ARC Raiders

Patch Notes 1.22.0 - March 31, 2026

ARC Raiders Flashpoint Patch Notes

Full changelog for the Flashpoint content update. New ARC Operation, Vaporizer enemy, two weapons, a deployable gadget, matchmaking changes, locked room loot buffs, and dozens of fixes.

Key Takeaways

Locked rooms are worth opening now. Loot value in all locked rooms has been increased, scaling with key rarity. Higher-tier keys give noticeably better rewards.
Custom loadout players get priority on fresh servers. If you build your own gear instead of using free loadouts, matchmaking now biases you toward servers with fewer players already on the ground.
Crafting got a major convenience pass. Missing materials can be recycled, refined, or purchased directly from the crafting window without switching tabs.
Shredders are on every map now. Previously confined to Stella Montis, they appear during certain map conditions across all maps.
Weapon audio latency reduced considerably. Applies to systems with 16 GB+ RAM on Windows. Continuous-fire weapons are more responsive when releasing the trigger.
Rocketeers got tougher. They take less collision damage and no longer die instantly from impact when stunned.

Patch 1.22.0 is the Flashpoint content update for ARC Raiders, going live March 31, 2026. Beyond the headline features like the Close Scrutiny ARC Operation, Vaporizer enemy, and new weapons, this patch delivers a long list of balance adjustments, quality-of-life improvements, and bug fixes that touch nearly every system in the game. Here's the complete breakdown.

New Content

All new content arriving with Flashpoint is covered in detail in our Flashpoint update overview. Here's the summary:

Addition	Type	Details
Close Scrutiny	ARC Operation (Map Condition)	New endgame event centered around the Assessor ARC
Vaporizer	New ARC Enemy	Flying laser ARC with erratic attack patterns
Dolabra	Legendary Energy Shotgun	Variable-focus beam, wide burst or focused funnel
Canto	Rare Medium Ammo SMG	Close-quarters option running common ammo type
Surge Coil	Rare Deployable	Periodic area electrification, shocks nearby threats
High-Gain Antenna	Player Project	Community quest line, rewards for resource contributions
Scrappy Feeding Boost	Companion Feature	Feed items to direct Scrappy's loot collection

Patch Highlights

Locked Room Loot Buff

Loot value in all locked rooms has been increased across the board. The buff scales with key rarity, so rooms that require rarer keys will contain proportionally better rewards. If you've been skipping locked rooms because the loot felt underwhelming relative to the risk, this change is aimed directly at that frustration.

Custom Loadout Matchmaking Priority

Players who build their own loadout are now more likely to be placed on fresh servers. This means fewer situations where you drop in with your own gear only to find the map already picked clean by players who arrived earlier.

Dev Note: As part of an ongoing look at free loadout usage and how it impacts the game, we're going to bias the matchmaking to put players with custom loadouts into fresh servers. This won't be a guarantee, as map choice, time of day, and region will still affect the number of players available to matchmake. This does have an effect on overall matchmaking times so we'll be keeping a close eye on it. Free Loadouts are primarily meant as a safety net for a player's personal economy. With these kits, those who play carefully should have enough to build themselves back up, accomplish a few tasks, or make a bit of progress.

Crafting Improvements

Missing materials can now be acquired directly from the crafting view. Recycling, refining, or purchasing what you need happens in the same window. No more bouncing between four different screens to build one item.

Hide HUD on Console

Console players can now toggle HUD visibility from Gameplay Options. The same options are available on PC via F10. Four modes: Visible, Crosshair and Interactions Only, Crosshair Only, and Hidden.

Balance Changes

ARC Changes

Rocketeers take less damage from collisions and are no longer instantly destroyed on impact when stunned.
Reduced the chance for multiple Fireflies to spawn together.
Decreased the time it takes for ARC to identify players standing very close in front of them. ARC will spot you faster at point-blank range.

Items

Free Augments can now be recycled into 6 Plastic and 6 Rubber Parts.
The Firefly Burner has new extra-spicy functionality.

Maps & Loot

Increased loot value in all locked rooms, scaling with key rarity.
Increased loot spawns from Baron Husks.
Players who build their own loadout are more likely to join fresh servers.
Shredders added to all maps (Dam Battlegrounds: certain map conditions only).

