Skilful hero-juggling can elevate Resident Evil Requiem, even when Leon kicks the tension in half

Impressions after three hours of Requimming

Image credit:Capcom

Resident Evil Requiem director Akifumi Nakanishi has said the imminent sequel is " almost equally split " between its two protagonists, stealthy newcomer Grace and returning mass zombie murderer Leon S. Kennedy. After playing a few hours at Capcom HQ, a chapter that apparently follows on immediately from the pure horror hag-dodging that Edwin endured , I’m hoping that’s an imperfect translation - Leon’s gun fu action brawls can mesh surprisingly well with Grace’s spook ’n’ sneak sections, but those tension breakers seem best deployed sparingly.

Not that I disliked Leon’s introduction, a brief but intense flurry of headshots and hatchet swings in a cramped doctor’s office that rapidly filled with lunging undead. A twist on the token chainsaw-wielding baddie also gave the fight an entertaining focal point, by turning the series’ most prolific anti-Kennedy weapon into a desperate game of hot potato: its owner would drop it, I’d pick it up, I’d drop it, someone else would pick it up, they’d drop it, someone else would pick it up, and so on. My most panicked shots ended up being aimed not at the enemies closest to my throat, but at whoever would turn to grab the discarded gardening equipment. Good action, that. Maybe not truly horrific. But good.

Image credit:Capcom

Still, it was only minutes before I was back behind the eyes of Grace, and I bet she’s never taekwondo-kicked a monster’s head into a filing cabinet so hard it exploded, the wuss. Even more so than Resident Evil 7 ’s IT nerd Ethan, Grace is out of her element here, and Requiem makes a point of stressing it. Gifted a revolver by a passing Leon, she holds the heavy gun angled awkwardly, and upon firing its sole bullet, recoils harder than the muzzle at the death she’s just dealt.

A lighter, scavenged pistol is more her speed, and there are moments – as she skulks around the wings of an ornate hospital, occupied by freshly zombified staff – where shooting down an attacker or two is necessary. Mainly, though, Grace plays the stealth game, crouch-walking past murderous nurses and executives and rifling through drawers for spare rounds when they aren’t looking. Staying hidden isn’t a new tactic for modern Resi games, but between the extended, slow-paced stretches of enemy observation, and how many of those enemies still maintain habits and personalities from their pre-infection life, this is the first time I can recall a certain, twisted form of relationship-building with non-boss mooks. Even if, as in the case of one towering, cannibalistic chef whose gory kitchen served as a nailbiting stealth-horror highlight, that relationship was one of frightened loathing.

While you can freely swap between first- and third-person for both characters, I stuck with the defaults of FPP for Grace and TPP for Leon, both of which make total sense in practice. |Image credit:Capcom

I’m less endeared to Requiem’s take on crafting, which tasks Grace with gathering infected blood to build… pretty much anything, really. This makes sense for certain craftables, like an injector that can jam into unaware foes’ spines for an invaluable (if gross) instant kill. Less so for, say, bullets, and because the most common source of blood is defeated zombies, it’s sometimes a case of spending ammo to refill your ick jar to craft ammo.

Luckily, turning enemies into loot bags isn’t enough to downplay the threat they pose to the rookie Grace, whose lion’s share of the preview did well to maintain a consistent, slowly choking sense of dread. Eventually, though, the perspective switched back to Leon, who quickly got busy with the grenades and one-liners.

Image credit:Capcom

Can these two playstyles really coexist? It’s a fair question, especially for those of us who slogged our way through the series’ grandest – and failed – attempt at multiple protagonists, Resident Evil 6 . That was a turgid, bloated hulk of four disparate campaigns, spanning but separating survival horror, military action, adventure romping, and a spy thriller, while only making time for a couple of short MCU-style crossover cameos per story.

In some ways, Grace and Leon’s respective approaches are even more distinct than anything in Resi 6. But whereas that was, at least in part, a cynical targeting of wider, more lucrative shooter audiences, here it feels like the two parts are actively trying to balance each other, especially as the leads’ stories appear to be more closely entwined. Specifically, and as openly explained by the developers, Leon is intended as a release valve for the stresses of playing as Grace. To that end, this second section with Big L has you swiftly levelling the same monsters that, hours or minutes earlier, had been your sources of torment.

Image credit:Capcom

I’m not entirely sold on the nakedness of this catharsis play, but in short bursts – which, at least in this demo, is what Leon’s segments are – I do think it works. Manipulated or not, I still feel very strongly that I wanted to take my new pump shotty, round the corner where that chef had been patrolling, and effortlessly blast him to shreds in an unanswered buckshot volley. So, I did, and it was great.

On that note, it’s a clever idea to have us roaming the exact same play space as both Grace and Leon, instead of funnelling them down fully separate routes. The same rooms, the same corridors, the same desks I’d inched through and cowered behind as Grace, I was now seeing in a new dimension as Leon. Doors stopped being nervy thresholds into the unknown, and became breach-and-clear targets to kick down. Cabinets transformed from sneaking cover to bountiful resupply stations that Leon could pry open with his hatchet (nice bit of dramatic irony here – poor Grace, the ammo was right there ). And yes, those zombies, whose tongues had run so roundly in their heads when chasing down Grace, could finally have the tables turned upon them.

Image credit:Capcom

I won’t deny the satisfaction of the Leon bits, then, though they do carry risks. The big one being overuse: avenging your own fear is nice, but could wear thin over the course of a full game. Will Grace’s opponents, then-invincible boss types included, maintain their scariness factor if you build up an expectation of getting to dump hollow points into them an hour later? A solution to that could be to keep the transitions between protags inconsistent and unpredictable, but then that might mean playing either hardly any Leon or far too much. Again, I liked what I saw with him, but the thing about breaking tension with kung fu wisecrackery is that it happens quickly – and sticking with the more talented asskicker for too long might make it harder to build the horror pressure back up when it needs to.

Still, as granddad used to say, you can only preview the game that’s in front of you, and this slice of Requiem came across as impressively well-balanced. The full thing’s not far off, either: release day is 27th February.

Resident Evil Requiem

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Nintendo Switch 2

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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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