Montis is a better option for actually earning seeds, as many of the containers hidden there primarily drop seeds.

Note that this seed vault requires a fuel cell to open. If you want to find this item yourself, you should focus on areas near your extraction point. Then, insert the battery into the seed vault's panel to open it and scavenge the containers.

It's important to note that to prevent being robbed by other players, it's best to immediately put the seeds into your Safe Pocket after obtaining them. In the best-case scenario, this method can yield over 100 seeds at once.

Scavenging other specific containers

Besides seed vaults, plant boxes in outdoor areas marked as "natural" on all maps, and containers marked as natural resources, also have a very high chance of dropping seeds. Alternatively, you can focus on scavenging the following containers:

• Seed Drawer Box
• Red Locker
• Green Locker
• Fridge

Finding Wicker Baskets

This special container appears when Lush Blooms and Cold Snap events occur on the map and occasionally spawns in the cafeteria on Stella Montis. Besides seeds, you can also find other fruits or plant-related items in this container.

Waiting for Scrappy to generate seeds

Scrappy is a mechanical rooster stationed at your base that produces extra resources for you while you're out fighting, including seeds. Scrappy can be upgraded to level 5 (Master Hoarder), and the higher the level, the more seeds it generates.

Recycling other natural items

If you have extra fruits or plant items, you can choose to recycle them to obtain seeds. The recycling rates are as follows:

• Sample Cleaner: 14 Seeds
• Agave: 3 Seeds
• Apricot: 3 Seeds
• Lemon: 3 Seeds
• Moss: 3 Seeds
• Prickly Pear: 3 Seeds
• Candleberries: 2 Seeds
• Fertilizer: 2 Seeds
• Great Mullein: 2 Seeds
• Herbal Bandage: 2 Seeds
• Olives: 2 Seeds
• Roots: 1 Seed

Since seeds are not further categorized, they will be stacked together in a single inventory slot, with a maximum of 100 seeds per slot. To use them, simply open your inventory and click on them.

That's all the information about ARC Raiders seeds. We hope this guide helps you earn and use seeds in the game! Thank you for reading.

To create a powerful character in ARC Raiders capable of handling most enemies and map conditions, good gear and a reasonable skill allocation are essential.

Skills are divided into three specialization areas: Conditioning, Survival, and Mobility, each with multiple skills to unlock through skill points, and these points are awarded as you level up.

Currently, there is a maximum of 76 skill points available, unless you earned 5 extra points by accumulating 5,000,000 coins before the first expedition window began.

Therefore, to maximize the strength of your ARC Raiders character builds, you must selectively allocate skill points across the three areas. Based on this, we will introduce all Conditioning skills and the priority order for unlocking them after the first expedition.

What Is ARC Raiders Skill Tree?

This mechanism provides you with a way to build your character based on movement, stamina, carrying capacity, etc., through three branches. All unlocked skill points will be reset to their initial state after you complete an expedition.

Therefore, now that the first expedition has recently ended, you need to customize your skill tree from scratch.

Although you can manually reset it later if you are not satisfied by consuming ARC Raiders coins, to avoid wasting resources and time, it's best to get your skill tree in the best possible state from the start.

What Are Conditioning Skills?

There are currently 15 Conditioning skills. Generally, we don't recommend unlocking only one type of skill, or evenly distributing points across all three specializations. You should focus on developing one aspect based on your combat style and strengths.

Below are all Conditioning skills and the maximum number of skill points that can be allocated to them.

Used To The Weight - 5 Points

This skill ensures that your movement speed doesn't decrease too much after equipping a shield. If you max out all 5 skill points, all movement penalties caused by shields will be reduced by 50% based on their attributes.

Blast-Born - 5 Points

Your hearing will be less affected by nearby explosions.

Gentle Pressure - 5 Points

When entering any building or room, if you need to break down a door, this skill reduces the noise made when breaking down the door. This makes it less likely to attract nearby ARC enemies or other players, reducing the risk of being attacked and looted.

Fight Or Flight - 5 Points

Restores a certain amount of health when you are injured in combat, but there is a cooldown after each use, so avoiding injury and carrying supplies is still important.

Proficient Pryer - 5 Points

Reduces the time it takes to break down doors and pry open containers, allowing you to loot more rooms and containers in a single game round and take away more loot.

Survivor's Stamina - 1 Point

Allows your stamina to recover faster when you are critically injured. This gives you a chance to turn the tide when you are at a disadvantage, especially in one-on-one PvP combat.

