Helldivers 2 is the secret long-lost cousin of Metal Gear Solid 5

Solo play reveals a stealth sim with a playful side

Image credit:PlayStation

I was flat on my belly on an Automaton planet the other day, being steadily driven back into the sea by waves of ramshackle AT-AT wannabes, when a switch flipped in my head amid the white noise of impending defeat, and I found myself saying “by golly, Helldivers 2 feels a lot like Metal Gear Solid 5 .” Sadly, there was nobody to overhear my brainfart/stroke of genius, because I was playing the game solo. But that’s as it should be: if you want to appreciate what Arrowhead’s Starship Troop ’em up shares with Konami’s open world stealth bonanza, it’s better to Helldive on your lonesome.

A hardy subsection of Helldivers 2 players have spent the weeks since the new shooter ’s launch experimenting with solo runs - motivated, perhaps, by earlier quickplay and matchmaking bugs, with co-op games sometimes crashing at the drop screen. They’ve already theorycrafted some distinct playstyles on Reddit, Youtube and the Steam forums, which are worth looking up even if you hate the very idea, simply for how they cut against the grain of the design. These players are, as it were, playing a game of their own devising called Helldiver 2.

If you’re minded to join their ranks, be prepared to not have much fun, at first. Even at lower difficulties, Helldivers 2 is built for parties, with overwhelming enemy numbers cropping up unpredictably across large-ish, procedurally generated maps. During my own solo runs, I’ve had a particularly tough time against the bugs, who are nimble and melee-focussed and very hard to escape once they have you surrounded - there’s a definite art to diving prone to avoid their claws. The Automatons, at least, favour ranged combat, and are less trouble to deal with providing you remember to bring at least one weapon or stratagem that can punch through vehicle armour.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation

As you’d expect from a game that encourages teamwork, many of the weapons and stratagems that support lone wolf play are found higher up the unlocks ladder. The most useful in terms of upping your firepower and resilience include personal energy shields, over-chargeable railguns, more powerful autoturrets, and drone escorts. But having access to juicier gear only gets you so far. The real trick to solo play is to treat Helldivers 2 as an open world stealth sim, a mixture of reconnaissance, cover usage, rudimentary decoy tactics and knowing how to play around with systems that aren’t quite designed for this purpose.

Which is, of course, where the MGS5 comparison comes in. With no other players around to distract you/frag you/land on you, Helldivers 2 really does feel like it began life as a tactical sneak ’em up, full of embryonic stealth simulation fixtures that seem a couple of development passes away from being shippable.

For instance, enemies have different aggro ranges and awareness states - they’ll spot you faster when they’re actively searching. They appear to have some kind of last-known-position system, which means you can shake off attackers by breaking line of sight, though it feels like the game sics them on you at times for drama - during the closing seconds of an extraction, for instance. You can mislead them by summoning turrets to create a fuss. You can also equip a Scout armour passive that both makes you harder to detect and boosts your reconnaissance by giving you radar coverage around a map ping - not particularly vital in co-op, a lot of the time, but hideously handy for a solo player. You can even “backstab” unaware foes with right-stick melee, though this ain’t so great against anything larger than a person.

The MGS5 connections don’t just lie in how solo encourages stealth, however. There’s a Metal Gear energy to how Helldivers 2 characters move, and especially how they throw themselves prone, tumbling into the crevices of those procgen maps with all their back-mounted gadgets, like Punished Snake beating a “tactical” retreat from an alerted base. In general, Helldivers 2’s character handling and physics seem more in keeping with the work of certain Japanese studios than, say, the creators of Ghost Recon or Gears of War. The game rewards finesse - fire from a crouch, and your aim sharpens up noticeably - but it’s also enjoyably imprecise. Characters feel satisfyingly hefty, but that heft also makes them just a touch unwieldy when you’re trying to, say, back-peddle out of a crossfire: it makes me think of Capcom’s creations and especially the sadly forgotten Lost Planet series.

Image credit:Konami

The MGS5 links also appear in the centrality of stratagems, which see you summoning various flavours of heavy ordnance from off-map, like Snake calling in resupplies and helicopter strafing runs. In both games, you can turn resupply drops into a form of aerial bombardment. I’d love Arrowhead to add more playful stratagems and equipment generally that are less about, well, combat and more about goofing around in the sandbox, as with some of Metal Gear’s odder gizmos. What about decoys akin to Snake’s various inflatable dummies? They could start by using the pop-up cardboard Helldiver from the tutorial. MGS5’s Fulton balloon extraction system would also make perfect sense in Helldivers 2, whether as a way of “despawning” tougher enemies you’d really rather not bother with, or of “kicking” co-op party members who are overly fond of friendly fire.

That element of whimsy is perhaps the real common thread, here. As Senior Ed wrote in a recent RPS Supporters post , Helldivers 2 is a wonderful source of comedy, and so is Metal Gear Solid 5 – it might reward you for being surgical and leaving no trace, but it’s not just about being a skilled infiltrator. The point of being sneaky in Konami’s game is partly that it creates space and time for experimenting with the tools, and playing clownish tricks on NPCs who make the perfect fallguys. Long may these parallels continue: Arrowhead are still updating Helldivers 2, of course, and it feels like both the solo play and stealth sandbox aspects have plenty of room to grow.

Helldivers 2

PS5 , 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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