We’ve learned the hard way that ganging up on Deadlock doesn’t make it more digestible

But maybe that’s the point

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve

The mystery surrounding Deadlock , Valve’s work-in-progress MOBA shooter, has largely evaporated. Its freely extendable invite system is about as effective at controlling player headcount as a disinterested football steward , meaning pretty much anyone with a clued-in Steam friend can get in and start poking around its secrets. And yet, being a lane-pushing wizard fighter in the Dota 2 vein, it’s already a vast tangle of interplaying abilities, items, strats, and often unspoken rules, of the kind that even experienced gankists will take hundreds of hours to learn. It’s been too much for poor Brendy , at any rate.

Still, Brendy is but one man. What if we had but four men, working in tandem to crush lanes and flatten Patrons just as Gabe intended? To find out if Deadlock is indeed more comprehensible as a team sport, Graham, Ed, Ollie, and James joined forces, promptly getting fucked up yet emerging from the warlock hospital with a deeper understanding of its workings. Or, at least, if anyone would keep playing.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve

James: My two most-played games are Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 , so something that combines both should taste like a delicious M&S Yumnut. Something about it isn’t quite yet clicking for me, though – I feel like it’s much trickier to glean a sense of how the overall match is progressing, what with the strictly ground-level, third-person view, while also being harder to make an individual impact on a match’s outcome. Even with a preinstalled working knowledge of stuff like last hitting, creep equilibriums, teamfight positioning and all that good MOBA jargon. Maybe I’m just not gelling with my preferred heroes as well as I think?

Ed: I very much echo similar thoughts to you here, James. I’ve spent a frightening amount of time with League Of Legends in the past, so I largely get how these MOBAs work. But I just can’t quite get a hold of where a match is going in Deadlock or what my role within it should be. I imagine part of that is down to my knowledge of each hero and the game as a whole, but I’m often lost as to what those ’next steps’ are. I don’t know, maybe I need to adjust to the third-person perspective, cut through the frenzied fights, and learn by doing and/or watching sweaty streamers. But boy, I don’t know if I’ve got it in me anymore. Especially not when a big obstacle lies in the UI itself. Goodness gracious.

Ollie: C’mon, Ed, the UI isn’t that bad… Hmm. Actually, maybe it is, and I’m just too used to it. I do remember being seriously wrongfooted by the health bar being placed just slightly off to the left, hovering nowhere in particular. It took me a good long while to train my eye to look there. Is that something you guys were feeling? That you’d just suddenly die without any forewarning?

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Graham: I died more than anyone, and I was looking at the health bar but it didn’t help. The issue was that, even with full health, I could be cut down in certain situations extremely quickly. Which would be fine if I knew why. Was my hero a bad match-up against whatever hero I was fighting against? Did I push too far too soon? Had I fallen behind in the economy/upgrade/shopping curve? I have hundreds of hours in Team Fortress 2 but only six total hours in Dota 2, which means I understand the broad concepts of a MOBA but not any of the particulars - and I am philosophically opposed to having to do 2,000 hours of Reddit homework before I’m able to be good at a video game. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be 2000 times as fun as just shooting a Soldier in the head with a Sniper’s bow in TF2.

Ollie: That’s roughly how I felt about MOBAs in general when Deadlock came along. I hadn’t touched Dota 2 in about 10 years, and it was more out of curiosity than any particular enthusiasm for another MOBA in my life that I checked Deadlock out. Full disclosure, I’ve played about 120 hours now. It’s got its hooks in me somehow. I play it nearly every evening, and I’m still shite, but I at least feel like I’m past the overwhelming stage where everything seems to end with the question of “Why did that happen?” I actually think I got to grips with Deadlock a lot quicker than I got to grips with Dota 2 back in the day. Some things are definitely more streamlined here, like the shop items, and the automatic sorting of heroes into lanes at the start of the game. But I do concede that even if Deadlock is 20% easier to get into than Dota, that still makes it nearly impenetrable.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve

Graham: I like that the creeps have candles for heads and the wax melts as you shoot them. That was a high point.

Ed: Yeah, I must say that the creeps really do it for me, too. And I do like the pop of the currency balloons that rise from them whenever you finish them off. Creeps aside for a second, I do think the meat of Deadlock’s fights and the way your hero’s abilities play off each other work well, too! I took great pleasure - Ollie can attest to the glee I voiced in the chat - in playing as a little guy who rode on a big pig man, whose wombo combo felt particularly intuitive. I’d burrow under the earth like a predator molesile, spring out from the mud and send enemies flying, activate my AoE health-helper directly afterwards, chuck some sand in their eyes, then use my ultimate to pin some poor sucker down so my friends can beat them up.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve

Ollie: Yeah, your glee was probably my high point of the whole thing. But again, I’m approaching this from the perspective of someone who already knows and loves Deadlock. I think another big part of learning to click with the game comes with understanding the map’s verticality. When I first started, I would stay very much at ground level, pottering about my lane until someone in chat yelled at me to go somewhere else. Now, as Pocket, one of my two mains (the other being Dynamo, for those interested), my main strategy is to buy Majestic Leap from the shop as soon as I’m out of the laning stage, so I can soar into the air and then keep myself aloft with Pocket’s Barrage ability. With this combo, the map opens up to a ludicrous degree. Highrise rooftops are but a jump away, and the ability to switch lanes in two seconds or just get an aerial view of the situation is immensely powerful. It was probably the biggest evidence of there being any kind of skill gap in our lobbies - I and possibly one other person on the enemy team would be soaring, and the rest would be at ground level. Using the ziplines and the air vents to launch yourself around is also a big deal. I wish there was an extra level of training that dealt with all this, I really think it would make beginners feel less lost.

James: Would it be fair to say that the problem with games like this isn’t so much general incomprehensibility as the lack of a good onboarding process? There’s a lot to take in - maybe too much - but it’s ultimately all based on consistent rules and logic. And there must be a middle ground between simply learning to shoot creeps as Wraith and spending the next five years of your life buried in stats sheets and YouTube tutorials. Since Deadlock is still in this experimental phase, maybe that’s something Valve can figure out before it actually hits the shelves.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Valve

Ed: I definitely think they could have a better onboarding process, but ultimately, I think the best one is probably a mate taking you through the game’s intricacies over the course of hundreds of hours - it’s inescapable. And I think part of the joy of games like Deadlock are the ever emerging meta and strategies, all of which hooked players want to keep track of. I was once one of those people, but I broke free a long time ago. I wish everyone who takes the game seriously all the very best.

Ollie: The core of Deadlock feels like a genuinely exciting new direction for the genre. But I do wish it also took bold new steps in the direction of onboarding new players, because the first 10 hours you spend can be a real test of one’s resilience. Maybe it’s too early to judge. It’s hard to gauge Deadlock’s completeness, given its bizarre invite-fuelled pre-alpha playtesting structure. Still, I think I’d definitely be happy with Deadlock being the one MOBA that I take seriously. If I had to choose one, I’d choose the one with sliding and leaping and shooting satisfying little bubbles of currency.

Deadlock

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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