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

Hauntings and dragons and whips

Image credit:RPS

2024 was my first full year at RPS, and as a guides writer, it was a year packed with the sort of games that make you roll your sleeves up, wipe sweat from your brow, and stare up at the sky from the trenches, ruminating on what life is like when you aren’t dealing with back-to-back Soulslikes interspersed with gacha games that feature incomprehensible lootbox mechanics.

In between having my mettle tested by the likes of Shadow of the Erdtree, Black Myth: Wukong , and Wuthering Waves , however, there were occasional moments where I got to enjoy smaller, perhaps slightly more relaxing gaming experiences. I’ve highlighted two below, along with one batshite kooky game that didn’t make it on our GOTY list, but won me over nevertheless thanks to its gusto.

An English Haunting

Fans of the Laura Bow franchise and Gaslight Cthulhu should definitely check out An English Haunting. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Postmodern Adventures

Alice B (RPS in peace!) quite liked An English Haunting when she dove into the demo last April. I enjoyed it as well, and one of us probably would have reviewed the final game, but alas, it slipped through the cracks during a time of staff turnover here in the Treehouse. Well, I’m speaking up after the fact to announce that An English Haunting is a worthy point and click experience that does a lovely job of sending you to 1907 England (and Scotland) to investigate the mysteries of the great beyond. You play a scholar named Professor Patrick Moore who’s all into the spiritualism and séances that gripped the time period, and you’ve got 72 hours to prove the existence of ghosts before the Metapsychic Investigations department at your university shuts down. Egad!

I’m a sucker for Victorian and Edwardian-era stories, so An English Haunting tickles all the parts of me that lust for mysteries in gaslit streets, perferably starring gumshoes in tweed suits. It also gets the side of me that loves horror and wishes that more point-and-click adventure games would dabble in the occult, so if you’re attracted to this same eclectic mix, give this one a go. You can expect great attention to setting, puzzles that don’t stretch the logic of what’s feasible, and even a short sequence where you play as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, who was also busy believing in spirits when he wasn’t devising ways to kill Sherlock.

My only critique of An English Haunting is that the adventure drags in its middle section (the Scottish expedition isn’t as good as it could be), and the overall experience isn’t quite as tight as Postmodern Adventures’ previous work, Nightmare Frames , which was an ode to ’80s slasher horror. (This is only because Nightmare Frames was really damn good and deeply deserves your download if you haven’t already.) But if you stick through to the end, you’ll receive a marvelous finale, along with some of the only jump scares that I’ve ever experienced in a point-and-click.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2, a game where a fight like this is commonplace and just another Tuesday. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

I enjoyed the stuffing out of Dragon’s Dogma 2 . From a guides writing perspective, it was the first major project that I led amongst our small team, pumping out everything from class guides to a big ol’ walkthrough , which Ollie started and I finished. From a player’s perspective, I simply dig the weirdness on display here, as well as Dragon Dogma 2’s devotion to letting you do just about whatever you can imagine and then live with the results. Such are the consequences of playing in a giant sandbox, Dragon’s Dogma 2 says, now deal with them! I respect that gumption, and I respect the fact that this is a “Capcom ass game,” as it was often described in the work Slack. Whether it’s the memorable Pawn system of AI companions who grow on you as the game progesses, the “climb on the back of this griffon and slash it a billion times as it wiggles Dance Dance Revolution-style” boss fights, or simply the excellent character models of the RE Engine putting in work, this is Capcom throwing all of its paint at the wall to see what sticks, and the end result is more than a little messy, but very fun.

As a devotee of tabletop RPGs, I also admire Dragon’s Dogma 2 for basically acting as the equivalent of a Game Master who is not so much concerned with the plot of their campaign, but rather the goofy story that the players decide to tell along the way. This includes them deciding to use the Unmaking Arrow - which kills anything in a single hit - on a random NPC that they’ve accidentally been romancing because the entire romance system is unexplained and kind of arbitrary. Everyone remembers those kinds of TTRPG nights, and that’s why I remember Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania

Quincy Morris finally stars in a Castlevania game. Where’s his Bowie knife, though?! |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/poncle

I discovered Vampire Survivors for the first time this year. I know, a little behind the curve, but my aversion to anything too popular means that I must wait a certain amount of time to check out the latest mainstream obsession. I was pleased to find that I liked Vampire Survivors just fine, and that plowing through hordes of campy Castlevania-as-interpreted-by-Italians enemies as Poppea Pecorina is great fun.

But it wasn’t until the Ode to Castlevania DLC came out this October that I really got into Vampire Survivors, because I love me some Castlevania, and the fact that an inspired-by-Belmont bullet heaven game was now paying tribute to its grandpappy in an unexpected full circle manner was just too good to resist. And gosh darn it, Ode to Castlevania is a joy, and one of the heftiest DLC packages that I’ve ever played. Not only are all your classic characters present and accounted for, including Simon, Trevor, Richter and the other big name Belmonts, but the sheer number of deep cuts stuffed into this package is astounding. Once you “beat” the DLC’s main map, expect to see a plethora of unexpected survivors emerge, like Quincy Morris , who was never in an actual Castlevania game but is instead the father of John Morris from 1994’s Castlevania: Bloodlines/The New Generation, and also technically the same Quincy Morris who was in Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel and helped kill Drac with a Bowie knife while also acting as the cool Texan in Europe. Yes, Bram Stoker’s novel is canon in the Castlevania timeline; go Google it if you want to read up on all of the fantastic shenanigans that encompass official Castlevania lore.

Castlevania’s in an odd place these days where Konami hasn’t made a fully-fledged game since 2014’s Lords of Shadow 2, but has freely loaned the licence out to whoever wants it. And so we have the Netflix show, which has undoubtedly made the series more popular than its ever been. But we also have efforts like this excellent update to Vampire Survivors, which turns the game into the best Castlevania title of the last decade. Don’t wait like I normally do - play it today, especially if you’ve ever been knocked to your death by a Medusa Head!

An English Haunting

Video Game

Dragon’s Dogma 2

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Vampire Survivors

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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