Should You Bother With… Hall effect keyboards?

Heroes of might and magnets

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Welcome back to Should You Bother With , the RPS hardware column that combs away the fluff surrounding PC gaming gear to reveal a smooth, hairless core of pure consumer advice. This time: Hall effect keyboards, a relatively fresh flavour of desktop peripheral that’s been gaining traction with manufacturers for the switch design’s supposed durability and reliability benefits. These represent perhaps the first major challenge to mechanical keyboard hegemony, but you may be wondering: who’s Hall? What’s their effect? And does it actually make for a better gaming keyboard ? Time to found out.

Named for its discoverer, powerfully moustachioed American physicist Edwin Hall, the Hall effect is both a scientific principle and a method of measuring magnetism. As such, I’m afraid its explanation requires more book-speak than a humanities graduate should really be comfortable typing out. Nonetheless: when an electric current is sent through a conducting material, the electrons will ordinarily move across it in a straight line, but Hall found that placing the material between the two poles of a magnetic field would drag the electrons over to one side. This, in turn, produces a potential difference – i.e., a voltage – as there are more electrons on one side of the material than the other. That right there is the Hall effect, and because the voltage is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field, you can work out the latter by measuring the former.

As to how this pertains to gaming keyboards, that all comes down to Hall effect sensors. That voltage, produced by the effect, is specifically measured at a right-angle to the current’s path. Place a sensor at a perpendicular angle to the conductor, and it can pick up the voltage, either in binary on/off fashion, or to varying degrees based on the strength of the magnetic field. Think of a Hall effect sensor as a switch that doesn’t need to be physically pressed, like a motion sensor, except one that picks up voltages rather than the people burglarising your house.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

Hall effect sensors have found their way into everything from anti-lock braking systems to the hard drive you may have inside your PC right now. In gaming, they’re likely most well-known for their thumbstick applications. Because these sensors can be activated without any physical contact, Hall effect sticks are often thought of as the superior choice to traditional analogue sticks, being less prone to wear and tear – a common cause of the infamous Nintendo Switch stick drift issue – and maybe even more precise, owing to the lack of a deadzone. The Lenovo Legion Go opted for Hall effect thumbsticks, and you can even swap your Steam Deck sticks for a third-party Hall effect set .

Such advantages can also be applied to keyboards. When you slam down a key, the sensor picks up the movement of the magnet within, registering the input. But it doesn’t need two physical components to make contact, as a regular mechanical keyboard (or mushy membrane keyboard) does. Instant activation and less wear and tear, surely a winning combination for speed-obsessed gamer types.

That brings us back to the question that some folk still wonder when choosing their PC hardware: will this actually make me better at games? To find out, I devised a definitely sensible and absolutely thought-through experiment, in which I’d play ten matches of pacey FPS explodathon The Finals with a Hall effect keyboard, the Endgame Gear KB65HE , then another ten on a conventional mech board, the HyperX Alloy Origins 65. By comparing my average stats across both, I’d be able to definitively prove which is best.

Here’s what I found:

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Hall-effect-vs-mechanical-keyboard-testing-but-its-meaningless.jpg?width=2048&height=2048&fit=bounds&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“A bar graph showing personal scores in The Finals using both a Hall effect keyboard and a mechanical keyboard. The graph has been comically defaced with the text “All of this is meaningless” - 4”>

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Sigh. As much as I like testing stuff, and that the whole point of Should You Bother With is to see how closely real-life usage resembles marketing hype, I can’t actually recommend you make your keyboard buying choices based on someone else’s game results. Besides the hundreds of variables that affect data like this – map, loadout, whether or not your teammates run off to die alone when all they have to do is defend the fucking cashout box – any minute differences in hardware response times or polling rates will pale in comparison to how comfortable you, personally, are with a keyboard’s feel and sound. And while I do genuinely think most mechanical keyboards are straight upgrades on cheap membrane models, Hall effect keebs don’t represent such a night-and-day difference against mech boards themselves.

At the very least, they’re not inherently worse. I’ve actually been using the KB65HE as my main keyboard – work and play alike – for about four months, and outside of the usual compromises that come with a 65% form factor, it’s a damned good keyboard. The switches have the light, linear, nimble feel of Cherry MX Reds, with a quiet, non-clicky report but enough springiness to keep them suitable for typing. Build quality is outstanding, too: the keys are surrounded by a reassuringly heavy, solid-feeling metal frame, admittedly lacking in any height adjustability but proving incredibly slip-proof on the desk. In my heart, I’m still more of a 75% kinda guy, but as far as more compact designs go, I’ve evidently no problem with using the KB65HE (and its Hall effect switches) every single day.

Still, it also feels an awful lot like just another well-made mechanical keyboard, rather than one with amazing special magnet powers. This is partly because even the more distinctive-on-paper qualities of Hall effect switches aren’t actually that pronounced in practice. Remember how a Hall effect sensor can detect voltages from a distance? That allows these kinds of keyboards to have adjustable actuation points, where you choose how deep (or how shallow) you need to press a key for it to register. Plus, because the sensors can detect very slight changes, rather than simply being on or off, you can also adjust the ‘reset’ point, or how far back up the key has to bounce before it can register another stroke. Mechanical switches have this point fixed.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

All very cool, but if I’m honest, I can’t tell the difference between the KB65HE’s default actuation and the most sensitive settings I applied through its software utility. Maybe my fingers are getting slow, but I don’t feel like I can strafe any faster with the latter. Lowering the actuation point way down below the defaults did have more of a pronounced effect, but then I rarely want to make my keyboard feel slower. Maybe to help prevent clumsy typing misfires, but never in games.

The durability angle isn’t massively compelling either, when standard mechanical switches are already as tough as they are. A bog-standard Cherry MX Red is rated for over 10 million strokes before going kaput, meaning you could be tapping one every second for every hour of the day, without sleep, and it would still take nearly four months to reach the danger zone. Under normal use, and I’m guessing most mech board owners will know this from experience, they’ll last just fine for years. Defects aren’t unheard of but with keyboards, they’re much more likely to originate in manufacturing than through wear and tear. That’s in contrast to thumbsticks, which appear to be far more prone to developing drift issues, and thus benefit more urgently from the Hall effect’s benefits.

Verdict: Should you bother with Hall effect keyboards? Yes, but only the ones that are good keyboards per se . While there’s little wrong with the concept – Hall effect keyboards aren’t even more expensive than a lot of high-end mechanical models – these aren’t the next generation of gaming peripherals or anything, and you shouldn’t expect dramatically improved performance versus good mech switches.

Of course, I also can’t use a Hall effect keyboard as my everyday workhorse while leaving the impression that they’re some kind of boondoggle. The KB65HE, for one, is great! It’s just great for reasons that may sometimes be related to its Hall effect switches, but aren’t specific to them.

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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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