The RPS Selection Box: Brendan’s bonus games of the year 2024

See the world anew

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Bethesda / Secret Mode / DreadXP

I’m a sucker for a good first-person runabout. I don’t need to shoot, but it’s sometimes nice to get a sword, or a big whip. As long as I get to be immersed in an adventure. I think that’s the big theme of my selection box: being grounded within my player character. I want to feel what it’s like to hike through canyons with too much sellable loot in my backpack. I want to park my soul in the head of a scared Scotsman way out of his depth, hundreds of miles from shore. The closer I can comfortably fit in my character’s shoes, the more I seem to buy into the world they inhabit. Even if that world is constantly glowing a magnificent crimson.

Dread Delusion

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / DreadXP

We are not lacking for PS1-inspired horror. The latter half of this year saw the release of Threshold , Mouthwashing , Hollowbody , and Sorry We’re Closed . But one game freed itself from early access prison and took the aesthetics of that era to apply it to another nostalgic genre - the open-world fantasy RPG. Dread Delusion immediately and intentionally summons old Elder Scrolls games to mind (especially since you begin in a jail cell) but one of its great strengths is that it confidently builds its own weird and wonderful world, devoid of the classic goblins, orcs, and elves that litter the genre. Here, gods are hideous beasts with ulterior motives and kings are clockwork madmen. Everything looks strange, suffused with the jittering vertices of another realm; the hostile creatures wear masks for want of being human, the steam-powered farming machinery walks on spider legs and regularly goes insane. If you’re yearning for an odd new world to explore on-foot (or by airship, as in the later part of the game) then definitely consider stepping into this handcrafted wonderhell.

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle

Image credit:Microsoft

In preparation for our review of this pretty good first-person explore ’em up, I watched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. I did it without expecting much, after the Labeoufian disaster of Crystal Skull, but came away surprisingly satisfied. It was fine! They went to cool countries, jumped on some wet rocks, and got into sweaty scrapes, tying everything up with a bit of outlandish hooey unexplainable by science or logic. It didn’t replace Crusade as my favourite in the series (probably nothing ever will) but it was absolutely good enough for an evening of quiet-brain-no-make-thought.

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle has done pretty much the same thing, but spread out over many days. It’s an expensive blockbuster done with all the craft and competence (and fascist punching) you’d expect from the Wolfenstein folks. It has huge levels, tons of secret areas, and photographable cats. As much as my heart sides with the scrappy underdogs of the games industry, sometimes I just want to luxuriate in impeccable lighting and munch popcorn to Hollywood-level acting between open-ended quests that’ll let me crack a Nazi in the back of the bonce with an ancient Roman statue. What I love most is how little you’re required to use a gun - every fight is better approached with your own fists, but it can help to use the smashable detritus around you. I fired Indy’s revolver in one specific moment, when a single foe brandishing a sword came racing toward me. What’s more Indiana Jones than that ?

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom.

The first reason this is on my list: it cleverly limits your use of fast travel. For me, a game that allows you to instantly zap between any old cave or mine, without a meaningful limit, will have a hard time simulating a true journey. In fantasy RPGs, which often profess to bring the player on a grand adventure, this is particularly important. I won’t repeat my reasoning, I’ve written about this already and I’ll be neither the first nor last to harp on about it. I’ll just say that in playing Dragon’s Dogma 2 , I often felt like I was on an actual quest. Going from place to place felt demanding in either coin or energy. If you want to get from one town to another, there’s always the ox cart. And enterprising players will be able to set up their own travel “networks” with clever crystals. But by and large, you’re hoofing it. And that gives everything more weight. Often literally, as you now have to carefully watch your inventory, never mind take care when day turns to night.

The second reason it’s on my list: You can pick up anyone and yeet them over a wall.

Steamworld Heist 2

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/steamworld-heist-2-review-5.jpg?width=2048&height=2048&fit=bounds&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“A dieselbot with a silly hat shouts his own name: “BIG STEVE!” - 6”>

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Thunderful

Okay, this one is not such a bodily immersive game. It’s bullet snooker on the high seas. But it was still an adventure. If you haven’t played the previous Steamheist, then basically it is a cartoony XCOM as viewed from the side. It’s a moreish little strategy game and, in this sequel, everything has been polished up and made even moreisher. In an overworld map, you sail around grabbing goodies from the flotsam of the tropical (and sometimes frozen) ocean, while also sinking enemy ships. But in close combat, you’ll enter hideouts and warehouses to ricochet bullets off walls and lob bouncy grenades among other gadgets to clear the map or escape the room with a new friendly crew member. Your foes are dieselbots, the suggestion being that they are a filthy pollutant-people, yet whether your steambots run on coal or not is seemingly unaddressed. It’s just one of the quirks of this continuing fictional realm that spans a surprising number of genres. I still hold SteamWorld Dig 2 as my favourite in the series - a one-and-done game of great pleasure - but this piratical caper came very, very close.

Still Wakes The Deep

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Secret Mode

Still Wakes The Deep has incredibly good voice acting. Scottish accents in video games are generally foisted upon dwarves or bundled together with Irish accents to make up for a shortfall in Vikingesque islanders. But here we’re treated to a cast of Scottish oil rig workers struggling against a monstrous fleshy horror none of them can understand. As a game, it’s a highly polished, cinematic first-person corridor dasher, with some classic hiding from monsters and environmental puzzles that won’t tax you too greatly. But atmospherically, it’s a work of careful craftsmanship. Rain and other weather effects make every journey out onto the deck an uneasy, wet, gauntlet. Each monster is a fucked-up version of a crew member you have previously spoken to and gotten to know (if briefly). And the hideously glittering substance that seeps throughout the rig will put you in a state of constant, low-burning unease. Mechanically, there is nothing super new about any of it. But it brings you through an unfamiliar environment with such attention to detail , and such great voice work, that I really didn’t mind.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Dread Delusion

PC

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Nintendo Switch 2

SteamWorld Heist 2

Nintendo Switch

Still Wakes The Deep

Video Game

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

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

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.