I got my least favourite Battle Brother immediately mutilated and I feel great about it

Lol. Lmao even.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Overhype

Battle Prose is a diary of Nic’s exploits in emergent turn-based tactics game Battle Brothers .

It was always going to end badly for Thillmann The Braggart. 30 gold, he told the brigands. He’d pay them 30 gold each if they could knock up a stew so disgusting that even he - Kobmanhaven’s most famous glutton - couldn’t keep it down. Whether Thillmann actually had the coin on him, they never found out. Seconds after he raised the first reeking spoon of what he suspected was mostly reindeer shit to his lips, he projectile vomited straight in the face of their leader, and they jumped him.

Death comes quickly in the turn-based tactics and open-world merc work of Battle Brothers , and victory comes hard. Really, it’s the stories of the mercs you hire, and their emergent traits and peccadilloes, that make the game what it is. Still, Thillman was possessed of the sort of cocksure spirit that makes a man far less cognisant of sharp objects than he should be, although you couldn’t fault his reasoning: he was still alive, so as far as fate had proven to him up until now, nothing could kill him. I can only apologise for adding to the bastard’s delusions. The boys and I happened to be passing by at just the right time to save him from those brigands, and he’s been with us ever since.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Overhype

Then there was Rumjugs the Younger. There had, as much as any of us knew, never been a senior Rumjugs. The way he told it, the name lend him an air of boyish mystique whilst out wenching, although this was undermined somewhat by his ownership of a face that looked like someone had carved sunken eyes into an antique potato before blanching it in orc piss. Still, he was very handy with that axe, and swifter than anyone carrying an axe of that size should be.

‘The Merciless’, everyone called Terry. Not for his habit of loosing crossbow bolts in the back of brown-trousered escapees - admittedly one of his more endearing traits - but because the campfire songs he insisted on singing were widely considered a form of torture. Still, Terry did have two admirable character quirks: firstly, he owned a very nice crossbow, and secondly, he still owned most of the really important fingers.

Four days we’d been tramping around the icy mountains north of Kobmanhaven on the hunt for a rare wolf that local legends told shat Tropical Skittles every full moon. I say local legends. Truthfully it was a local drunk with more teeth than sense and a truly shocking lack of teeth besides. It’d been one night of cold sleep and colder porridge too many, and we’d decided to call it quits. Also, Terry said a Yeti snuck up in the night and tried to lick his feet before he frightened it off with a battle song. Either way, we were done. Back to town it was.

I believe Kobmanhaven is old germanic for “having a cob, man” - a reference to the steamed corn delicacy that was so popular at the time that it become colloquialism for any sort of leisure activity, as befitted the bustling town’s reputation as a popular festival retreat. Our first destination was the barbers, to give Terry a stupid haircut as punishment for that Yeti story. We indulged in a few pints, stocked up on fish, and then it was time to fill out our little band for the contracts ahead.

My usual rule is not to learn what a new hire’s called until they’ve been with us for at least one contract. Makes it harder to pluck the arrows out of a dead man’s arse if you know his name. But, for the sake of posterity, here’s the gaggle of hopefuls we added to the gang. There was Eunuch Dietmar the Geldling - unnaturally swift, he said, on account of missing the previously gargantuan balls he’d learned to compensate for the heft of. Excellent Log the Ragged, a miserable beggar with a fear of wolves. Wolfgang Silkworm, a ex-tailor who’d resorted to mercenary work after Jason Of Stathingham - an angry, ginger moustache bastard - had run him out of business. Jason himself had to close shop after the town fell on hard times and no-one wanted to buy artisan scarves anymore, even ones made with Jason’s legendary technique of threatening to headbutt the wool until it knitted itself.

You start small in Battle Brothers, picking piddling contracts to build yourself up to a fearsome, well-equiped band. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Overhype.

There was Fritz, a man deeply obsessed with peas in ways that unnerved the rest of the company so much we stuck him at the back and told him to be quiet. Finally, we had destitute gambler Rick Nipples, a man whose grin offended me so much I refused to give him a weapon.

Ten of us in total then, including myself. I couldn’t get involved in the battles, naturally. Someone would need to tell our story once the band became crow food. Our first job sounded simple enough: head south west to bring some of that legendary Kobmanhaven justice to a gang of brigands who’d murdered a well-liked local chap named Bodo , alongside his the rest of his family.

“For Bodo” we roared as we marched out of town, despite never having heard of the poor bastard ten minutes earlier. O’er forest and marsh we passed on our way to the brigands. Fuck knows why we went o’er that forest instead of just passing through it like normal, but too late now. On the way, we made camp, and swore an oath to make as many mates as possible. The boys were in fine spirits - chiefly due to glugging markedly less fine spirits - and we rose bright and early to smash in some skulls. For Bodo!

A paltry five bastards met us on the field of battle. ‘Weaponless’ Rick Nipples was the first to charge in, flailing his arms and grinning all the while. The rest of us left him to it, choosing to hang back while Terry and Dietmar peppered our foes with bolts and arrows. We formed a defensive perimeter around Terry, left Dietmar to his own devices, and waited for their approach.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Battle Brothers

The first brigand to move took half of Rick Nipples’s face off with a flail. Ah well, won’t be missed. Rumjugs moved to the flank, eager to get his axe in. Soon, they were upon us. Excellent Log moved up to support Dietmar, swinging his club uselessly. Wolfgang turned out to be equally useless with his pitchfork.

After an agonising time spent with nothing but glancing blows on either side, Rumjugs drew first blood by splitting a brigand clean in half with his axe. Then, disaster! One of the bastards got straight into our back line and flailed Terry to giblets! You deserved pain, Terry. But you didn’t deserve this.

All hell immediately broke lose. The men may have never as well heard the name Bodo. “For Terry” they roared, despite most of them swearing they’d kill him themselves on four seperate occasions. Jason and Excellent Log went on a clubbing spree, felling two more, and Fritz and Rumjugs did for the rest.

Then, when our boiling blood simmered down, we saw something miraculous. Terry had survived, despite several bits of him previously firmly attached now hanging from stringy tendons. I made a mental note to buy him a pint later. That should fix it. Then, as if we’d been graced by golden providence, we noticed Rick Nipples’ face was now truly fucked forever. He’d live, but he’d never grin again in his miserable life. Absolute result! Now, to get paid…

Battle Brothers

PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

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

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.