The Maw - 8th-13th April

Our weekly news liveblog, with this week’s freshest videogame releases

Image credit:Internet Archive Book Images

Time for another sorry week of heaving news-fuel into the Maw’s thousand-and-one gullets and urgh, what’s that brooding stench? It reeks of embargoes in here. The air is foul with it. This week is the week of the inaugural Triple-I Initiative showcase , aka the IIIIs, aka a 45-minute dollop of trailers and announcements from such studios as Slay The Spire creators MegaCrit and Darkest Dungeon developers Red Hook. We know of a couple of the announcements in advance; others, we’ll learn about alongside you on 10th April.

There won’t just be game announcements this week, of course. In a shocking twist with unforeseeable implications, people are actually releasing games too. Here are a few we think might be OK-to-brilliant: “Lofi Girl: The Game” Spirit City: Lofi Sessions (8th April); arty sniper fest Children Of The Sun (9th April); Lovecraftian Freelancer homage Underspace (early access, 10th April); third-person stealth fantasy Ereban: Shadow Legacy (10th April); isometric Mad Max -alot Broken Roads (10th April); swoopy cosy MMO Sky: Children of the Light (early access, 10th April); mythological Chinese roguelike Lotus Lantern: Rescue Mother (12th April).

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 08:00 am 04/12/2024 FRIDAY ON MY MIND
• 07:59 am 04/11/2024 I LOST THURSDAY
• 08:11 am 04/10/2024 A WEDNESDAY CAR
• 08:12 am 04/09/2024 LOVE YOU TILL TUESDAY
• 08:25 am 04/08/2024 BLUE MONDAY

BLUE MONDAY

The air is literally crackling with suspense! All news writers gain +10 conductivity. Chase the weasels out of the centrifuge and FEED THE MAW.

Incline ～Railway of devil’s valley～ is… a game where you exorcise demons using a sloping railway, set in “the retro-romantic world of Japan in the late Meiji era.” I have no prior experience to bring to bear on this. Does exorcism feature anywhere in Railroad Tycoon?

Sonic co-creator and recently convicted inside-trader Yuji Naka had some warm words for out-going Dragon Quest producer Yu Miyake over the weekend, accusing him of lying to a court (caveat that I’m going by a machine translation of the below tweet).

スクエニ｢ドラクエ｣責任者の三宅氏が異動､テコ入れへ #会社四季報オンライン https://t.co/Zt9nXnyfBg やっとかと言う感じ。裁判に嘘(証拠あり)を書いたメモを提出するような人なので早くいなくなれば良いのにと思ってました。会ったことないですが、新しく社長になった人は良い人かも知れませんね — Yuji Naka / 中 裕司 (@nakayuji) April 7, 2024

Speaking to The Gamer , Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has thrown a bone to Final Fantasy Tactics fans. “It’s probably about time that we do a new one.”

More in railway news: they’ve added nuclear power to Railgrade, together with a minimap for sandbox mode, different zeppelin docks, and the ability to automatically adjust train behaviour when they stop at stations.

Recently released MiniMatt favourite Captain Of Industry has also been updated. The additions include a new map called Armageddon that has a massive crater in it. Scenic! Full patch notes here - it’s a biggie.

KRVeale says: Throne of Bone has a good demo and is coming out in - (checks) - five hours, apparently

The boy Jarvis wrote about this a few months ago and it does seem good.

alexithelion says: A potential tip-off - the American literary journal Post45 have a Contemporaries “cluster” of online essays all about (reading) Disco Elysium - they might be taking more academic tacks for some, but these essays are open-access/freely available online and I imagine will be of interest to RPS readers and/or DE or RPG fans!

Some very intriguing paper titles . This seems worthy of the illustrious Sunday Papers.

You’ll soon be able to reactivate old seasons in Deep Rock Galactic - here’s how that works .

It looks like the Splinter Cell remake might be about to reappear after years in the dark , as devs Ubisoft Toronto tease a possible re-reveal in June.

Unnerving £2 gem Buckshot Roulette is fresh out on Steam with a new update , and working on a multiplayer mode so you can play shotgun roulette with pals.

Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian will likely bring their next game to early access again , but admit the work-in-progress approach isn’t right for every dev.

LOVE YOU TILL TUESDAY

According to Eurogamer , there are layoffs and other cost-cutting measures underway at UK retailer GAME. Ah, GAME - one of the last big high street trade-in places. Everybody form a defensive circle around CEX.

Triple Triad/Tetra Master homage Tetra Tactics - previously Card Craft - is leaving Steam early access today with a brand new soundtrack, an overhauled tutorial, hero power bugfixes and various quality-of-life improvements.

A big update for lairy dungeon physics-me-do Noita. The game is 60% off on Steam to celebrate.

They put the eclipse in Call of Doody.

There is a solar eclipse happening on Rebirth Island in Warzone to coincide with today’s solar eclipse pic.twitter.com/L7EaNwZhaf — CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) April 8, 2024

There’s a screening of Destiny 2’s Final Shape expansion happening at 9.30am PT / 12.30pm ET / 5.30pm BST - you can watch it live below.

EA continue their endless quest to find even a single studio who can make a good Battlefield game. They’ve announced that EA Motive - them from the Dead Space remake - are building a team to have a shot at it . Their Iron Man game remains in development, too.

We missed this news a couple of weeks ago, I think, or I did. Paradox’s 2023 grand strategy Star Trek: Infinite will receive no further updates . Please, only one joke per commenter about it not really being “Infinite” then.

