The 30 best Steam Deck games to play in 2026
Thousands of PC games are playable on the Steam Deck - here are some great ones to try
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Steam Deck Academy brings together all our guides and explainers on getting the most out of your Steam Deck, no student loans or sweaty dormitories required.
2026 begins with sad tidings for the Steam Deck : the original, LCD-screen model, the one that sparked a belle époque for handheld PCs , is no longer in production . Still, there’ll be no Viking funerals here, not least because no-one at RPS is particularly good with a bow. The Steam Deck is still out there, in the hands of millions, as is the enduring (and honestly, kinda better) Steam Deck OLED . And since they all still need something to play, there’s life in this guide to the 30 best Steam Deck games as well.
Same old caveats apply: this is not a beacon of consensus-built democracy like the RPS 100 , but simply a selection of games I’ve played and enjoyed on my own pair of Decks. The total number of compatible games, even if you never bother to install non-Steam launchers, likely numbers in the tens of thousands, and I am but one hardware editor. But! Any game that’s on this list has made the cut by proving itself genuinely well-suited to the hardware. Not only do they run adequately, maybe even super-smoothly, but they also cope well with the Steam Deck’s gamepad-style controls, and don’t suffer from confining themselves to its compact display. Bonus points if they don’t eat up too much battery life or SSD / microSD card space, too.
If you’re a new Deck owner, and this is one of your first stops on deciding what to do with it beyond sniffing the vents, consider also checking out our Steam Deck Academy . This is filled with tips and how-tos on getting the most out of your handheld, from choosing accessories to getting cloud game streaming up and running, as well as game-specific settings guides and performance tests.
Aperture Desk Job
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The short and sweet Aperture Desk Job isn’t just one of the best games to play on the Steam Deck – it should probably be the first one you try . It’s essentially a free Steam Deck tutorial, designed to help you get used to the controls layout, but is entertainingly administered through a genuinely funny mini-jaunt through a pre-Portal Aperture Science. It’s a clever, surprising, and unrelentingly charming introduction to your new gadget, not a mention a reminder that Valve should really make more games .
Hollow Knight: Silksong
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I feel funny about air-quotes “recommending” this because, occasionally, Hollow Knight: Silksong can feel like it’s actively trying to break your spirit: expect fiddly, disproportionately punishing platforming challenges and tedious boss runbacks at its worst. At its best, though, it’s brilliant. Even as I write this I feel the call of its gorgeous, staggeringly intricate fantasy kingdom, teeming with nooks and pathways to explore – and bugs to battle in its pacey, high-impact melee combat.
Silksong also makes some Deck-specific optimisations that the original Hollow Knight never bothered with, including native support for the screen’s 1280x800 resolution (Update: I’ve since reinstalled HL and it does support that rez. I swear blind it didn’t when I wrote that. Maybe a quiet patch?). It’s only a small install and it goes easy on battery drain, too.
Hades 2
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Even in early access form, Hades 2 is Steam Deck material par excellence. Flawless performance , frugal battery usage, and a favouring of gamepad controls make this roguelike sequel one to take with you. My only regret about adding it to this list is that it shunts off the original Hades , which is also excellent on handhelds (and for all the same reasons). I do prefer the more dynamic, magic-infused crowd control aspects that Hades 2 introduces, mind.
Dispatch
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I’ll admit that before this game, I hadn’t played a Telltale-style watch ’n’ choose game in several years. But while I remember them being as effective at heart-yanking as Dispatch , I definitely can’t recall them being as funny, as sharply directed, or as watchably animated. The fact that it’s centred around superheroes, typically a beaming lantern to the creative industries’ most mediocre moths, is equally stupefying. It’s capeshit! But good! What on earth.
I ended up playing half of its eight episodes on the Steam Deck, and really didn’t feel like I’d gained anything after delegating the rest to my main PC. In handheld mode, it runs faultlessly. You only need about three buttons. And text scaling works well enough that you won’t waste time on the decision-making bits by needing to magnify your options. I don’t love the actual hero-dispatching minigame, but it does pick up in intensity as the episodes progress, and it provides – quite smartly – another canvas for consequences to your narrative picks beyond the expected cutscenes.
