The Maw: what’s new in PC games this week?

Mekkablood, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and a nice bit of snowboarding

Image credit:Judatone Studios

In a bid to shore up the Treehouse finances following several staff departures, I’m announcing a new line of official Maw spin-off products. Presenting: New Viscous n’ Delicious Mawflakes! The ultimate cosmic breakfast cereal, available in all the colours of the rainbow plus 666 others that aren’t fit for human eyes! Simply pour over molten ichor and leave to stand - you’ll know they’re ready to eat when you can no longer hear yourself weeping. “Ready to eat” is a phrase that cuts two ways, of course - and what better way to accompany being eaten by Mawflakes than by reading about this week’s new PC games.

Monday 20th January sees the release of what Nic has called the only good video game , Mekkablood: Quarry Assault . Despite Nic’s appraisal, developers are perversely insisting on releasing other games this week. Games like None Shall Intrude , a tile-based card-battler in which you play a raid boss fending off hero parties. They’re both followed on Tuesday 21st January by Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders , which Graham says “might have been one of the best games I played last year” if it had released last year. Can’t argue with the logic. Wednesday 22nd January brings the Steam release of JRPG boardgame Dokapon: Sword Of Fury and free-to-play party RPG King Arthur: Legends Rise , which looks cheesy as hell. And then comes the usual Thursday deluge on 23rd January: a new Tokyo Xtreme Racer , returning to the tarmac after 18 years , the PC version of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth , and a PC port of cult saber ’em up Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles . Friday 24th January, finally, is a day of monochrome feline whimsy thanks to Cat Detective: Albert Wilde .

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 09:15 am 01/24/2025 SPACE CHANNEL FRIDAY
• 11:10 am 01/23/2025 VIRTUA THURSDAY
• 09:03 am 01/22/2025 WEDNESDEGA RALLY
• 09:03 am 01/21/2025 SHIN MEGAMI TUESDAY
• 10:01 am 01/20/2025 SUPER MONDAY BALL

SUPER MONDAY BALL

ThatFulvioGuy says: I had to wishlist Mekkablood after seeing that header image, but then I scrolled down… “Dall-E 3 was used to help generate the textures and pixel art, no artist prompts were used, just generic terms. Suno was used for the music.” Oh well unwishlists

Yarp! I should have spotted that. It’s from a solo developer, so this isn’t quite the same thing as (to give a hopefully unfeasible hypothetical example) Microsoft AI-hallucinating the next Gears Of War based on news coverage of warzones, but it’s something we should look into as and when we write more about the game.

Silksong update: the cake was lying .

Road trip RPG Keep Driving will launch on 6th February.

Alan Dean Foster - Star Wars and Star Trek novelisation author and the brains behind the Spellsinger books, among others - is getting into gaming. An adaptation of Dean Foster’s Midworld, first in the Humanx Commonwealth series, is to be published by Sunset Sugar Studios on PC via Steam in 2026.

SHIN MEGAMI TUESDAY

SeekerX says: Ender Magnolia is very much my pick of the week, but RPGFan has a couple more things that look interesting – Also coming Thursday 1/23 is a PC release for tactics RPG Mercenaries Lament: Requiem of the Silver Wolf, which has been on console for a year or two. The first review I can find says “Developer, Rideon, certainly churns them out, and the series has evolved into a comfort food experience. They look vaguely like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, and play like a vaguely decent homage to those genre greats. In recent times there has even been some kind of effort to throw in some thought-provoking deeper themes.” Checking Steam – holy moly, it looks like there have been 6 of these Mercenaries games already and this is #7??? https://store.steampowered.com/app/2321040/Mercenaries_Lament_Requiem_of_the_Silver_Wolf/

This does seem tasty fare for the SRPG enthusiasts. And yes, it’s always terrifying to discover that some game you’ve never heard of is actually part of a series that goes back a decade or more.

