Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers review: a fickle but fun roguelike that stretches Blackjack to the moon and back

Slack-handed?

Image credit:Purple Moss Collectors

• Developer: Purple Moss Collectors
• Publisher: Yogscast Games
• Release: Aug 8th, 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: TBC
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i5-8600K, 16GB RAM, Nvidia RTX 2070, Windows 10

Hm. Hmmmm . Right. So, what have we got here? There’s my Blood Donor card, which reduces the value of the hearts I play, but also heals me. That’s fine, actually. Reduced score means I can squeeze in another card for more healing. If I can pull my Tarot card, I’ll deal damage with each heal, and I’ve already pulled two scratch cards for yet more quick damage. Now, if I can just pull a Jack, I can plonk down the King Of Space And Time for a brutal finisher. That’ll transfer everything on my side over to my opponent’s, forcing a bust for a nice final chunk of hurt and…

Oh, you thought we were playing Blackjack? At one point, so did I. That was a much simpler time. Before the NFT ape. Before the glitch cards. Before the flippin’ Charizard. Whatever other issues I might have with it, I can’t lavish enough praise on the shuffly-slappy strategy of Dungeons And Degenerate Gamblers for taking Blackjack - a game that’s only even mildly interesting if you happened to have wagered your favourite leg on it - and rendering it captivating without altering the fundamentals beyond the point of recognisability. It alters almost everything else beyond that point, mind. But even when you’re scorching a necromancer’s library card with your Gerald From Riviera, the mundane pull of risking it all on a single card, for a slightly better outcome, stays strong. I think I might appreciate Blackjack more now, honestly. D&DG makes you realise how sturdy those fundamentals really are, maintaining form even after being creatively trolled and pounded from all sides, like the canvas in Lawler vs Kaufman.

It’s probably more fair to say it’s D&DG’s twist on those fundamentals that does the heavy lifting though. As with traditional Blackjack, the goal is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. You snaffle a card, then you can either stand on your current score, or have another. You face off against a roster of opponents. One might be a bouncer. The other might be a talking rat. Whoever gets closest to 21 wins the round. D&DG’s first twist is that losses don’t hurt your chips - they hurt your health. If you stick on 17, and the rat scores 19, you lose two health. But if the rat busts - again, by drawing over the limit of 21 - you’ll deal damage equal to your entire score.

But you might actually want to keep going at this point, even after watching your opponent bust, and so the health system cleverly incentivises risk even past the point of a traditional Blackjack victory. The stupid rat has busted when you’re sitting on 16, but they’ve got 17 health left, so maybe you want to risk another draw to finish them off before the next round starts, and perhaps doesn’t go quite so smoothly. With this, D&DG stresses the importance of not just winning, but winning well .

Image credit:Purple Moss Collectors

You’ve only got 100 health total, and your opponents often have around 30 to 50, so busts can be devastating for either side. To help you out, each opponent displays the number they’ll stand on, letting you plan around this. If either side does hit the magic 21, then their score gains bonus effects based on the suits that make it up. If you hit 21 with 10 clubs and 11 hearts, you’ll deal double damage from the clubs, and also heal 11 health from the hearts. Spades generate shield, which is lost before health when you’re damaged, and diamonds generate chips.

All this goes for your opponent, too. Topping it off is a system named advantage, which are basically cheeky cheeky cheat points. At the start of each run, you’ll fight a quick tutorial match, after which you’ll pick one of two advantage chips with different rules. One might generate a point of advantage every time you win a round, while another gives you one each time you stand on a score of 17 or higher. Advantage is banked for the length of the match, and you can spend it at any time to exploit certain cards for special effects. Often, these cards are ‘handy’, which means they’ll go into your hand rather than on the table when your draw them. Many others are cards with a base value that either change their effect or enact an additional effect when exploited.

Despite being relegated to a sort of ancillary score system, chips are still incredibly useful. After each opponent, you’ll get a choice of four cards to pick one from. Only three are visible, and you’ll need to pay 21 chips to view and select the fourth. You might spend them to stay a night in a fancy hotel room, healing some health. You might pay a counterfeiter to change the value of your cards, and you’ll sometimes get a chance to just buy more cards outright.

Image credit:Purple Moss Collectors

And thems, in very broad terms, are the brakes. What actually makes the game, though, are the breaks: the various keywords and other strange effects you’ll accrue and strategise with, creating felt-scorching combos that can stand up to later opponents. Because you better believe they’ll be breaking things too, and doing it in thematic ways, no less. The necromancer might hit you with multiple Gravecards, which can be exploited to lower their score, throwing off your plans. A later opponent might have a deck specifically built to pile on extra score to your side after you’ve already stood, so you’ll need adequate counters.

This reliance on theming - and what are almost definitely seeded opponents plays rather than true randomness (or at least decks built to make certain plays very common) - is a big part of how the game stays interesting, and frequently quite funny, too. But it’s also where my issues start to crop up. Take the second stage boss, for example. He likes to play a ‘21 of clubs’ frequently, which is an instant win, or at least a draw. There’s an easy counterplay here. You just need to find one of a few cards that set his limit to 20, and he’ll keep busting. I’ve beat him without this card, and there are other ways around it, too. But I think this is emblematic of a certain level of railroading, or at least regular deck-checks that I’d usually know much earlier whether I’d be prepared for. It gives you milestones to aim for, keeping things dramatic, but it also meant I’d sometimes start seeing a loss coming very early. Heck, sometimes I’d know after the first few matches.

So you effectively end up with this feeling of limitation and being at the mercy of fate, hanging over each game from the beginning. So I’m winning matches and playing through events, hoping against hope I luck out with the right cards. Because there is a point in the run - not too far either - where playing the fundamentals just won’t cut it. You’ll need certain cards, or at least that’s how it felt. Full disclosure: I am a math idiot, so it’s fully possible there’s some deeply devious failsafes allowing for guaranteed killer decks each run. Either way, I’m rarely landing on them, and what initially felt like freedom didn’t take long shed the Scooby Doo mask and reveal itself to be a kind of disheartening restriction.

Image credit:Purple Moss Collectors

And yet, I’m still going to chip away at D&DG. After eight or so hours, my collection tells me I’ve barely seen half the cards, and discovering a new card is more often than not a real joy. I’ve also got many opponents left to face, and starting decks and modifiers to play with. I won’t say D&DG makes losing fun. Playing those opening stages repeatedly quickly lose much appeal past a chance to happen upon a deadly combo early. But it does make losing tolerable, and winning feels great and gets better the more thoroughly you embarrass your opponent. Consider the real promise of the game then, the underlying fantasy. How thoroughly can you make this talking rat regret its life choices? That’s still a fantastic sell.

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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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