Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is less of a PC hardware-killer than it looks

Still a toughie, but nothing some optimised settings can’t fix

While I’ve always thought the race towards graphical hyperrealism isn’t as pervasive as it’s often perceived, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is definitely one of those games. The kind that probably has twelve artists dedicated to the recreation of visible pores, that sort of thing. It’s so focused on looking pretty that it hasn’t even noticed the title and subtitle got mixed up.

Sure enough, Hellblade 2 is a harsh test for older hardware, with a heavy reliance on DLSS or FSR upscaling to keep performance sweet. That said, it’s no Dragons Dogma 2 -style technical horrorshow either. A happy balance of visuals and smoothness is attainable on plush PCs and low-end laptops alike, while DLSS 3 frame generation can deliver an effective kick in the framerate pants on RTX 40 series GPUs.

There are some key quality settings you might want to lower in the process, so more on those below. First, let’s get reacquainted with Hellblade 2’s system requirements, because good googly moogly, there’s a lot of ‘em.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 system requirements and PC performance

This Pictish action -adventure lets you skimp on CPU power a bit, only asking for a crusty Core i5 at minimum and decidedly mid-range chips for maxed out 4K. A beefier graphics card will pay dividends, though, especially if you’ve got one with Nvidia DLSS support; FSR 3 is available for upscaling but lacks its frame generation component, so RTX card owners might as well stick to the better-looking DLSS. Hope you’re not still on just 8GB of RAM, too:

Image credit:Xbox Game Studios

These specs seemingly assume that you’ll stick with the default upscaler, TSR. With this, plus the Low quality preset, I recorded a GTX 1070 averaging 33fps at 1080p – though after switching to FSR 3 on Quality mode, it jumped to 43fps, with a negligible drop in picture sharpness. Sticking with AMD’s upscaler, the Intel Arc A750 also showed that budget GPUs can get by, scoring 47fps at 1080p with a combo of Medium settings and FSR 3 on Quality.

DLSS, however, proved both sharper and faster. My RTX 4060 initially struggled a bit with the High preset, even at 1080p, averaging 38fps with the default TSR. A switch to DLSS on Quality instantly shot to 56fps, and since the RTX 4060 supports DLSS 3 frame gen, that too could bump it all the way up to a slick 91fps. This tech does a fine job on laptop GPUs, as well. My RTX 4050 -based laptop, a 1080p MSI Thin GF63, could run the Low preset at 51fps with Quality-level DLSS upscaling alone – and enabling frame generation had it producing 88fps.

Hellblade 2 remains a handsome game even on these lower settings, and in the apparent absence of any real problems with stuttering, flickering, or any other miscellaneous performance hiccups, it is more accommodating of lower-end hardware than its MEGA REAL GRAFFIX presentation might suggest. With limits, admittedly – the Steam Deck struggles, only able to run all-Low settings above 30fps with FSR 3 set to Ultra Performance. Which looks, in a word, pants. Performance mode is more visually tolerable but usually puts the framerate in the twenties.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Xbox Game Studios

Conversely, Hellblade 2 scales impressively with bigger, shinier GPUs. The RTX 4070 Ti eased to 78fps at 1440p/High, albeit aided by DLSS on Quality, and frame gen topped that up to 127fps. The same card and settings (sans frame gen) also produced 78fps at 3440x1440, an ultrawide resolution with an unusual side benefit: getting rid of the horizontal black bars that appear (and are apparently mandatory) at traditional 16:9. In other words, Hellblade 2 insists on being played in ultrawide. I’m no fan of this, regardless of how cinematic the game wants to be , though at least it’s a win for ultrawide monitor owners who might otherwise have to put up with the stretched/misplaced UIs of a games industry that typically favours regular widescreen.