Elden Ring
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For all of its performance hiccups on Windows, Elden Ring is such a good match for the Steam Deck that it’s earned Verified status from Valve. It’s certainly more comfortable to play and navigate menus with the thumbsticks than to deal with Elden Ring ’s wonky mouse and keyboard support, and running on Proton – with its shader pre-caching feature - actually helps smooth out the stuttering that, on Windows, plagues the game to this day.
Also, a quick update: Shadow of the Erdtree currently works fine as well, despite earlier bugs .
Mouthwashing
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Brendy reckons Mouthwashing is the most horrifying game of 2024 , and it’s definitely the one that’s made me the most uncomfortable. The tale of its stranded spaceship crew, forced to subsist on the cargo of alcoholic mouthwash (while caring for the incinerated husk of their seemingly responsible captain), plays out non-linearly but with a palpably rising dread. It’s tight, lean, brisk horror, its outright scares all the more effective for how sparingly they’re deployed.
Its PS1-style visuals and simple inputs also feel like great matches for the Steam Deck, as does its small install size and the fact that you can do a complete playthrough on a single Steam Deck OLED charge.
Wheel World
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Haunted-bike racer Wheel World didn’t have a great start to Steam Deck life; the way it chugged in busier parts of its free-roaming maps called to mind knackered engines, not free and clean pedal power. A couple of months after launch, however, it got a native Linux version specially for Deck players, which I’m pleased to report runs far more gracefully. Load up, whack it on Medium quality, and you’re good for 60fps in all but the busiest cities.
Even prior to this, I’d been enjoying Wheel World plenty. It’s a light and breezy kind of racing game that still manages to capture some of the sense of leg effort involved, and although I wish I could build jankier bikes with it , the piece-by-piece system for unlocking and customising upgrades is pleasantly accessible. Brilliant synthy soundtrack , too. I still play it, with the knowledge that doing so represents a career-worst missing of the point, in my car.
Haste
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Haste (formerly Haste: Broken Worlds ) breaks some of my best-Steam-Deck-game rules, such as its small text and refusal to accept D-pad inputs despite clearly being made with controllers in mind. Yet again and again, I return to it – Deck in hand – to liven up long journeys with its trainer-shreddingly fast running races against the encroaching end of the universe.
It’s a challenging hybrid of Sonic’s point to point sprinting and the hill-bobbing, momentum-based movement of Tribes or Exo One , with a dash of roguelikery in its unlockable upgrades and repeatable, lightly branching stage structure. Despite that salad of influences, it’s as cohesive and satisfying as it is pacey, and sticking to Low or Medium quality settings will ensure that none of that speed is lost to iffy framerates.
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
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Playing Thank Goodness You’re Here! is probably the funniest thing you can do with a Steam Deck, outside of employing a seductive Gabe Newell as the boot animation . There’s puzzling and platforming to do as you aid the oddball citizenry of an unrealistically colourful Yorkshire town, absolutely none of which taxes the Deck’s hardware in the slightest. Ultimately though, TGYH is all about the jokes, both verbal and visual, and there’s a gag density here that makes even comedy classic Jazzpunk look like it’s running short on material.
Caravan SandWitch
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While most modern open worlds go for scale, Caravan SandWitch focuses down the scope of its past-its-prime desert planet, making for a patch of dust that feels intimate and interesting – and those are fine qualities to have when you spend so much of your time exploring it in a crusty old van.
It’s Steam Deck Verified, averaging about 45fps on Medium quality and controlling smoothly, and it barely eats up 3GB of SSD space. Also, and at the risk of substituting real critical analysis with the phrase “the vibes”, there is something about Caravan SandWitch’s peaceful atmosphere, gentle puzzles, and reverby guitar soundtrack that lends very well to playing it horiztonally on the sofa, rather than bolt-upright in a desk chair.
Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands
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British comedy meets colourful turn-based violence in this music-themed, often hilarious RPG. No complaints at all with how Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands takes to the Steam Deck – it runs faultlessly, controls smoothly, and goes easy on the battery – so your attention can stay firmly fixed on managing your trio of rock ’n’ roll weirdoes. And kicking in literally every single door that appears.
Deathbulge often feels like a turn-based RPG for people who don’t like turn-based RPGs, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s briskly paced and not overly long, and most crucially, sports a clever twist on one-at-a-time fighting where each turn becomes a little race to strike first. As a result, each brawl involves nearly constant scheming and switching of party members, with minimal time spent simply watching attacks play out.
