ARC Raiders Frozen Trail Skill Tree: Every New Perk and Pick
The Frozen Trail skill tree swaps 13 old perks for 16 new ones and adds diamond picks at 10 and 30 points. Here is every change, branch by branch.
The ARC Raiders Frozen Trail skill tree arrives with the update on October 8, 2026, and it changes more than any patch since launch. Thirteen perks are gone, 16 are new, 11 switched branches, and the big point gates drop from 15 and 36 to 10 and 30. The top of every branch is now a pick: two diamond slots that share three perks, so nobody gets all three.
The headline perks are easy to spot. Field Repair lets you patch weapons, shields and gadgets during a round, Wall Run turns a sprint into a few steps up a wall, and Weapon Bash gives every gun a melee hit. Below is every perk, branch by branch, plus how the new picks work. You can try any build in our ARC Raiders skill tree builder, which already runs on the new tree.
October 7, 2026 | Based on Embark's preview of the reworked tree and the in-game tooltips shown before launch.
Key takeaways
- The first big pick in each branch needs 10 points instead of 15, and the final picks need 30 instead of 36.
- Each branch ends in two diamond slots that share three perks, so a Raider can hold two of the three.
- Conditioning now holds most of the weight and encumbrance perks, including Stubborn Mule, Broad Shoulders and the new Mule's Gallop.
- Flyswatter, Carry the Momentum, Good as New and ten other perks are not in the new tree.
What changed in the ARC Raiders skill tree
The three branches survive, and so does the basic shape. Each one starts from a single perk, splits into two short paths, and joins at a diamond. What sits on those paths is where Embark shook things up.
Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal told PC Gamer that the rework asks players to choose a few abilities instead of collecting all of them. The diamonds are how that plays out. Your first diamond opens at 10 points in its branch and holds one of two perks. Three columns of regular perks follow, and at 30 points the two final diamonds open, sharing three perks between them.
Perks also changed homes. Eleven moved branches, and the pattern makes sense once it's laid out. The carrying perks gathered in Conditioning, while breaching and looting settled in Survival.
| Perk | Launch branch | Frozen Trail branch |
|---|---|---|
| Stubborn Mule | Survival | Conditioning |
| Three Deep Breaths | Survival | Conditioning |
| Broad Shoulders | Survival | Conditioning |
| Security Breach | Survival | Conditioning, as a final pick |
| Vigorous Vaulter | Mobility | Conditioning |
| Crawl Before You Walk | Mobility | Conditioning |
| Fight or Flight | Conditioning | Mobility |
| Sturdy Ankles | Mobility | Survival |
| Turtle Crawl | Conditioning | Survival |
| Gentle Pressure | Conditioning | Survival |
| A Little Extra | Conditioning | Survival |
Conditioning perks in the Frozen Trail skill tree
Conditioning reads like a branch for hauling loot now. Used to the Weight still starts it, and two short paths lead to the first pick: Stubborn Mule into the new Vault 'N' Carry, and Three Deep Breaths into Vigorous Vaulter.
At 10 points you choose between Mule's Gallop, which lets you sprint while over-encumbered, and Back on Your Feet, the critical-health regeneration perk that used to sit at the very top of the old tree. That's a real choice. One keeps a heavy bag moving, the other keeps you standing after a bad fight.
The middle columns hold Downed But Determined and Crawl Before You Walk on one side, Broad Shoulders and the new Speedy Mule in the center, and Loaded Arms into Proficient Pryer on the other. Speedy Mule cuts the speed penalty when you're severely over-encumbered, so a full mule build stacks four perks around one problem.
The final picks are Security Breach, Weapon Bash and Bull Rush. Weapon Bash gives you a melee attack with your equipped weapon. Bull Rush works with your weapon stowed: sprint into ARC or another Raider and you knock them back. Security Breach now competing with those two is the hardest call in the tree for anyone who farms Security Lockers.
