Last updated October 2026, checked against the Frozen Trail 2.0 update (8 October 2026). Drop sources are community-tracked, so treat them as strong leads rather than guarantees.
Key takeaways
- A blueprint is a recipe, not a gun. You learn it once in Speranza and can craft that item for as long as you have the materials.
- Each blueprint type has a home container: weapons in Raider containers, explosives in Industrial ones, medical items in Medical ones, utilities in Electrical ones.
- The rarest recipes are tied to map conditions. Wolfpack needs Night Raid, Snap Hook needs Electromagnetic Storm, Dolabra comes from the ARC Assessor in Close Scrutiny.
- Hullcracker, Burletta and Lure Grenade come from quests, not from containers.
- Learn what you burn through first (gun parts, your main weapon, healing), then hunt the condition-only recipes when their condition is on the schedule.
ARC Raiders blueprints are the part of progression you can't buy your way through at a trader. Every recipe you learn is one less item you have to find Topside or pay coins for, which is why the right five blueprints change how a run feels far more than a lucky weapon drop. The catch is that you can't farm a specific recipe on demand. You can only stack the odds: right container, right map, right condition.
This guide covers how blueprints work after the Frozen Trail update, where each type drops, the conditions and machines that hold the rare ones, and an order for learning them that pays off fastest.
How do blueprints work in ARC Raiders?
A blueprint is a loot item that teaches you a crafting recipe. Bring it back to Speranza, select Learn and Consume, and the recipe is added to your account while the blueprint item itself is used up. From then on you can craft that weapon, attachment, augment or gadget at the matching Workshop station whenever you have the materials and the station level it asks for.
A few rules matter before you start farming:
- It is loot until you extract. An unlearned blueprint in your backpack is lost on death like anything else you carry. If you find a rare one mid-raid, move it into your Safe Pocket straight away.
- You can only learn a recipe once. Recipes you already know show a check mark and can't be consumed again.
- Duplicates still have value. Community trackers list every blueprint at a flat 5,000 coins when sold, and squads routinely hand spares to teammates who are still missing them.
- Learning is not the same as crafting. Many weapon recipes need Gunsmith level 2 or 3 and parts such as Magnetic Accelerators or Exodus Modules, so a blueprint can sit learned for a while before it pays off.
How many blueprints are there?
There is no official count, and community trackers disagree because they count differently. Lists range from 74 to the high 70s for blueprints you can actually find, with a handful more that exist in the files or only arrive through DLC or rewards. The Frozen Trail preview, for example, notes that the Banjo blueprint is offered in the Collector Set DLC.
The number matters less than the categories. Every blueprint falls into one of these groups:
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Weapons | Anvil, Venator, Tempest, Bettina, Equalizer, Jupiter, Aphelion, Dolabra, Canto |
| Attachments | Extended Medium Mag III, Vertical Grip III, Compensator III, Silencer II, Stable Stock III |
| Gun parts and ammo | Medium Gun Parts, Heavy Gun Parts, Complex Gun Parts, Launcher Ammo |
| Augments | Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor), Looting Mk. 3 (Safekeeper), Combat Mk. 3, Tactical Mk. 3 |
| Medical | Defibrillator, Vita Shot, Vita Spray |
| Explosives | Wolfpack, Showstopper, Blaze Grenade, Explosive Mine, Trigger Nade, Seeker Grenade |
| Utility | Snap Hook, Barricade Kit, Tagging Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Crash Mat |
Where do blueprints drop?
