Reality Bytes: Underdogs is the undisputed champion of the VR arena fighter

Thrilla in Gorilla

Image credit:One Hamsa

It’s been a while since I played a game as effortlessly cool as Underdogs . This VR mech- fighting game has you pilot a giant mechanical gorilla, pummelling robots and human-controlled mechs with arms the length of lorries in grungy, trap-filled arenas. The combat alone is chest-thumpingly good, but Underdogs couples it with a fantastically evocative cyberpunk setting, and a smartly implemented rogue-like structure.

Before the show kicks off proper, a quick preamble from the pundits. This is the first VR game I’ve played using Valve’s new(ish) Steam Link feature, and speaking as a Quest user, it does a far better job of letting you play Steam VR games wirelessly than Oculus Air Link does. For starters, you no longer need to load up the Oculus App before Steam VR, reducing the number of menu overlays you need to work through from three to two.

Moreover, the experience Steam Link offers is much smoother and more stable than Air Link. The last few games I played with Air Link constantly devolved into an unplayable slideshow, while checking any menu threatened to crash the game entirely. Switching to Steam Link was paddling a canoe across a pond after dragging the thing over two miles of rocks. Steam Link does require you to download the app onto your Oculus headset, but that’s a small inconvenience for the improved experience it offers.

Right, onto the main event. In the red corner, we have Rigg and his younger brother King. Rigg is a talented but unlicensed mech fighter. King is a whizz hacker who broke into the mainframe of the world’s authoritarian AI to forge a fighting license. In the blue corner, meanwhile, is that AI, which subsequently painted a target on King’s back and is persistently trying to counter-hack into his cybernetically enhanced mind. Hunted, the pair flee to New Brakka, the only human-controlled city on the planet, which also happens to be the hub for brutal underground mech fights. The plan is simple: rise to the top of the ranks so they can get afford the tech needed to get King out from under the AI’s thumb.

Written out like that, the plot sounds a bit daft. But Underdogs tells it so well that it cruises past any logical inconsistencies. The story’s related through static comic-book panels drawn in a heavily inked shading style a-la Darkest Dungeon . These are all presented to capitalise upon VR’s sense of scale and perspective, the game playing with them panel-to-panel just as a physical comic book would. The script, meanwhile, is written and voiced in a naturalistic MLE dialect that works superbly in the game’s grimy cyberpunk setting. The effect is that, even though you never actively experience this world outside of fights, it feels like a fleshed out, believable place, one that arguably has a more coherent identity than a certain other, glossier cyberpunk game.

As for what you do in this world, the short answer is “fight”. Each run has you climbing a ladder of arena-based matches, restarting at the bottom if you fall off. You experience these fights from inside the cockpit of the Gorilla (aka ‘Rilla’) Rigg and King’s homemade war machine. Attacking an enemy while inside the Rilla is as simple as swinging your arms at it, with the Rilla’s gangly metal limbs mimicking your movements.

Image credit:One Hamsa

Fighting effectively , however, is more complicated. For starters, the game tracks damage based on the arc of your punch, so straight, karate-style forward thrusts won’t do much good here. Instead, you’re after big, overarm haymakers, the kind that’ll have your shoulders and triceps burning the following day. In addition, you don’t just use your arms to attack, you also use them to move, dragging yourself forward on your knuckles. You can use this same manoeuvre to bash your opponent with your chest, which can do more damage than punching and knock enemies off their feet. But it also exposes your cockpit to potential damage, and since you can’t really block attacks (at least, not initially), you need to time chest-bashes carefully to avoid collateral damage.

All of this gives Underdogs’ scraps a distinctive flavour. In the thick of battle, you really do feel like a rampaging silverback, lumbering forward with your arms, barrelling enemies over with your chest, and then slamming them repeatedly while they’re on the ground. It’s kinetic, tactile, and deeply satisfying. The dynamic commentary from your kid bradda is excellent too. He gees you up when you land a good strike, frets when you take damage. His lines are a great personal touch amid the roar of the silhouetted crowd.

Each rung of the game’s challenge ladder features several exhibition matches before you battle that particular area’s boss. These earlier bouts pit you against nonhuman enemies like mechanical pit-dogs and beetle-like robots. These are fun to fight, although the challenge here as much about crowd control as it is combat technique. The boss fights against other mechs are undoubtedly the highlight, animalistic boxing matches where you duck and weave to avoid their attacks, find a gap to land some of your own, and panic when they inevitably unleash their second-phase gimmick.

Image credit:One Hamsa

In between fights, you return to a small turn-based map where you can repair your mech and buy new upgrades for it. There’s nothing radical going on here, but Underdogs uses these quieter moments to add further colour to the world, mixing this preparation phase with random story events. In one example, a mechanic I visited accidentally botched my mech’s repair, panicked, took off, and disappeared forever.

There are a couple of minor quibbles. I wish Underdogs let you adjust your mech’s equipment at any point during the preparation phase, rather than forcing you to wait until just before a fight. This is mainly because you might receive or buy some cool new tech right away during this phase, then forget to equip it when it’s fighting time. Also, selecting locations to visit during prep can be unnecessarily fiddly, with the controllers sometimes struggling to highlight menu icons.

Nonetheless, Underdogs is comfortably the most enjoyable VR game I’ve played this year, a distinctive, exciting first-person brawler with a cyberpunk setting that hits every bit as hard as its synthetic simian slugger. Move over, Blade & Sorcery, there’s a new contender in town.

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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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