Kingsvein review: monster-splatting RPG goodness that leads with its weak foot

Things get better the more you open it up

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Rad Codex

An underexplained but ultimately rewarding tactical RPG with a rich and broad character customisation system that grew on me the longer I played it.

• Developer: Rad Codex
• Publisher: Rad Codex
• Release: Out now
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , itch.io
• Price: £17/€18/$20
• Reviewed on: AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400G, Radeon RX 590, 24GB RAM, Windows 10

I disliked turn-based RPG Kingsvein at first. Quite a bit, in fact. An earlier version of this review would have been a very negative on, filled mostly with complaints and annoyances about opaque and frustrating systems, most of which I’ve since got over as the intent behind its design has become more clear.

It could definitely explain some things better, and its inscrutably tiny graphics remain a minor nuisance. But it’s grown on me a lot, and though it may not be quite the kind of turn-based RPG I get on with best, it’s an enjoyable one with a refreshing lack of bloat and timewasting, and with a class and combat system that will be pure catnip to a particular kind of player.

Plot-wise, there’s not much to keep track of. There’s trouble in the city of Kingsvein, so a wisp stalker named Chorble is sent to kill the wisps (floaty ghosty tentacly things that like to possess and revive bodies) behind it, and is soon accompanied by their friends Beto, Flampy, and Grondle. You uh, might give them different names.

There’s a friendly warrior from afar and some utility NPCs to pitch in, but very limited dialogue, which perhaps limits the plot, but also limits time wasted listening to NPCs fill space for the hell of it. A few semi-secret bits add detail to the world, but mostly this is about finding the next visible target and running up to them to trigger a fight. Or leveling up your dudes in random battles if they’re falling short.

By far the most interesting element is the class system, which was initially one of my complaints, as everyone starts out more or less the same, and most of the early options are very limited. Each character has a main class, with experience points for winning battles letting you buy special attacks, abilities from that class’s unique list, or unlock passive perks. A third panel grants a special star for every few hundred points earned in a class (total points spent on other abilities still count towards stars), which can be exchanged for permanent buffs like more health, hitting harder with electrical attacks, and so on.

You also get a secondary class for free, which lets you use the abilities you’ve unlocked in both classes at once. This is significant because gaining XP in a class also unlocks more classes, which you can freely switch around out of combat. But you can only use the abilities of your two active classes (a rare item lets one character hold three or four). In practice this means a lot of leveling sideways. Sticking with one class is viable thanks to those star rewards, but rather than having numbered levels, everyone’s defined by whatever abilities you’ve had them gather. I have an orange spear guy, but you might have him down as orange fire archer, or invisible orange flail wizard.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Rad Codex

There are lots more details than that, and its initially opaque class and skill system becomes its strength once you figure out how it works. You can trial and error to some extent too, as unlocking a few skills you never use doesn’t render anyone underleveled, and a few side battles will fix that anyway.

This was a source of frustration early on. Several early skills are borderline useless, with most magic attacks having very limited range and being blocked by allies, exacerbated by some unclear descriptions. An archery attack that does 80% damage but has the perk, “Two shots split off backwards”, might turn out to be a game changer, but is so niche it’s just as likely to sit untouched in your pocket. In particular, many attacks are “delayed”, and only kick in at the end of the enemy’s turn, meaning they’ll nearly always just move out of the way unless you immobilise them in advance with someone else’s powers. Chances are, you won’t have much access to these powers yet. Delayed healing power, meanwhile, might target a square rather than a character, so your idiot healers fire them at enemies instead.

If you’re the kind of player who likes setting up obscure trick shots utilising multiple classes and characters and layered status effects, Kingsvein’s combat will be catnip. You might even find it too easy once you learn how to floop the pig .

Me though, I don’t mind drinking from the dweeb cup, and Kingsvein won’t hold it against you either. There’s as much exploration of caves and ruined buildings as combat. This turns up tonnes of loot with a hint of Ultima 6-7 as you meticulously pick things off the floor and put them in your shared bag. Equipment can intensify a character’s strengths or round them out, or just give a healer a crossbow option because why not. Weapons work a tiny bit like Wildermyth - swords do more damage, and spears hit two squares in a row (and one ability makes them heal friendlies), but flails can attack diagonally and add more power to the Marshall class’s “strike” action, that instructs every friendly who can bash the targeted enemy to do so.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Rad Codex

There’s basic crafting too, which really comes down to clicking spare weapons into ore or vice versa at a 1:1 return rather than any faffing about with “recipes”, and then adding a spike or magical lightning blob to a sword or a protective thing to your armour. There’s a minor but pleasant satisfaction to doing this, and it’s only an occasional thing rather than a constant sisyphean cycle of adding +1 to everything. Neither crafting or combat are the number crunching sort of game I’d feared, but the tiny graphics make it difficult to tell what a given enemy is capable of, and what little squiggly symbol something is going to upgrade. Bodies take up space on the battlefield, making some fights a real headache until you’ve got both a team and the personal experience needed to maneouvre and position effectively.

But I did learn those things, despite spurning most classes and only delving knee-deep in its possibilities after finding some mostly effective ones that I enjoyed. Those early frustrations gave way to satisfaction at scraping through a close call, and feeling like I’d won a fight through applying the right skills and plans, and making progress because I’d learned to judge my team’s capabilities rather than just make a number go up enough. That’s a great spot for any RPG to be in, and if you’re less interested in complex or hefty narratives than some chunky tactical combat and tinkering with characters as toolboxes, Kingsvein could be a slightly rough gem.

This review was based on a retail build of the game provided by the developer.

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Kingsvein

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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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