Blueprints spawn in containers that match their category. This is the single most useful rule in blueprint farming, because it tells you which rooms to skip.
| Blueprint type | Containers to search |
|---|---|
| Weapons and gun parts | Raider containers: Raider Caches, Weapon Cases, Ammo Crates, Raider backpacks |
| Explosives | Industrial containers: breachable rusty boxes, red lockers, drawers in shipping containers |
| Medical | Medical containers and medical drawers |
| Augments | Security containers and locked security rooms, occasionally Medical containers |
| Utilities | Electrical containers: servers, computers, wall boxes |
| Attachments | Mostly residential furniture: wardrobes, desks, suitcases |
Two caveats. The Tempest is the known exception among weapons and turns up mostly in residential containers rather than Raider ones. And sources split on augments: the community wiki points to Security containers, while MetaForge's farming guide reports them from the black tech crates and caged racks found in medical and security areas. In practice, any locked security room is worth breaching when you're after an augment.
Locked rooms and breach rooms deserve special attention because they concentrate several high-tier containers in one place. Combined with a double map condition, they are where most rare recipes come from.
Which map conditions drop the rare blueprints?
Rare and epic recipes are noticeably more common during major map conditions, and several can only be found under one. The official map conditions tracker shows when each condition is live on each map, but not what it drops, so the table below is built from community tracking.
| Condition | Blueprints tied to it |
|---|---|
| Night Raid | Wolfpack (only source), Tempest, plus several Tier III attachments |
| Electromagnetic Storm | Snap Hook, Surge Coil |
| Hurricane (First Wave Caches) | Canto, Tempest, Bobcat, Vulcano, also reported for Bettina and Vita Spray |
| Close Scrutiny | Dolabra, from the ARC Assessor a Surveyor calls in |
| Locked Gate (The Blue Gate) | Bobcat, Tier III attachments |
| Hidden Bunker (Spaceport) | Vulcano, Padded Stock, Shotgun Silencer |
| Harvester | Equalizer and Jupiter, through the Harvester objective |
| Uncovered Caches | Raider-pool weapons in general |
Hurricane caches used to be the best blueprint source in the game, and Embark said so directly. Patch 1.18.0 (3 March 2026) "lowered the drop rate of rare blueprints slightly" in First Wave Caches during Hurricane, with the developer note explaining that caches were letting good players "reliably walk away from every session with 3–5 of them." Materials in those caches were raised in exchange. They are still one of the better sources, just no longer a guaranteed haul.
Since update 1.42.0, conditions run on a regional schedule rather than one global rotation, so check the tracker for your own region before planning a session around one.
Which blueprints are map-exclusive?
Some recipes only exist on one map. If you are missing one of these, no amount of farming elsewhere will help.
- Stella Montis: Aphelion, Deadline, Gas Mine, Pulse Mine, Seeker Grenade, Trailblazer.
- Riven Tides: Crash Mat, Powered Descender, White Flag.
The Aphelion is the best-known case. It was removed from the Matriarch's core and now comes from Stella Montis, and players report Night Raids there as the most reliable time to look.
Which blueprints come from quests and Trials?
A small set of recipes never appears in containers.
| Blueprint | Source |
|---|---|
| Hullcracker | Quest: The Major's Footlocker |
| Burletta | Quest: Industrial Espionage (Tian Wen) |
| Lure Grenade | Quest: Greasing Her Palms (Celeste) |
| Trigger Nade | Quest: Sparks Fly, also a world drop |
| Vita Spray | Quest: Worth Your Salt, also a world drop |
Weekly Trials are the other steady source. Most blueprints in the scavenging pool can appear as a Trial reward, but not all: Aphelion, Dolabra, Equalizer, Jupiter, Hullcracker, Lure Grenade and Complex Gun Parts are excluded. If you play Trials anyway, hitting the higher score thresholds each week is a low-risk way to pick up attachment and medical recipes. A Trials boost covers those weekly scores if your schedule doesn't.
Quest-only recipes used to have a timing problem, because an Expedition reset your quest log. Since Live Update 1.45.0, "starting an Expedition no longer resets your quests by default", so you can keep a finished chain when you depart. If you're still short of a quest reward, work out which trader chain it sits behind; a quests boost covers whole chains.
Best blueprint farming spots on each map
These are the rooms that come up again and again in community farming reports. Pair them with the container rules above and a matching condition.
