The 12 biggest takeaways
- Amplification Modules only drop from the Frigate and the fallen Emperor, in Mark 1 to Mark 5 to match weapon rarity.
- Looting an amplified gun gets you a 10% durability taste. To repair it you have to go through amplification yourself.
- The Anvil Splitter becomes a buffed Anvil amplification. The mod slot goes away and Splitters recycle into amplification parts.
- Amplified weapons have much better durability and count as their own rarity tier.
- The skill tree gains choice gates: a pick of two early in each track and picks from three at the end. Max level stays 75 and every point is refunded.
- The flash freeze is not a condition. It is localized storms on Pendola Pass that open loot-filled civilian shelters.
- Dynamic loot zones debut on Pendola Pass: high and medium value areas shuffle between sessions.
- Pendola Pass is the largest play space yet, and you can go inside the fallen Emperor.
- Expeditions return around Q1 2027 with catch-up. Only about 5% of active players have done every Expedition so far.
- Trials are being reworked, starting with short-term fixes, with bigger solo-vs-squad and ranking changes later.
- Reward Passes never expire. You pick which pass to progress, the Legacy one or Frozen Trail.
- Weapon stencils also drop in the world, and whoever kills you gets that stencil instance.
Contents
The panel was David (senior game designer on the AI team), Simon (combat designer, gunplay), Gerardo (product director) and Virgil (design director), hosted by community operator Raz and a second community host. Nobody from anti-cheat attended. Embark pointed to the Fair Play section of Store Update 1.47.0 as its latest word on cheating and said more updates will come in patch notes and articles.
New ARC: Bully, Skulker and Hydra
David · Senior Game Designer, AIDavid works on enemy intent on an AI team of about 15 to 16 people. The team's brief since February has been to keep up with players who keep getting better. All three new enemies live primarily on Pendola Pass. The panel also said the enemies are built to push you out of cover, because standing in a doorway and poking at an enemy is exactly what they want to discourage.
Bully
- The first machine-learning-focused enemy since the Leaper, in training since early 2026
- An "attack dog" that comes to you, unlike slower land ARC
- Fire back and it loses confidence and turns more erratic and volatile
- Main weapon is canister shot from its mouth, fired in a wide arc as it runs past. Damage falls off fast with distance.
- More tricks that Embark is keeping secret
Skulker
- The opposite of the Bully: it keeps its distance
- Even faster, like the fast flying drones but on the ground
- Not the toughest enemy, and lower-tier weapons can handle it
- Listen for it. You will usually hear it before you see it.
- David's tip: don't turn your back on it
Hydra
- Tall and cylindrical, with no legs or jets
- Each gun pair rotates to target a different player
- Heavily armoured local defence, found primarily on the Frigate
- Being stationary is its weakness
- David's tip: let it target a squadmate while you flank behind it
Will the new ARC come to other maps?
Not decided. David thinks they would fit most maps, and he named Spaceport as a good fit for the Bully because it was built to cover a lot of ground on foot. On the question of more ARC in general, he said the team has a large backlog of ideas. A humanoid ARC is not off the table, and pet or companion ARC got a "we'll see".
Bonus tips: Turbine and Vaporizer
- ARC Turbine: don't waste ammo while it is airborne. It is designed for a cat-and-mouse chase: wait for it to land, then attack as a coordinated squad. The Deadline works too, but it is higher risk. When attacked it folds up and relocates.
- Vaporizer: bait its shield with anything that moves, such as a thrown duck or rock. Then shred the shield with a high fire-rate weapon and punish during the cooldown.
The Bully's confidence mechanic is the interesting part. Most ARC get more dangerous when you fight back. The Bully gets less predictable instead, which rewards committing to the fight rather than kiting it. And with canister-shot falloff, the rule is simple: never let it get close, and never fight it from a doorway, because that is the exact habit it was built to punish.
Amplified Weapons & New Guns
Simon · Combat Designer
Simon described amplification as a late-game progression system for weapons: something to work towards once you are further along, and a way to add behaviours that mods and quality levels could not. It launches with 15 weapons. Amplified weapons count as their own rarity tier.