| Perk | Spot | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Used to the Weight | Start | Wearing a shield doesn't slow you down as much. |
| Stubborn Mule | Early | Your stamina regeneration is less affected by being over-encumbered. |
| Vault 'N' CarryNEW | Early | Lets you vault while holding a carryable. |
| Three Deep Breaths | Early | After an ability drains your stamina, you recover more quickly. |
| Vigorous Vaulter | Early | Vaulting is no longer slowed down while exhausted. |
| Mule's GallopNEW | 10-point pick | Lets you sprint while over-encumbered. |
| Back on Your Feet | 10-point pick | When you're critically hurt, your health regenerates until a certain limit. |
| Downed But Determined | Middle | When you're downed, it takes longer before you collapse. |
| Crawl Before You Walk | Middle | When you're downed, you crawl faster. |
| Broad Shoulders | Middle | Increases the maximum weight you can carry. |
| Speedy MuleNEW | Middle | Reduces the speed penalty when severely over-encumbered. |
| Loaded Arms | Middle | Your equipped weapon has less impact on your encumbrance. |
| Proficient Pryer | Middle | Breaching doors and containers takes less time. |
| Security Breach | 30-point pick | Lets you breach Security Lockers. |
| Weapon BashNEW | 30-point pick | Lets you perform a melee attack using your equipped weapon. |
| Bull RushNEW | 30-point pick | With your weapon stowed, knock back players and ARC while sprinting. |
Mobility perks: Sprinting on Fumes, Wall Run and In the Flow
Youthful Lungs replaces Nimble Climber as Mobility's first perk, so max stamina comes first now. The early paths run Sure-Footed Scrambler into Ready to Roll on one side and Nimble Climber into Fight or Flight on the other. Fight or Flight came over from Conditioning.
The first pick is a vaulting choice: Vault Spring, which lets you jump at the end of a vault, or Vaults on Vaults on Vaults, which makes vaulting free. After that come three columns: Effortless Roll and Slip and Slide, Right Back At It and Off the Wall, and Marathon Runner with the new Swift Start.
The final picks are where Mobility gets fun on paper. Sprinting on Fumes keeps your stamina from fully draining while you sprint, with a longer recovery the longer it runs. Wall Run lets you run a few steps up a wall. In the Flow rewards chaining movement while sprinting with more speed and a lower stamina cost. If you've ever lost a chase because your stamina bar emptied halfway to cover, Sprinting on Fumes is the one to try first.
| Perk | Spot | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Youthful Lungs | Start | Increases your max stamina. |
| Sure-Footed ScramblerNEW | Early | While sprinting, increases the time you can scramble up steep slopes. |
| Ready to Roll | Early | When falling, your timing window to perform a Recovery Roll is increased. |
| Nimble Climber | Early | You can climb and vault more quickly. |
| Fight or Flight | Early | When you're hurt in combat, regain a fixed amount of stamina. Has a cooldown between uses. |
| Vault Spring | 10-point pick | Lets you jump at the end of a vault. |
| Vaults on Vaults on Vaults | 10-point pick | Vaulting no longer costs stamina. |
| Effortless Roll | Middle | Dodge Rolls cost less stamina. |
| Slip and Slide | Middle | You can slide further and faster. |
| Right Back At ItNEW | Middle | Reduces the time to get back up after a heavy landing. |
| Off the Wall | Middle | You can Wall Leap further. |
| Marathon Runner | Middle | Moving around costs less stamina. |
| Swift StartNEW | Middle | Increases how long the high speed at the start of a sprint lasts. |
| Sprinting on FumesNEW | 30-point pick | Stamina never fully drains while sprinting. Any action or damage cancels it, and recovery time scales with how long it lasted. |
| Wall RunNEW | 30-point pick | Sprinting at a wall lets you run up it for a few steps. |
| In the FlowNEW | 30-point pick | Chaining mobility moves while sprinting increases your speed and lowers the stamina cost. |
Survival perks: Field Repair, Road Warrior and Quick Roll
In-round Crafting is now Survival's first perk, and it costs a single point. Looter's Instincts and Silent Scavenger form one early path, and Sturdy Ankles and Agile Croucher form the other. Sturdy Ankles came over from Mobility, and Agile Croucher moved up from the old starting spot.
The 10-point pick is Quick Roll or Minesweeper. Quick Roll is a faster Dodge Roll that costs less stamina and covers less ground. Minesweeper still lets you defuse mines and explosive deployables up close, and it no longer takes 36 points to reach.
The middle columns pick up three perks from Conditioning: Turtle Crawl, Gentle Pressure and A Little Extra. They sit alongside Traveling Tinkerer, Looter's Luck and the new Stylish Landing, which lets you use the Recovery Roll from higher up.