Unburdened Roll - 1 Point

If your shield is broken, this skill allows your first dodge roll within a few seconds to not consume stamina, allowing you to compensate for insufficient defense through movement.

Downed But Determined - 5 Points

Gives you extra time to survive when you are downed. If your opponent is also near death at this time, this is the best time for you to finish them off.

A Little Extra - 1 Point

Generates a random resource when you destroy any target. Although the total amount is not large, no one in ARC Raiders will complain about having too much loot.

Effortless Swing - 5 Points

Reduces the stamina you need to consume when using melee skills in combat. This is a very useful skill for melee players.

Turtle Crawl - 5 Points

Increases your chances of survival by reducing the damage you take while downed, increasing your chances of waiting for reinforcements.

Loaded Arms - 1 Point

Makes the weapons you equip have less impact on your weight, allowing you to carry more heavy gear to challenge large ARC enemies.

Sky-Clearing Swing - 5 Points

You deal more melee damage to drones. Suitable for specific missions and combat scenarios.

Back On Your Feet - 1 Point

When you are critically injured, your health will gradually recover until it reaches a certain limit, extending your survival time in combat.

Flyswatter - 1 Point

Allows you to destroy Wasps and Turrets with just one melee attack, improving your efficiency in completing related tasks or collecting specific loot.

Current Conditioning Skill Ranking

To more efficiently collect resources through combat to prepare for the next expedition, we have ranked all Conditioning skills from highest to lowest for your reference. If something isn't mentioned, it means it's either not very valuable or has very limited applications.

S Tier

The first skill to introduce in this tier is Turtle Crawl. Based on practical experience, it can help you avoid being killed by panicked enemies spraying bullets at you during an evacuation.

Another S-tier skill is Loaded Arms. Its strength lies in its simplicity and practicality, and it only requires one skill point to unlock its full effect - meaning the weight of all your equipped weapons is halved.

In ARC Raiders, gear weight accumulates quickly, and Loaded Arms effectively solves this problem.

A Tier

A Little Extra, for just one skill point, gives you extra loot - fantastic! Most of the time you'll get some basic materials, but occasionally you'll get something better, like springs, which are very useful for crafting.

B Tier

Used To The Weight may not seem very effective, but if you frequently use heavy shields, you'll definitely feel its benefits. It's decent, but not game-changing, and its use cases are limited, so it's only in B Tier.

Fight Or Flight restores very little stamina, and its effect is only noticeable when your stamina is completely depleted, or when it allows you to sprint again after being hit. But these situations are very specific.

C Tier

Based on testing, Blast-Born seems to reduce the ringing in your ears by approximately 0.8 seconds for each skill point unlocked, for a maximum reduction of about 4.5 seconds.

However, in actual gameplay, this reduction is almost imperceptible. If you're hit by an explosive, you'll either die instantly or be very close to the explosion, so having your hearing restored a few seconds earlier is not very useful.

Overall, it's not the worst skill, but its applicability is very narrow, and you can definitely invest your skill points in more worthwhile skills.

With Effortless Swing, if your stamina is full, each skill point allows you to swing your melee weapon one extra time. By default, it's 10 swings, and at max level, it's 15.

The skill is decent, but most of the time your stamina won't be full, so in reality, even with five skill points invested, you might only get one or two extra swings.

That's all for this guide. Hopefully, it will provide you with enough help in building your skill tree. Have fun!

Cold Snap update, while time-limited, offers a series of content centered around Snowfall map conditions, providing a brief but exciting ARC Raiders experience this winter.

Among all the new content, there are also 6 new quests. Although these are different from other Cold Snap gameplay and should remain in the game permanently, we still recommend completing them as soon as possible to earn rewards.

Below, we will provide you with the main steps to complete these 6 quests.

The Clean Dream

This quest requires you to first travel to Spaceport map and enter the underground tunnels, following the instructions provided by the quest system. The specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Find the tunnel entrance in the southwest area of Launch Tower and enter.

Step 2: Search all interactive containers to find the 4 specific containers required by the quest.

Step 3: Find and monitor any one of the filtration systems in the tunnel.

Step 4: Travel to Blue Gate map and then find and enter Maintenance Bunker.

Step 5: Find the cylindrical purification system in the main room and interact with it.

Step 6: Find the blueprint on the table in the small room and take a picture.

Step 7: Return to Speranza and interact with Apollo to submit the quest results.

A Toxic Trail

If you completed the other main quests before Cold Snap update was released, you will find that some of them involved investigating water pollution issues, but these were not fully resolved. A Toxic Trail will bring these to a conclusion.