How to get an amplified weapon
- Amplification Module: the core ingredient. It only drops from late-game content, meaning the Frigate or the fallen Emperor. The team internally calls the Emperor "the Collector".
- Five module levels, Mark 1 to Mark 5, each matching a weapon rarity, so a Mark 1 module only works on the lowest tier. All five have the same drop rate.
- Research the upgrade at the Research Workstation in your Outpost, then gather rare materials to apply it.
- Some older map conditions are getting new amplification-related crafting items, which gives them fresh relevance.
What amplification actually does
- Many upgrades remove a low-tier weapon's quirk. The Hairpin, a slide-action gun inspired by the Welrod, can go semi-automatic, and it also has a run-and-gun option.
- Some weapons get branching choices with compatibility limits. Simon's example is pushing the Kettle towards PvP or towards PvE.
- The Rattler's incendiary rounds set both Raiders and ARC on fire for damage over time.
- The Anvil Splitter, the game's only "tech mod", becomes an Anvil amplification, and a stronger one. The mod slot is removed and the item is being phased out. Recycle your Splitters for parts you need to apply amplifications.
- The Stiletto and Bantam have no amplified versions in this update, though most likely later.
- Amplification outside weapons is not ruled out. Simon joked about "amplified Scrappies".
This answers the biggest balance fear about amplification. With the 10% durability drop on death, a strong player cannot snowball by collecting other people's amplified guns. It also makes the Frigate and the Emperor the endgame loop of Frozen Trail: every amplified weapon in a lobby traces back to someone who ran them. And if you are sitting on Anvil Splitters, keep them for now. They turn into amplification parts rather than becoming worthless.
Stiletto and Bantam
Both new guns are uncommon. They are there to add variety to the early game, not to compete with legendaries.
- Bantam: a double-action revolver, as a contrast to the single-action Anvil. It is the game's second hand cannon, and it fires faster from the hip than when aiming down sights. Simon's pattern is to soften a target at medium range, then push in and finish with hip fire. Hip-fire accuracy is loose, which makes it a high-risk, high-reward way to end a fight.
- Stiletto: a light-ammo battle rifle and an early-game Renegade alternative.
On damage falloff, Simon said Embark deliberately balances around mid-range duels that tighten into a close-range finish, because long-range fights tend to be one-sided. That was his answer to a question about why the Osprey loses damage faster than players expect.
The grappling hook
The grappling hook had been on the team's wishlist for years. The original feature list was cut down twice as "impossible". Then an animator and a programmer ended up implementing everything on the original list except hooking other players. Virgil explained how it differs from the Snap Hook: it is quieter, you can climb partway and hang there or swing, and it is a cheaper, lower-tier alternative to the Snap Hook. His favourite squad play is to latch everyone's hooks onto a roof edge while a team up there is busy shooting, climb, then mantle up together on a countdown.
On instruments, Simon believes the Harmonica is available from the start and the Banjo comes through the DLC, though he said not to quote him on it. The Reward Pass post confirms the Banjo blueprint is Collector-Set-only.
Reward Pass, Weapon Stencils & Outposts
Gerardo · Product DirectorReward Pass: new details
The basics are in our Reward Pass explainer. The Q&A added a few important details:
- Passes are permanent and never expire. There is no time limit, and you can come back at your leisure.
- You progress one pass at a time and choose whether that is the Legacy Pass or the Frozen Trail pass.
- Progress comes from Feats, with different options every week.
- A new pass will likely arrive with each major update.
- The reason for the change: Raider Deck engagement was low. Players saved Cred and spent it passively instead of chasing goals.
Weapon stencils work like blueprints
- Some stencils are in the Reward Pass, and some are found in the world as loot.
- You learn a stencil, then craft it and apply it to a weapon.
- If you die, whoever picks up your weapon gets that instance of the stencil. You can also give stencilled weapons to friends.
Outposts
- Unlocking: a project. It starts with a quest, then you hand in items and complete a challenge. After that you expand rooms (modules) with crafting materials.
- Furniture blueprints are found in the world. Bring one back and you can craft that piece as many times as you like.
