The Maw - 13th-17th May 2024

This week’s most splendiferous game releases, plus our weekly newsblog

Image credit:José Guadalupe Posada / Wikimedia Commons

Some fresh astral god trivia from my accidental molar expedition a few weeks back: each of the Maw’s teeth is different. Some form a fractal baleen network of crosshatched layers disappearing backward into the vanishing point; others are shaped like lockpicks, raccoon heads and semi-detached houses. This week’s new game releases are no less motley and misshapen, though thankfully not quite as heavily varnished with plaque: there’s something in the shop for everyone, I think.

Today, the 13th May, we open with Homeworld 3 , the long-awaited space strategy-me-do which Nic has already reviewed and is broadly fond of . It’s gracefully accompanied by The Land Beneath Us , a turn-based rogue-lite dungeon crawler in which you tunnel into an underworld inspired by Welsh mythology. 14th May brings Athenian Rhapsody , which brazenly describes itself as “a souls-like platonic dating simulator with cooking-mama and WarioWare style battle mechanics”. On the 15th, there’s android-bisecting boomer shooting from Mullet Madjack , period RTSing from Men Of War 2 , and Paper Mario-ish choose-your-own adventuring from Baladins .

And then, on the 16th, a perfect singularity of little and large, eccentric and mainstream titles in the shape of Histera , a free-to-play PvP shooter in which the arena glitches between time periods, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver , sequel to the 2015 hit 2064: Read Only Memories , Ghost Of Tsushima: Director’s Cut , the PC port of the open world samurai blockbuster, and Simogo’s Lorelei And The Laser Eyes , which sounds a bit like an Agatha Christie story spliced with the Crystal Maze. For an intellectual end to the week on 17th May, there’s Arcane Assembly , a metroidvania in which you program your own spells using a visual scripting language.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 06:09 am 05/17/2024 BE RELIEVED FOR FRIDAY
• 08:04 am 05/16/2024 PREDICTABLY, THURSDAY HAS HAPPENED.
• 07:35 am 05/15/2024 BE UPSTANDING FOR WEDNESDAY
• 07:57 am 05/14/2024 TUESDAY? IN THIS ECONOMY?
• 08:26 am 05/13/2024 PRAISED BE MONDAY

PRAISED BE MONDAY

Via PC Gamer , publisher NetEase have apologised for a controversial - and honestly, a touch dystopian - “non-disparagement” requirement for content creators and streamers that enforced certain restrictions around coverage of Marvel Rivals. It included no-nos on:

b. Engaging in malicious comparisons with competitors or belittling the gameplay or differences of “Marvel Rivals” or providing subjective negative reviews of the game.

As reported by Eurogamer , EA are thinking about “sensitive” implementations of in-game advertising. When is somebody at EA not thinking about this, I have to ask?

A demo for Enter The Chronosphere , an ARPG with bullet hell elements and freeze-time decision-making, set in worlds where “the laws of physics melt”.

Zenimax have trademarked IDKFA for videogamey products, IDKFA being an original Doom cheatcode that gives you all the weapons. A new Doom reveal in the offing? I’d tell you what IDKFA stands for but it has naughty language.

Here’s a fairly interesting interview with Helldivers 2 lead writer Russ Nickel , in which Nickel names his favourite Helldivers 2 combat barks, and wonders whether AI can write satire.

As Brendan mentioned earlier, Square Enix plan to “win over PC users” with an “aggressive” shift away from console exclusives - so maybe we won’t be waiting so long for the next FF7 Remake game to land on PC? Rebirth sometime soon would be nice at least.

PC classics Ultima, SimCity and Myst have been added to the World Video Game Hall of Fame , along with arcade classic Asteroids and some game called “Resident Evil”?

EA are thinking about inserting adverts into games - but don’t worry, it’ll be “very thoughtful” , according to their CEO.

The first Red Dead Redemption, including zombie expansion Undead Nightmare, could finally be coming to PC - and soon - according to a fresh datamine.

TUESDAY? IN THIS ECONOMY?

More Nebulous content for the sirius wargamerz. It’s a dev diary about fleet intelligence.

And here’s a developer diary for part five of The Long Dark’s Tales From The Far Territory expansion . It adds a new alpha predator, the Cougar, a new mountain pass region and a… “Misery mode”. Oh good, because if there’s one thing The Long Dark is noticeably deficient in, it’s misery. They’re also adding a “Cheat Death System” in fairness.

Camerooni says: idkfa doesn’t contain any dirty language.. that’s revisionist history.. all codes start with id + k - keys f - firearms a - ammo maybe true then that don’t know f*ing anything lol ;) I jest I just, but this is bad YouTube ‘influencer’ style commentary.