The RTX 4070 Ti also took a fair crack at 4K, managing 59fps on High with DLSS Quality (88fps with frame generation on). The henchest card in my cupboard, the RTX 4090 , made for an even smoother 75fps with Quality-level DLSS, rising to 120fps with frame gen.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Xbox Game Studios

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 best settings guide

Sadly, DLSS 3 is beyond most GPUs, but slicker performance can be yours with a combination of regular upscaling and a few lowered settings. Don’t fear such cuts to Hellblade 2’s visual merits – as you can see from the comparison below, all three of the High, Medium, and Low presets look fairly similar, and some of the more visible changes (like foliage and texture quality) don’t actually affect performance that much. Or at all, in a lot of cases.

Armed with an RTX 4060 – I would have used the min-spec GTX 1070, but wanted to test DLSS and frame gen – I benchmarked each individual graphics setting at both its highest and lowest quality, thus identifying which were the best at speeding up performance. Anything with a significant improvement on 38fps, the average result on the High preset at 1080p, is worth considering:

Motion blur: You can lower this if you simply don’t like the effect, though it won’t impact performance either way. I still got 38fps with it turned down from 10 to 0. (You’ll also need to head into the Accessibility menu to find the slider, as it isn’t on the main graphics menu.)

Custom upscaler: Forget the default TSR, even with its resolution scale on a faster setting; FSR 3 and DLSS are both quicker and, especially in the latter’s case, better-looking. DLSS on Quality mode boosted the RTX 4060 up to 56fps, the finest result of the bunch, while FSR 3 proved itself the best alternative for non-RTX GPUs with 54fps on Quality. Intel XeSS is also available, and scored 53fps 53fps on its Ultra Quality mode, though is a touch blurrier than FSR 3.

Frame generation: Again, this is exclusive to Nvidia’s RTX 40 series cards, but it’s worth having if your GPU supports it. With it enabled, that’s 56fps with Quality DLSS upscaling lept to 91fps. Just be sure that, if you do enable frame gen, to also set Nvidia Reflex (a little further down the menu) to On+Boost. This will help deal with the added input lag.

Variable Rate Shading: VRS, which aims to improve performance by varying visual quality around different parts of the screen, in on by default. However, I still got precisely 38fps after disabling it, so you might as well turn it off and keep everything consistent.

Antialiasing: A likely non-issue as both DLSS and FSR include their own AA tech, which supercedes the game’s own. For what it’s worth, I saw no performance difference between High and Low while TSR was enabled.

Post-processing quality: Yet another unchanged 38fps after switching from High to Low.

Effects quality: Low got me 39fps, just 1fps faster than on High. I wouldn’t bother.

Shadow quality: It’s marginal, but I reckon the 41fps granted by dipping this to Low just about makes it a worthwhile change. At least if you’re not already pulling 60fps-plus.

Reflection quality: Another 39fps result on Low. You can see the quality difference in water and whatnot, so try to keep this on High.

Global illumination quality: Another setting for the chopping block. Low quality still looks fine and helped the RTX 4060 up to 44fps, an instant 16% improvement.

Volumetrics: Maybe tone this down as well, as Low got the RTX 4060 averaging 43fps.

Texture quality: Keep this on High. Low did absolutely nothing to help performance, once again landing at 38fps.

View distance: Low only produced a 39fps average, arguably not worth the squeeze.

Foliage detail: Likewise, dropping to Low only raised performance by a single frame per second. Stick to High.

It’s perhaps not the most refined approach, but slapping a bunch of these settings down to Low and keeping the rest on High really does produce major FPS gains. Make no mistake, though, it’s the third-party upscalers that handle much of the heavy lifting. Here’s what I’d suggest for Hellblade 2:

• Motion blur: 0
• Custom upscaler: DLSS/FSR 3 on Quality
• Variable rate shading: Off
• Shadow quality: Low
• Global illumination quality: Low
• Volumetrics: Low
• Everything else: High

Still on the RTX 4060 at 1080p, these netted me 75fps with DLSS and 73fps with FSR, the former able to rise to 117fps with DLSS 3 frame generation. Even without it, mind, that’s achingly close to double what the GPU was pulling on the High preset, and without a painful reduction in visual quality. Job’s a good’un, as the Picts would have said, probably.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

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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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