Step 1: Travel to Dam Battlegrounds map and find the barrel located in Water Treatment Center. This item previously appeared in Source of the Contamination quest.

Step 2: Walk around the barrel to trigger and find clues about the source of the barrel.

Step 3: Continue west to find a truck and take a picture as instructed by the system.

Step 4: Search the truck to find the final clue about the water contamination incident.

Step 5: Evacuate from the current map to return to Speranza and receive the next quest.

It's worth noting that when interacting with the truck door, you will obtain Spaceport Warehouse Key, which can help you open locked rooms and find more loot while exploring Spaceport map.

The Stench Of Corruption

As a follow-up quest to A Toxic Trail, The Stench of Corruption is fast-paced and includes combat elements. If you die during combat, you must start over from the beginning. Here are the detailed instructions:

Step 1: Travel to Departure Building located on Spaceport map.

Step 2: Follow the quest guidance to find a nearby room and search for clues about the saboteur's identity.

Step 3: Find and interact with the hazmat suit in the room to obtain Flushing Terminal Key.

Step 4: Leave the room and enter the underground tunnel in The Clean Dream quest.

Step 5: Find any Flushing Terminal and interact with it using the key you just obtained to complete the task.

Unlike the regular item rewards of other quests, The Stench of Corruption will give you a unique Warden outfit. If you like, you can wear it to travel to the next quest location.

Paving The Way

The only dangerous part of this quest is the final extraction phase, as there may be other real players near the extraction point. Even if they don't intend to attack you, you may still be accidentally injured.

So, don't let your guard down immediately after completing the task according to the following steps.

Step 1: Find an ENELICA building on any map, Water Treatment Center in Dam Battlegrounds is recommended.

Step 2: Find the bulletin board at the main entrance of the building and interact with it to obtain the researcher's notes.

Step 3: Extract and go to the new map, Buried City, and find the dual apartment buildings in the central area.

Step 4: In this building, find the apartment room where the researcher who wrote the notes lived, enter it, and find the research data as instructed.

Step 5: Extract from Buried City to complete the task.

Deciphering The Data

This quest takes place in Spaceport, a location you are already very familiar with. NPC who gives the quest is Shani. Here are all the steps to complete this quest:

Step 1: Find and enter the main room of Fuel Control building located in the northeast of the map.

Step 2: Find the terminal in the southeast corner of the room and interact with it using Magnetic Decryptor.

Step 3: Follow the new quest prompts to the top floor of Arrival Building to find another set of terminal machines, then successfully extract to complete the task.

The most dangerous part of Deciphering the Data is that you may encounter other players on the way to Arrival Building. If you are afraid of conflict, you can bring fewer items beforehand to indicate that you are only there to do the quest.

The Groundbreaking

This quest requires you to travel to Blue Gate map for investigation and item searching. If you are ready to brave the cold weather and potential enemies, please follow the instructions below to start the quest immediately.

Step 1: Take Blue Gate Communication Tower Key and travel to Pilgrim's Peak, located at the northernmost point of the map.

Step 2: Enter the building there, find a locked door in the eastern part of the building, and use the key you brought to open it and enter the room.

Step 3: Search the room for documents and interact with the whiteboard to obtain a photograph of a specific building.

Step 4: Travel to Abandoned Housing Project in the southwest of the map to trigger a new mission objective to photograph this location.

Step 5: Take the photograph and safely evacuate; the mission is complete.

Overall, these new missions are not difficult to complete, but they require traveling back and forth between different locations, which is quite time-consuming. Therefore, it's best to complete them all at once when you have free time.

We hope this guide helps you have a better gaming experience. Keep going, Raiders!

On December 16th, ARC Raiders Cold Snap update will bring heavy snow and extreme cold to all maps, presenting raiders with harsh environmental challenges.

Players will need to relearn how to move, survive, and safely evacuate in this challenging environment. Only those who adapt will emerge victorious.

Date

ARC Raiders Cold Snap will launch globally and last for four weeks, ending on Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. Here are the updated times for key global time zones:

• North American West Coast: 1:30 AM PST
• 4:30 AM EST, North American East Coast
• 6:30 AM Brazil BRT
• 9:30 AM UK Time (Greenwich Mean Time)
• 10:30 AM Western European Time
• 6:30 PM Japan Time
• 8:30 PM Australia East Coast Time

Snowfall Mechanism

Outdoors

Snowfall, as a map event, will cover all areas of the map, including Rust Belt, Valley of Blue Gate, Abandoned Spaceport, and Red Lakes. Unlike standard raids, Cold Snap applies continuous environmental stress to raiders. Snowfall is not just a visual effect; it affects your combat, movement, and survival.