Fear not, I am already getting my arse kicked on this count in the associated news article. Though there does seem to be a bit of on-going disagreement about the term. If John Romero ever lets me interview him again I’ll check with him.

Supergiant have detailed plans for Hades 2’s first patch and how they’re updating the game in general.

As promised last week, Fallout 4 has a new patch “that adds the ability to manage your control over the game’s graphic fidelity or performance” alongside “additional fixes and improvements to address some of the feedback you provided us with on the previous update”.

Assassin’s Creed Codename RED has been officially titled Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This is the feudal Japan-set one. We’ll hear more in June at Summer Games Fest.

SeekerX says: It occurs to me I didn’t actually say what kind of game An English Haunting (or Postmodern Adventures’s previous game, Nightmare Frames) is – they make old-school point and click adventures in the Lucasarts / Sierra mold. John Walker (RPS in peace) found Nightmare Frames to be “a love letter to the horror genre” and “a solid, interesting adventure, and one that’s “adult” in the sense that it’s squarely aimed at adults, rather than the more tiresome understanding of the word”, and “a solid piece of adventuring, with a clear passion for its genre.”

Ah yeah, I should have included this in the round-up! Alice B likes the looks of it too.

A tiny bit of info about one of Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree’s new creatures. People point out that it looks a fair bit like the frenzy-inducing Winter Lanterns in Bloodborne. Seems relatively chill, though.

The abandoned and tragic who forage beneath the umbra pray for the embrace of a new master.​ ​ Pre-order #ELDENRING Shadow of the Ertree: https://t.co/ivdzDMJRKZ pic.twitter.com/VffO2K90Zq — ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) May 13, 2024

Whispers In The Moss is a retro RPG 12 years in the making and there’s a demo and a release date next month .

Trackmania players are competing to finish Deep Dip 2 , a 16-storey nightmare track where a single mistake can send you plummeting to the floor.

Jake Solomon and a crew of former Firaxis and Maxis developers have formed Midsummer Studios , with a few new details on the life sim project we spoke to Solomon about last year .

Minecraft is turning 15 years old and Mojang are giving away a Character Creator item each day in the second half of May to celebrate .

Double Eleven, developers on the Prison Architect series for the past nine years, are parting ways with Paradox Interactive just months ahead of the release of their sequel, Prison Architect 2 . A new studio, Kokku, will finish work on the management sequel by resolving technical issues which led to a recent delay.

BE UPSTANDING FOR WEDNESDAY

In a bid to constrain the Maw’s rate of ingestion (ROI), the RPS Furnacemasters have produced a variety of toffee so dense that light slows to a standstill in its vicinity. The forges are now full of congealed photon and the afterimages of screaming sous chefs. Utter pandemonium. Nonetheless, we must FEED IT.

Valheim’s new Ashlands biome is here . Hope you like it hot.

Here are the global release times for Hellblade 2, which launches in under a week.

We are now just one week from launch! Here’s when you’ll be able to play Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II ⏰ Xbox: https://t.co/zWoXR4JHvq Steam: https://t.co/ktwuvNOjbM pic.twitter.com/D1Rk1c5CgI — Ninja Theory (@NinjaTheory) May 14, 2024

Via Gematsu , NieR series producer Yosuke Saito, NieR series director Yoko Taro and NieR series composer Keiichi Okabe have a new project. “It might be NieR, it might not be NieR,” Saito told Famitsu, with what I imagine was a rogueish twinkle in his eye.

The Anniversary Edition of Braid is out now on Steam , sporting 40 new levels and developer commentary. The original Braid is 15 years old now, which also makes me at least that old. Incredible.

Do give the demo for Athenian Rhapsody a go, if you haven’t already. Game has definite moxey .

My understanding is that games are always better when their numbers are bigger, so everything in the replies and QTs for this post is therefore a classic.

if you’re currently working on a video game, take a short break, pick a number in your code or data files, multiply it by 1000, and post the results — Tyler Glaiel (@TylerGlaiel) May 9, 2024

Honestly, “inspired by FF9” is all I needed to sell me on upcoming JRPG tribute Alzara Radiant Echoes , which is currently crowdfunding over on Kickstarter, but “Dark Souls composer” and “Genshin Impact artist” certainly help.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is both a samurai and a ninja game , as it borrows Syndicate’s dual-character story. African swordsmaster Yasuke will be the series’ first real-life protagonist too, when the latest entry releases on November 15th.