Dam Battlegrounds
- Testing Annex medical drawers for augments, Vita Spray and Defibrillator.
- Research and Admin desks above the Sentinel turret for Tempest.
- The locked Staff Room in the Admin Building, the Primary Facility garage and the Power Rod room red lockers for explosives such as Showstopper, Blaze Grenade and Explosive Mine.
- Control Tower and the Hydroponic Domes for Shotgun Choke III and Surge Coil, with Water Treatment as a second Surge Coil stop.
The Blue Gate
- The breach room in the Security Wing under Reinforced Reception, best in Night Raid or Locked Gate, for Survivor, Safekeeper and other Mk. 3 augments, plus Bobcat.
- The Village for attachments, and Tempest at night.
- The Ancient Fort and Raiders Refuge basements for Bobcat.
Buried City
- Grandioso Apartments, Plaza Rosa and the Santa Maria houses for attachments.
- The Plaza Rosa pharmacy during Night Raid for Vita Spray and Defibrillator.
- The Hospital for Tempest at night, Vita Shot and augments.
Spaceport
- Departures medical area for Vita Spray.
- The Hidden Bunker server racks, Launch Tower containers and North Trench Tower red lockers for Vulcano.
Stella Montis
- The Security Checkpoint, its key room and the locked Security Wing for augments.
- Medical Research for Defibrillator and Vita Shot.
- Loading Bay and Assembly shipping containers for Trailblazer and explosives.
Riven Tides
- Stacking Yard shipping containers, Hotel Panorama Azzurro, the tennis court lockers and the Port Authority Building. Embark raised overall loot value on Riven Tides by roughly 15% in the 2.0 update.
Pendola Pass
The new map has no reliable blueprint routes yet, and part of that is by design. Pendola Pass is the only map with a Dynamic Loot Zone, which keeps each area's loot type but makes its value swing from raid to raid. Expect fixed routes to matter less here than on the older maps.
Which blueprints should you learn first?
Rarity is a poor guide to priority. The best early recipe is the one that saves you the most coins and searching every week. We rank blueprints on three questions:
- How often would you otherwise buy or loot this? Consumables and parts you use every raid repay a blueprint fastest.
- Can you craft it yet? A Gunsmith 3 weapon is a trophy until your bench gets there.
- Is it locked to a condition or map? Those are worth chasing whenever the window is open, because the next one may be hours away.
That gives a practical order:
| Priority | Learn | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medium Gun Parts | Needed to craft and repair a long list of weapons, so it pays off immediately |
| 2 | One main weapon you can craft now (Venator or Anvil at Gunsmith 2) | Stops you buying or looting your loadout every run |
| 3 | Healing: Vita Shot, Vita Spray, Defibrillator | You spend these every raid |
| 4 | Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor) or Safekeeper | Better augments change what you can carry out |
| 5 | Snap Hook | Mobility that wins or escapes fights; Electromagnetic Storm only |
| 6 | Extended Medium Mag III, Vertical Grip III | The attachments most medium-ammo builds want |
| 7 | Condition and endgame weapons: Tempest, Dolabra, Canto, Equalizer | Strongest payoff, but rare and expensive to craft |
The crafting costs below are why tier 7 waits. Check them against the in-game recipe before you farm materials, because Embark adjusts them.
| Weapon | Station | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| Anvil | Gunsmith 2 | 2 Advanced Mechanical Components, 3 Heavy Gun Parts, 3 Hand Drill |
| Venator | Gunsmith 2 | 2 Advanced Mechanical Components, 3 Medium Gun Parts, 5 Magnet |
| Tempest | Gunsmith 3 | 1 Magnetic Accelerator, 3 Medium Gun Parts, 2 Exodus Modules |
| Equalizer | Gunsmith 3 | 3 Magnetic Accelerator, 3 Complex Gun Parts, 1 Queen Reactor |
| Dolabra | Gunsmith 3 | 3 Shredder Gyro, 3 Magnetic Accelerator, 2 Vaporizer Regulator |
If your Gunsmith or another station is the bottleneck, the ARC Raiders workbench boost raises station levels so the recipes you already own become craftable.