Prolonged exposure to the outdoors will cause raiders to suffer frostbite, resulting in continuous health loss. They must enter indoors or receive rapid healing to survive. Frostbite ignores armor, meaning even high-level gear is ineffective, but some instant-recovery items may be effective.

Because the map is covered in snow, gathering materials becomes much more difficult, so to combat frostbite, you should carry significantly more healing items than usual. Consider discarding some ammunition to make room for extra medical supplies.

Furthermore, the radar will malfunction after a few minutes, and the icy ground will make movement unsteady, both increasing the difficulty of combat and exploration. You can move short distances between buildings, but try to avoid lingering in open areas, as you'll leave footprints in the snow, making you vulnerable to being tracked by other players! Being suppressed by players outdoors will put you at a significant disadvantage.

Additionally, the different map layouts in Snowfall will have varying impacts on each map.

• Dam Battlegrounds: More open areas, limited shelters, requiring route planning and sufficient ARC Raiders items.
• Buried City: More indoor space, more frequent PvP battles.
• Spaceport and Blue Gate: A more balanced distribution of open areas and shelters, giving an advantage to players who can effectively manage movement between buildings.
• Stella Montis: Already a popular PvP map, Snowfall may further intensify PvP.

Shelter

Entering indoor areas will immediately stop frostbite. You can use items to restore health here. Buildings, underground spaces, and enclosed structures can all serve as safe zones during Snowfall event.

Of course, these safe zones will attract more other players than usual, and some squads may cluster together. You can cooperate for warmth or engage in combat to become the last survivor in the shelter.

If your map frequently sees PvP, the longer you stay in the shelter, the more dangerous it becomes. You should make full use of this time to rest and then venture out again.

Flickering Flames Event

Launching alongside Cold Snap is Flickering Flames event, a progress-based event. Players accumulate progress by gaining XP, with 1,000 XP equaling 10 Merits. However, new players must complete a total of five rounds of Arc Raiders to unlock the event, although this does not require successful extraction.

Flickering Flames has 25 tiers, rewarding players with gear, cosmetic items, and Raiders tokens. You're on a raid. You can progress using any source of XP, or you can avoid Snowfall map and accumulate progress on regular maps. You can gain XP by:

• Defeating large ARC enemies.
• Completing trials.
• Successfully extracting with valuable loot.

Candleberry Banquet Project

This update introduces a new project, Candleberry Banquet Project. Players need to collect Candleberries that spawn outdoors. The more Candleberries you successfully collect, the higher your Candleberry Banquet completion rate will be.

Candleberries can be used to craft candles, juice, tea, stews, perfume, and more, and these items may have mechanics that resist cold wave damage.

Furthermore, you'll earn Merits as you progress through Candleberry Banquet Project. This program is somewhat similar to a battle pass; as you progress, you'll earn rewards such as cosmetic items and Raider Tokens.

New Raider Deck

The release of the new Raider Deck has been slightly delayed, and it will be unlocked on December 26th and will be available to players for free.

The new Raider Deck features a Goalie-themed outfit inspired by old world clothing. It also includes a new raider tool skin, the hockey stick. This Raider Deck is permanent and won't disappear, so you can unlock it at any time. However, it's unconfirmed whether accumulated Raider Deck Points will carry over to the new deck.

Before the new Raider Deck update, this update also includes new portable, playable interactive items, an Acoustic Guitar, a gold-mask-style Mist Horn Set, futuristic Solar Panel Gadgets, and possibly even warming items to protect against the cold.

Snowfall transforms Arc Raiders into a true survival experience, where environmental awareness is just as important as combat skills. Use your tactics and items to adapt to winter warfare. The frozen wastelands of Speranza await your challenge, so Raiders, stay warm and survive!

Almost every game available on multiple platforms is expected by players to offer cross-play functionality, as this means you can more easily play with friends and won't be restricted by device changes.

The demand for cross-play is even stronger for multiplayer online games, such as the recently popular ARC Raiders. Its PvPvE nature and support for two-player/three-player matchmaking highlight the importance and fun of playing with friends.

Fortunately, this game, available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, fully supports cross-play! If you don't know how to enable cross-play, or are unsure whether you should enable it, don't worry, we'll provide you with a helpful guide!

