The Maw - 11th-16th March 2024

Our weekly news liveblog, and the week’s most appetising game releases

Image credit:Internet Archive Book Images

A new week has slouched into view, and with it a slight shift in The Maw’s terrifying visage. A new presence can be seen through the mist, perched on its shoulder, whispering tendrils of video game news nuggets into its greedy, hungry ear. The Maw appears sated, but will the distraction hold while we await the return of our news editor Edwin, whose long weekend sojourns won’t conclude until tomorrow? We pray and hope it will be satisfied in this relatively quiet week of game releases and newsy happenings, lest it turn its awful gaze upon us with a wrathful vengeance. FEED THE MAW.

Here are the games we’ve got our beady eyes on this week, at time of writing: brutal, but extremely stylish action RPG Death Of A Wish (11th March); the Metroid-inspired Rebel Transmute (11th March); turn-based fantasy roguelike Goblin Stone (12th March); WayForward’s new Contra run ’n’ gunner Contra: Operation Galuga (12th March); the early access launch of beloved team-based FPS Tribes 3: Rivals (12th March); retro love letter and archive project Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (13th March); I’m not sure it needs to exist, but here it is anyway Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection (14th March); Outcast: A New Beginning (15th March).

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 08:27 am 03/15/2024 FRIDAY FINALLY
• 09:04 am 03/14/2024 THURSDAY AGAIN
• 09:10 am 03/13/2024 WEDNESDAY IT IS
• 09:05 am 03/12/2024 WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TUESDAY
• 10:51 am 03/11/2024 MONDAY HAS ARISEN

MONDAY HAS ARISEN

The Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Beebop skins that Graham posted about last week got a second trailer, where you can see them in more detail.

Someone let Ernest Cline attempt a metaverse, starting with some sort of multi-IP Fortnite clone called Open, and I am heated . They allege it is coming to early access as part of the Readyverse, which was previously announced as launching this year .

Final Fantasy 16’s PC release sounds pretty close , with a demo first so you can test its “somewhat high” specs.

The Finals’ Season 2 brings hacker powers, a 5v5 mode, a new map and more to the multiplayer shooter later this week .

PUBG is taking the fight to Fortnite with destructible environments and more transportation items in 2024 , along with plans for more frequent gun balancing and a move to Unreal Engine 5.

Destiny 2 is crossing over with Ghostbusters next week , complete with a Slimer Ghost and Echo-1 (and a horny Sparrow).

WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TUESDAY

Forza’s big progression system overhaul goes live today.

Also out today: Death Trick: Double Blind , a lavish-looking visual novel in which you are a magician who is also a private eye, investigating a murder in a travelling circus.

A new extended trailer for space strategy sim Falling Frontier, which I continue to think looks very swish.

We’ve also been emailed about this cute little puzzle game, originally on Switch, that’s coming to PC on the 24th of April. Tents And Trees is sort of a twist on picross featuring little tents. And little trees. I played the demo and enjoyed it - it’s clean and extremely easy to play.

A long, interesting Youtuber chat featuring Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt in which we learn about how exactly Helldivers 2 handles stealth - which is to say, it technically doesn’t. Rather, stealth exists simply because “everything has to make sense”.

The new edition of Monster Hunter Stories hits Steam on 14th June.

A Helldivers 2 patch appears! Better shoot it.

Botanica is a 2D platformer from a young indie team with visuals reminscent of LocoRoco.

Settlers-alike Pioneers Of Pagonia has received its first major patch , which adds a fisher hut, warehouse, unit and production statistics, and much more besides.

Tribes 3: Rivals entered Steam Early Access today, with a roadmap of updates for the next several months which includes new maps and weapons. Is it really Tribes if you can’t fly a Shrike, though?

Starbreeze have parted ways with their CEO, six months after the disastrous launch of Payday 3 . The board say they felt new leadership was required, and have appointed the former CEO of Focus Home Interactive as interim CEO.

