Palworld utterly misses the point of being a good Pokémon-like

As soulless and cynical as they come

Image credit:Pocketpair

For a game that’s been repeatedly described as “Pokémon with machineguns”, the first thing that strikes me about Palworld is just how un -Pokémon-like it actually is. To its credit, it does do quite a good Pokémon Legends: Arceus impression when you first step out on its big, Breath Of The Wild-style hilltop and take in the open world vista of its monster-stuffed starting continent. But if the opening moments of washing up on the island in nothing but your very scantily clad undies hadn’t already given it away (seriously, why do shipwrecks always destroy the clothes you had on, but not your smalls underneath?), then the ream of tutorial prompts about punching trees to get more wood, building bases, putting pals to work on said bases, and the endless parade of crafting technologies you’ll need to unlock to actually do anything on this godforsaken rock will quickly pull the wool clear away from your hopeful little face.

For underneath the cute round eyes of its cover stars, Palworld is really a survival game wearing the dead skin suits of Game Freak’s catch ’em all monster friends. In a lot of cases, those skin suits are quite literal, such are the blatant palette swaps and so-close-to-copyright-infringement-I-can’t-believe-Nintendo’s-lawyers-haven’t-shut-this-down-years-ago rip-off creatures on display here. For that reason alone, Palworld can feel about as soulless and cynical as it comes. But that’s not the worst of it. Even aside from all the survival gubbins, base building and sweatshop automation practices shoved down your throat, Palworld is just an awful example of monster-catching games in general. If it’s a Pokémon game on PC you’re after, go and play Cassette Beasts . Go and play Coromon , TemTem , or Monster Sanctuary . Anything but this.

Steady on there, mate. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Pocketpair

I have, admittedly, only played a handful of hours of Palworld so far, so these impressions are mostly focused on the earlier moments in the game, and how it goes about introducing its pals and your relationship to them. I fully intend to put more time into Palworld over the coming days and weeks to give it a proper shake, but given how jarring its messaging is around these so-called ‘pals’, I’m not sure I’ll find much success with it.

For instance, when you hit that first ’everything the light touches’ lookout point, you’ll quickly spy another survivor hunkered round a campfire. Despite their foreboding get-up and very large, gleaming silver shotgun, they’re friendly enough to talk to - though when they start muttering about this island being “a living hell” and how all “those damned Pals ate every one” of his mates, the whole atmosphere of the game takes an abruptly dark turn. These are cute Pokémon clones we’re talking about, surely? There are literal fields of adorable fluffy sheep clouds down there, accompanied by pink cats and little slugs and comedy-sized chickens. How are these meant to be believably bloodthirsty savages?

Indeed, your instincts are immediately proven correct as soon as you come within spitting distance of them. If they don’t instantly run away, these pals mostly straight up ignore you, even if you walk right up to them and start running circles around them. Even the honking great alpha pal that roams the starting continent - a Lv.38 leaf mammoth - doesn’t give you the time of day either. These are wholly benign creatures at the end of the day, which makes their inevitable enslavement all the more gruesome and unpleasant.

Man-eating monsers, my arse - these chaps wouldn’t hurt a fly. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Pocketpair

And look, I know Pokémon itself isn’t entirely innocent. That, too, is a game about pitting animals against each other in deathmatch combat scenarios (sorry, faint-match?), and sticking them in tiny balls until the end of their earthly lives. But Pokémon also doesn’t encourage you to beat these things with your own fists, clubs, spears and torches to wear them down, nor does it ever ask you to hand those weapons back to them so they can then go and attack other monsters - such as the case with Electabuzz’s machinegun-wielding cousin up in the header there.

Pokémon and other good Poké-likes are ultimately about unlocking innate skills and abilities found within their given monsters, building on cultural philosophies seen in thousands of other Japanese games and anime series. It’s always the hero (and in this case, the monster) who’s digging deep to win the day, unlocking new levels of power ( Dragon Ball ) or awareness (Gundam) within themselves rather than simply relying on external tools and gadgets. They are stories that champion the power of the heart and soul. But unfortunately, Palworld doesn’t even have the faintest concept of what these things are.