Signalis
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Come to Signalis for the classic-styled survival horror, stay for the deep, dense, tragic love story that will keep your brain tied in fascinated knots for weeks. The jump to a Steam Deck does absolutely nothing to dull its creepiness, and if anything, its controls are better suited to those gamepadish buttons and sticks than the mouse and keyboard of a desktop setup.
Both the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED will easily run Signalis at max quality (if that’s even a concern, given the intentionally PS1-aping visuals), and it’s a tiny install, so will fit without fuss on even the 64GB model. No wonder it’s got full Verified status from Valve.
Vampire Survivors
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At the suggestion of several RPS readers (and with the implicit recommendation of, apparently, scores of other Steam Deck owners ), I finally got round to playing Vampire Survivors . And fine, FINE, it rocks. Simply moving around and auto-attacking sounds like a dreadfully dull premise but as the XP-unlocked weapon upgrades stack up, and the initial trickles of enemies become screen-filling bullet hell hordes, holding back the tide with time-stopping lasers and weaponised Bibles becomes almost hypnotically compelling.
It only really needs the left thumbstick and an occasional face button for inputs, and the framerate keeps above 40fps even with the most overwhelming of monster crowds, so chalk Vampire Survivors up as another Steam Deck special. It doesn’t suck (hahhhhhh) the battery too quickly either: although I haven’t done a full full-to-empty test yet, I’d say you can expect four to five hours of surviving vampires before the Deck runs dry.
Planet of Lana
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This lush puzzle-platformer was one of my favourite games of 2023 , and I happily played through the whole thing on a Steam Deck OLED. Planet of Lana catches the eye with some splendidly colourful, Studio Ghibli-inspired visuals, and will keep your attention with its keenly paced adventuring – all without taxing the Deck’s hardware much, nor requiring more than a few of its basic inputs.
What made its puzzle design click for me, long after I’d bounced off similar side-scrollers like Inside and Limbo , is the addition of Lana’s adorable monkey-cat buddy. Most puzzles and enemy encounters require you weave in commands for him, which he’ll follow without frustration as you’re making your own moves. The result: executing solutions feels less like a load of dreary box-dragging and more like a flowing dance routine. ‘Twixt human and monkey-cat, but still.
Diablo IV
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From: Steam , Battle.net
When Diablo IV first released, the only way to wrestle it onto Valve handheld was with a strong will and a conveniently step-by-step guide to installing Battle.net on the Steam Deck . These days, you can just get the ARPG demon pummeller on Steam, which certainly makes things easier – though the old ways still work, if you happen to already own it on ActiBlizz’s store.
Either way, I actually enjoyed Diablo IV more on my Steam Deck than I did on my big, fat PC. This is veering even further into the realm of subjectivity than usual, but the thumbstick and face button controls just feel like I’m exerting more direct control over my unintentionally Billie Eilish-faced Necromancer , which in turn makes combat more satisfying than it is when delivering hundreds of abstract mouse clicks.
It also runs pretty well on mostly-high visual settings, which is an increasingly rare quality among megablockbusters. If you’re interested, you can check out my Diablo IV Steam Deck settings guide for some recommended tweaks.
Hi-Fi Rush
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Hi-Fi Rush is the kind of game that plays better on gamepad controls than a mouse and keyboard, so it always had the chance of being a great Steam Deck game. That chance becomes a certainty with its easygoing performance, allowing Medium quality to run at a nearly constant 60fps and High quality to rock n’ roll along at 45fps or more.
I’d happily recommend Tango Gameworks’ surprise rhythm action/hack-and-slash/platformer hybrid regardless of what you play it on: it’s a funny and satisfying brawler with some creative boss fights, and its final act kicks off with one of the single best combat encounters I’ve played in an action game. That it’s more or less a perfect match for the Steam Deck thus makes me one very happy wannabe rockstar indeed.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
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Look at us lucky PC folk – the first R&C game on Steam just happens to be the best one in the entire, two-decades-old series. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a funny, inventive, intelligently paced shooter-platformer with delightfully mad sci-fi weaponry, from the burrowing rocket launcher to the grenade that turns baddies into topiary sculptures.