TopSpin 2K25 has an April 26th release date and will feature all four grand slams, famous tennis arenas, and pros past and present including Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi.

Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom launches on April 9th and looks utterly delightful . It’s a Nintendo 64 throwback platformer-collectathon, but there’s no jump button, because you’re a car. You can play a demo now.

WEDNESDAY IT IS

A trailer for Battlefield 2042’s seventh season, which includes new maps and guns.

Magic stealth sim Ereban: Shadow Legacy has a Steam and Epic Games Store release date - 10th April. I’ve not come across this one before and the trailer seems a bit good.

In a truly horrendous assault on the nerves of videogames news editors worldwide, ConcernedApe is tweeting one line from the Stardew Valley update 1.6 patch notes a day.

I’ll post a random non-spoilery patch note line each day until the 19th pic.twitter.com/shQyIcGhMW — ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) March 12, 2024

As passed on by Gamesradar , Ghost Ship Games would like to collaborate with Arrowhead on some kind of Helldivers X Deep Rock Galactic crossover. Dwarves know a thing or two about clearing out bugholes.

Emptyvessel are a new team “who specialize in the immersive shooter space”. Staff credits include Doom, Borderlands and Call Of Duty.

You’ll soon be able to make games that can be played directly on Discord as embedded apps. Here’s the official blog with more .

Nobody Wants To Die is my kind of high-end cyber-bullshit.

In Nif Nif you are a piglet who uses cards and… soup to… clean… animals in… turn-based battles and - yep, there goes the last of today’s functioning neurones. It’s for the Young People and seems sweet. Here’s the announcement trailer.

Sea Of Stars is getting three-player couch co-op .

Vindictus: Defying Fate’s public pre-alpha test goes live on Steam today - find out more on the game’s Discord server .

Here’s the full early access roadmap for fantasy survival game Enshrouded, via Steam .

Image credit:Keen Games

As Edwin shared earlier, one of 2023’s best single-player games looks set to become one of 2024’s top multiplayer offerings, as Sea of Stars devs Sabotage reveal they’re working on adding local co-op to the dazzling Chrono Trigger-inspired RPG .

Need to catch up with Final Fantasy 14 before Dawntrail? Best start now: there won’t be a free way to skip its story anytime soon , according to producer-director Yoshi-P.

Vampire survival game V Rising sinks its teeth into a full-blooded 1.0 release this May , exiting early access after two years.

You can check out Celtic-fantasy action RPG Vindictus: Defying Fate - set in the world of the 2010 MMO - in its free pre-alpha test, running until next Monday.

THURSDAY AGAIN

MiniMatt says: a morsel (sorry, mawsel) of news: Steam spring sale starts this evening 6pm UK time. DFS have a sale on too.

The Maw appreciates your offerings! Here’s a trailer for the Steam sale.

Fresh nooze about Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown’s DLC! The first of three free updates arrives next week, and there’s story DLC in the works too.

Exciting news for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown! 🎉 Three free updates and one story DLC are on the horizon in the coming months. 📆 The first update arrives on March 20! What upcoming feature are you most excited about: speedrun mode, boss rush, or new challenges? pic.twitter.com/Rc0uhD0WGX — Prince of Persia™: The Lost Crown (@princeofpersia) March 13, 2024

PCG has a piece on the Steam revival of Fancy Pants Adventures , a Flash game I wrote up for an AOL gaming blog many moons ago. Long live Flash!

The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is available now on Steam . It gives you the first two Pandemic games and whoops, it’s got a Mostly Negative user review consensus, with criticism centring on a shortage of servers.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a big new update which adds a new quest, amongst other things.

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver , the sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories , finally has a definitely for real release date: it will be arriving on Steam on May 16th, and here’s a new trailer to celebrate:

Arrowhead have added bug-gassing missions to Helldivers 2.