Map-Specific Changes

Dam Battlegrounds

Added more Sentinel spawn points.
Adjusted area coverage for Leapers, Bombardiers, and Bastions to improve navigation.
Fixed various clipping, floating objects, and terrain gaps.

Buried City

Fixed multiple spots where players could get stuck.
Added more Sentinel spawn points with more consistent spawns.
Opened up navigation on some Old Town streets for ARC to move more freely.
Adjusted area coverage for Leapers, Bombardiers, and Bastions to improve navigation and variety.
Increased the variety of Leaper, Bombardier, Bastion, and Rocketeer distribution during the Night Raid map condition.

Blue Gate

Added more Sentinel spawn points.
Adjusted area coverage for certain big enemies to improve navigation.
Reduced the number of Comets during the Hurricane map condition.
Locked Gate rework: Some side entrances now unlock with the main gate. Security Codes come from Code Printers instead of containers. Security Codes expire upon extraction.

Spaceport

Resolved several instances of floating objects and clipping.
Added more Sentinel spawn points.
Fixed players getting stuck in elevator shafts.
Added more mushroom spawn locations for better resource availability.
Increased chances for high-tier loot from the rooftop activity during Launch Tower Loot map condition.
Added a delay after the final antenna is activated before the bunker opens during Hidden Bunker map condition.

Stella Montis

Fixed a missing wall in the Security Lobby.

Check Your Loadout

With locked room loot buffs and new weapons, make sure your build is ready.

Compare Weapons

Audio Improvements

Patch 1.22.0 includes a significant audio overhaul. The headline change is a considerable reduction in weapon audio latency on Windows systems with 16 GB+ RAM. Continuous-fire weapons feel more responsive when you release the trigger, with less delay and desync between input and sound.

Improved stability of proximity voice chat.
Removed indoor wind reaction sounds to avoid confusion with player-generated sounds like looting.
Fixed missing secondary-use audio for the ARC Power Core and restored the use sound when repairing another player's armor.
Improved positional audio clarity for other players.
Opening and closing doors can be heard from farther away.
Improved directional audio for flying ARC.
Adjusted directional filtering for sounds behind the player, making them clearer.
Added distant variations to bullet impact indicator sounds for better long-range hit feedback.
Considerably reduced weapon audio latency (Windows: 16 GB+ RAM).
Improved responsiveness of continuous-fire weapon audio on trigger release.
Fixed missing tab navigation sounds in the UI when using a gamepad.

ARC Behavior Fixes

Improved behaviour for stunned Comets.
Improved ARC target selection to allow switching targets more freely, reducing the tendency to "zero in" on the first target spotted.
Fixed flying ARC (especially Fireflies) spawning inside walls and attacking players from outside walls and floors in Stella Montis.
All interactions are now disabled when grabbed by a Tick except the interaction to fight it off.

Gameplay Fixes

Fixed an issue that allowed players to use ziplines or ladders while carrying items (e.g., Field Crate). Carryables are now dropped when grabbing a zipline or ladder.
Fixed players who joined near the end of the late-join window having ARC spawn on them immediately.
Added gamepad aim assist to Leaper legs and core.
Fixed taking fall damage when attempting to vault on Comets.
Remote Raider Flares can now be disarmed with the Mine Sweeper skill.
Fixed using LMB/RMB while unarmed delaying or preventing weapon equip.
Fixed Trailblazer and Shrapnel Grenade eliminations not counting toward the "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" achievement.

Animation & Movement

Reduced pose popping when starting to sprint, improved sprint transitions, and refined idle-to-movement animations.
Fixed Comet head jitter.
Fixed weapon mesh misplacement during auto re-equip after breaching doors.
Fixed fire damage triggering bullet hit reactions.
Fixed characters not immediately facing ladders when aligning to climb.
Fixed sprint being retriggered and canceled when holding fire and sprint together.

Performance & Rendering

Improved texture streaming to reduce stalls, with streaming now more responsive on lower-spec systems.
Optimized texture streaming calculations to reduce stuttering.
Optimized CPU performance.
Reduced shadow popping.
Reduced popping from vegetation and debris.
Fixed flickering shadows from vegetation.
Upgraded Intel XeSS to SDK version 2.1.1.
Upgraded AMD FSR to SDK version 2.1.0 with improved responsiveness and image clarity.