SeekerX says: One title that tried to slip The Maw’s hungry gaze by releasing yesterday 1/19 is bullet-Hell deckbuilder Lymbus, whose demo tried to bully Nic back in September - https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lymbus-is-hostile-to-my-existence-and-keeps-demanding-brain-cells-i-havent-grown-yet – It looks a bit Mega Man Battle Network-y , so therefore as a roguelike it may be kind of One Step from Eden -ish? Only with the “My screen is exploding with overflowing geysers of retro internet” vibes of Hypnospace Outlaw or recent neal.fun idle game Stimulation Clicker. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2683590/LYMBUS/

Get a load of that screen curvature!

Capcom hope to bring down the somewhat eye-watering PC system requirements for Monster Hunter Wilds (which launches in February), according to their German Xeetbox account .

Here’s a new multiplayer demo for throwback RTS Tempest Rising. The trailer presentation makes me think of Red Alert and Tiberium Wars.

Marvel Snap is back online in the USA after being removed from service as part of the country’s ban on TikTok - both are published by Chinese company Bytedance. Now, developers Second Dinner are seeking a new publishing partner to avoid this happening again.

MARVEL SNAP is back online in the U.S. But to make sure this NEVER happens again, we’re working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher. This is the start of a new era for MARVEL SNAP. We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than… — Second Dinner (@seconddinner) January 21, 2025

You can now run Doom in a Microsoft Word docucument , after someone got inspired by the recent efforts to make the ubiqitous shooter run on a PDF file. Recently, it was made to run as a Captcha and (arguably) gut bacteria . Still no sign of it running on a Freewrite , sorry Nic.

This is older news, but - medieval city-builder Foundation hits 1.0 release on 31st January. “Like a warm bath, but with windmills,” wrote Alec Meer (RPS in peace) of the early access version in 2019. I like the zone-painting and how the procedural building tool lets you clump together castles like balls of clay.

WEDNESDEGA RALLY

Snowskeeper says: Can you do a report on some necromancy, please?

We can absolutely do a report on some necromancy. I’ll circle back to this.

HeNeArXn says: via eurogamer.de, “Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel” as a Vampire Survivor-like with more control and fancier graphics launched in EA and has a demo out. Seems not bad from a 30 min go with that.

Here’s that demo . While the core survivoring doesn’t feel especially novel, I like the glowering Nordic fantasy ambience.

I’ve been looking at Ender Magnolia: Bloom In The Mist following SeekerX’s suggestion, and it does look pretty splendid - a doom-ridden metroidvania with soulful-looking anime warriors. It’s out of early access on 23rd January. I’m not sure we have capacity to review it - we don’t even have a reviews editor right now. But I’d like to give it a try.

VIRTUA THURSDAY

We’ve got it under control. Everybody back to your stations. We’ve got everything under control.

Uh oh. Electronic Arts have released some quarterly business notes and they say Dragon Age: The Veilguard has “underperformed” so far. The publisher says they “engaged” 1.5 million players, which is “down nearly 50 percent from the company’s expectations”.

The next coming-of-age story from Dontnod is going to see a delay. Or at least half of it is. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is planned to come out in two parts, you see, with the first part due in February. Part 2 was originally scheduled for March 18th, but is now delayed until April 15th to “allow for additional optimisation”, say the devs.

The art of rally devs have announced wistful off-road exploration game over the hill, which looks like a mix of Mudrunners and A Short Hike.

Compulsion’s fantasy actioner South Of Midnight will launch on 8th April. Here’s a new trailer.

Lost Odyssey-esque RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, meanwhile, will launch on 24th April. I find this one to be promisingly flowery.

SPACE CHANNEL FRIDAY

Katharine Castle, sometime despot of RPSland, has written a big dissection of the modern-day wrapper in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It does sort of sound like an exhausting blend of codex and live service launcher, and I’m not sure that’ll be enough to counter Ed’s (RPS in peace) slight misgivings about the game’s dual-protagonist structure , but I’m interested to try it.

Also in Assassin’s Creed Shadows news, game director Charles Benoit has explained the most recent, one-month release delay to IGN . Apparently they’ve been having a nightmare getting parkour to work on feudal Japanese roofs. I would welcome a list of best-to-worst roofs from an Assassin’s Creed series developer.

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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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