Breaking: Helldivers To Permanently Contain Bugs #StrohmannNews pic.twitter.com/QLRQbtQxov — HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) March 13, 2024

A new trailer for revived MOBA Gigantic covers some of the upcoming maps you’ll be playing when it comes to Steam on April 9th:

A new trailer for insectile RTS Empire Of The Ants. Explore, strategize, confront and… engage in diplomacy? How does ant diplomacy work, then?

A surprise helping of Frictional, passed onto me by Katharine earlier! In this 40 minute video, Thomas Grip breaks down the difficult development of the well-good , ocean horror Soma.

As mentioned earlier today, the Steam spring sale is now underway . Is that exciting?

Epic’s spring sale is also underway , running from today until March 28th. More interestingly, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is free to keep if you grab it before the 21st.

RimWorld is getting a new expansion and its first major update in a year. The DLC, Anomaly, will add horror-inspired scenarios featuring parasites and fleshbeasts and is due out in one month. The patch, 1.5, is available via an unstable beta branch now.

Final Factory, which transposes Factorio’s moreish efficiency-chasing construction sim to the far reaches of deep space, will launch in Early Access on April 9th .

Not to be outdone by Namco employing Brian Cox to explain Tekken, Capcom have tapped Ian McShane to explain Dragon’s Dogma 2. The video should go live in about 20 minutes below:

Welcome to Dragon’s Dogma 2 with Ian McShane.Watch on YouTube

FRIDAY FINALLY

FEED THE MAW.

Arctic Eggs is a downbeat frying pan simulator - been a while since we played one of those! Thanks to Quintin Smith (RPS in peace) for mentioning it on the Twits.

Saber have confirmed that Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando and Jurassic Park: Survival are still in the works, following Embracer’s sale of the company to Beacon Interactive.

I have received a lot of questions concerning the status of some of our previously announced projects now that Saber has separated from Embracer. I’m happy to confirm we’re still working on a number of titles, including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, John Carpenter’s Toxic… pic.twitter.com/s063LxKz0X — Tim Willits (@TimWillits) March 14, 2024

Brighter Shores is a new free-to-play fantasy MMORPG from Fen Research, a studio founded by original RuneScape designer Andrew Gower. It’s out Q3 2024. I quite like the chunky terrain fixtures and colour scheme.

Here’s a trailer for Palworld’s first raid boss, Bellanoir.

Aspyr have apologised for yesterday’s rocky Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection release. “At launch, we experienced critical errors with our network infrastructure,” reads a statement. “The result was incredibly high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and servers not appearing in the browser.”

Some bouncy new footage of Exo One developer Jay Weston’s vehicular follow-up, Exo Rally .

new gameplay on planet Tensei for my sci-fi rally game! It features lower gravity than Earth and higher atmospheric drag, plus deep salt deposits, so you want to actively search for exposed rock to keep your speed up. And if you’re sinking you can use thrusters to help you out!… pic.twitter.com/WsCYBB45VV — Jay Weston - Exo One/Rally ⚫️🕳☁️🏎️ (@JayWeston) March 15, 2024

A new trailer for Commandos: Origins, Kalypso’s remake of the squad tactics classic.

Somebody’s just mailed me about South Pole Bebop, which is Into The Breach with penguins, zombies and cards - the classic combo. Here’s a trailer.

Here’s some more details on Brighter Shores, the new free-to-play fantasy MMO from RuneScape creator Andrew Gower , as Edwin mentioned earlier. It’s due out later in 2024 after a decade in the works, and looks to balance a nostalgic look and feel with less grind than the genre’s classics.

Trying to emulate Hollywood movie soundtracks is holding video game music back , says Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu (and surprise, surprise, he doesn’t think soulless AI can write a decent score, either).

Fry bacon, sausages and cigarettes to escape an Antarctica where eggs are illegal in surreal sci-fi cook-’em-up Arctic Eggs , as shared by Edwin earlier today.

Stardew Valley’s creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone has confirmed the long-held rumour that harvesting in a certain direction is faster - but the almost decade-old bug won’t remain for long, as a fix is finally due in next week’s 1.6 update.

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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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