Avowed: How to deal Elemental and Explosive damage

Here’s how to cross pits and clear obstacles with Fire, Frost, Shock, and Explosive damage

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

Wondering how to deal Fire, Frost, Shock, and Explosive damage in Avowed? It only takes a few minutes into Avowed , Obsidian’s latest RPG , for you to start encountering different damage types. Shortly after washing ashore on the Living Lands, you’ll run into a bunch of thorny brambles blocking your progress, and you’ll need to unleash some Fire damage to burn them out of your way. The more you progress in the game, the more you’ll run into these barriers, and they all require Elemental damage to surmount. Run into a river you can’t jump across? Freeze the water and create platforms. See a grate blocking your way or a mechanical essence generator that needs to be activated? use Frost or Shock damage. You’ll also come across walls that must be blown up with Explosive damage, which technically doesn’t fall under the Elemental category.

Encountering a secret route that’s impassable if you aren’t capable of dealing the right damage can feel annoying, especially in Avowed’s early game. In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what to do in order to deal Elemental and Explosive damage in Avowed , whether you have magic at your disposal or need to rely on items.

Avowed: How to deal Elemental and Explosive damage

You can deal Elemental and Explosive damage by using spells or class abilities, throwing grenades, using unique weapons, or relying on your companions’ abilities . We’ve outlined all of these methods below.

• Cast spells and use class abilities
• Throw grenades
• Use unique weapons
• Rely on companions

Cast spells and use class abilities

These brambles will get in your way soon after you start the game. Burn ’em away. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

Spells are by far the easiest way to deal Elemental damage, which is why we recommend investing in the magic route in our Avowed Beginner’s Guide . Even if you aren’t a full-fledged magic-user, keeping a Grimoire of Elements in your inventory simply for the moments when you come across an elemental barrier is highly recommended.

The following are handy Level 1 Wizard spells that are accessible from the start of the game, either via the Wizard’s skill tree or by a Common Grimoire of Elements:

• Chill Blades : (25 Essence, 10 second cooldown, Frost damage) Summons an array of blades that shoot forward. Great for breaking open grates and creating frost platforms across bodies of water, which you can then traverse upon.
• Fan of Flames : (25 Essence, 10 second cooldown, Fire damage) Shoots out fire in a fan-like arc. Nice for burning down brambles.
• Jolting Touch : (25 Essence, 10 second cooldown, Shock damage) Blasts out a beam of electricity that jumps from target to target. Ideal for activating mechanical essence generators.

Cast Chill Blades on this grate to freeze it in a snap. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

To deal Explosive damage, the easiest method is to dip into the Fighter skill tree and take the following ability:

• Charge : (20 Essence, 10 second cooldown) Run forward and smash into anything in your way, including walls that require Explosive damage to break. Using this ability if you’re squishy is a little risky.

It is also possible to deal Explosive damage via magic, but this takes more effort. Grimoires containing Explosive damage spells aren’t terribly common, but if you wait until Level 5, you can unlock the following abilities on the Wizard’s skill tree:

• Blast : (Passive) You’ll need to do a Power Attack with a wand to activate this ability, which deals Explosive damage on a hit.
• Grimoire Snap : (35 Essence, 20 second cooldown) You snap your Grimoire shut, creating a large shockwave of Explosive damage.

Throw grenades

When you see a wall that’s impassable and has the Explosive damage marker on it, chuck a grenade. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

If you have no magic nor abilities at your disposal, it’s still possible to deal Elemental and Explosive damage with grenades, which are found scattered throughout the Living Lands. The following grenades are the ones you’ll want to stockpile:

• Magran’s Fury : (Fire damage) A sac of flammable liquid. Can often be found in dungeons underground or in the depths of the wilds.
• Eye of Rymrgand : (Frost damage) A glacial spore shard that releases a cold mist when broken. Frequently attached to walls underground.
• Electric Lily Seed : (Shock damage) A seed pod that releases electrical energy. Looks like an unusual blue flower.
• Grenade : (Explosive damage) Technically everything on this list is classified as a grenade, but there’s only one true grenade here. It makes a big boom - self explanatory!

Use unique weapons

Using a unique weapon that also deals Elemental damage comes in handy for taking down enemies in general - just make sure that enemy’s not resistant to your weapon’s damage type. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

Certain weapons can make your job easier when it comes to breaking down barriers. Imagine your standard fiery swords and the like - Avowed has plenty of those, especially if you trod off the beaten path for sidequests. As of yet, I haven’t located a weapon that deals Explosive damage, but the following unique weapons are very useful for Elemental damage. Slight spoilers await, so click to see the full text.

• Last Light of Day : (One-handed sword, hits deal 10% bonus Fire damage) Found after looting Sagaris’ body if you kill him or convince him to transfer his soul during the Dawntreader side quest.
• Drawn in Winter : (One-handed axe, hits deal 10% bonus Frost damage) Found in Watcher’s Mirror in Dawnshore; complete the Ancient Memory and choose any answer aside from telling the Voice to go away.
• Caeroc’s Pride : (One-handed Pistol, hits deal 10% bonus Shock damage) Kill the Bounty Target Tempestous Luandi on the island south of the Ondra’s Reach Beacon.

Rely on companions

Companion abilities serve as good backup, but don’t rely on them fully. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

Finally, if you don’t want to deal damage yourself, your companions can assist you. Kai, for instance, can shoot incendiary ammo that burns away obstacles with his Firestarter ability, while Giatta has Spectral Jolt, which deals Shock damage and is perfect for activating mechanical essence generators. Yatzli, meanwhile, has two abilities - Essence Explosion and Blast that both deal Explosive damage.

By far and large, though, it’s better to focus on giving your Envoy a diverse damage output - companions are great, but they’re limited in what they can do. Since you can only have two travelling with you at one time, you don’t want to be left at the mercy of whoever’s in your party.

Now you should be all set on causing Elemental and Explosive damage in Avowed - go break those walls down! For more quality of life features and newbie tips, check out our Avowed Beginner’s Guide on navigating the trials of the Living Lands. And if you’re more interested on making yourself look pretty, our guide on how to transmogrify gear will surely help.

Avowed

Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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