Rally Point: How Rise of the White Sun makes a rich playground of China’s impossibly chaotic Warlord Era

All the Qi in China

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

After weeks of discovering new layers and playstyles, I have no idea how to summarise Rise of the White Sun, except perhaps “It’s 1920s China! Good luck!” Playable factions include major political blocs, conventional military behemoths, petty warlords, peasant uprisings, foreign stooges, and multiple communist cells (particularly in the recent DLC ). There’s even a police chief, and my inevitable favourite, the angry mountain lady who cares for none of that, and only wants to raid everyone’s cattle.

This is an absurdly rich and complex grand strategy wargame. But where that usually means an unmanageable deposit , White Sun’s greatest design strength is fitting its possibilities into a framework where they feel comprehensible, and remain manageable at any scale.

For a start, you don’t have to manage your holdings. China is made of provinces, which are dotted with districts, which pay tax to their owner. Most factions will invest in these, building roads and telegraph lines, enacting socio-economic policies to improve their output. But these take time and resources, and districts are easily captured. Some factions are better served by seizing and neglecting them, accepting the low but easy income, indifferent to their opinion or recapture. Some actively terrorise and plunder, and many do all of the above.

Communists, meanwhile, can go for half the game with no territory, instead slowly winning over the exploited - even in districts they don’t control - by establishing underground organisations. Dozens of turns spent scratching out a few followers can suddenly blossom into a flow of militant supporters as your popularity tips over. And instead of giving the communists a special unit with +10 Number, White Sun lets them become a revolution because you recruited that greatest of heroes: a union man. Oh, he may run out of things to do, but he was that vital bridge from rural co-operation to organised self-defence against warlords, landlords, and Guomindang ally-rivals.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

The union guy isn’t a unit either. Factions are in practice a collection of named (often historical) characters. Many are a solitary character’s perspective, though you may start with several, and more in the reserve pool - on your side, but without your control - and anyone can generate a new one for a price. Treachery becomes far more likely beyond 3 or 4, but it’s often tempting, because everything you do requires Qi (energy/action points), and each character gets 4 Qi per turn. Bigger teams can simply do more. Move an army, pay them, spy, contact an potential ally, placate the gentry, declare a soviet, purge the university, promote opium, reform education, pillage, PUNISH THE LANDLORDS, denounce the Fengtian Clique, pay bandits to leave. There’s an absurd number of possibilities.

That’s precisely why the Qi system works, and why large teams are unstable: demanding fewer decisions per turn makes them less overwhelming, less of a chore. Resources narrow your focus further. Each character acquires money, lackeys, and “face” through various means, which most actions deplete. Most also require the character to be in the relevant province, which combined with cross-province opinion penalties (and a northerner/southerner divide) puts a natural brake on expansion. Some are better at generating resources, leading naturally to dynamics like recruiting lackeys in Shaanxi and sending them to someone who’s prying communists out of Shanghai.

Because, you see, each character has a role dictating which actions are accessible. Officers can lead and manage armies, as can the relatively self-sufficient Warlord, but he’s worse at it and more corruptible. Statesmen are natural district administrators who accelerate ongoing projects (which, maddeningly, are obliterated if someone else claims the district). Spies can demoralise armies and gather intelligence on enemies. There are Theorists, Gentry, Bandits, and more, each potentially critical or useless in different circumstances.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

Many characters have multiple roles, so a new Spy could come with Terrorist and Gangster, and some can bribe or even assassinate, or send another back to the reserves bench, or let the AI possess them. Most characters have traits, too. Seal of approval for the generic “British Agent” always having “cold-blooded”. It sounds like a lot. It’ll take a while to master, despite the help screens (excellently translated, even conveying light humour), but you don’t need to learn it all.