On the Deck, it’s best played with the visuals toned down, but it still looks great – and that’s about the only concession required. An official Steam Deck control scheme adapts the former PS5 pad inputs flawlessly, and they’re all highly customisable if you want to make some tweaks.
Stray
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Stray shakes off notions of merely being a haha-funny-cat novelty game with some stellar worldbuilding and intuitive puzzle-platforming, helped along by a sleek context-sensitive traversal style. This translates perfectly to the Steam Deck’s controls, and despite being a bit of a looker, Stray avoids any serious performance issues on the portable hardware. There’s some very occasional stuttering but that’s present on high-end desktop PCs as well, and if you simply lower the Effects quality setting from High to Medium, you shouldn’t drop below 30fps.
Wavetale
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Wavetale runs as smoothly on the Steam Deck as your character does on water. An emotive platformer at its core, the greatest joy in Wavetale is catching a ride on your movement-mimicking merperson friend to zip across the rolling ocean. It’s a blast, especially once you also get the hang of chaining together jumps and hookshot moves to navigate the flooded world even faster.
Originally launched for the ill-fated Stadia before finding sanctuary on PC, Wavetale incidentally benefits from the Stadia controller inputs effectively matching the Deck’s, so it feels like it was meant to be here all along. Performance is good too: not quite a solid 60fps, but consistently about 47-50fps.
Smushi Come Home
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Smushi Come Home got the surprise launch treatment during Wholesome Direct 2023 , and whew, is wholesome the right word. Plucked from his island home, friendly fungi boy Smushi’s return journey is a ranging but almost invariably tranquil one through flowery forests and airy caves. The supporting cast are chill, the acoustic-led soundtrack is delightful, the platforming is gentle… it’s just a nice place to be, y’know? Especially with a mostly free-roaming setup that lets you poke around each new patch of woodland as you please.
The Steam Deck’s hardware limitations also do little to harsh the vibe. Smushi Come Home runs at a consistent 60fps and is probably best played with pad controls anyway, while battery drain is on the slower side. I did find it tricky to read the in-game map at 800p, though there’s always the Steam Deck’s zoom tool, and once I got the lay of the land I rarely needed the cartographic help anyway.
Death’s Door
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If you’re like me ( or Katharine ) and don’t have the patience, temperament, or hand-eye coordination for Soulslikes, you may find Death’s Door more palatable. It’s a less demanding, though still challenging, take on “How do I kill this dude no wait I am dead” RPGs that also happens to suit the Steam Deck very comfortably indeed. I actually tried playing it on my desktop after first trying it on the Deck, and quickly abandoned the mouse and keyboard for a return to the handheld’s twin sticks. It’s easy to get a solid 60fps, too.
Forza Horizon 5
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Portal 2
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Portal 2 was one of first games Valve showed running on the Steam Deck, and it’s clear why. It runs smoothly, doesn’t need a mouse and keyboard, and is even one of least demanding games I’ve tried in terms of battery life drain – most 3D games tend to quaff a full charge in around two hours, half of the four that Portal 2 took. It’s also a successful showcase of the device’s rear buttons, which let you jump or crouch without taking your portal-aiming thumb off the right stick.
The Entropy Centre
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A charming Portal-inspired puzzler where instead of completing brain-bending test chambers for the amusement of a murderous AI, you’re completing brain-bending test chambers to keep the Earth from exploding. Also, instead of portals, your gun fires a time-rewinding beam that scoots objects back along their previous path of movement, or rebuilds ruined stairs and bridges. It makes for some devious puzzle-platforming challenges that you almost have to solve in reverse, as well as some entertaining action sequences based around making desperate repairs to an escape route.
The Steam Deck can run The Entropy Centre reasonably well at Ultra quality, though I found switching to High maintained its polished aesthetic while more consistently staying above 45fps. Its simple control scheme and small installation footprint – less than 12GB – give further credence to its handheld suitability.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
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The Steam Deck wouldn’t be a consumer electronics product if it didn’t run The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , only this time Todd H. won’t need to sell you a whole new copy. Other than some slight UI awkwardness when trying to type in a new character name, this is the enticingly sprawling Skyrim that we’ve known for years – just explorable on a handheld.