Gigantic was a combo of MOBA and hero shooter that sadly shuttered back in 2018. Its surprise revival Gigantic: Rampage Edition launched on Steam today , with a new mode, new characters, and a new premium (but inexpensive) price.

Spirit City: Lofi Sessions is a “gamified focus tool” that launched on Steam yesterday . Like most games, it’s a power fantasy: of living in a nice space; of being able to put things on the wall without losing your deposit; of owning a pet; of being productive; and so on. It’s like watching an aspirational vlogger, but it won’t try to flog you a Notion subscription within twelve minutes.

Variety report that indie horror haul ’em up Dredge is the latest game to have its movie rights snapped up by Story Kitchen. It joins Disco Elysium, My Friend Pedro, Life Is Strange, It Takes Two, Sifu, Sleeping Dogs, SLime Rancher, Streets Of Rage and Vampire Survivors.

A WEDNESDAY CAR

FEED THE MAW. It’s the Triple-I Initiative tonight, so you can expect a fair bit of today’s news to be clustered towards the evening.

SEGA have announced that it’s “the year of Shadow” (the Hedgehog). Why you do this, SEGA.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic will release on May 20th, Blizzard have announced.

As Edwin noted earlier, World of Warcraft Classic will revisit 14-year-old story arc Cataclysm next month , with a pre-launch patch landing on April 30th ahead of the expansion.

Eldritch fishing game Dredge is being made into a movie by the people behind the Sonic the Hedgehog films.

Palworld is adding its own Pokémon Stadium mode with multiplayer PvP arenas later this year.

A remake of Dead Space 2 was reportedly in the works, but has since been shelved due to poor sales of the first game , according to regular industry insider Jeff Grubb. The news follows developers EA Motive shifting to work on the Battlefield series, alongside their upcoming Iron Man game.

Well, wouldya believe it, EA have now denied the recent claims that a Dead Space 2 remake was cancelled due to ’lacklustre’ sales of the first game , with development of the sequel reportedly never under consideration to begin with.

Belated heads-up that all of tonight’s big Triple-I Initiative announcements can be found right here . Apologies, Mawers - I’ve been neglecting the feed today.

I LOST THURSDAY

(As requested by MiniMatt.)

Any thoughts on last night’s Tripliiis, then? Nice to see Simon Belmont getting work. I liked the leggy car as well. FEED THE MAW.

Watch out, EA Play subscription service prices are going up. The changes take effect for existing customers on 10th May. Find more on GamesIndustry.biz .

cpt_freakout says: New Solium Infernum DLC announced today! Also, thanks alexithelion for that tip, that collection looks brilliant.

Ta! Here’s the Steam announcement . Amongst other things they’ve created a new Archfiend, Belphegor, who is “the embodiment of Sloth and Indolence”. Teach me, Belphegor!

A new Stardew Valley patch is happening, out next week.

There’s another PC patch underway (1.6.4), which will fix more bugs and add a few goodies as well. It should be out some time next week — ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) April 10, 2024

Our siblings-from-another-Future over at PCGamer point out that the leaker who correctly described Destiny 2’s new Prismatic subclass also claimed that Destiny 3 is in development about a month ago.

Via Techraptor , Threads Of War is a tank roguelike inspired by Namco’s Battle City, which looks like a work of textiles. It’s being developed by a Ukrainian programmer and his son, and portrays the liberation of Ukrainian territories during the first year of Russia’s war on Ukraine, from Hostomel to Kherson.

There’s a chunky update for Naraka Bladepoint - highlights include a Hot Potato mode, which is sort of dodgeball but with swords and also, the ball is alive and wants to kill you.

Sky: Children Of Light is now out on Steam and just in time for the “season of nesting” , aka players getting homes.

FRIDAY ON MY MIND

Stir the cauldrons and polish the sundials! FEED THE MAW.

Via IGN , Todd Howard has poured cold water on the idea of an Elder Scrolls TV show. “I’ll probably say no.”

Wanted: Dead - one of the most preposterous, aggravating yet somehow entertaining B-movie games I’ve played - has received a major update which rebalances the combat and introduces new abilities, amongst other things.

Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios have furloughed the majority of their staff, according to former employee Kris Morness. The claim has been corroborated by Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter.

This lines up with what I’ve heard at Immortals of Aveum developer Ascedant Studios — that a large portion of the staff was recently furloughed. Haven’t been able to confirm numbers, and Ascendant hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment. pic.twitter.com/WNjcIJpOBH — Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) April 10, 2024

A new story briefing trailer for Homeworld 3.

And a trailer for Remnant 2’s just-announced The Forgotten Kingdom DLC, out 23rd April. Honestly, who forgets a kingdom? Also wouldn’t this be more accurately titled The Remembered Kingdom?

Any old TI calculator owners in the house? You might like this .

As Nic shared earlier, Steam’s FPS Fest unloads a clip full of deals and demos for shooters next week .

Baldur’s Gate 3 does what Elden Ring couldn’t, sweeping yesterday’s BAFTAs to become the first video game to win all five big GOTY awards .

After laying off half of the studio a matter of months ago, Immortals of Aveum developers Ascendant have now reportedly furloughed most of those left .

64-player Pac-Man battle royale game Chomp Champs escapes the grave of Google Stadia onto Steam next month . It looks like it could be fun!

I’ll leave you with a fun one for the weekend - after the recent speedrunning dog, someone else is apparently teaching a dog to play video games for a college study . I look forward to being able to ask my spaniel to grind out some levels in Final Fantasy 14 for me.

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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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