ARC Raiders Patch 1.29.0 Notes: Denuvo Anti-Cheat Rolls Out, The Rascal Grenade Launcher, And Ermal Goes Live

Patch 1.29.0 dropped on May 19, 2026, and it carries more weight than a typical mid-cycle update. Three big shifts ship together: Denuvo Anti-Cheat layering on top of Anybrain, a new weapon class with the Rascal grenade launcher, and the long-previewed Ermal trader opening for business. Around those three, a long list of balance, ARC, and bug fixes touches nearly every system. Read the official notes on the arcraiders.com patch notes page.

Denuvo Anti-Cheat is rolling out on May 19 to a limited player pool, with expansion planned after monitoring. Embark explicitly notes that the DRM service from Denuvo is not part of this rollout, which matters because the Denuvo brand has historically meant both anti-cheat and DRM, and the DRM side has been controversial. This is anti-cheat only.

The combination is now: Easy Anti-Cheat at the kernel, Anybrain machine-learning behavioral analysis, Denuvo Anti-Cheat as the new kernel-level second layer, plus the existing Abnormal Match Compensation system. Our fair play update breakdown walked through the stack before Denuvo landed - this patch fills in the kernel-level gap we flagged.

Reddit reception is sharply positive. The community thread "Embark finally is going after the cheaters with Denuvo Anti-cheat software" pulled 1,552 upvotes at 95% positive in the first day, with 657 comments. The official patch notes thread sits at 653 upvotes, 99% positive, 257 comments.

The bigger question is whether Denuvo Anti-Cheat plus Anybrain plus EAC will reduce false bans, not just catch more cheats. Embark's "sharpen both detection and precision" framing in the May 7 fair play post pointed at the false-positive problem. Denuvo is a more mature kernel anti-cheat than Anybrain, with a longer track record across major shooters. If false-ban rates drop in the next month, that is the win to watch for.

The Rascal is a lightweight anti-ARC grenade launcher framed in the patch notes as "Tian Wen has been tinkering in her workshop again." Lore-wise, that connects the new weapon to one of the existing traders. The Rascal is positioned as a sidearm alternative to the heavy Hullcracker - lighter weight, easier to carry, but with quirks: slower reload speed and unpredictable aim.

Early community datamines confirm the Rascal Blueprint is finding its way into Raider backpacks on Stella Montis - one r/arcraiders user posted a screenshot of a Blueprint pickup near the Lobby Metro station within hours of the patch dropping. Expect the Blueprint to circulate through the loot pool in the coming days. Watch the blueprints page for confirmed drop locations as the community maps them.

Ermal is live in Speranza. He runs a makeshift stall, opens at level 25, and trades high-value ARC components and weaponry for two permanent perks (Stash Expansion, Expedition Vault) plus rotating weekly stock. The full guide with this week's inventory is in our Ermal trader breakdown.

Bettina

• Base fire rate raised from 235 to 250.

This walks back part of the Riven Tides 1.26.0 rebalance, which dropped Bettina fire rate from 285 to 235. The new 250 sits between the original and the post-Riven Tides number, suggesting Embark felt the rifle ended up too slow. Per our Riven Tides coverage, the previous rebalance also bumped base damage from 14 to 16 and improved dispersion. Those changes hold.

Extended Barrel Mod

• Bullet velocity bonus increased from 25% to 30%.
• Damage falloff distance increased by 15%.
• Renamed to Extended Barrel III, with two lower-tier variants now added.

The tier expansion matters as much as the numerical buffs. Adding lower tiers means newer Raiders can access scaled-down versions of the mod earlier in progression instead of jumping straight to the top-tier effect.

Weapon Durability

Embark targeted "worst offenders" breaking too quickly. Specific values are shown in the official durability chart below.

Tactical Mk.3 (Healing)

• Cloud of Renewal converted to an area-of-effect ability.
• Healing per pulse raised from 20 to 45.
• Cooldown extended from 30 seconds to 45 seconds.

Per Embark, the goal is "more utility in line with its place as a support-focused Augment." A bigger heal pulse with a longer cooldown rewards intentional placement over spam-cycling.

Combat Mk.3 (Flanking)

• Shield capacity now accepts Medium Shields.

Photoelectric Cloak

• Power use rate reduced from 10/s to 5/s.

This is a partial reversal of the Riven Tides 1.26.0 nerf, which had jacked the Cloak from 2.5/s to 10/s. The new 5/s sits between the original and the heavier nerf - Embark walking back half the change. Cloak is now sustainable for longer engagements without being free.

Augment Sell Price

• Free loadout Augment sell price corrected from 100 to 660 coins.

Quick Use

• Agave Juice now quick-moves to Quick Use slots automatically.

General

• Vision granularity through bushes and smoke increased - edge positioning more detectable by ARC.
• Sound perception improved outdoors, reduced indoors.
• Flying ARC stuck-in-geometry issue resolved.
• Queen and Matriarch step over obstacles more often, reducing unfair knockback.
• Initial engagement perceptiveness on Raider spawn lowered.
• Unexpected ARC spawn locations corrected.

ARC Turbine

• Invisible legs at odd angles fixed.
• Leg angle-finding and landing positioning improved.
• Increased burn odds inside the Turbine.
• Visual clipping mitigation improved.

Other

• Firefly fire application now matches visuals - briefly grazing the flame no longer feels as punishing.
• Rocketeer missile spread improved to prevent multiple hits on the same location.

All Maps

• Low-res textures, spray paint decals, and misaligned walls in tunnels and highways fixed.
• Overly dark vent shading corrected for visibility.

Riven Tides

• Balcony clipping into hotel doorway fixed.
• Floating objects and rope visual or physics issues fixed.
• Misaligned balcony in lobby, missing wall collision at Room 207 fixed.

Stella Montis

• Environment textures and collision issues polished.

• Crash Mat tooltip now shows the safe fall height.
• Deployable previews show occluded portions with a striped overlay.
• ARC Turbine ping marker erratic behavior fixed.
• Block player option added after reporting.
• End of Round: squad members visible regardless of extraction status.
• Social actions accessible via nameplate interaction.
• Immediate squad-leave option in the tunnel.
• Stun immunity while entering Raider Hatch.
• Fire input buffering during dodgeroll and climbing fixed.
• Surge Coil no longer damages teammates.
• PS5/Xbox voice chat console UI failure resolved.

This one is NOT in the official patch notes but it surfaced in datamine within hours of the patch landing. Season 4 has been extended by two weeks.

• Old Season End: June 22, 7 AM UTC.
• New Season End: July 7, 8 AM UTC.
• Two additional Trial weeks added: June 22-29 and June 29 to July 7.
• Expedition window shifted: start moves from June 22 to July 7, end moves from July 6 to July 21.

If you have been pushing Trials progression and worried you would not finish in time, you now have two extra weeks. Embark not announcing this in the patch notes is unusual - the datamined version surfaced via the in-game data shortly after the build went live.