Homeworld 3’s performance is uneven, but can be spared the worst of spacefight slowdown

Set course for the settings menu

Image credit:Gearbox

Nic reckons Homeworld 3 , the long-awaited spacefaring RTS , is mostly pretty good . Qualified hoorays for that, as well as for the fact that it doesn’t make especially mad demands of your hardware: besides netting a Steam Deck Playable badge from Valve, its minimum PC specs only list the likes of the Intel Core i5-6600 and Nvidia’s GTX 1060. Easily doable, for most aspiring galactic admirals.

Once a battle gets underway, however, Homeworld 3 ’s performance can start tanking, turning an initially smooth engagement into a more stutter-prone light show. The good news? You can more than double your framerates with a relatively small handful of graphics setting changes, even if some these (including the DLSS and FSR 2 upscalers) can be a tad inconsistent in their own right.

To give an idea of how quickly your FPS can change, the game’s own built-in benchmark starts off with some lightweight ship deployments, where even the GTX 1060 could push 90fps using Epic/1080p settings on the RPS test rig. Seconds into an actual skirmish breaking out, that drops all the way into the sub-20fps range. A more thread-rich CPU will help here, though my test PC’s Intel Core i5-11600K is more than up to the task on paper. That leaves two solutions: activate upscaling, or lower other settings.

On balance I’d say it’s worth trying Nvidia DLSS if your graphics card supports it, though in my testing its performance improvements have ranged from a modest 11% on the RTX 4060 (using Quality mode at 1080p) to a big fat 0% on the RTX 4070 Ti (also Quality, at 1440p). Still! It remains the best-looking of the upscaling options, with AMD FSR 2 coming in second. This also produces minor but potentially worthwhile gains, including the 13% improvement I got on the GTX 1060 over native TAA.

Bigger performance enhancements, mind, can be found elsewhere in the settings menu.

Image credit:Gearbox

Homeworld 3: best settings guide

With the same min-spec GTX 1060 as a guinea pig, I tested out each of Homeworld 3’s visual options individually, to see which help serve up faster framerates once lowered. Presets are available – Epic, High, Medium, and Low – but of these, only Low managed to completely avoid dipping below 30fps at 1080p. Epic, on the other hand, could only average 30fps, which thanks to Homeworld 3’s oscillating performance meant sustained periods below that. Far better, then, to selectively drop a few high-impact settings, while leaving the ones that don’t hurt performance turned up.

Upscale algortithm/Resolution scale: As mentioned, I didn’t exactly enjoy mahoosive benefits from any upscaler, but for non-RTX graphics cards you might as well try FSR 2 on Quality. This nudged Epic performance up from 30fps to 34fps, without doing much harm to fidelity. Those with a compatible GeForce GPU, meanwhile, should stick to DLSS on Quality, which did help on my RTX 4060.

Use high res translucency: This, you can leave enabled. The single additional frame-per-second I got on the GTX 1060 was not worth the unappealing low-res visual effects that come with disabling it.

Anti-aliasing quality: A non-issue if you’re using DLSS or FSR 2, both of which include their own anti-aliasing. But, if you’d rather stick to native rendering, then it’s fine to leave this on Epic. I only got 2fps more on Low.

Post-processing: Another 2fps gain came by lowering this from Epic to Low. Unlike AA quality, though, this is worth doing, as there isn’t much of a visual quality difference.

Shadow quality: Again, 30fps on Epic became 32fps with this one setting switched to Low. You can see the difference in screenshots, not so much in motion.

Shading quality: You can likely leave this on Epic, as dropping all the way down to Low on the GTX 1060 only gave me one extra frame on average.

Visual effect quality: The real key to faster Homeworld 3 performance. Swapping from Epic to Low got my GTX 1060 all the way up from 30fps to 42fps, and that included significantly smoother running during those more intense battle moments. Visual richness does take a hit, but not so much as to outweigh a speed boost of this size.

Texture quality: Keep this up, as I only averaged 31fps on Low – just 1fps faster than with Epic.

Screen space reflection quality: Leave on High. Both the Low and Off settings kept average performance at an unchanged 30fps, so cutting reflections won’t help.