Preparation Before Enabling Cross-Play Feature

First, it's important to note that ARC Raiders does not support cross-platform ownership in most cases. For example, if you want to play the game on both PC and PS5, you must own ARC Raiders on each platform, respectively.

The only exception is Microsoft Store. If you obtain ARC Raiders there, you can unlock both Xbox and PC versions directly.

In addition, you must ensure you have a fixed Embark ID and link that ID to your current device account on the new platform. This will ensure that your existing game account progress and all earned ARC Raiders items are synchronized to the new platform when you log in.

How To Enable Or Disable Cross-Play?

Cross-play is enabled by default when you play ARC Raiders on any platform. So, as soon as you enter the game and start matchmaking, you may encounter players using other devices, and you and your friends can team up without restrictions.

If you haven't added your friends to your friends list yet, you can find and add them by entering their ID in the relevant search box in the game. Then, find them on the list and invite them to team up.

If for various reasons, such as potential imbalances in the combat environment due to different devices, you want to disable cross-play, it's possible. The specific steps are as follows:

• 1. Find the main menu and open the settings menu located in the lower right corner.
• 2. Find and open Gameplay tab.
• 3. Find Online section.
• 4. Find Cross-play option and click to disable it.
• 5. To re-enable it later, simply follow the steps above again.

Pros And Cons Of Cross-Play Functionality

The most obvious benefit of this feature is the significant reduction in matchmaking wait times. For players busy with work or studies, every minute in a game is precious relaxation time.

Furthermore, it not only provides convenience for teaming up with friends but also allows you to more flexibly choose your gaming device according to your needs, without being limited to either a controller or keyboard and mouse.

On the other hand, players using different devices often have certain overall tendencies, such as being more aggressive or more friendly. Cross-play means you might be matched with any type of teammate or enemy, increasing the excitement of the game.

However, because of this, the probability of encountering cheaters will become higher when cross-play is enabled, especially if you are a PS5 or Xbox player, as there are more cheaters on PC.

From an operational experience perspective, both the visual design and controller usage habits of ARC Raiders are more friendly to PC players. Therefore, if your opponents are from PC and you are not, you will inevitably feel a subtle unfairness.

Should You Enable Cross-Play?

Based on our analysis of the pros and cons of this feature, you can decide whether to enable cross-play based on your preferred gaming device and skill level.

If you are a PC player, you can keep this feature enabled by default, because generally speaking, console players are less likely to disrupt the game environment or cheat, and playing with more players of different styles can help improve your skills faster.

If you are a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S player, we recommend that you only enable cross-play when you are very familiar with the mechanics and controls of ARC Raiders, or when you need to team up with friends using different devices.

However, it's important to note that disabling cross-play will inevitably reduce the number of online players, which will increase matchmaking wait times, especially during off-peak hours. Therefore, if you want to avoid this, it's best to always keep this feature enabled.

Will ARC Raiders Be Available On More Platforms?

Considering the multiplayer online PvP elements of ARC Raiders, it is clearly not suitable for handheld devices like Switch, but playing on mobile devices should be feasible, as several shooting game series like PUBG and Call of Duty already have mobile versions.

However, considering that ARC Raiders is a relatively new game, even if there are plans to expand to new platforms, it will likely be a long time before they are implemented. The current focus of the game is still on perfecting its core content.

It's worth noting, however, that compared with many other online multiplayer games that still haven't implemented full cross-play, or whose cross-play features are buggy, ARC Raiders has done a great job from the start.

That's all the information for today. Later today, ARC Raiders will release Cold Snap update, allowing you to play with friends on other devices in new map variations and participate in new events! Stay tuned!

Released at the end of October, ARC Raiders was a dark horse in the gaming world this year. Within a month, it attracted millions of loyal players, and based on its performance in November, it won 2025 TGA Best Multiplayer Award!

Whether a game is fun or not doesn't depend on game media reviews; the number of players faithfully reflects this. So how did ARC Raiders manage to beat Battlefield 6, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and other multiplayer games in just one month to become the king of multiplayer games in 2025?

Top-Tier Visuals And Audio

In recent years, many games have proven the excellence of Unreal Engine 5 in terms of graphics. Games like Black Myth: Wukong and Expedition 33 boast incredibly stunning visuals. ARC Raiders also uses UE 5 to create cinematic-quality graphics, making it difficult for even the most discerning gamers to find fault.

Unreal Engine 5's optimization issues often lead to game stuttering or very high system requirements. ARC Raiders, by selectively using engine features, ensures excellent performance, allowing players to consistently enjoy a smooth gaming experience.