The final picks matter most for solo players. Road Warrior increases the ammo and ARC Powercells you loot from ARC and lets you recycle at full efficiency during a round. Nomadic Crafting widens what you can field craft. Field Repair lets you repair weapons, shields and gadgets up to 30% durability mid-raid. Take two of those three and a broken shield stops ending your run.
| Perk | Spot | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| In-round Crafting | Start | Lets you field-craft items while Topside. |
| Looter's Instincts | Early | When searching a container, loot is revealed faster. |
| Silent Scavenger | Early | You make less noise when looting. |
| Sturdy Ankles | Early | You take less fall damage when falling from a non-lethal height. |
| Agile Croucher | Early | Your movement speed while crouching is increased. |
| Quick RollNEW | 10-point pick | A faster Dodge Roll at a reduced stamina cost. Covers a shorter distance. |
| Minesweeper | 10-point pick | Mines and explosive deployables can be defused when in close proximity. |
| Traveling Tinkerer | Middle | Adds more items you can field craft. |
| Looter's Luck | Middle | While looting, there's a chance to reveal twice as many items at once. |
| Stylish LandingNEW | Middle | You can use the Recovery Roll from higher up. |
| Turtle Crawl | Middle | While downed, you take less damage. |
| Gentle Pressure | Middle | You make less noise when breaching. |
| A Little Extra | Middle | Breaching an object generates resources. |
| Road WarriorNEW | 30-point pick | Increases the ammo and ARC Powercells looted from ARC, and lets you recycle at full efficiency during a round. |
| Nomadic CraftingNEW | 30-point pick | Lets you field craft a much wider range of items. |
| Field RepairNEW | 30-point pick | Lets you repair weapons, shields and gadgets up to 30% durability during a round. |
How the diamond picks work
Each branch has three diamonds. The first holds one perk out of two, and it opens once you've spent 10 points in that branch. Your path has to reach it too, which means a point in one of the two perks directly below it.
The two final diamonds share a pool of three perks, and each slot holds a different one. The first opens at 30 points. In preview footage, the second final diamond was still locked for a player with 32 points in Mobility and open for one with 41 in Conditioning, so it looks like it needs more than the first. Our builder sets it at 40 until we can confirm the exact number in the live game.
A pick costs one skill point, the same as a single-rank perk.
Perks removed in the Frozen Trail update
Thirteen perks from the launch tree don't appear in the new one. Conditioning loses Blast-Born, Survivor's Stamina, Unburdened Roll, Effortless Swing, Sky-Clearing Swing and Flyswatter. Mobility loses Carry the Momentum, Calming Stroll and Heroic Leap, and Survival loses Suffer in Silence, Revitalizing Squat, Good as New and One Raider's Scraps.
Flyswatter is the one people will miss. Dropping a Wasp or a Turret with one melee hit saved a lot of ammo, and nothing in the new tree does exactly that. Weapon Bash is the closest thing, a melee swing with whatever gun you're holding.
Calming Stroll and Carry the Momentum were both stamina tricks behind the old 15-point gate. The new tree handles stamina differently, with Swift Start in the middle columns and Sprinting on Fumes at the top. If you read our Frozen Trail first look and wondered what the rework would mean for movement builds, this is the answer: more sprinting, less walking.
Skill points, Expedition bonus and respecs
A max-level Raider has 76 skill points, one for each of the 75 levels plus the one you start with. Expedition rewards have added up to 15 bonus points on top. The builder has a setting for your bonus, so it caps your build at the right total.
Reports from Embark's September 25 developer Q&A say everyone gets a free respec when the update goes live, which is the right moment to try a new build. Outside that free reset, a full respec has cost 2,000 Coins per spent point since the Cold Snap update in December.
Embark's Frozen Trail content preview lists the skill tree rework next to new questlines and a new Map Condition, so expect the rest of the update to shift which builds feel strong in the first week.
Plan your Frozen Trail build
Our skill tree builder now opens on the Frozen Trail tree. Click a perk to add a point, click a diamond to choose its perk, and the share link updates as you go. The launch tree is still there too, for anyone comparing old builds.
A few values are still unconfirmed before launch: the exact point counts for Sure-Footed Scrambler, Right Back At It, Swift Start and Stylish Landing, and the second final diamond's point gate. We'll check them against the live game on October 8 and update the builder and this post.
Frozen Trail skill tree FAQ
When does the new ARC Raiders skill tree come out?
It arrives with the Frozen Trail update on October 8, 2026.
How many points do you need for the first pick?
Ten points spent in that branch, plus a point in one of the two perks directly below the diamond.
Can you take all three final perks?
No. Each branch has two final diamonds that share three perks, and each diamond holds a different one.
Is Flyswatter still in the game?
Not in the Frozen Trail tree. Weapon Bash, a melee attack with your equipped weapon, is the closest replacement.
Do you get a free respec for Frozen Trail?
Reports from Embark's September 25 developer Q&A say yes, everyone gets one when the update goes live.
Where can I plan a Frozen Trail build?
Use our Frozen Trail skill tree builder, then share the link in the ARC Raiders community forums and see what other Raiders are running.