Graham Smith is leaving RPS, come say goodbye

Mods are very asleep

Image credit:Graham Smith / Rock Paper Shotgun

Graham is gone. The longest-running editor of Rock Paper Shotgun worked his last day on the website earlier this week, and has leapt quietly into the mysterious realm of the games industry proper. The emotional fallout of this departure is roughly the same as any other time RPS has watched a writer swan-dive out of the RPS treehouse and into the mist far below. There is sadness tinged with hope. “There goes another one,” you think, smiling through a single tear and imagining their future life far from these branches.

Only this time, well, it’s Graham.

Brendan: I officially quit RPS myself back in 2019, but have since reappeared as a regular freelance phantom. This gives me the weird opportunity to write a goodbye post for the man who wrote my own goodbye post . Fuck you, Graham, I see your compliments, and I raise you. Eat it.

Back in the horrendous mists of 2014, Graham jumped ship as editor of PC Gamer. He was hired by the ancient founders of Rock Paper Shotgun because the ancient founders were terrible at spreadsheets and were always standing in the wrong place. In Graham Smith, they not only got a managing editor who could tell them what day of the week it was, but a writer who was able to eviscerate developers for their terrible names , champion funny new ways to play , and celebrate the best games of all time , all with the same decorous lethality.

Go through Graham’s entire author archive and you will find over 4000 articles that collage into a vivid desire for this industry to be more than it often is. Indie physics brawlers stand side-by-side with EA shooters in a swirling list of cool or heinous shit that was important enough to tell you about. Few can write this much this well for this long, and not emerge a master of the knife-like phrase.

“Fuck underscore that,” he said of Watch_Dogs .

Reviewing picrossy game Proverbs he wrote: “It was there when I closed my eyes, as if my brain was defragmenting.”

“Makes me feel like I’m on hold,” he said of the wholesome nothingness of Naiad .

I’m picking these articles basically at random. They are probably not the pieces Graham is most proud of writing - only he knows those. But it says a lot that I can dig through his archives in a single morning and find, so easily and quickly, countless examples of wit, energy, and humanity. A humanity that he often expressed privately in our daily meetings, rather than on these digipages. God I wish we’d recorded our meetings as a podcast. We would have broken SO many NDAs.

When I say “humanity” I mean just that. Graham knows that when you write about games, you’re really writing about yourself.

“I’m reminded of how precious it is to play a videogame and never need to compete,” he wrote of Minecraft in 2014 , not knowing then that exploring those mountains and valleys would years later become a regular ritual with his son . “Minecraft is a toybox, a dressing-up box, a pencil case of colouring pens, and sometimes just a sunny hill. I played it in 2009 and I played it yesterday and I have no reason to doubt I’ll be playing it in 2039.”

As somebody who has freelanced for this beautiful cesspit since its scrappy red-faced days , I also know the good Graham has done not as a writer, but simply as a guy who can get things done. He dragged this place kicking and screaming into a modern internet that none of us could avoid. Remember when RPS was a traditional blog? It was great. But articles would more or less evaporate when they left the front page. There was only space for three top stories at any one time. Graham oversaw the site as it got an even bigger splash of top stories . Some readers frothed at the mouth to see the blog roll pushed further down the landing page, reacting with that familiar viciousness we have grown to find adorable in you over years of subsequent RPS facelifts, minor and drastic. But, oh, whaddya know? YOU MOTHER FUCKERS CLICKED ON THOSE TOP STORIES DIDN’T YOU? You filthy, lovely, loyal dirtbags. It is for you Graham killed our darlings. Change is neither good or bad. Change is simply change.

When Graham was first hired, his welcome post wrote that “the tragedy of being editor of any magazine is it dramatically reduces the amount of writing you get to do” and this curse threatened to come to pass when he ascended into the white halls of corpomanagement eight years later to become a bigger, badder directorial man. But the truth is, Graham never stopped writing. He kept doing news posts at nights and weekends. He kept writing news. He kept crushing expensive action adventures and toothless indie darlings with equal knuckle-cracking insight. Okay, he took a hiatus from our Sunday Papers column (one of the site’s longest traditions) but even that didn’t last.

It’s in those Sunday Papers pieces that I feel you get the most bang for your Graham buck. Rock Paper Shotgun has always been the home of great writing, and perhaps nobody has built the site’s editorial ruleset as much as Graham (with the possible exception of Alice O’Connor, who wrote over 8000 articles and the style guide we use to this day - an untouchable legacy). His final Sunday Papers last week is a fangs-out manifesto for games journalism, and if there is any young pup who still covets this job over the glamour of being an influencer or the solitude of being a video essayist, then their greatest hope for honing their craft lies in Graham’s words.

“There are infinite ways to play a game and none of them are wrong,” he says. “There are infinite ways to write about a game and some of them are wrong, but you have to decide what those are for yourself.”

Or you can just ask Graham. You can follow him, and whatever he’ll be doing next, on Bluesky . I suggest you do. Words will burst out of this man if he doesn’t write them down somewhere. You’ll want to be there when he pops.

Jeremy: I’m still relatively new to the Treehouse and have known Graham for fewer months and years than the other folks here, thus rendering me incapable of writing anything as poetic as Bendy’s ode above. But as someone who’s read RPS since ye olden days prior to actually getting a job here, I’ve felt Graham’s presence on the site for a long time, and it’s been a superb guiding light.

As a fella who also had a long career working in non-games journalism, I feel compelled to add that I’ve suffered under the hands of many bad editors, and Graham was not one of those. He is the rarest of beasts, the ultimate of Achievements - an actual Chaotic Good guy-in-charge who cares not only about this bizarre corner of the internet, but the people behind it. A real one, in other words. We’ll miss you, Graham, and now that you have left us I am currently gathering healing potions to prepare for our swift descent into Lord of the Flies territory.

Edwin: Graham, I will miss all those moments in meetings when I’d try to act wise about video games journalism - sorry, videogames journalism - and shame-facedly realise that you’d heard it all before, probably a dozen times over, from successive generations of RPS scribes, all the way back through the great Google Meet invite list of History. You have absorbed everything worth knowing about this business, and it is only fit that you depart for a kinder realm, where you can enjoy your Crunchyroll subscription in peace, and spend less time fielding complaints about deal posts. Please shine down on us occasionally, great beardfather in the sky.

Mark: If Jeremy’s still new to the Treehouse, my feet have barely cleared the topmost rung of the ladder into it as I write this. I’m sad I didn’t get to work with Graham for a lot longer, even if just to try and glean more of the secrets that inevitably lurk within his face fuzz by staring at it in morning meetings.

James: Looking at RPS from the outside in, Graham’s influence is far-reaching and obvious – there’s a reason this site has kept on trucking as long as it has, and that reason has a rich beard and an impressive collection of graphic tees.

I wish that everyone currently saying their goodbyes also knew the full extent of Graham’s impact behind the scenes, that they might clap and wave just that little bit harder. Relatively few people see the Graham that so effortlessly elevates our good ideas (while tactfully squishing our bad ones), or the Graham that lets us disappear for days on end, no questions asked, when things go wrong at home. Or the Graham that always encourages us down the most honest, integrity-paved road through an industry that often isn’t just unconducive to the principles of good reporting, but actively hostile towards them.

We’ll be fine – he’s seen to that too. But when you think of Graham the writer and editor, know that you can also think of Graham the leader, Graham the shield, Graham the engine. Let’s thank him once again, for all that and more.

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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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