The development team is at the forefront of the industry in art design and graphics. They extensively use photogrammetry to scan realistic vegetation, rocks, and debris, creating extremely realistic environments. This is why each map feels incredibly realistic and has its own unique design and gameplay.

The excellent art style adopts a Cassette Futurist or Retrofuturist aesthetic, somewhat similar to the style of Aliens or early Destiny, but more grounded.

Their use of color is bold and fearless; not only do different maps have unique color schemes, but day-night cycles also create drastically different atmospheres.

Audio is one of the core game mechanics, crucial in both PvE and PvP, where even the slightest sound can reveal location. ARC Raiders inherits the sound trap concept from Hunt: Showdown, requiring players to manage their own sound footprint.

From the rustling of leaves and the whistling of bullets to the distant roar of giant robots, these sounds are richly layered, providing the richest, most informative, and most gameplay-friendly soundscape of 2025, demanding that players engage with the game through their ears. This outstanding audio design makes other games pale in comparison after playing the game.

Excellent Map Design

Map design is a crucial element of an excellent extraction game. It can't be like PUBG, which simply presents you with a vast map, leaving players to shoot each other in low buildings or open fields – a perfunctory approach.

The distribution of resource points, the location of extraction points, and the cover needed for engaging enemies in the game all require careful design. ARC Raiders seamlessly integrates these requirements with the game's style.

Maps like Spaceport and Burie City are not only large enough but also three-dimensional enough to be explored from top to bottom, yet also fraught with hidden dangers. But when you emerge from an abandoned house and suddenly see an open basin or field, you'll likely feel genuinely pleased.

Excellent Enemy Design

ARC Raiders' animations aren't preset; they're generated from AI models. Robots adjust their movements in real-time based on injuries (like losing a propeller), such as relearning to fly.

Leaper's animations are particularly outstanding; its limbs interact with the terrain geometry with 100% accuracy, appearing both terrifying and comical in the game. After being generated by AI, the animations are then refined by animators for artistic and playability aspects.

The enemy AI in ARC Raiders is highly intelligent, unlike enemies in traditional games that have fixed behavior patterns or patrol ranges. Once you're detected, they'll relentlessly pursue you.

This makes combat unpredictable and risky; even a low-level Wasp robot can cause the situation to spiral out of control. ARC Raiders' enemies are divided into indoor and outdoor enemies; small indoor robots pose a threat while you're looting.

Outdoor enemies are the real challenge, possessing greater firepower. Many enemies have armor plating, requiring specific ammunition or explosives to penetrate before effective damage can be inflicted. It's these enemies that make each game exciting.

Excellent Game Operation

ARC Raiders boasts a rich content library, including a mission system, skill tree, workshop upgrades, and blueprint collection. Even experiencing just 80% of the content can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Furthermore, the development team is incredibly diligent in updating and fixing the game, adjusting and fixing it almost weekly, and steadily releasing new maps to keep the game fresh. If they can maintain this pace, ARC Raiders might just be Best Ongoing Game at 2026 TGA.

Shortcomings

However, ARC Raiders is not without its flaws. After a honeymoon period with players lasting over a month, some issues must be examined.

ARC Raiders' lengthy quest system, consisting of 60 missions, is tedious. 90% of the missions simply require players to go to a location and interact by holding down the E key, which can easily become monotonous later on.

While the cosmetics are of high quality, they lack the freedom to mix and match. Players are essentially limited to pre-set outfits and colors, with only limited adjustments to inventory and headwear, resulting in a homogeneous character appearance.

The game's inventory and crafting systems are widely considered the worst parts by the community. Players must constantly switch between different crafting benches and traders to manage resources, a tedious and time-consuming process. Even with maximized stash space, it quickly fills up, making item management a burden.

The skill descriptions in the skill tree are vague and misleading. Many skills are useless or illogical, and there is actually an optimal skill point allocation path, leading to similar builds for all late-game players and eliminating the possibility of diversity and specialization.

Despite its flaws, it remains a masterpiece among all extraction shooters of 2025, and Best Multiplayer Award is well-deserved. If the developers can address the game's quality issues and continue to provide new content, it has the potential to become a timeless classic.

To maximize weapon potential and enhance gameplay, almost every shooting game goes beyond simply giving you a gun; it allows you to customize and improve those weapons through attachments.

This principle also applies to ARC Raiders. Like most game items, attachments can be obtained through looting, trading with merchants, and crafting in the workshop.

However, regardless of the method chosen, farming attachments requires resources and involves risk. Therefore, to conserve effort, you should equip your weapons with the best available attachments and avoid those that are difficult to obtain or craft.