Once you’ve beaten your pal into submission with your own fists, it’s time to capture them. You need to be careful not to kill them completely, of course, as the only thing you’ll gain if their health bar drops to zero is a fully physics-enabled corpse you can boot around the map (as seen below). Honestly, if you thought Shadow Of The Colossus made you feel bad for slaughtering its monsters, you ain’t seen nothing yet, my friend. You can have up to five pals accompany you at any one time, but the focus is still squarely on you, the human, when it comes to combat. You can call one out to fight alongside you (though your command options are limit to “attack aggressively”, “attack one enemy at a time”, and “don’t attack at all”), but they’re essentially an automated companion, much like Atreus in God Of War, or your dog Torgal in Final Fantasy 16. You have no control over what attacks they dole out. They’re just there, in the background, helping to divert attention away from your club/spear/torch batterings.

I am ashamed to say this chicken corpse did not remain on this plain for long, and instead quickly roll all the way down a cliffside, bouncing along every surface possible until it reached the sea. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Pocketpair

Some have special combat abilities you can call on occasionally to give you more direct control of what they’re doing, but these powers are framed in such an exploitative fashion that I actively don’t want to use them. The fluffy sheep cloud I mentioned earlier, for example, can be taken hostage and used as an impromptu shield like one of those blokes you can collar in Trepang2 , and their cute, smiling faces will soak up damage for you until you hurl them back into the field. The stunt double stand-in for fire fox Vulpix can also be squeezed like a bagpipe flamethrower, once you’ve crafted the appropriate harness to hold it in your arms without burning yourself, that is. Most pal abilities lie outside the world of combat, though, such as the entirely natural sounding “ah yes, I can now carry 50 extra weight because my pink cat’s with me”, or, “of course, with my big green slug I can now harvest wood that bit faster”. They’re so entirely gameified that you can’t help but start to see them as nothing more than mindless tools, ready to be used and manipulated for maximum exploitation.

Sure, thre’s an option to pet and feed them where you crouch on the ground and are rewarded with a tiny animation where they do a little dance for you at the end of it. But this is not making them happy or building up some kind of affection bar. Oh no. The sole stat for your pals’ wellbeing is called SAN - short for, I kid you not, Sanity. You’re literally keeping these animals sane by giving them a pat on the head, making sure they don’t starve and building them beds to sleep in at night back at your base. Not by becoming friends with them, but making sure they don’t loose their tiny little minds as you put them to work felling trees, punching veins of stone until (I imagine) their paws bleed, and building more weapons and capture balls to beat their friends round the head with. And heck, you can quickly automate the feeding part of the equation by building food bowls and campfires for them to cook their own meals, the poor sods.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Pocketpair

Good thing pals seem to have goldfish memories, because you’ll be skewering them with a stick one minute and then giving them brief, seconds-long cuddles the next. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Pocketpair

It’s an utterly miserable-looking existence, and the tutorial dings that tell me I can get an EXP bonus when I capture ten of the same pal type just leave me feeling increasingly hollow. Sure, Legends: Arceus took a similar route with its catching, but there the approach to catching multiple monsters was purely in the pursuit of understanding them better, and studying what makes them so unique and purposeful. You’re also encouraged to release them when your boxes start getting too full as well, but there’s no such hope of escape over in Palworld. Here, an early objective to catch five sheep clouds is entirely so you have a ready-made workforce available once you start levelling it up and getting more worker pal slots to fill it with. It’s all take-take-take in Palworld, and never about giving anything back.

All of it fills me with a kind of despair that only gets worse when you see it having such a rip-roaring start in early access, too. At time of writing, Palworld is both the top-selling game on Steam right now in the entire world, and the third-most played game today , with over 340,000 people punching pals in the face right this very second - so many, in fact, that its servers are struggling to cope with them all. I hope Palworld gets its just desserts and fades into obscurity once the novelty of “Pokémon with machineguns” starts to wear off a bit. But it’s also the kind of game I can see having an extraordinarily long life ahead of it regardless. The desire for a Pokémon game on PC is that strong, even if the end result is the polar opposite of everything Pokémon actually stands for.

Palworld

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , 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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