RPS Verdict: Avowed

Awowed?

Image credit:Obsidian

Nic: James did you work out how to freeze things yet?

James: I’ll explain this quickly so Nic can get on to complaining about Avowed having the wrong kinds of boxes. But yes, I did get stuck on an early main quest that required me to use ice magic to create frozen platforms for crossing water, an otherwise neat little systems thingy that had not been communicated or hinted at before that point, but was communicated and hinted at during the following main quest.

Otherwise, I’m having an okayish time? It doesn’t have the Skyrim -tier expansiveness I always hope for with these kinds of games, but its world is a pretty one, and it’s got some quality close-quarters mageing.

Nic: Look. I feel passionately about those crates. There are two types of crates. You can only smash the crates that have the special ‘smash me’ icon on them. I don’t want a crate to “come hither” me. Takes all the fun out of the petty vandalism.

It’s funny though because those two qualities you mention, James - the world and magic - are the same ones I thought were Avowed’s strongest elements . How are you both finding the actual questing?

Jeremy: I think I like Avowed the most out of anyone here. Mostly due to the world of Eora, which as Nic said is one of the game’s strongest elements. It’s just full of all kinds of weird, multicoloured plants and mushrooms growing out of dryads and other forestry things, and the overall plot – which involves healing an island of an ecological dream plague – is the sort of thing I’ve dabbled in half a dozen times with multiple TTRPG systems (I like druids).

You wouldn’t know it unless you were paying attention, but Avowed doesn’t deserve all the credit for its world. This is a spin-off of the Pillars of Eternity games, a fact that I wish Obsidian would advertise more. I’m reminded of Redguard, that Elder Scrolls spin-off from 1998…but even that one had the words Elder Scrolls on the box! Anyway, I’ve owned the Pillars games for ages but still haven’t played them, and the biggest endorsement I can give Avowed is that it’s bumped them up my priority list.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

That said, the actual quests (and there are a lot of them, as the game kind of expects you to dabble in side quests or at least upgrade gear to reach gated-off areas) can feel run-of-the-mill at times. It’s all better than ‘kill X number of plant thingies, collect X number of magical lily pads,’ but it’s still fairly mundane stuff that usually requires chatting to a few NPCs, exploring a dungeon, maybe fighting a boss. There’s no Witcher 3 -level writing, in other words. This mundanity is definitely disguised in a pretty world that’s lucky enough to have been fleshed out by two very in-depth CRPGs, but it’s still there.

James: I think – and granted I’m not as far in as either of you two – a lot of the quests take interesting enough turns, or at least conclude with a silly enough twist, that they feel like they were worth doing even if they weren’t interesting/surprising/silly in a structural sense. Specific examples would be spoilery, of course, but even the rote “Please clear my house of beasties” sidequest you can get straight off the tutorial thinks up a pretty funky story for itself.

Still, yes, ultimately it plays more like a ground-level, first-person ARPG: your primary means of interacting with the world is to hurl low-cooldown spells at its inhabitants, with pure speechcraft or stealth approaches made impossible. That’s not an incorrect way to make an enjoyable fantasy adventure, but probably will require some expectation management on how much role-playing you like in your role-playing games.

Jeremy: So I have managed to do a little bit of speechcraft and stealth, though they’re definitely not the easiest approaches to take. Getting your way out of scrapes via diplomacy seems doable, but I’m not sure if there’s a skill check system going on under the hood or if it’s simply a case of choosing the right dialogue option. Every time I tried to use words to keep the big bruisers in the rough part of town from bashing my head in, it ended in failure, for instance. But I was successfully able to sneak into a delemgan (big mean dryads) encampment by hiding in tall grass and backstabbing the occasional shroom mook for an instant-kill, so there’s that.

Image credit:Obsidian/Rock Paper Shotgun

Hurling low-cooldown spells is definitely the way to go, though. There’s a speed and ferocity to Avowed’s first-person magic-casting that reminds me of Heretic or Hexen in its best moments, complete with you seeing your character’s hands/wand/grimoire of doom floating in front of you. (If you’re playing in third person, which I prefer due to motion sickness reasons, it feels like the good parts of Heretic II.) This combined with parkour-style movement and what Nic described in one of our meetings as ‘boomer shooter level design’ makes traversing Avowed’s dungeons and blasting away baddies a lot of fun.

That said, if you’re not playing as a wizard - or at least as a multiclasser with a smattering of spells - whacking lizard people with a mace over and over again probably gets dull fast. I definitely stress investing in magic with this one, folks. The gameplay is 100 times more engaging if you do.

James: Actually I was hoping Nic would elaborate on the boomer shooter comparison. Largely because during that meeting I was distracted by casting flame-hands at people on my second monitor.

Nic: So I think I traditionally associate dungeon crawling in an RPG with quite deliberate, methodical exploration, but Avowed’s dungeons felt designed in a way to encourage momentum. Lots of vaulting and jumping. Lots of secrets. Lots of combat. It creates a real flow that, combined with chucking spells in first person, put me more in mind of a traditional FPS. Plus they do feel really handcrafted, the dungeons. Closer to what I’d expect for an action game than an RPG.

I’m glad you’re both enjoying it though. I think a lot of my disappointment comes from a place where I can find a lot of the sort of fun Avowed offers in other places. But the uniquely Obsidian stuff - the stuff I’m there for - just felt either de-emphasised or just not that potent. I will say though, in terms of the worldbuilding, obviously I loved the visual design of the world, and you can’t really have that without strong worldbuilding to support it. So I wouldn’t say “the writing is bad” because obviously that’s part of it, and there’s a strong history there from the Pillars games as Jeremy mentioned. I was just never excited to speak to anyone, nor felt able to express myself in quests or dialogue how I’d have liked. Do either of you have a favourite quest so far?

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Obsidian

Jeremy: Honestly, I do not, and this likely proves the point we’ve been making about how the questing isn’t necessarily the strong suit here - it’s the fast-paced movement, exploration of environments, spell slinging, and minute-to-minute interactions with a fleshed-out fantasy world that add up over time to make up for so-so quest design. I did end up inadvertently selling my body to science at an undead revenant farm over the course of one quest though, and that was pretty neat.

At the end of the day, I have a feeling that Avowed will be something of a sleeper hit. I dunno if it’ll do as well as Obsidian and Microsoft hope, but I think the people who like it (this includes myself) will sing its praises for some time. It’s hard to tell if we’ll see an Avowed 2, and I’m not sure if it’s better than Obsidian’s recent offerings, since I skipped The Outer Worlds . (Maybe Nic and James can chime in on whether this is an improvement.) But at the very least, Avowed’s an intriguing (albeit occasionally rough) nature-infused side story in the saga of Eora. If there’s not going to be a Pillars of Eternity 3, I think fans of the world will be pleased with what’s on display here.

James: It’d be hilarious if Obsidian became this Bethesda 2.0 studio by just alternating between Avowed and The Outer Worlds sequels for a decade. Speaking of which, this doesn’t feel as incongruously cramped as The Outer Worlds, and its action is a bit more satisfying (again, so long as you’re a Wizard – melee combat feels like you’re hitting a plexiglass box containing each enemy rather than the enemy itself). Have to agree with Nic about the dialogue, though, which lacks a certain… I dunno, liveliness? That Obsidian scripts have often had. TOW wasn’t packed with memorable debates either but it at least had some good jokes.

Nic: There is actually at least one really good joke in Avowed, but I won’t spoil it.

James: Was it an unsmashable crate with the “smash me” icon painted on it?

Nic: It was that exact genre of joke, actually.

Avowed

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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