Below, we will provide a brief overview of the attachment system and recommend the best attachments for all currently available weapons in ARC Raiders.

All ARC Raiders Attachment Types

Each weapon in the game has four attachment slots: Underbarrel, Muzzle/Barrel, Magazine, and Stock. Each attachment slot offers different types of attachments and their effects, as follows:

Underbarrel:

• Vertical Grip: Reduces vertical recoil.
• Angled/Horizontal Grip: Reduces horizontal sway.

Magazine: Increases magazine capacity; rarer magazines increase it more.

• Extended Light Mag
• Extended Medium Mag
• Shotgun Mag

Stock:

• Stable Stock: Reduces recoil and spread recovery time.
• Lightweight Stock: Improves aiming and switching speed.
• Padded Stock: Reduces vertical and horizontal recoil and spread.

Muzzle/Barrel:

• Suppressor: Reduces gunshot noise.
• Compensator: Improves accuracy.
• Muzzle Brake: Reduces recoil.
• Extended Barrel: Increases bullet velocity.
• Shotgun-specific chokes and suppressors.

It's important to note that we've only listed "types." The actual number and functions of attachments within each type will have further subdivisions, which you'll need to determine yourself while playing the game.

Weapons And Their Best Attachment Options

Each ARC Raiders weapon uses different types of ammunition, resulting in differences in penetration power and suitable combat scenarios.

In addition to attachments, all weapons can be upgraded to improve their performance, up to Rank IV. We'll introduce the most suitable attachments for each gun based on these characteristics.

Anvil

Theoretically, you could fill every attachment slot on every weapon, but practically speaking, this is a waste of time - not every slot is necessary for the current weapon.

As a weapon with high damage and rate of fire, to maximize Anvil's potential, you need to focus on its accuracy; the compensator is the best choice for this.

Hairpin

As a free weapon available from the start of the game, there's no need to invest time in Hairpin, and it can only equip magazine-type attachments.

Burletta

The advantage of this weapon is its high rate of fire, and the more skilled you are, the higher the rate of fire ceiling becomes. However, a faster rate of fire also means a faster ammo consumption rate, so we recommend using the maximum capacity magazine.

Venator

This is a weapon with very pronounced strengths and weaknesses. While its damage output and rate of fire are attractive, its recoil is significant, and its magazine capacity is insufficient.

Therefore, if your budget allows, you can improve Venator in these two aspects. However, if you can only focus on one aspect, we recommend prioritizing any extended medium mag.

Stitcher

The main problem with this weapon is its strong horizontal and vertical recoil. While you can improve this by upgrading the weapon itself, it's still necessary to add a muzzle brake or vertical grip to mitigate even more recoil.

Bobcat

Bobcat's strengths and weaknesses are basically the same as Stitcher's, so you can improve this submachine gun using the same methods as improving Stitcher.

Rattler

Overall, this is a less frequently used weapon because it doesn't have any outstanding advantages and has many alternatives. Therefore, like Hairpin, there's not much need to upgrade it. If you really want to improve it, you can equip a muzzle brake to reduce its recoil.

Arpeggio

The weapon's weakness lies in its long firing interval, which can make you vulnerable to enemy attacks in combat. Therefore, it's recommended to equip it with stable stock to ensure more consistent fire.

Osprey

This weapon has two upgrade options: using lightweight stock to increase aiming speed, and using an extended barrel to increase rate of fire. Of course, it's better if you can obtain both simultaneously.

Torrente

Torrente's main drawbacks are its slow rate of fire and excessive recoil. You can choose attachment types based on your specific needs to address these issues.

Renegade

If this is your primary weapon, it's best to choose attachments based on the specific combat situation, or simply equip two at once. First, add an extended barrel for long-range combat; second, use a compensator to improve accuracy in close combat.

Bettina

This gun has decent total damage output, but its effectiveness in combat will be further enhanced by increasing the rate of fire with a Kinetic Converter. Alternatively, equipping it with a horizontal grip is also a viable option, as it makes it more stable.

Tempest

The problem with Tempest is its high recoil, making it difficult to control, especially for beginners or players unfamiliar with fully automatic assault rifles. Therefore, it's best to add a muzzle brake attachment and upgrade Tempest to the highest level.

More Tips

If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the above weapon list isn't exhaustive. This is because some weapons don't have attachment slots, such as Equalizer, while others are already powerful enough that not adding attachments to save time is acceptable.

That concludes our introduction. We hope it helps you play ARC Raiders!

