Pendola Pass Early Gameplay
Early Frozen Trail gameplay from Millzaa, with a first look at Pendola Pass in play.
Pendola Pass Reveal Video
Embark's Frozen Trail First Look, with the first in-engine footage of Pendola Pass, the Frigate and the fallen Emperor.
Screenshots & Concept Art
Stills from the First Look footage, plus official key art. Previews load small; click any image for the full-resolution version.
Concept Art From the Documentary
Official concept art shown in The Evolution of ARC Raiders S2 EP2, including the parachute capsules that look like the map's new extraction. Click any image for full resolution.
Overview
Pendola Pass is the seventh ARC Raiders map and the first location beyond the peaks that wall in the Rust Belt. Celeste and Shani traced the strange signal from the Phantom Targets storyline to this old Italian village, once an Exodus Project transit hub, and Embark confirmed the name and the October 8 date in the Frozen Trail First Look.
Icy air keeps the whole valley in a state of eerie preservation. Old-world civilisation is everywhere along the narrow stretch: a supermarket, a lifeless town square, and the observatory and buried train depot that made Pendola Pass a major Exodus transit point. The reason Raiders are being sent there is bigger than any of it: one of the Emperors has fallen, and the rare technology inside is the prize. Your job is to get there and find a way in.
What makes Pendola Pass different
- A fallen Emperor on the map itself, with rare loot inside for anyone who finds a way in.
- Flash freezes: localized storms built into the map that open loot-filled civilian shelters when they hit.
- Dynamic loot zones: the high and medium value areas shuffle between sessions, a system that debuts here.
- A scrambled ARC response, including two new ground enemies, the Bully and the Skulker.
- The Frigate, a huge ARC vessel patrolling the area that Raiders can board and fight through hundreds of feet up.
- The Outpost, your new base between the Rust Belt and the mountains, unlocked by answering Celeste's call to explore Pendola Pass.
What the Devs Said About Pendola Pass
Beyond the written preview, the First Look video has Embark's creative director and the enemy, weapons and gadget teams talking through how the map is meant to play. The map-relevant points, paraphrased:
- Where it is: the northern edge of the Rust Belt, in the mountain range north of every map you have played so far. Raiders have never been here, so it is framed as a first expedition into a new region, and the scale of the downed Walker is meant to make you feel you should not be there.
- How it plays: a large map built for variety, with verticality, open ground, tight interiors and close-quarters pockets. You can play it methodically or push the close-quarters areas for PvP.
- Flash freeze: not a map condition but part of Pendola Pass itself. Localized storms roll in, harsher than Cold Snap, and old civilian shelters broadcast a warning and open up. They are stocked with extra loot, which also makes them a magnet for other Raiders. Shelter locations will be one of the first marker groups we add.
- Inside the Emperor: the fallen Emperor has a sizable interior you can enter, with its own dynamics. It and the Frigate are the only sources of Amplification Modules.
- Frozen doors: some doors are frozen shut. Melt them with the flame spray or other fire, or smash through with your Raider tool.
- The Frigate is a sabotage puzzle, not a boss fight: ARC is running a rescue operation for the fallen Walker and the Frigate is the vessel it sent. You cannot shoot it down or blow it up. The intended experience is boarding a pirate ship: get on top, solve the puzzle, survive the hazards, sabotage it, and leave with the loot. It is explicitly pitched as an endgame challenge for highly skilled players.
- Enemy behaviour tips: the Bully never pauses and can stumble, fall and crash into players to knock them down. The Skulker is small and very fast, takes pot shots from range, hides behind rocks and rubble, and keeps a low profile until it unfolds to fire, so listen for it. The Hydra has three pairs of guns and can engage several squads at once; splitting its attention spreads its firepower.
- The Outpost feeds back into the map: Raiders are starting to settle outposts near Frozen Trail, and the Research Workstation there is where weapon amplification is unlocked, so Pendola Pass loot and Outpost progression are meant to loop into each other.
New from the developer Q&A
Embark's design director confirmed Pendola Pass is the largest play space in the game. Its footprint is similar to Dam, but it is far denser, with several vertical layers. It is also the test bed for dynamic loot zones. Extraction and raid length were kept secret. Full details in our Frozen Trail dev Q&A recap.