Albion Online
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Playable MMOs are in short supply on the Steam Deck, whether it be down to anti-cheat software refusing to shake Proton’s hand or complex controls that just can’t go without a keyboard. Nevertheless, I was impressed by how the free-to-play Albion Online adapts to the Steam Deck’s inputs and screen. One or two button presses can handle a full loadout of items and spells, and if using a trackpad to direct the mouse cursor doesn’t feel quite right, you can just prod the touchscreen instead.
RimWorld
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RimWorld is one of very few games – seriously, hardly any – to have been patched specifically to improve how it works on the Steam Deck . That means the interface, an easily overwhelming patchwork of icons, indicators, logs, tabs and other tiny-typefaced elements, remains legible on the 1280x800 screen. You can also zoom in further, and scroll through lists by swiping the touchscreen. All very thoughtful additions that might just help your sandbox base-building efforts end in survival rather than starvation.
Half-Life 2
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Valve were so keen on making Half-Life 2 suitable for their portable PC that they went back, early in 2022, to optimise the 2004 shooter’s UI – so it would be more accommodating to a compact touchscreen. Unsurprisingly, it also takes maximum advantage of all the Deck’s bells and whistles, giving you a full choice between thumbstick, trackpad or gyroscope aiming.
Unpacking
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Lovely little life-change sim Unpacking feels, appropriately, right at home on the Steam Deck. If anything, the leisurely pace of its stacking and arranging puzzles is a better fit for those moments of melting into a sofa or lazing around in bed, Deck in hand, than it is for sitting up straight at your PC’s desk. I also love how you can use the touchscreen to drag your lifetime of bric-a-brac around the room, though the left thumbstick works well too.
Outer Wilds
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“ Outer Wilds is best experienced with a game pad”, says its opening splash. A Steam Deck will suffice as well, allowing you to to enjoy this cute, thoughtful generator of ill-fated space adventures away from your main 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
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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:
| Blueprint | Type | Recipe | Crafted At |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bettina | Weapon | 3x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Heavy Gun Parts 3x Canister | Gunsmith 3 |
| Blue Light Stick | Quick Use | 3x Chemicals | Utility Station 1 |
| Aphelion | Weapon | 3x Magnetic Accelerator 3x Complex Gun Parts 1x Matriarch Reactor | Gunsmith 3 |
| Combat Mk. 3 (Flanking) | Augment | 2x Advanced Electrical Components 3x Processor | Gear Bench 3 |
| Combat Mk. 3 (Aggressive) | Augment | 2x Advanced Electrical Components 3x Processor | Gear Bench 3 |
| Complex Gun Parts | Material | 2x Light Gun Parts 2x Medium Gun Parts 2x Heavy Gun Parts | Refiner 3 |
| Fireworks Box | Quick Use | 1x Explosive Compound 3x Pop Trigger | Explosives Station 2 |
| Gas Mine | Mine | 4x Chemicals 2x Rubber Parts | Explosives Station 1 |
| Green Light Stick | Quick Use | 3x Chemicals | Utility Station 1 |
| Pulse Mine | Mine | 1x Crude Explosives 1x Wires | Explosives Station 1 |
| Seeker Grenade | Grenade | 1x Crude Explosives 2x ARC Alloy | Explosives Station 1 |
| Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor) | Augment | 2x Advanced Electrical Components 3x Processor | Gear Bench 3 |
| Angled Grip II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 2 |
| Angled Grip III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 3 |
| Hullcracker | Weapon | 1x Magnetic Accelerator 3x Heavy Gun Parts 1x Exodus Modules | Gunsmith 3 |
| Launcher Ammo | Ammo | 5x Metal Parts 1x Crude Explosives | Workbench 1 |
| Anvil | Weapon | 5x Mechanical Components 5x Simple Gun Parts | Gunsmith 2 |
| Anvil Splitter | Mod | 2x Mod Components 3x Processor | Gunsmith 3 |
| ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
| Barricade Kit | Quick Use | 1x Mechanical Components | Utility Station 2 |
| Blaze Grenade | Grenade | 1x Explosive Compound 2x Oil | Explosives Station 3 |
| Bobcat | Weapon | 3x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Light Gun Parts | Gunsmith 3 |