- Trinkets you find can be displayed in your furniture, so yes, a full duck display is possible.
- Scrappy hangs out in the Outpost. You can't pet Scrappy yet, but it is something they want to explore.
- Not walkable at launch, and you can't invite friends yet. Embark knows both are what players want most and is considering them.
- Displaying in-game camera photos as decorations went "on the list".
Found-in-the-world furniture blueprints are the detail that makes Outposts matter to raiding: you will be looting for decor, not just gear. It also makes a searchable list of furniture spawn locations a natural addition to our maps once Frozen Trail is live. Since the Outpost is not walkable yet, sharing builds will mean screenshots for now, which is exactly the kind of thing we want to support here.
Expeditions, Trials & Projects
Gerardo · Product DirectorExpeditions are paused until around Q1 2027
The data behind the pause: only about 5% of active players have done every Expedition. Casual players find the windows too intense to keep up with, while hardcore players finish in a week and are left with nothing to do. The new system aims to fix both:
- A catch-up path that does not require waiting for each Expedition window
- Recognition for players who completed every Expedition so far
- Rethinking the pain points of losing blueprints and collections, such as ducks, when you depart
- A blog with details in the coming weeks. The return target is Q1 2027, without a firm date.
Also mentioned: making the Vault more accessible for players who can't fight the Matriarch ten times ("let me look into it"). If you choose not to reset quests, the Hullcracker blueprint will be obtainable another way. And Frozen Trail brings new quests and quest updates. Current Expedition details are in our Expedition 5 guide.
Trials are getting reworked
Embark acknowledged the main Trials complaints directly:
- Solo players are at a big disadvantage against squads.
- The interplay between PvP, PvE and players teaming up in Trials is messy.
- Some individual trials are tricky or not fun. These, and trial balancing, can be fixed in the short term.
- Rank rewards like Cantina Legend are too hard to reach. The season cadence and reward distribution are being rethought.
- PvP trials are an idea they like, since PvP players rarely engage with Trials today.
- An update on the bigger changes is expected sometime later this year.
Trials Season 6 still starts with Frozen Trail on October 8. Our weekly Trials page will have the first set as soon as it is live.
Projects
Collection projects are staying, but Embark wants more activity-based project steps, like the ones that asked you to take down specific ARC rather than haul materials. They want your feedback on what those challenges should be.
The Skill Tree Rework
Virgil · Design Director
Work-in-progress tree shown on stream. Final layout may differ.
Underused skills have been removed, weak ones buffed, and some skills moved. The overall shape stays familiar, but each track now has choice gates, the diamonds in the image:
- Early in each track: after spending enough points, you choose one of two mechanical skills that change how that track feels.
- At the end of a track: you choose from three ability-style skills, and invest further to take two of them.
- Going all-in on one track gives you three of these at most.
- Max level stays 75. Expedition bonus points carry over, but they can't max multiple tracks.
- All points are refunded when Frozen Trail launches, so you respec straight into the new tree.
- Security Breach is still in the tree.
Virgil previewed one end-of-track skill at the top of Mobility. He wasn't sure of the final name, something like "Running on Fumes". When your stamina bottoms out mid-sprint, you keep sprinting as long as you don't slow down, stop or get hit. You pay it back afterwards with a stamina debt, so if you haven't reached cover by then, you are stranded in the open.
The gates are the real change. Today's tree lets you spread points thin. The new one rewards commitment with abilities, not just percentages. Virgil's framing is that the tree should "embellish" a playstyle rather than define one. Expect our skill tree planner to need a full rebuild once the final tree is out on October 8.
Pendola Pass Deep Dive
Virgil · Design Director
The map is set just after the Emperor fell, and that event drives the whole update. It is the source of amplification, and the Frigate is ARC's direct response to it. It is also a deliberate break from the sandy maps.
- Size: the biggest play space yet. The border footprint is similar to Dam, but the density and verticality are much higher. You can move through most of the map on several layers, which is more interwoven than Blue Gate's split above and below ground.
- You can go inside the fallen Emperor, and it has a sizable interior with its own dynamics.
