The Rally Point: Bellwright is secretly a lesson in good management

We toll for thee

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Donkey Crew/Snail Games USA

I should be further in than this. My supposed rebellion has thus far eked out a territory that could be described as “where?”. My personal reputation is great only among people who love mushrooms and hate deer. It’s been long enough that I should probably be a fierce warlord running a large chunk of the kingdom in opposition by now, but instead, I have the skillset of fifty peasants, and the outstanding work of fifty three. And I know why. Bellwright has taught me what I already knew in theory, but had not truly appreciated:

Good managers are rare and precious. And I’m not one of them.

Bellwright’s tricky because if I list everything that’s in it, you might get excited, but then find that although you like its parts, you don’t like the way they’re arranged. You might be very interested in one or two elements but hate the others. Or I may make it sound like it’s spreading itself too thin.

It is ostensibly about avenging some weirdly interesting, folk-tale-esque misfortune from your youth, but that becomes irrelevant almost immediately. Its store page centres on how it’s about leading an army to do sorta Mount & Blade skirmishing and stabbing, in a fully open 3D world. It’s a crafting and survival game too, which is partly why I went astray, but we’ll get there.

What I didn’t appreciate is that it’s about management above all. I don’t mean “you’ll be in menus a lot”. It’s about why management exists: not for its own sake, but to serve an end. That end could be selling goods, or maintaining and distributing student records to where they’re needed. Or providing countless people with endless entertainment, interesting critique, and thoughtful reflections of a kind most can barely even imitate let alone match. Perhaps introducing obscure and underlit games in a brutally hard industry to an audience that will enjoy life a little more for having found them; an audience whose other options are too often cynical, rote, or plain uninterested in any greater significance or purpose to the work. Or liberating the land by killing all the baddies, sure.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Donkey Crew/Snail Games USA

In Bellwright, see, your people aren’t a warband who follow you everywhere. You will get a warband, but that’s just one department. You recruit people by impressing the local villages through killing wandering bandits, building certain things, and doing little side jobs in the traditional RPG fashion. These vary but commonly involve postal work or sourcing items. Cash, skill-bumping books and renown are your rewards, and with enough of the latter (and enough separately-tracked trust with their specific village) you can personally approach villagers and poach them.

From there you can arm them as “companions”, who’ll follow you around and obey basic orders as you explore, fight, and win over more villagers until they’re knocked out (they return as wounded, and die permanently if battered again before recovering) or run out of food. You can have them patrol your land to slow the progress of the regular raids (whose frequency and intensity can be adjusted, or disabled entirely, an important feature in the game’s favour given how its hybrid nature will attract a variety of players). I failed to do enough of this companion thing for a long time, which was my first mistake. I like exploring and foraging, and having people standing around awkwardly watching me felt weird.

It seemed better to set them to non-violent pursuits. Each recruit has several combat skills, but also worker skills that are improved through use. Bellwright gives you an unfair advantage here by giving you the power to see everyone’s potential, a magic wielded in reality by very few, and suddenly, shamefully, one fewer around here. Everyone can work, fight, or switch as needed (same, etc.), and additional toggles give more wiggle room for workers to flee or resist when trouble appears, and to act as reserves, dropping their farm juice and joining your companions when you press the panic button (a system that currently needs some ironing out).

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Donkey Crew/Snail Games USA

It’s the workers that are key, though. I fell into the trap of thinking of this as a survival and building game, because you start by picking berries, sticks, and stones, and smushing them into tools, then buildings. That’s the common fantasy of survival games, right? You punch one tree and from there inevitably build an empire to conquer the world and personally slay god, all with your own two hands. Chopping trees is enjoyable here, and there’s some decent hunting too. I hunted a fair bit in Medieval Dynasty (perhaps Bellwright’s closest relative) and Myth of Empires, but it was always disappointing. Here “use trees to break line of sight” is as advanced as it gets, but it’s just a little tricky, enough to make success satisfying, and you can cleanly kill a deer in one shot with the starter bow, so it feels like you’re hunting, not dicking about with numbers.

You have to search for good lands too, and there’s the other reason I got sucked into my mismanagement hole: the prettiness of Bellwright’s world, and the lovely vibe of its music. Just the occasional, lazy strings of the cowboy game (or Medieval Colon Total War ), but this actually leaves you alone instead of making you play GTA every time you go for a walk.