| Osprey | Weapon | 2x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Medium Gun Parts 7x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Burletta | Weapon | 3x Mechanical Components 3x Simple Gun Parts | Gunsmith 1 |
| Compensator II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 4x Wires | Gunsmith 2 |
| Compensator III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Defibrillator | Quick Use | 9x Plastic Parts 1x Moss | Medical Lab 2 |
| ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
| Equalizer | Weapon | 3x Magnetic Accelerator 3x Complex Gun Parts 1x Queen Reactor | Gunsmith 3 |
| Extended Barrel | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Extended Light Mag II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 2 |
| Extended Light Mag III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 3 |
| Extended Medium Mag II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 2 |
| Extended Medium Mag III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 3 |
| Extended Shotgun Mag II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 2 |
| Extended Shotgun Mag III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 3 |
| Remote Raider Flare | Quick Use | 2x Chemicals 4x Rubber Parts | Utility Station 1 |
| Heavy Gun Parts | Material | 4x Simple Gun Parts | Refiner 2 |
| Venator | Weapon | 2x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Medium Gun Parts 5x Magnet | Gunsmith 3 |
| Il Toro | Weapon | 5x Mechanical Components 6x Simple Gun Parts | Gunsmith 1 |
| Jolt Mine | Mine | 1x Electrical Components 1x Battery | Explosives Station 2 |
| Explosive Mine | Mine | 1x Explosive Compound 1x Sensors | Explosives Station 3 |
| Jupiter | Weapon | 3x Magnetic Accelerator 3x Complex Gun Parts 1x Queen Reactor | Gunsmith 3 |
| Light Gun Parts | Material | 4x Simple Gun Parts | Refiner 2 |
| Lightweight Stock | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 3 |
| Lure Grenade | Grenade | 1x Speaker Component 1x Electrical Components | Utility Station 2 |
| Medium Gun Parts | Material | 4x Simple Gun Parts | Refiner 2 |
| Torrente | Weapon | 2x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Medium Gun Parts 6x Steel Spring | Gunsmith 3 |
| Muzzle Brake II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 4x Wires | Gunsmith 2 |
| Muzzle Brake III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Padded Stock | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 3 |
| Shotgun Choke II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 4x Wires | Gunsmith 2 |
| Shotgun Choke III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Shotgun Silencer | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Showstopper | Grenade | 1x Advanced Electrical Components 1x Voltage Converter | Explosives Station 3 |
| Silencer I | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 4x Wires | Gunsmith 2 |
| Silencer II | Mod | 2x Mod Components 8x Wires | Gunsmith 3 |
| Snap Hook | Quick Use | 2x Power Rod 3x Rope 1x Exodus Modules | Utility Station 3 |
| Stable Stock II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 2 |
| Stable Stock III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 3 |
| Tagging Grenade | Grenade | 1x Electrical Components 1x Sensors | Utility Station 3 |
| Tempest | Weapon | 3x Advanced Mechanical Components 3x Medium Gun Parts 3x Canister | Gunsmith 3 |
| Trigger Nade | Grenade | 2x Crude Explosives 1x Processor | Explosives Station 2 |
| Vertical Grip II | Mod | 2x Mechanical Components 3x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 2 |
| Vertical Grip III | Mod | 2x Mod Components 5x Duct Tape | Gunsmith 3 |
| Vita Shot | Quick Use | 2x Antiseptic 1x Syringe | Medical Lab 3 |
| Vita Spray | Quick Use | 3x Antiseptic 1x Canister | Medical Lab 3 |
| Vulcano | Weapon | 1x Magnetic Accelerator 3x Heavy Gun Parts 1x Exodus Modules | Gunsmith 3 |
| Wolfpack | Grenade | 2x Explosive Compound 2x Sensors | Explosives Station 3 |
| Red Light Stick | Quick Use | 3x Chemicals | Utility Station 1 |
| Smoke Grenade | Grenade | 14x Chemicals 1x Canister | Utility Station 2 |
| Deadline | Mine | 3x Explosive Compound 2x ARC Circuitry | Explosives Station 3 |
| Trailblazer | Grenade | 1x Explosive Compound 1x Synthesized Fuel | Explosives Station 3 |
| Tactical Mk. 3 (Defensive) | Augment | 2x Advanced Electrical Components 3x Processor | Gear Bench 3 |
| Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing) | Augment | 2x Advanced Electrical Components 3x Processor | Gear Bench 3 |
| Yellow Light Stick | Quick Use | 3x Chemicals | Utility Station 1 |
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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