After understanding the above, if you urgently need certain attachments, the faster option is to buy safe ARC Raiders items at IGGM! We can provide both the attachments themselves and related blueprints!

The detailed requirements and rewards for ARC Raiders Expedition Project have been announced, but feedback from the player community indicates that Expedition’s content is not entirely satisfactory. Many players are hesitant, unsure whether to participate.

The criticism of ARC Raiders Expedition is not unfounded, and it is indeed quite immature and is having some negative impacts on the game.

The Design Philosophy Of Expedition Project

To maintain the long-term viability of a game and avoid data bloat, games like Escape from Tarkov use mandatory, periodic server resets. This allows players to start over and prevents the game from losing its vitality. These resets typically do not offer rewards and are part of the core gameplay loop.

ARC Raiders Expedition Project does not adopt this classic design. Instead, it makes resets optional, allowing players to participate voluntarily rather than being forced into a reset.

Its design aims to serve hardcore and semi-hardcore players, allowing them to actively reset their progress after experiencing all content and maintain a sense of freshness, while allowing casual players to retain their progress without being forcibly reset.

Drawbacks Of Expedition Program

Reward Mechanism

Expedition Program’s reward mechanism was initially designed to attract players, especially with the attractive rewards of extra skill points and storage space. However, this backfired, influencing player choices.

This is because these rewards are long-term benefits, and this turned what was originally an optional reset for a select few into a goal that all players wanted to achieve. Some casual players, unable to complete the program due to time constraints, developed a fear of missing out, feeling left behind.

This resulted in Expedition Program becoming a periodic goal that all players had to prepare for, appearing approximately every 8 weeks, rather than just a tool for a select few to reset their progress. Besides the dissatisfaction of casual players, it also amplified the advantages of hardcore players.

Overly High Value Setting

To obtain 5 skill points, players needed to have a total stash and currency value of 5 million coins before resetting. This led players to avoid using high-level equipment for raids in the weeks leading up to the reset, instead repeatedly using free loadouts to play and immediately selling all acquired equipment to hoard money.

Even players with over 100 hours of playtime haven’t accumulated enough coins, and only very dedicated players have likely achieved this.

On the other hand, each expedition only rewards 12 extra Stash, which provides a very small boost. Temporary buffs like 10% repair speed, 5% experience bonus, and 6% more materials from Scrappy are considered too insignificant, especially since materials are already plentiful after Scrappy reaches level 5, and the extra 6% won’t provide a significant improvement after the reset.

Deteriorating Game Experience

Another issue is that expeditions discourage players from using high-level gear near the end of the season, forcing them to rely on low-tier gray gear to avoid losing assets and potentially falling short of the 5-million-coin requirement. This completely kills the fun of the traditional end-of-season.

Ideally, players should enter matches with gear, try to evacuate for profit, and then upgrade their gear. Before the reset, everyone would use their best gear to enjoy the game, but now everyone wanting to participate in expeditions must hoard ARC Raiders items, making the game experience conservative and dull.

Blueprint System Penalty

Blueprints are currently the most time-consuming collection element in ARC Raiders, with 74 different types. However, due to their extreme rarity and random acquisition, most players haven’t collected them all. Most blueprints players possess are common and duplicates.

An Expedition reset means players will lose all collected ARC Raiders blueprints and must start the lengthy collection process from scratch. This penalty deters any long-term dedicated player.

However, it’s not impossible to save blueprints after a reset. You need to find a friend who isn’t participating in Expedition Project, give them your blueprints, and have them return them to you during the first raid after the reset. This might be a bit cumbersome, but it can allow you to quickly restart after Expedition Project.

Ambiguous Information

Due to this being the first reset, some information about Expedition Project is still somewhat unclear. It’s currently unknown whether the caravan progress of players who don’t participate in the reset will be retained for the next cycle. It’s unclear whether the rewarded skill points are immediately granted or unlocked later, and this will impact the player’s gaming experience.

Which Players Should Reset?

Players who have completed all quests and reached the maximum level can participate in Expedition, as they have already experienced the endgame content of their current phase. If you want something new, you can also choose to participate in Expedition, as each reset’s game progression, blueprint acquisition order, and quest completion order can offer new experiences.

If you are only level 20 to 40 and your crafting station is not fully upgraded, it’s best not to rush into participating in Expedition. At least wait until the later stages of the game before considering it.

Despite the flaws in Expedition, the developers are actively adjusting the game and are willing to listen to player feedback, so these issues should be resolved in the future.