This is a remarkably friendly game that radiates knowledge and fascination with the era, and a desire to translate it into something approachable, yet still different to anything else. Bandits, for example, are not grind fodder or a punishment. They’re a natural consequence of circumstance, perennial in parts not because of some special banditry modifier, but because that district is a dump. The noblest administrator plain can’t spare the dozens of Qi needed to make a barren mountain marginally less destitute. Nurture its neighbours, though, and they’ll often form a militia, saving you the hassle.

Possibilities abound, but almost everything is easy to manage. Most districts can be understood at a glance, and require little supervision. The scale is huge, but your demands local: distant provinces are harder to win over, empires to keep track of, but that’s a governance issue intentionally simulated by the Qi system, rather than a design flaw. If you’re too stretched to defend that district, you were over-ambitious. If you didn’t even notice it was gone, you were probably being greedy.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

There’s little to manage in combat too, few rules to memorise beyond the obvious: numbers good, morale good, loyalty good, training good. You’ll absorb the details as you go, with general considerations rather than nerdly calculations. Combat is instant, the mathematics invisible.

Tedious mega-wars of icon shuffling aren’t common either. Even having a worthwhile standing army requires qualified characters for multiple turns, and will still gradually dwindle through desertion (unless paid), or starve in poor areas, or potentially turn on you. Victory and movement often mean losses, and you’ll want guns, too. Making your own takes multiple slow stages of huge investment. Or you might tolerate smuggling to get hold of rifle shipments. A modern army needs machine guns and artillery, which means sacrificing exploitation rights to the imperial powers, for a chance to meet their arms dealers. And a chance that you’ll be denounced as a “running dog of the imperial powers”, causing half of China to align against you. As the Golog cavalry or Red Spears or CCP you could instead plunder hardware by ambushing in the steppe or amassing enough peasants to overwhelm. But it’s all difficult to sustain. Armies and campaigns tend to be limited, and quickly burn out.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

A major player like Zhang Zongchang might face more warfare, but that’s what impresses me most about Rise of the White Sun: you can choose the parts you enjoy. Though each scenario only gives dedicated story to a few key players, even the smallest get an introduction and goals suiting their situation. Some must prepare before the Japanese or Russians invade, or a bigshot returns. One has the interesting goal of propping up a rival as part of some wider international scheme. Some just want to govern their corner.

There’s nothing stopping you ignoring those and vying for influence in Shanghai instead of conquering Szechuan, or sneaking a raiding party to Beijing and crowning its leader Empress. I stood no chance of holding it, but it forced everyone in China to declare for or against before she went back home. But it’s best to play to them. White Sun is teeming with historical biographies, events, and nudges towards soft roleplaying. Sandbox modes offer full conquest options, but the specific goals and turn limits are clear: you’re meant to enjoy each game as a story for a day or two, not gruel through a long march.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotun/Gaming at Work/Cinetique

It’s a scrappy game, fighting well above its weight, with modest but attractive presentation (especially the character portraits). You’ll need to forgive an inconsistent interface, and it’s esoteric in parts - I’ve yet to fully manage characters with positions in government - and there are minor display bugs. Finding people and factions is cumbersome. That compounds its big design shortcoming: the relevance of distant events is often unclear due to opaque relationships, and working in coalitions is particularly confusing. I got to the very end of one story before finding out who my own boss was, which admittedly is a quite funny way to demonstrate how alike bureaucracies tend to be regardless of political stripe.

For all its flavour, White Sun doesn’t produce intense vendettas or affections, which is a shame. But across multiple games, I’ve developed a sort of meta-rivalry or two, and a weird sympathy for some unlikely figures. It continues to surprise me, with one scenario including a format shift I’m not going to spoil. Grand strategy has many “what if” sandboxes, but few marry this much ambition to ease of play and joy of discovery. Fewer still do it with such contagious enthusiasm for an incredible era. Where else can you change history by fomenting a grassroots revolution and by suppressing one, by remaining neutral to wean your people off opium, challenging Zhou Enlai to an “ideological confrontation”, or going all Six Ages for the sheer love of raiding cattle?

Rise of the White Sun

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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