What changed for blueprints in Frozen Trail?
The 2.0 update on 8 October 2026 did not change blueprint drop rates, but it added three systems that sit next to them and are easy to confuse.
- Amplified Weapons are not blueprints. A fully upgraded Research Workstation in your Outpost opens a fifth quality level on 15 weapons at launch, with a branching set of upgrades. It uses Amplified Fragments, not a recipe drop. The Anvil Splitter, for example, stopped being a mod and became an upgrade option for the Amplified Anvil.
- Weapon Stencils work like blueprints. Embark describes them as "similar to blueprints, once learned you can apply them to compatible weapons." Eight of the 14 are found Topside.
- Furniture Designs do too. They are learned and used to craft furniture for the Outpost; 73 of the 100 are found Topside.
Two smaller changes affect blueprint hunters. The Anvil's rarity moved from green to blue, and Tian Wen no longer stocks the Anvil or Hullcracker; both moved to the weekly Nomadic Envoys rotation. Loot on the Queen and Matriarch moved from the leg armour to the leg pieces themselves.
Do blueprints survive an Expedition?
Embark has not published a complete list of what an Expedition resets, and community sources disagree on blueprints specifically. What is confirmed: Expeditions are opt-in, permanent rewards (stash space, skill points, cosmetics) stay on your account, and since 1.45.0 resetting your quests is your choice when you depart. Before you sign up for the next window, check the departure screen for what it lists as reset, and learn any blueprints in your stash first, since an unlearned blueprint is just an item.
Common blueprint farming mistakes
- Searching the wrong containers. A full sweep of residential flats won't find an explosive recipe. Match the container to the blueprint.
- Farming condition-only recipes on normal maps. Wolfpack and Snap Hook won't drop without their condition, however many runs you do.
- Carrying a rare blueprint in the backpack. Safe Pocket it the moment you see it.
- Learning before you can craft. Not a mistake in itself, but don't let a Gunsmith 3 recipe pull you away from the parts and healing you need today.
- Dumping duplicates at a trader. A teammate missing the same recipe gets far more value from it than the 5,000 coins.
Short on time for the grind?
Blueprint farming is mostly repetition: the same rooms, under the same conditions, until a recipe shows up. If you'd rather spend that time playing, the ARC Raiders blueprints boost runs those routes for the recipes you name, and everything found along the way stays on your account. If you'd rather learn the routes yourself, Pro Play puts an experienced raider in your squad. New to the game? Start with our ARC Raiders beginner guide and come back once extraction feels routine.
FAQ
How do you use a blueprint in ARC Raiders? Extract with it, then select Learn and Consume in Speranza. The recipe stays on your account and the item is used up.
Can you lose a blueprint when you die? Yes, if it is still an item in your backpack. Put rare blueprints in your Safe Pocket and learn them as soon as you're back in Speranza.
What is the rarest blueprint in ARC Raiders? There's no official rarity ranking. Players most often name the Tempest, which community tracking ties to Night Raid and Hurricane caches, along with condition-only recipes such as Wolfpack and Snap Hook.
What happens to duplicate blueprints? You can't learn a recipe twice. Sell the spare (community trackers list 5,000 coins) or give it to a squadmate who still needs it.
Can you get blueprints from Trials? Yes. Most blueprints in the scavenging pool can be Trial rewards. Aphelion, Dolabra, Equalizer, Jupiter, Hullcracker, Lure Grenade and Complex Gun Parts are the exceptions.
Where do you get the Hullcracker blueprint? From the quest The Major's Footlocker. It doesn't drop from containers.
Do Amplified Weapons need blueprints? No. Amplification uses the Research Workstation in your Outpost and Amplified Fragments, not a separate recipe.