All this led me into wandering, hunting, gathering, personally keeping my people fed. I stopped doing my own crafting weeks ago, having finally twigged that crafting leaves you stuck in a menu watching a progress bar because you’re not supposed to be doing this personally , but I failed to make the same observation with foraging and hunting. Well. I knew, intellectually. But I was enjoying myself. And I got into scraps with bandits sometimes, and I needed to explore to do quests and that anyway so it’s fine that everyone back home keeps running out of food while also having nothing to do, right?

But Bellwright isn’t a survival game, or a building, or combat game. It’s all of those things integrated into a village management game. And I was failing my village. I didn’t have permanent companions because I’d failed to provide enough excess food to keep them going, and couldn’t spare the workers. Because I’d set them up all wrong . I was frequently fiddling with things on the surface. Remotely ordering workbench items, sending deliveries from one camp to another (you can freely build multiple settlements, with buildings and individuals divided as you like), building a haphazard collection of stuff in cool places.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Donkey Crew/Snail Games USA

I was fighting fires because of my poor planning and organisation. My people were failing because I wasn’t using them right. Sure, I’d adjusted their Rimworld-like job priorities system. I’d seen a logging camp grow from an attractive little hideaway to a kind of bleak stump-ridden no-forest. But I’d placed things by whim, forgetting that people had to work there. After weeks of cursing its days for being far too short (which, admittedly, they are), I finally realised that I’d done the thing all my worst managers did: alternated between micromanaging and neglect. We all know logistics and economic management win the war, but I’d still failed to heed it. I was swayed by a world that invited exploration, and my people suffered.

On the plus side, as a manager in Bellwright your people are very pliant. They’ve no meaningful distinction beyond stats and faces, and don’t need the kind of person management that makes up the unsung bulk of the real work. They don’t have flare ups and breakdowns, and if they did I’d probably just boot them rather than be patient. They don’t, say, fuck about being late with absolutely everything and still insist on urgency because their finances are such a shambles. But still I should have been better. I would never be great, but I should have learned from the example right before me.

A better manager than me would have set these people up with what they need to begin with. She’d have been seen emailing prospective contributors with gentle critique of their pitches. She’d hear me struggling, and adjust my priorities to better suit my strengths instead of stupidly insisting authority was reason. She’d have had a bit of a go at me for not eating my vegetables EVEN THOUGH doing Unknown Pleasures meant playing lots of things I hated, ACTUALLY. She’d have helped me get the treatment that’s kind of saving my life. She would have been underappreciated in her time, as the good ones usually are, but never let that ruin everything.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Donkey Crew/Snail Games USA

I am, I think, still playing Bellwright wrong. I can’t help it. They’ve built a pretty world here, and the way exploring and gathering feed into your town building and army organising, that’s interesting stuff. There’s a real conceptual appeal to forging your little resistance movement from the ground up, personally recruiting individuals by jogging into town, carrying boar meat back to your hungry lads, and occasionally chopping down a tree since you’re passing by a camp with a pit saw.

It’s a bit wobbly in parts. Combat is a little under-responsive, and tactical maneouvering limited to rather flailing scrums. Battles take a bizarre rhythm if you skirmish, as attacking enemies alternate between sprinting towards you across a field and running away like a mugger with social anxiety. Nobody has much personality, and god I wish they hadn’t included an “AI” voice option at all. It adds nothing, and only the in-menu promise that it will be gone one day (and is optional) keeps me from a paragraph of invective about its inclusion.

But I like Bellwright a lot. With an estimated 3 years of early access ahead, this could become an incredibly absorbing game. It’s been ages since I was sucked into a big tree punching sim, and where usually those end with boring plenty or grinder’s remorse, there’s something novel here. I appreciate how it’s demonstrating why major change really only comes via strategy: even if you could do anything yourself, you’ll never do it all alone. You gotta organise some people. A good warlord or general is a good manager first, and good managers are rare and precious.

We’ve all had bad managers. My people know all too well the woe that they can bring. Now that Bellwright has shown me that I am in fact one of those bad managers, I can only console myself with the thought that they will never know the far greater woe of working under a great one, only to have them unjustly taken away.

Bellwright

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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