Endless Legend 2 is everything I love about 2014’s best 4X, but on a map that’s constantly changing

Oh, and they’ve fixed the battle system

Image credit:Hooded Horse / Rock Paper Shotgun

The legend goes that in the 12th century, King Canute plonked his throne down on the seashore and commanded the tide to go out, thereby empirically demonstrating to all the toadies at court that he was not, in fact, God Almighty. You don’t need to order the ocean to piss off in Endless Legend 2 : it’s already in headlong retreat. But not from you.

At intervals throughout Amplitude’s new 4X strategy game (the studio’s first reveal since they bought their independence back from Sega ) mysterious “tidefall” events cause the surrounding waters to plummet and reveal a new expanse of hexagonal terrain, rich with questable dungeons and other eldritch sights. A world map that began as an Earthsea-style archipelago gradually becomes a set of proper continents, with more opportunities to meet and out-gambit other factions, and more secrets to discover. It’s an evolution of the first Endless Legend ’s seasonal dynamics, and “the beginning of an answer” to what Amplitude co-founder Romain de Waubert de Genlis describes as a classic 4X challenge: keeping players interested beyond the early game, once every last scrap of territory has been disclosed.

“With tidefalls what we’re trying to achieve is to answer an issue that 4X games have most of the time,” he tells me over videocall. “The first X being explore, which tends to be the “X” that you love at the beginning of the game, but obviously you don’t have it at the end, because you’ve explored everything. With tidefalls, we’ve tried to find a way to always have something new to discover, and have to fight for it or have to rush for it, so it could create tension all the way through the game. So we thought that maybe we’re solving this, and I hope that will be the case - I think it is getting close, but we still have some problems.”

Image credit:Hooded Horse / Rock Paper Shotgun

I’ve played around a hundred turns of an Endless Legend 2 preview build, and I can confirm that tidefalls keep things intriguing, though I’m still deciding how transformative they are. Playing initially as the Kin Of Sheredyn - a Vaulter-style faction of Greco-Roman mechanauts who are all about massively overdeveloping a smaller handful of cities in return for spiritual boons – I founded my capital on a peninsula, trading easy resource access for defensibility. Always keen to place my back to a wall, me. A few dozen turns later, the waves shrank away to reveal a cosmic “splintered” dungeon, ready and waiting on my coastline for my heroes to plunder.

It refreshes the experience in a way similar to age transitions in Amplitude’s historical 4X Humankind (and Sid Meier’s Civilization VII ), but it’s more conceptually pleasing. And eye-catching. The balance of power erodes and new opportunities arise. Seabeds surface and all manner of slithering oddity offers itself to the light. I’m still figuring out all the variables, but tidefalls also play into the evolving strengths and weaknesses of the factions. The Aspect, for example, are a bunch of passive-aggressive harmony-loving culture warriors who can seed map tiles with self-spreading coral, which acts as both a sensory network and a sleeper agent bending other civs to your will. If the coral-spored tile is an ocean tile, your units can walk on it, so the sneaky reef-herders have a manoeuvring advantage while the waves are high.

For all that, I do wonder if Endless Legend 2’s real draws will be its quieter, more pragmatic changes to the 2014 game. It has some familiar strengths. At heart, this feels like the same, gracefully imagined 4X with an undercurrent of florid RPG questing. Tersely worded, more-ish storylets pop up as your settlements expand and you meet other factions. The core civ resources are as before: science, production, food, influence and magical dust, plus strategic or exotic resources that are required for certain constructions. You’ll assign Pops to different kinds of resource generation, and meticulously assemble districts on hexes around your city hub. There’s a choice of regular, disposable units and deathless heroes, who have skill trees and equipment slots. And there are the usual minor factions with unique units to either destroy or pacify and stir into your cultural hotpot.

Image credit:Hooded Horse / Rock Paper Shotgun

It’s all held together by Amplitude’s usual lush sci-fantasy art, which goes down extra-smooth thanks to a mouse-wheel zoom that suavely trades the 3D geography for a more digestible flat map. The choice of an oceanic planet has allowed for a funkier spread of mottled, Vandemeerian hues, and the city models are more detailed and distinctive, with flourishes such as the thump of a farm’s watermill. The city management screens are fuller and less spreadsheety, with portraits instead of icons; I look forward to the forum arguments about which game’s interface is better.

There all kinds of tweaks and twiddles throughout. Influence, for example, can now be spent to colonise hexes beyond your city wall and bring them into the fold. The biggest revision of all, so far, is that battles no longer see unit actions playing out automatically as a group, with players issuing orders at intervals - instead, you move them one by one. “They are a continuation of Humankind,” explains de Waubert de Genlis. “So coming from Humankind, it’s not that different – it’s an improvement on elements like the animations, details here and there on the units fighting. But from Endless Legend 1, it is huge improvement. Because Endless Legend 1, I love the concept [of the battle system], but half of the people loved it, half hated it.”

I was Team Not Too Fussed Either Way, myself, but Endless Legend 2’s system definitely feels like an improvement, allowing you to more predictably arrange your squads on tiles that confer buffs. The factions have similar unit types, but are nicely distinguished at the level of both individual unit skills and army-wide tactical chemistry. Aspect units, for example, gain an attack boost when one of their number defends. Swarm a turtling coral drone formation that appears to have been left unsupported, and you’re feeding the Aspect counterpunch. The Kin Of Sheredyn are more routine in their tactics: it’s all about locking enemies down with shield walls and sending in the archers and cavalry.

Image credit:Hooded Horse / Rock Paper Shotgun

I suspect it would prove much more controversial than the first game’s battle system, but the obvious thing Endless Legend 2’s tidefall mechanic leaves me wondering is whether Amplitude have considered letting the oceans rise, as they do when you melt the ice caps in Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri . If adding more terrain preserves the element of curiosity, removing it might cut through the familiar endgame tedium of having to govern a vast empire. Personally, I’d love to play a 4X with geography that’s as precarious and exhilarating as, say, the treacherous sands of Ubisoft’s ancient Populous -alike, From Dust .

Sadly, it doesn’t sound like there’s anything quite so dramatic in store. “We did discuss at the beginning, having [the sea] recess and come back,” de Waubert de Genlis tells me. “But we realised that no one likes to see what you’ve built destroyed, all your armies washed away after you worked for 50 turns on that army. So that’s why we thought, OK, let’s go in one direction. In general with our games, we try not to take anything away from you. We try always to give you something.”

I’m pretty sure this is exactly the mindset the old Canute legend is supposed to discourage. Players aren’t gods either, Amplitude! Let us get our feet wet. Let us reckon with the sea’s hunger, rather than rolling back the ocean like giftwrap. De Waubert de Genlis does caveat, however, that there’s more to tidefalling than presently meets the eye, and that the aquatic dynamics may change as Endless Legends 2 proceeds through early access. “There’s some cool stuff coming along the way. Water is definitely at the centre of the player’s attention, and there are a lot of things that could be done around that.”

Endless Legend 2

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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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