Dead by Daylight is adding D&D killer Vecna , voiced by Critical Role DM Matthew Mercer, with Castlevania also on the way. There’ll be a supersized 2v8 mode this summer, too!

Ghost of Tsushima’s PSN login requirement will stop you playing multiplayer on Steam Deck (it’ll technically be “Unsupported”), with cross-play in beta at launch.

Ubisoft have quietly “stopped development” on looter shooter The Division Heartland, according to an earnings report from the company . They’ve done this, they say, to focus the resources on “bigger opportunities such as XDefiant and Rainbow Six.” Xdefiant is scheduled to come out this month and looks… fine?

PREDICTABLY, THURSDAY HAS HAPPENED.

Amplitude’s rather excellent 4X Endless Legend is free on Steam till 23rd May. Here’s what Adam Smith (RPS in BG3) said about it back in the day : “Legend feels like an experiment, and it’s a supremely confident and engaging one that doesn’t quite fit pre-existing templates. It’s a 4x game, sure, but it’s a not a high or low fantasy one. It’s weird fantasy and the weird cuts through to the playstyles as well as the art and fiction.”

As cpt_freakout notes, Arctic Eggs is out today . It’s a freaky frying pan simulator that is counter-intuitively set in Antarctica. Eggs aside, you can fry bullets, cigarettes, bottles of beer and what I think are pufferfish. That frying pan is clearly a distant cousin of the Maw.

BE RELIEVED FOR FRIDAY

An update from the Ubisofties: Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t an always-online game, though you’ll need internet to install it.

An update from the team on Assassin’s Creed Shadows. pic.twitter.com/PTY9TXSiEo — Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) May 16, 2024

Two-thirds of the way through this billowing, insubstantial account of what Embracer spin-off Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends are doing with Lord Of The Rings, we learn that Embracer Freemode CEO Lee Guinchard is “testing a concept AI character aging generator and other tools that might enable both players and game developers to generate depth to the world. He has an internal tool called Ask Gandalf.” Hahahaha. If Embracer existed in Middle-earth, Sauron and all the other races would have allied against them.

Take-Two haven’t actually closed Intercept Games or Roll7, according to CEO Strauss Zelnick. “We’ve announced that we’re saving $165 million in existing and future costs, but we haven’t shuttered anything.” That’s despite an earlier WARN notice filed in Washington which attributes 70 Take-Two layoffs in Seattle to a “closure”.

As reported by Eurogamer , Take-Two have narrowed GTA 6’s release date to “fall” 2025.

The 1.0 launch trailer for Wantless, another cpt_freakout spot. It’s a turn-based tactics game in which you are a magic doctor who travels inside each patient’s mind to battle their delusions. A wrinkle from the Steam page : “you start your turn with 8 Action points but spending one grants it to each enemy. The more you act, the more your opponents will react!” Sounds promising. Wantless | Launch Trailer Watch on YouTube

Artist Corey Brickley has put together a list of mods designed to turn Dragon Age: Inquisition into a limber 40 hour experience with minimal faff and grind. I loved that game, but I also had to review it in three days, and you’d best believe I would have liked it to be shorter and more story-focussed.

SteamWorld Heist II just got a new trailer - it’s a ‘Story Deep Dive’ this time.

Activision have unveiled a new studio working on an original ‘narrative AAA franchise’ , days after corporate parent Microsoft shut down the devs behind the likes of narrative-driven games like Prey, The Evil Within and Tokyo: Ghostwire.

Looks like Valve’s next game is Deadlock, a multiplayer shooter-MOBA mix of Overwatch, Dota and Team Fortress , as screenshots and details leak out of a closed playtest.

As Nic shared earlier, Hades 2 will likely be in early access until 2025 , with the roguelite sequel’s first big update to add new enemies, maps and features - once some smaller tweaks are done and dusted, that is.

Fortnite’s next video game crossover is with Fallout , teasing an incoming collab for next season Wrecked when it arrives in exactly one week’s time.

Death In Abyss is a PS1-looking 3D flight sim inspired by Devil Daggers in which your ship reverses by doing the backstroke. Very enthused about that teaser video. Fairly wowed by the developer’s previous creations , too.

Redfall is getting one final update after all , despite the closure of Arkane Austin. It’ll add an offline mode and a singleplayer pause function.

The next Call Of Duty will launch on Game Pass on day one , according to anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

There’s now a trailer for the Dead Cells animated series , which debuts in France this summer. (It’ll arrive in English later this year, but there are subtitles for now.)

Seablip is a pixel art pirate ’em up that’s out now in Early Access . Looks cute!

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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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