The Rally Point: Field of Glory: Kingdoms is an elaborate building game in a grand strategy jacket

Demesne calm

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Four thousand words of notes. Hoboy. Field of Glory Colon Kingdoms is definitely thought-provoking.

It was also complaint-provoking in the fairly long period where I didn’t understand what it’s trying to do. Reaching that point, luckily for you, means we can cut out a lot of the “confused whingeing” subsection of those notes. Though it still has its shortcomings, I’ve come to appreciate that I was reading Kingdoms all wrong. Although it talks big about characters, politics, and religion, they’re not what it’s about. It’s about building .

Field of Glory is a series of turn-based wargames built on the same ruleset, focusing on short campaigns over multiple linked battles. 2019’s Empires spun off into a grand strategy about developing an ancient empire, and Kingdoms overhauls and brings that to the High Middle Ages. It’ll sound very familiar. You pick a throne, and control all the land it oversees. You raise armies to conquer new lands or murder your Abrahamic siblings for definitely not politically expedient reasons, and you try to maintain and develop your holdings, and gather resources both tangible and conceptual. Occasionally your king will die and/or there’ll be a coup or civil war, but you’ll continue as whoever sits on your original throne. If your new emperor is a tactless dipshit, well, them’s the breaks, you’ll have to adjust.

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There aren’t really any characters. I bring this up because the natural reference point is Crusader Kings , a series all about personal feuds and elaborate schemes: the pettiness and loyalty and chaos of humanity and power. The drama . FOG Kingdoms, by comparison, is anaemic. Individuals are few, and limited to numbers that apply bonuses if they lead a province or army, plus a character trait that might make them more likely to sack a city. Disloyalty might spur a coup if they can access soldiers or riches, but you barely interact with them. Even heirs are easily forgotten. I’ve burned through three kings in a row with little more reaction than a disappointed shrug, replacement of a general, and some reprioritisation of construction projects.

When you contrast them though, it’s clearer that they’re not the same kind of game, really. Kingdoms isn’t about dramatic events or the reasons behind them; it’s about those construction projects. Even its semi-random optional events are partly generated by specific buildings, and serve as strategic tools rather than driving a story.

It’s still part wargame. Battles takes advantage of FoG’s large catalogue of stabmen, with your starting culture providing local flavours of javelad, axeboy, and so on, and introducing more as your society figures out which end of a horse the food goes in. Combat is detailed, but heavily condensed from the core rules, as each unit fights one turn against its opposite in linear order. Far from taking over as I’d anticipated, its option to export and play out field battles in FoG Medieval is more a bonus addition to the latter game. Army composition is important to learn, but the real point is how you sustain that army to begin with.

Conscripting levies costs manpower and equipment, and more again to maintain, making mercenaries a good option even early on because they provide their own. They cost more in cash, but that’s simple : mo money, mo prodmens. A standing army is heavily dependent on your ruler, but tends to become more viable over time as your kingdom’s development lifts some restrictions. And because you’ll have actually built the infrastructure that provides more equipment and labour.

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A little like Bellwright , it’s decided not by fighting but by building. No king is as useful as a well-integrated region. Each region is its own little Civilisation-ish operation whose labour produces food and infrastructure points, and opens the building slots that define the game. You don’t just build a farm: you build multiple types of farm, pasture, orchard, beehives, barns, and dozens more. Hundreds of buildings, whose purposes overlap, interact, and often cost a tradeoff. As important, though, is that their opportunity cost is far greater because you can’t build whatever you want. When a slot opens, you’re given one option per category (six total). A little like Shadow Empire , it’s what the locals are proposing. You’re not the God Emperor. You can spend Authority points (more on those later) to get a wider selection. But even that only opens six options per category; better, but no guarantee.

It emphasises that medieval development is slooow. But the most interesting result is that even if you really throw your Authority around, you don’t get stuck into the usual build orders, minmaxing, or rote uniformity. You have to roll with things. Not in the dramatic, story-generating way, but one that makes your lands more organic, and every decision more active. I hadn’t planned on it, but if I build this clothier, it’d make use of that weaver in Lothian, and export to the camp in Moray.

That’s the other construction concern: many also produce tangible goods. Without specific goods, many buildings operate at massive cost, if at all. It’s a whole extra management layer, and the most enjoyable trade system I’ve seen in a grand strategy game. It ties your lands together, encouraging organic networks - yes, a local production chain is good, but a distributed one might come sooner, plus trade within your borders generates money. It’s a machine, but an irregular, shifting one. This is the real heart of Kingdoms. Development isn’t pushing a number up; it takes careful management of each region, and the interdependencies between them.

That’s emphasised further by the Authority system. Going from a hick to an Emperor means unpredictably long periods of maintaining high Authority relative to other rulers, slowly extending the innate bonuses of your rule (usually - intermediary phases often mean upheaval penalties). It’s best gained by staying within your maximum “demesne” (land you directly rule), complicating expansion in a frustrating way. But the point is that variety again, that encouragement of actually building something. Stability and consolidation, not grabbing everything in sight.

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Authority also comes from winning battles, and taking lands you have a claim on (absurdly easy to acquire - merely insult someone and your ruler will often unilaterally declare several claims). But you can’t build the perpetual motion machine, and overreach almost inevitably leads to decline. Until you realise that a few buildings generate tiny amounts of Authority each turn, and others still a small chance of causing an Authority-bumping event. It’s risky, but possible to push past your limits for a time. You’re even encouraged to burn rather than stockpile Authority, since the higher it gets, the faster it passively drains. It’s a balancing act that took me dozens of hours to understand because I was still comparing, not contrasting it to its peers.

It still has issues. The building panel’s flavour text is nice, but sorely lacks information about prerequisites and relationships. The map could use better and more interactive overlays, labour management and army splitting are needlessly fiddly, and kingdoms reform and split without notice, not helped by their bizarre naming habits. Naples forms in Bulgaria, calls itself Poland (not Lesser Poland, which is in Belarus) and declares war on Bohemia, which is in Russia. Vassalise your uncle and he might take on a foreign culture and the name of a place from hundreds of miles and a third culture away. I didn’t sail from Connacht and unite Alba into a duchy so you could call it fucking York , Niall. Who even told you York exists?

Limited diplomacy also lets Kingdoms down. Crusades and Jihads mostly invite confusion and notification spam, and “war weariness” because of a forgotten faction thousands of miles away. There’s little explanation for anyone’s attitude, your only real PR move is repeated bribes, and the delay between sending and resolving truces leads to confusing outcomes. Part of that comes from the way army movement is resolved simultaneously (sort of), not helped by several army actions being toggles rather than distinct orders.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Slitherine

I suspect my opinion of Kingdoms will continue to waver for a long while, and that I’ll appreciate its approach all the more in a few years. It has too many problems to recommend without caveats, and its scale may mean such a small developer can only do so much to tune or follow it up. But in the meantime, it’s a valiant attempt, and might appeal to building lovers more than the warfare or feudalism sim fans it courts.

Field Of Glory: Kingdoms

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

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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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