ARC Raiders Hotfix Feb 26: Crouch-Dodge Exploit Fixed, Il Toro Affected, Patchwork Cosmetics Pulled

On February 26, 2026, Embark Studios developer Ossen announced a hotfix rolling out to all ARC Raiders players via the game's official Discord. The patch is small in scope but targets four distinct problem areas: crash stability, server performance, a movement exploit tied to dodge rolling, and a cosmetic display bug with Patchwork items. This follows just two days after the major 1.17.0 Shrouded Sky patch, which overhauled weapon balance and introduced dozens of changes.

If you have not restarted your client since the announcement, do that now. The hotfix downloads automatically on restart.

The hotfix resolves multiple instances of client-side crashes and separate server-side crashes. Embark did not specify exact reproduction steps for these crashes, which is standard practice for stability patches where the triggers can be varied and difficult to describe in player-facing notes. If you were experiencing random disconnects or freezes since the Shrouded Sky content update, this patch targets those problems directly.

On the server side, several performance issues were also addressed. During a game's early access period, server stability patches like this one carry outsized importance. New content updates often introduce edge cases that only surface when thousands of players interact with new systems simultaneously. The 1.17.0 patch added new weather conditions, reworked weapon input buffering, and changed dozens of item values, all of which can introduce server-side strain that only shows up at scale.

This is the most gameplay-relevant fix in the hotfix. Under certain conditions, players could crouch immediately after a dodge roll and skip the recovery animation entirely. The recovery window after a dodge roll exists for a reason: it is the brief vulnerability period that balances the invincibility frames you get during the roll itself. Skipping that window meant players could chain movement actions faster than intended, creating an advantage in both PvP fights and PvE encounters against ARC machines.

Embark specifically called out that this fix affects Il Toro, a melee weapon in ARC Raiders. Il Toro's combat loop rewards aggressive, close-range play where dodge rolling is a core part of the weapon's rhythm. You roll into range, swing, and roll out during the enemy's attack window. With the crouch exploit active, Il Toro users could skip the post-roll recovery and immediately re-engage, giving the weapon a faster effective attack cycle than its design intended. The fix restores the recovery window, which means Il Toro players will need to respect the cooldown between dodge rolls again.

If you have been running Il Toro as your primary weapon, expect the timing of your dodge-swing-dodge combos to feel slightly different. The weapon itself was not nerfed. Its damage, swing speed, and stamina costs are all unchanged. What changed is that the movement system around it now works as originally designed.

Some Patchwork customization items were showing up in the game's cosmetic menus before they were supposed to be available. This is a display issue, not a progression exploit. Players could see the items but the fix pulls them back to their intended release schedule. Embark noted that this change may take some time to propagate across all accounts, so do not be surprised if you still see the items briefly after updating.

There is also a related clarification about the Patchwork outfit tied to the second Expedition. The preview image for that outfit incorrectly showed a bandolier accessory. That bandolier was never meant to be part of the second Expedition's Patchwork set. Embark confirmed it will be brought back and attached to the third Expedition's Patchwork outfit instead. If you were grinding the second Expedition specifically for the bandolier, the outfit you receive will not include it.

ARC Raiders is still in Steam Early Access, and hotfixes like this one are a normal part of the development cycle. Major patches like 1.17.0 ship with extensive internal testing, but some bugs only appear when millions of players are interacting with the new systems in unpredictable ways. The crouch-dodge exploit, for example, likely existed before 1.17.0 but was either less impactful or less well-known before the patch brought renewed attention to movement mechanics.

Embark's turnaround time on this hotfix was roughly 48 hours from the major patch, which signals active monitoring of player reports and server telemetry. For context, the studio confirmed in a recent interview that ARC Raiders has passed 14 million copies sold with 6 million weekly players, so the server-side fixes in particular affect a massive player base.

If you spot new bugs or issues after applying this hotfix, report them through the official Discord or drop a thread in our community forums. Player reports are how these fixes happen quickly.