- Combat mix: mid-range rooftop fights, plus close-quarters points of interest linked so you can stay in cover. Stepping into the open exposes you to long-range fire.
- Lore: new quests and exploring the Emperor will reveal more about the wider world, and yes, eventually where ARC comes from.
Flash freeze: shelters, not a condition
The flash freeze is not a map condition. It is part of the map itself: localized storms that behave like a harsher Cold Snap. When one hits, old civilian shelters broadcast a warning and open up, and they are stocked with extra loot. Braving the storm pays off, but the broadcast also draws other Raiders to the same shelter. Cold Snap itself won't come to Pendola Pass, but it is returning to other maps.
Dynamic loot zones
Pendola Pass is the test bed for dynamic loot zones from October 8. The yellow and red value areas on the map shuffle between sessions, so last session's high-value point of interest might be medium next time. Containers stay where they are. Only their rarity changes. If it works, it rolls out to other maps.
Frozen doors
Some doors are frozen shut, a new take on breach-bar doors. Melt them with the flame spray or other fire sources, or smash through with your Raider tool if you are impatient. It is the first of a new kind of environment interaction.
Things Virgil deliberately did not answer: how you extract from Pendola Pass, and whether Pendola Pass or the Frigate has a longer raid timer. Pendola Pass stays snowy for now, because un-snowing a map is much harder than adding snow.
Shelters and dynamic loot zones both push against the same habit: running the same route every raid. Shelters create short-lived hotspots that pull squads together at unpredictable times, and dynamic zones stop the best loot from living in one place. For our Pendola Pass interactive map, that makes shelter locations and container positions more valuable than "best loot area" labels, so that is what we will prioritise at launch.
PvE Toggle Follow-ups
Virgil · Design Director
Embark planned to announce the PvE test a week later, but moved it up because of the response. Virgil was clear that the core of ARC Raiders stays PvPvE, because the uncertainty of every encounter is what gives it meaning. New details beyond our PvE toggle breakdown:
- All negative effects between players are disabled, including direct and ambient damage and stuns, so fire and shock grenades won't hurt other Raiders.
- No extra ARC in PvE. The servers have a strict performance budget, and there is no tech yet for a separate ARC layout per mode.
- Loot is lower in PvE because PvE-leaning players already extract far more often. PvPvE loot is raised to balance it.
- PvE and PvPvE matchmaking are fully separate. How the test affects Trials was not confirmed on stream.
Rapid-Fire Answers
- Wipes: none planned. One is only possible around a major milestone with framing, like an MMO expansion.
- Preset loadouts: being looked at, with no ETA. The "acquire resources" crafting helper is the groundwork for it.
- Vehicles: not in the imminent future, though they would make sense if maps keep growing.
- Fighting an Emperor: "We'll see."
- Where ARC comes from: you will find out.
- More cinematic cutscenes: yes.
- Expedition skill point gap: a catch-up mechanic still exists. The bonus points give an edge only in narrow cases, like slightly more carry weight, because the powerful skills are gated.
- Anti-cheat: no one from the team attended. See the 1.47.0 Fair Play update.
Frozen Trail Q&A FAQ
How do I get amplified weapons?
Get an Amplification Module from the Frigate or the fallen Emperor. Modules come in Mark 1 to 5, one per rarity, with equal drop rates. Then research the upgrade at your Outpost's Research Workstation and apply it with rare materials.
Can I loot amplified weapons from other players?
Yes, but they drop to 10% durability when the owner dies. Repairing one requires doing the amplification process yourself.
Should I keep my Anvil Splitters?
Yes. The mod slot is going away, but Splitters can be recycled into amplification parts, and the Splitter becomes a buffed Anvil amplification.
Is the max level still 75?
Yes. Expedition bonus points carry over, and every point is refunded at launch.
Is the Pendola Pass flash freeze a map condition?
No. It is localized storms built into the map, and during them civilian shelters open with extra loot.
When do Expeditions come back?
Around Q1 2027, without a firm date. A blog with details is coming in the next few weeks.
For everything else arriving on October 8, see our Frozen Trail First Look breakdown and the Pendola Pass map page.
See you Topside, Raiders.
— Arc Raiders Hub