Should you bother with… ultrawide gaming monitors?

Ooh, big stretch

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

I realised recently that a juicy subject for another Should You Bother With has been staring me in the face – or rather, I’ve been staring at it. Ultrawide gaming monitors have clearly avoided non-starter status, given they’ve been around for years, seemingly being exchanged for currency – and yet they’re nowhere near what you might consider the ‘default’ option when making a display upgrade. Regular widescreen monitors, with regular 16:9 aspect ratios, remain the go-to. So why switch?

It’s true that ultrawides – which most typically come in 21:9 and even more sprawling 32:9 aspect ratios – are more of an… imposition, shall we say? Besides having to literally make more room on your desk, for their inevitably fatter stands, they’re naturally going to be more expensive, what with all that extra plastic and pixels. Not to mention how their most fundamental advantage, the extra screen space, can also be attained by simply adding a second monitor your existing setup.

There’s no getting around the space-hogging of ultrawide monitors, to be sure. However, on the price front, you might be surprised at how much ultrawides have fallen in line with their standard widescreen cousins, even with all the gaming bells and whistles kept intact. The HP Omen 34c, a curved 3440x1440 screen with fast response times and a 165Hz refresh rate, is currently going for £350 / $480 . That’s perfectly typical of what you could spend on a nice 2560x1440 model. My own ultrawide, the BenQ Mobiuz EX3410R, offers AMD FreeSync Premium Pro anti-tearing and a dash of HDR support for £449 / $450 . Even the truly gigantic ones don’t need to break four figures, as the 44.5in, 5120x1440 Lenovo Legion R45w-30 shows: that’s currently on sale for £600 . They might not be as budget-friendly as a small 1080p screen, but considering how pricey gaming monitors can get – particularly now that OLED and Mini-LED panels are on the scene – well-specced ultrawides can absolutely make for good deals.

I know that legions of trailer-flogging executives have ruined the word “immersive”, but dammit, nothing quite sucks you into a game like having it beamed across your whole field of vision and gently wrapped around your entire face. Especially without any bezels bisecting the view, as you’ll get when trying to replicate the effect on a dual screen pairing. The advantages to sims are self-evident, racing and flight varieties first and and foremost, but I’ve enjoyed just about everything from third-person RPGs to isometric Survivors-likes on my big, jolly BenQ. Does this more lavish visual feast make for a tangibly better experience? Perhaps not to the extent of spoiling standard widescreen forever. But for the kind of games you want to just get lost in for a while, honestly, yes it does.

Mind you, achieving ultrawide nirvana is still reliant on two outside factors: one, having enough PC horsepower to cope with the wider resolution, and two, the games you want to play having support for said resolution. Luckily, the first point likely won’t be a roadblock, at least not any more so than upgrading to a higher-res 16:9 monitor would be.

In most games I’ve tested, ultrawide resolutions are only marginally more demanding than their standard widescreen equivalents: 2560x1080 versus 1920x1080, for instance, or the more common 3440x1440 versus 2560x1440. It’s the latter pairing I focused on for some fresh benchmarking, aided by a GeForce RTX 4070 Ti :

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun

Only Total War: Warhammer III took a significant hit from the jump to ultrawide, whereas Cyberpunk 2077 only traded 10% performance in exchange for about 34% more horizontal picture. Hitman and Assassin’s Creed Mirage lost so few frames that a naked eye couldn’t tell the difference, and it was so close in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that ultrawide performance claimed a favourable spot within the margin of error. Anyone who’s ever switched from a 1080p monitor to 1440p, or 1440p to 4K, has had to reckon with the heightened demands of that upgrade. The jump to ultrawide, while still a marked visual change, is a lot more accommodating.

It’s compatibility where ultrawide’s real troubles lie. That’s not to say that hardly any games will correctly fill out a 21:9 or 32:9 panel: anecdotally, it does seem that including support for ultrawide resolutions has become more of a norm than an exception. Most modern PC games, including plenty of indies, will have the option – even if it comes with minor caveats. Horizon Forbidden West , for example, features full ultrawide support during gameplay and cutscenes, but the main menu and loading screens add vertical black bars to fill out the space beyond 16:9:

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation PC LLC

Sadly, some games do lack ultrawide resolution support entirely. Most of these are older releases but you do still see the odd modern game that forgets it, including PC darling Elden Ring . FromSoftware’s open-world die ’em up is a right little weirdo about the matter: there are ultrawide resolutions in its graphics settings, but selecting them still keeps those black bars on the side, as if a 16:9 option was selecting. For bonus madness, I found that abandoning the pretence of 3440x1440 and actually selecting 2560x1440 did fill the whole screen, but with a horizontally stretched picture. This has not been fixed or addressed in any way, as of the Shadow Of The Erdtree expansion.

Still. Let us not forget that we’re on PCs, and that there’s no greater tool for bending games to our peripheral-justifying will. That’s right: modding! Plenty of games without native ultrawide support can simply have it modded in , and there’s even a utility – Flawless Widescreen – that does the job for dozens of games in a single desktop app. It has an Elden Ring plugin, and while this didn’t support the Shadow of the Erdtree version at the time of writing, I reverted to an earlier build see if it could cure my ultrawide woes. Here’s stand-in maiden and disliker of flames Melina to reveal if it was successful or not:

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

Cheers Mel.

Evidently, Flawless Widescreen is a very cool tool to have at your disposal, should you end up joining the ultrawide club. However, it’s not a cure-all, and in Elden Ring’s case even risked trouble with the PC gaming law by disabling Easy Anti-Cheat. This cuts off access to all the game’s online component and forces the use of Steam’s offline mode, which could be huge caveats if you’re partial to invading/being invaded. The original sin here is still From’s, for both making a mess of the ultrawide settings and for somehow tying display customisation to anti-cheat, but still, that’s a choice that ideally wouldn’t need making.

Nonetheless, the pains of crowbarring ultrawide compatibility into non-compatible games generally doesn’t outweigh how most will just accept these monitors for who they are. And absolute worst-case, you might just have to play with black bars. It’s not like anything will just refuse to run outright.

Verdict: Should you bother with ultrawide gaming monitors? Yeah, go for it. Maybe they’re not perfect for everyone – those on minimal budgets or with tiny desks will be better served by classic 16:9 displays, which is no small part of why they’re still broadly considered the default choice.

For a more stimulating PC setup, though, the sweeping visual presentation that ultrawides afford is hard to beat, outside of brutally expensive 4K mega-monitors. And although the lack of 100% compatibility is a shame, the games industry is trending towards ultrawide support as a matter of course, while mods (and tools like Flawless Widescreen) provide options for the less compliant games in your library.

Elden Ring

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , 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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