View distance quality: Somewhat surprisingly, dropping view distance from Epic to Low only got the GTX 1060 up to 31fps. As such, you can probably leave it on the former.

Nebula quality: You can keep this maxed out too, as changing to Low didn’t improve performance one jot.

Ray-traced shadows: As with DLSS, I swapped my GTX 1060 for an RT-compatible RTX 4060 to test this. The addition of ray tracing wasn’t as brutal as I expected – at 1080p with DLSS on Quality, the 4060 averaged 42fps with the higher-tech shadows and 40fps without. Even so, the visual difference is pretty minor, so you’re not missing out much by favouring performance.

Image credit:Blackbird Interactive/Rock Paper Shotgun

The short version of all of that is you can still use Epic quality on most of Homeworld 3’s individual options – just a few drops to Low will greatly speed things up. Here’s what I’d call its best settings combination, for lower-end and fancy-schmancy PCs alike:

• Upscale algorithm: FSR 2/DLSS if supported
• Resolution scale: Quality
• Post-processing quality: Low
• Shadow quality: Low
• Visual effect quality: Low
• Ray-traced shadows: Off
• Everything else: Epic

The humble GTX 1060 could, with these settings, produce a slick 65fps in the benchmark tool. That’s more than twice that of the Epic preset with native rendering, and most importantly, it only dropped as low as 36fps during that run, keeping the toughest scenes looking far smoother and more in tune with the faster, quieter moments.

In fact, it only hit that low very briefly, generally staying above 40fps while all those lasers were kicking off. Homeworld 3 is no technical masterpiece – more consistent performance would have been nice to have in the first place – but at least it’s not beyond help, and of the kind you can provide yourself in just a few clicks.

Homeworld 3

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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Fantasy extraction game Dungeonborne was February’s most played Steam Next Fest demo

Stormgate, Pacific Drive, Homeworld 3 and Backpack Battles round out the top five

Image credit:Mithril Interactive

February’s Steam Next Fest demo bonanza officially concluded on Monday, and Valve have now revealed the 50 most played games you all tucked into across the week-long event. Ordered by the number of unique players that spent time with them during Next Fest proper (meaning all those early demo plays from earlier in the month haven’t been counted), the most popular game of the lot was one that was only formally announced right at the end of January. So congratulations Dungeonborne - your blend of PvPvE dungeon crawling and fantasy skelly monsters clearly struck a chord with this year’s Next Festers.

Valve don’t provide any extra context or numbers to show exactly what it takes to rise to the top of the Next Fest charts, but according to developers Mithril Interactive, they had over 19K concurrent players during their Next Fest playtest - a feat that’s helped catapult them from the top 500 of Steam’s most wishlisted games right into the top 50, all in the space of two weeks since it was first announced.

“This playtest has affirmed that our vision for Dungeonborne is on the right track,” the devs wrote in a Steam blog post on Monday. “Armed with your insights, we’re prepared to address the challenges identified during this test, such as balancing classes and gear disparity, enhancing anti-cheat measures, and polishing other gameplay details. Rest assured, every piece of feedback will be thoroughly reviewed and combined with our data analysis to guide our future development plans and release strategy.”

As for the rest of the top 50, which you can see in full here , you’ll find several familiar names in the list - many of which we clocked early in our team recommendation list , as well as many of our other demo posts we’ve written over the last few weeks.

Starcraft spiritual successor Stormgate came in at number two, followed by first-person car roguelike Pacific Drive , the recently delayed space epic Homeworld 3 and the indie autobattler Backpack Battles . Elsewhere in the top ten, I’m also pleased to see that poker roguelike Balatro and Paradox’s Civ-rival Millenia made the cut, as well as the Hollow Knight -esque Deviator .

It’s a pretty stacked list all told - clearly a sign that Next Festers have pretty good taste at the end of the day, though the fact that everyone ignored the beautiful Until Then is a crime I will never forgive (I’m sure it’s no.51). The demo’s still live, too, so you simply have no excuse. Go get it played.

In fact, most Next Fest demos still seem to be going strong at the moment, so if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about with some of these chart toppers, then there’s a good chance you still have time to find out.

Backpack Battles

PC

Dungeonborne

Video Game

Homeworld 3

PC

Pacific Drive

PS5 , PC

Stormgate

Video Game

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