Control’s office junior Firebreak can’t decide if it’s a job

What does ’live service’ even mean, these days?

Image credit:Remedy

In Remedy’s Control spin-off FBC: Firebreak , trios of gadget-toting humans from the Federal Bureau of Control descend to the shapeshifting halls of the Oldest House, fighting eldritch Hiss invaders and possessed objects such as swarming Post-It notes. Where Control cast you as the FBC’s newly appointed director, equipped with executive perks such as telekinesis, the folks who make up the Firebreak initiative are regular office shmucks brandishing comparatively straightforward guns and bludgeoning implements. They’re here years after Control’s denouement to do some clean-up, with the Oldest House still under lockdown while the FBC seek a proper, lasting solution to the Hiss menace.

There are FBC rangers with military training in Firebreak’s ranks, but game director Mike Kayatta emphasises that the majority are just hapless, white collar pencil-pushers enlisted as paranatural exterminators. “Secretaries, middle managers, basically anybody you could think of in this big, thriving bureaucracy - they come down, they put on a suit, and they help as much as they can,” he explained at a preview event earlier this month.

For the women and men of Firebreak, battling the Hiss is a mixture of desperate survival and voluntary overtime. It’s framed as an extension of their regular duties, a bit like signing up as your department’s First Aider. The game’s co-op missions are called “jobs”, and “the idea of jobs” is “the heart” of the game, as Kayatta observed. “Everything that Firebreak does centres around jobs, just like how everything a firefighter does centres around fighting fires,” he said. Are we fighting our jobs, then, or doing them? The ambiguity there is perhaps in keeping with the theme.

Image credit:Remedy

The jobs themselves and their accompanying customisation systems are lightly coated in bureaucratese. Each has a Clearance Level, describing how many zones of the Oldest House you’ll need to purge of Hiss (and thus, the rough mission playtime), as well as a Threat Level that dictates enemy numbers and spawn rate, with loot rewards proportionate to the danger. Crisis Kits, meanwhile, are the game’s lingo for equipment and cosmetics, with players able to save up to three loadouts and change them during missions.

I’m looking forward to going hands-on with Firebreak, which is inspired by vintage team blasters like Deep Rock Galactic . What really intrigues me about the game right now, though, is that little word “job”, which Remedy elsewhere seem rather fearful of, because while jobs are the “heart” of Firebreak, they do not want it to actually feel like a “job”.

By “job”, in this case, they mean a live service game that asks you to clock on regularly to ’earn’ new outfits, guns and the like. Firebreak doesn’t aim to be a weekly-monthly regimen of drops and unlocks; it was conceived as a “pick up and play” experience “that players could enjoy on their terms, not ours,” as Kayatta commented elsewhere in the presentation. “We’re ditching all of the engagement stress you often see with live service titles,” he said. “In other words, we don’t want to do daily check-ins, monthly grinds, and these kind of FOMO battle passes. Basically, we’re not here to give you a second job.”

The undecided rhetorical line Firebreak walks around “job” makes a useful mirror for the current, convoluted industry conversation about live service games. When I asked Kayatta to unpack his and Remedy’s feelings about live service in a follow-up interview, he took the view that nobody quite knows what the term means anymore, including the concept’s fiercest detractors. That idea of being “given a second job” has been applied to an exhausting and contradictory range of projects, from indie horror jaunts that receive a patch as-and-when to blockbuster strategy games that launch with gilded 12-month content roadmaps.

Image credit:Remedy

“I think one of the reasons why this is a hard thing to talk about is, honestly, just because everyone does not seem to share a definition of what live service is,” Kayatta told me. “I mean, by some people’s definition, the [ Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ] horse armour microtransaction controversy back in the day would have been some form of live service.”

“It’s such a massive genre of games, right?” added Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha. “Like, you have your Call of Duties and your Destinies and World of Warships, and all these things. But then you have Vermintide , Helldivers , Payday 2 , things like that. Does ’live service’ cover all of them? The way people, especially in the current climate, take to that word or to ‘games as a service’ is not great.”

“This is just me speaking as a gamer myself, with some of the live services that people see sometimes - and I’m not implying any particular studio or project here, when I say this,” Kayatta continued. “But sometimes I think it feels as though there is some sort of mandate from above, from a publisher, from a studio, to say ‘Oh look at this, we must be the [new] Fortnite, give me the money’, and stuff. And it’s like, we’ll ruin everything and throw everything out the window.

Image credit:Remedy

“And I can at least say this about us - this game was not born of that conversation or that requirement,” he went on. “I don’t know where that would come from [within Remedy]. Honestly, this game is born from us having a chance to do a lot of different games now, which is fantastic. And, of course, you got a tonne of really creative, ambitious, passionate people, and they say, ‘hey, here’s a game that we’ve never done, that I would love to do.’”

It’s tempting to be cynical about this last response. Given its reuse of the setting, Firebreak can’t help but look like a cross-genre money-spinner, foisted on a smaller, 50-person junior team while Remedy’s A-listers work on the next Control game. The narrative positions the game as disposable connective tissue, inasmuch as the overall solution to the Hiss problem will surely surface in Control 2 – Firebreak doesn’t have a plot, just an incessant series of “jobs”, and besides, what’s Jesse supposed to do in her next outing, if the clean-up crews succeed in putting the extra-dimensional hooligans to bed?

That’s probably unfair. As Puha pointed out to me elsewhere in our interview, Remedy don’t really have a reputation for chasing trends and cranking out cash-ins. I’ve seen nothing so far to indicate that Firebreak is less than an enthusiastic, albeit calculated experiment. But Firebreak’s uncertainty about whether or not it is a job does, I think, neatly encapsulate the malaise over live service.

Despite recent disasters , live service as a shareholder-facing business model won’t be vanishing anytime soon. Two of this year’s biggest Steam successes, Monster Hunter Wilds and Marvel Rivals , are live service productions with bulging conveyor belts of planned updates. Many developers at studios such as Rocksteady appear to be waging an indefinite rearguard action against management who want every game to feel like a job, packed full of engagement devices to ensure a steady player commute. As Kayatta says of Firebreak’s tooled-up cubemates, these developers are trapped in a cycle of doing jobs and fighting them.

FBC: Firebreak

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

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

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.