UI Changes

All party members can now see active map conditions while in Speranza. Members can also ping destinations they'd like to depart to.
Checking one matchmaking option (Fill Squad or Solo vs. Squad) now disables the other.
Matchmaking timer is now shown at the bottom of all screens next to the selected destination.
Fixed stash overflow shown incorrectly when detaching mods from the inspect screen.
Fixed inverted gamepad camera zoom on Decks and Store screens.
Fixed missing action text for several throwable items.
Added HUD visibility options for console (also available via F10 on PC): Visible, Crosshair and Interactions Only, Crosshair Only, Hidden.
The inventory screen now shows stash value.
Fixed barricade pings showing offset instead of at the crosshair.
Emote tiles in customization now show a wheel icon indicating which slot each emote occupies.
The store tab now shows a new items marker when the store rotation changes.
Purchase preview dialog now displays a detailed breakdown of bundle contents.
The customization screen now shows a small preview of the bundle.

Quest & Stability Fixes

Fixed items being incorrectly consumed during interactions in the "After Rain Comes" quest.
Fixed effect syncing issues in the quest "A Dead End".
Reworked quest tracking to prevent progression blocking. Progress bars now indicate what progress may be lost if you fail to extract.
Resolved a crash in the tutorial.
Fixed a rare crash when loading into a Practice Range session.

Cosmetic & VFX Fixes

Fixed parts of the Low Bun and Curly Mullet not being animated.
Fixed beards disappearing with some headgear.
Fixed Sentinel's laser being shorter than its sight range in some cases.
Fixed ARC damage visual effects sometimes being visible through walls.

Known Issues

Issues Embark Is Tracking

The Firefly may sometimes disappear after going idle and drop an incendiary grenade.
The persistent sound of a destroyed Comet can be heard occasionally.
Shredders float to the ceiling in some rooms of the Hidden Bunker.
ARC may spawn inside the geometry on The Dam.
Invisible collision under the Turret at a few locations on Buried City and Spaceport.
Flying ARC may sometimes appear stuck in idle.
Helmet visors become transparent after the first extraction.
'Purchase Raider Tokens' page may appear in front of the inbox and profile page.
Player animations may appear broken when interrupting a Baron Husk search.
Pressing fire with an empty mag triggers a reload, and the weapon automatically fires a shot when the reload completes without an additional trigger press.
Clicking too rapidly when equipping quick-use items may prevent them from activating.
The top stairs in Grandioso apartments are not visible even though the collision is there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does building my own loadout guarantee I get a fresh server?

No. The matchmaking system biases custom loadout players toward fresh servers, but map choice, time of day, and your region still affect server availability. Embark noted this may also increase matchmaking times slightly and they're monitoring the impact.

How much better is locked room loot now?

Embark hasn't published exact numbers, but the buff scales with key rarity. Rooms requiring rarer keys will see a larger increase in loot value. Standard locked rooms still got a bump, just a smaller one.

Are Shredders on every map permanently?

They can appear on all maps now, but on Dam Battlegrounds specifically they only show up during certain map conditions. On other maps like Blue Gate, Buried City, and Spaceport, they appear more regularly. Check our Shredder page for combat tips.

What changed with Blue Gate's Locked Gate?

Three things: some side entrances now open when the main gate unlocks, Security Codes drop from Code Printers instead of containers, and Security Codes expire when you extract. You can't stockpile them anymore.

Does the weapon audio latency fix apply to everyone?

On Windows, the reduction only applies to systems with at least 16 GB of RAM. Console players get the improvement regardless. The continuous-fire audio desync fix applies to everyone.

Where can I find the new weapons?

The Dolabra blueprint has the best drop rate during the Close Scrutiny ARC Operation. The Canto blueprint spawns in the Rust Belt. Check our blueprints guide for confirmed locations as they get reported by the community.

Full Flashpoint Breakdown

Read our detailed guide to all the new content in the Flashpoint update.

Flashpoint Update Guide

ARC Raiders Patch Notes 1.22.0: Flashpoint Full Changelog, Balance Changes & Bug Fixes