The Sunday Papers

Image credit:RPS

The Sunday Papers is our weekly roundup of great writing about (mostly) videogames from across the web.

Sundays are for working out what to do with about 200 apples and 50 pears. The parks round here are full of semi-forgotten fruit trees, so we went out last weekend and gathered a few buckets. It has now dawned on me that if I don’t eat apples with every meal and also possibly light fires with them, bathe in their juices and pound them up to serve as a low-grade polyfiller, my flat will soon be overtaken by rats, weevils and feral brewers.

I’ll probably take a load to a food bank. I hear apples keep pretty well when they’re fresh-picked, at least, but pears are treacherous, adamantium-hard one day and a sopping disaster the next. Anyway, here is some internet writing that doesn’t significantly mention fruit at all.

Let’s begin with this brief but interesting essay from InFlux developer Joe Wintergreen about the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake ’s use of photogrammetry.

The recent Metal Gear Solid 3 remake uses a lot of Quixel Megascans (a mostly-free library of ultra-high-fidelity photogrammetry), which I don’t think matters at all in itself, but it’s funny that the bit of wood Snake bites down on when he splints his elbow is 100% identical to a plank you roll over all the time in InFlux Redux, and it’s interesting how a game full of such bespoke assets gets a remake that isn’t. In a photorealistic-ish style, maybe it doesn’t really matter anymore whose “photos” (or scans) you use for commonplace objects. But it doesn’t feel great that everything onscreen was once a bespoke work of art in itself, and now mostly is not, in what is notionally a faithful remake.

I’m going to sneak in a piece of videogame journalism from a little longer ago in August - Claire Evans on the surprisingly long history of “interactive cinema” . The second half is a mini-profile of Sam Barlow. I’m including this partly because Road To Empress came out this week, and partly because when I googled “interactive cinema” I came across this this 2012 paper by an author who seems familiar somehow. Anyway, here is Evans with some vintage Ebert:

Interfilm would go on to shoot four more interactive movie-games. The second, Mr. Payback, written by Back to the Future’s Bob Gale, starred soap star Billy Warlock as a bionic man who disciplines jerks: audiences could make Mr. Payback force an executive to eat from a dog dish full of monkey brains, for example. As with I’m Your Man, a ticket to Mr. Payback included repeat viewings of the movie, so audiences could try alternative punishments–although film critic Gene Siskel, of Siskel and Ebert, swore on their show he’d have paid twice as much to see it only once. “This is not a movie,” Ebert, who would later name Mr. Payback the worst film of 1995, agreed. “A movie acts on you.”

Rightwing figurehead and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed this week. There has been a lot of misinformation and cynical speculation about the suspected killer’s identity and motives, some of it fomented by symbols reportedly found on the shooter’s bullets, which include an apparent Helldivers 2 reference . On reflection, I don’t want to include any analysis of the suspect here as the situation is evolving. But it seems important to spotlight Kirk’s well-heeled bigotry given his lionisation by the current US political establishment and accompanying efforts to portray criticism of him as “disrespectful”. Here is a withering obituary from Elizabeth Spiers in The Nation .

Many of the facile defenses of Kirk and his legacy are predicated on the idea that it’s acceptable to spread hateful ideas advocating for the persecution of perceived enemies as long you dress them up in a posture of debate. This is just class privilege. The man who said, “Black women do not have brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot” said it while wearing a nice shirt and a tie on a podcast instead of tattered overalls in the parking lot of a rural Walmart. That does not make it any less racist.

Over on the London Review of Books blog , Helen Charman writes about a comparable far right swing in UK politics.

The new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in May (in an interview with Michael Gove for the Spectator) that she has a ‘natural affinity for the faith, flag and family element of Blue Labour’. Her predecessor, Yvette Cooper, now foreign secretary, told Times Radio last week that she has Union Jack bunting hanging up in her garden shed. ‘People should be coming together around our flags,’ she said. When asked if people should be putting them up on motorway gantries, she replied: ‘I would put them up anywhere.’ The flags that have been appearing on motorway gantries, lampposts and roundabouts across the country are part of a campaign, ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, organised by known far-right extremists. The BBC asked Keir Starmer if this was racist or patriotic. ‘I’m a supporter of flags,’ the prime minister said.

Downstairs at Eurogamer, Connor Makar writes about Saudi Arabia’s investment in Evo and other esports institutions in the context of the country’s track record for human rights abuses . Good sturdy beat reporter commentary.

There’s no regulatory body to stop this, and no bigger fish (or frankly given the state of esports’ profitability, greater fool) to buy the tournament from its new owners. And so this is unlikely to go away, at least unless the Saudi Arabian government decides competitive gaming isn’t worth the squeeze, or that only a mere handful of fighting game fans will ever actually travel to Qiddiya without getting paid to do so.

As reported by Endless Mode , Gorillaz have relaunched their Flash game site Kong Studios . I am a somewhat guilty Gorillaz fan. I occasionally think they’re a 6/10 impression of an 8/10 idea for a fake toon pop band, but they’ve put out some great songs , and have an unrivalled knack for big name collaborations. They’ve just announced an album heavily inspired by Hindu art . This could go many ways.

My streak of stumbling on new kinks while researching the on-going payment processor crackdown on “mature” videogames continues with mechsploitation , as described by Erin.

Key to understanding the history of mechsploitation is Empty Spaces, a community of trans women whose writing, heavily revolving around exploitative power dynamics in archetypal forms (witches and dolls, angels, demons, fae, spiders and moths, and more), explores themes of sex, trauma, abuse and much more. It was this fuzzy-bordered community and its output in the early 2020s that formed the primary inspiration for WARHOUND. Additionally, it and its sister “dollposting” scene had in their own rights developed via the concept of the “combat doll” and associated pieces of fiction such as Funeral into “mechposting”, a still-extant scene which has had a great deal of overlap with mechsploitation since its inception.

Got time for a small-ish academic tome? Here are the full proceedings from this year’s inaugural Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Game Studies Conference, including papers on Black millennial fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! and the writing of and reaction to Vivienne in Dragon Age: Inquisition .

One from the archives to finish: RPS founders plus The Boy Quinns rewrite the endings of their favourite games .

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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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