The Fallout TV show has revived an ancient argument about Vault Boy’s thumb

Look to windward

Image credit:Amazon

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/IMG_20240404_182611.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=“An image of a “please stand by” emergency broadcast title card at a Fallout TV show screening - 3”>

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Microsoft

As with the company’s Rings Of Power adaptation of Lord Of The Rings, it’s a design-by-committee assemblage of fan-favourite props and fittings , all recreated in flat, bright, HD-optimised shades that felt as sterile as the mocked-up Vault interior our screening took place in. That feeling of falseness makes sense within the artificial confines of a Vault, of course, but it defines the show’s above-ground scene-setting as well. The plot also screws up what is arguably the best moment in any Fallout game - cracking the Vault’s seal and seeing a ravaged post-nuclear Earth for the first time. Its parallel storytelling cuts to one above-ground location well before Purnell’s Lucy MacLean bids Vault 33 goodbye, ruining the suspense.

Still, there’s some excitement in the shape of Aaron Moten’s Maximus, a rapidly disillusioned Brotherhood Of Steel trainee, and Walton Goggins’s The Ghoul, a figure from before the Fall who is as good at gunslinging as he is chewing the scenery. And there’s intrigue in the fact that the Fallout TV show has absent-mindedly resurfaced an argument between Fallout players and fans that goes back years. Before I get to that, though, here are some thoughts from Bethesda boss Todd Howard.

There was a very rehearsed group Q&A after the screening, in which Howard mostly sat quietly while the cast enthused about things like wearing Brotherhood Of Steel power armour on set. Towards the end, the host threw Howard and videogames journalists a bone by asking how it felt to watch the show as official Fallout uncle, and is there anything here that might show up in a Fallout game - dare we utter the magic words, Fallout 5 ? “Well, I think the main way we approached this was to do something new, you know - treat it like we do with each game where we want to tell an original story, find some good geography,” Howard replied. “I say that the main character in all of the Fallout games and everything we’ve done is the world itself. And so being able to work with all of these people, and tell a new story, about what would the next chapter be and moving it forward.”

“You know, as I think about the franchise, the one thing the show is able to do that we were really never able to do in the games and the ways that we would have loved, is to show so much of the past, because that’s one of the things that really makes the world of Fallout special,” he went on. “And the way the show mines that with [Walton Goggins’s] character, and the other things that occur in the past, filling in all those things with Vault-Tec - I don’t want to give any spoilers, but they just did so many great things. And the way we discussed it, there was so much to mine there in the franchise, that would be both additive to it and also really, really special, if you’re already a fan of the series.”

In practice, the Fallout TV show doesn’t just excavate the Fallout world’s past. It also, perhaps not quite intentionally, digs into the history of how that universe has been interpreted and misread by players since the late 90s. If you’re a properly pickled Fallout fan, the most risible part of the first episode might be the opening, which treats us to a snapshot of life just before the apocalypse. In the process, two characters make reference to the supposed US military advice that if you see a mushroom cloud, you should gauge its height against your thumb. If your thumb appears taller than the cloud, you still have time to run for it. Fallout’s Vault Boy mascot, a parody of relentlessly upbeat 50s Cold War propaganda, is commonly pictured winking at his own elevated thumb, which the show implies is designed to illustrate the above rule. Hah, what a nice piece of trivia, I thought to myself. But then I innocently brought it up in the next morning meeting with the other RPS editors, and well, Several People Were Typing.

I probably should have known this as a fairly seasoned pre- and post-Bethesda-acquisition Fallout player, but it turns out people have been arguing about Vault Boy’s thumb since the days of the original Black Isle and Interplay CRPGs. The association with measuring mushroom clouds is apocryphal. It has been repeatedly debunked: in 2013, former Interplay head of development Brian Fargo told the Twitterers that “the vault boy simply has a positive attitude”. In 2015, Vault Boy’s artist Trammel Ray Isaac reiterated that “it’s got nothing to do with measuring the cloud”. Nonetheless, the claim keeps resurfacing , in what I consider a mildly interesting show of how history may be cancelled and overwritten even in the absence of, say, a worldwide nuclear exchange.

I guess the basic takeaway here is that cool ideas endure. Vault Boy simultaneously encouraging the viewer while cheerily angling his thumb over your shoulder at an exploding nuclear bomb is a cool idea, one that entirely suits Fallout’s brand of satire. I’m kind of aghast that Fargo and Isaac haven’t pretended that it was the intended reading all along - I know I would. I’m also maliciously looking forward to the, haha, fallout when e.g. top influencers who are new to the universe start posting thumbs-up selfies with a #pleasestandby caption and are immediately set upon by wizened Black Isle fans, like ghouls swarming Vault Dwellers as they step into the sun.

Image credit:Microsoft

Another reason Fallout’s made-up rule-of-thumb might have stayed the test of time is that it sounds like solid advice. Or at least, compact and memorable advice: if I see a mushroom cloud, you can bet your arse I want some straightforward, intuitive guidelines to follow other than “die immediately”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make sense even outside the world of Fallout. As Inverse reported in 2016, citing both the US Department of Energy and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors in Frankfurt, your thumb being bigger than the mushroom cloud reveals little in practice. The Fallout TV show itself gently disproves the maxim by having one character ask another whether it still applies if you have a smaller thumb.

The Inverse article does, however, leave room for another interpretation, one that I will now gleefully hand forward to the next generation of players and journalists arguing about Fallout lore. Two of the researchers quoted point out that wind direction is of vital importance when fleeing an atomic blast - if you’re downwind, all that icky radiation will come down squarely on your head, making it far more sensible to find shelter than flee. Perhaps, then, what Vault Boy is really doing with his thumbs-up is testing the wind? There we go, the seed has been sown. Let’s pick this conversation up again when Fallout 5 releases in 10 years time and/or in the aftermath of an actual nuclear war.

Season one of Fallout launches on Prime Video from April 11th.

Fallout 5

Xbox Series X/S , PC

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

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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