Pendola Pass Landmarks
These are the points of interest confirmed by Embark's preview plus the names visible in an older datamined layout of the Frozen Trail map. Expect the final layout to differ in places. Every landmark below will become a filterable marker group on the interactive map at launch.
The Fallen Emperor
The reason you are here. A downed Emperor-class ARC dominates the north end of Pendola Pass, with rare technology inside and no obvious way in.
Italian Village & Town Square
Narrow streets, stacked houses and a lifeless square around the Santa Sofia church. Dense close-quarters fighting, likely the loot-rich core of the map.
Supermarket
A classic old-world landmark on the village edge. Expect containers, a chokepoint and a strong start-of-raid loot target.
Buried Train Depot & Central Station
The Exodus-era transit hub at the heart of the valley, with a train tower, railyard and loading platforms along the tracks.
Observatory
A radio observatory on the south-west slope, one of the loudest signs of the Exodus Project in Pendola Pass.
Factory & Industrial East Bank
Industrial buildings east of the station along the rail line, with a factory and a cluster of larger structures on the east bank.
Gas Station & Farmlands
Open ground to the east: a gas station by the road and scattered farm buildings, likely where the flash freezes hurt most.
Flash-Freeze Shelters
Old civilian shelters that broadcast a warning and open when a flash-freeze storm hits. They hold extra loot, so reaching one during a storm is risk and reward.
The Frigate
Not a fixed landmark but an ARC vessel patrolling Pendola Pass. Boarding it leads into internal passageways guarded by the new Hydra turret.
Datamined Map Layout
The layout below comes from older Frozen Trail game data surfaced by dataminer @Silarious. It predates the First Look, so treat it as a guide to the shape of Pendola Pass rather than the final map. The village, station, observatory and Emperor all line up with what Embark has now confirmed.
Enemies You Will Meet in Pendola Pass
- Bully: a hulking, relentless ground unit that comes straight at you and never pauses. It can stumble, fall and crash into players, knocking them down. Use cover, time your shots, and expect it to close fast.
- Skulker: small, very fast and opportunistic. It takes pot shots from range, repositions behind rocks and rubble, and stays low-profile until it unfolds to fire, then slips back out of sight. The devs say they lose track of it in testing and it ends up behind them, so listen for it.
- Hydra: a three-section turret with three pairs of guns, found aboard the Frigate. It can target several squads at once; spreading out to divide its attention dilutes its firepower.
- Everything you already know: the ARC response to the fallen Emperor is described as scrambled, so expect the familiar roster alongside the newcomers.
What We Know So Far
- Release date: October 8, 2026, with the Frozen Trail update, the Outpost, Trials Season 6 and the new Reward Pass.
- Setting: an old Italian village and Exodus transport hub beyond the Rust Belt's mountains, past the reach of the Tube. The Ascending the Mountain project in 1.45.0 was the narrative lead-in.
- Objective: reach the fallen Emperor and find a way inside for rare technology.
- Hazards: flash freezes in the valley that force you indoors or into shelters, a scrambled ARC response, the Frigate overhead, and other Raiders after the same prize.
- Traversal: the new Grappling Hook, Tether Launcher and Yank Grenade all arrive in the same update, and the vertical village looks built for them.
Interactive Pendola Pass map
The map at the top of this page is live: the official in-game map of Pendola Pass with every container, extraction, Raider Cache, ARC husk, ladder and named area placed from the game files. Use the filters in the sidebar to show only what you are looking for, and read the full Frozen Trail breakdown for the rest of the update.
Pendola Pass FAQ
When did Pendola Pass release?
October 8, 2026, as part of the Frozen Trail update.
Where is Pendola Pass?
Beyond the peaks that surround the Rust Belt, past where the Tube system can reach. That is why the Outpost exists: it is the staging point between the Rust Belt and the mountains.
Is Pendola Pass the Frozen Trail map?
Yes. Frozen Trail is the update; Pendola Pass is the name of the new map that ships with it.
Is there a Pendola Pass interactive map?
Yes, at the top of this page.