ARC Raiders Reveals Patch Notes for March 31 Flashpoint Update

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A new update for the popular game ARC Raiders launched on March 31, bringing fresh content, improvements, and bug fixes. Called ‘Flashpoint,’ the update is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It includes a new map condition, new weapons, a dangerous new enemy type, and other additions.

Embark recently released the “Flashpoint” update for ARC Raiders, completing three out of four major content updates planned for the first half of 2026. They announced their roadmap for the game at the start of the year, beginning with the “Headwinds” update in January, followed by “Shrouded Sky” in February. Now, with March ending, “Flashpoint” is live, leaving only the final update, “Riven Tides”, to come. This last update promises to be the biggest yet, introducing a new map and a large, powerful enemy similar to the Queen or Matriarch.

ARC Raiders Releases Big Flashpoint Update

Embark has released a new update, version 1.22.0, for ARC Raiders on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. This update, following yesterday’s announcement of the Flashpoint update, includes new content, bug fixes, and gameplay improvements. A key addition is a new map condition called Close Scrutiny, where players compete to collect loot from a new enemy called the Assessor. Be warned: you’ll have to fight off both other players and a large number of ARC enemies guarding the Assessor!

The latest update to ARC Raiders introduces a new enemy called the Vaporizer. This flying ARC type patrols near the Assessor in the new map condition and is particularly dangerous due to its powerful laser attacks and unpredictable behavior. In addition, the Shredder, previously limited to the Stella Montis map, can now appear on all maps. However, Embark states the Shredder will only spawn on Dam Battlegrounds during specific map conditions.

The Flashpoint update includes two new weapons, improvements to the Scrappy, and a host of bug fixes. A major change focuses on custom loadouts in ARC Raiders; Embark noticed players with personalized setups are now more inclined to start on new servers. Players will also find more loot dropped by Baron Husks and better rewards in locked rooms, with the quality of those rewards tied to the rarity of the key used to open them.

Ugh, it’s frustrating, but it looks like the ARC enemies just keep getting tougher! With today’s Flashpoint update, Embark buffed them again. Now, those Rocketeers can take a lot more punishment – they won’t explode instantly from crashes, even when stunned, and they’re better at spotting you up close. If you want to see all the changes in the new ARC Raiders update from March 31st, you can find the full patch notes linked below.

ARC Raiders Update 1.22.0 Patch Notes for March 31

Patch Highlights

  • Increased loot value in all locked rooms with a scaled increase depending on the key rarity.
  • Players who build their own loadout are more likely to join fresh servers.
  • Crafting Improvements.
  • Hide HUD on Console.

Balance Changes

ARC

  • Rocketeers will now take less damage from collisions, and will no longer be instantly destroyed upon impact when stunned.
  • Reduced the chance for multiple Fireflies to spawn together.
  • Decreased the time it takes for ARC to identify players that are very close in-front of them.

Items

  • Free Augments can now be recycled into 6 plastic and 6 rubber parts.
  • The Firefly Burner has a new extra-spicy functionality.

Maps

  • Increased loot value in all locked rooms with a scaled increase depending on the key rarity.
  • Increased loot spawns from Baron Husks.
  • Players who build their own loadout are more likely to join fresh servers.

We’re making a change to how matchmaking works based on how players use custom loadouts. To ensure a fair experience, players who customize their loadouts will now be placed on new game servers.

Look, I’m not saying this will always work, because things like what map we’re playing, the time of day, and where everyone is located still play a role in finding a match. But this should definitely help speed things up overall, and we’re going to be watching closely to make sure it does!

Free starter kits are designed to help players recover financially. If you play strategically, these kits should give you enough resources to rebuild, complete some objectives, and advance in the game.

Content and Bug Fixes

Animation

  • Reduced pose popping when starting to sprint, improved sprint transitions, and refined animations when starting movement from idle.
  • Fixed Comet head jitter.
  • Fixed an issue where the weapon mesh is misplaced during the automatically triggered animation of re-equipping it after breaching doors.
  • Fixed an issue where fire damage would trigger bullet hit reactions.

Audio

  • 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 of sounds increasing clarity of sounds coming from behind the player.
  • Improved long-range hit feedback by adding distant variations to bullet impact indicator sounds.
  • Considerably reduced weapon audio latency. Windows: Only applies on systems with at least 16 GB RAM.
  • Improved responsiveness of continuous-fire weapon audio, reducing delay and desync when releasing the trigger.
  • Fixed missing tab navigation sounds in the UI when using a gamepad.

ARC

  • Improved behaviour for stunned Comets.
  • Improved the ARC target selection to allow switching targets more freely and to “zero in” less on the first target.
  • Fixed an issue where flying ARC (especially Fireflies) would spawn inside walls and attack players from outside the walls and floors in Stella Montis.
  • All interactions are now disabled when grabbed by a Tick except the interaction to fight it off.

Customization

  • Fixed an issue where parts of the Low Bun and Curly Mullet were not animated.
  • Fixed an issue where beards would disappear with some headgear.

Gameplay

  • 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 an issue where players who joined near the end of the late-join window could have ARC spawn on them immediately.
  • Added gamepad aim assist to Leaper legs and core.
  • Fixed an issue where you could take fall damage when attempting to vault on Comets.
  • Remote Raider Flares can now be disarmed with the Mine Sweeper skill.
  • Fixed an issue where using LMB/RMB while unarmed could delay or prevent equipping a weapon, tool, or quick-use item.
  • Fixed an issue where eliminations with Trailblazer or Shrapnel Grenade did not count toward the “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” achievement.

Maps

  • Shredders are now added to all maps (only during certain map conditions on Dam Battlegrounds).
  • Fixed an instance where players could go out of bounds in the tutorial.

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 and made spawns more consistent.
  • 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:
    • Some side entrances now unlock with the main gate,
    • Security Codes now 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 to improve resource availability.
  • Increased chances for high-tier loot from completing the rooftop activity during the 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.

Movement

  • Fixed an issue where characters did not immediately face ladders when aligning to climb.
  • Fixed an issue where sprint could be retriggered and canceled when holding fire and sprint together.

Performance

  • Improved texture streaming to reduce stalls and make streaming more responsive on lower-spec systems; corrected streaming calculations to respect component scale.
  • Optimized texture streaming calculations to improve performance and reduce stuttering.
  • Optimized CPU performance.

Rendering

  • 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.
  • Tweaked AMD FSR for improved responsiveness and image clarity.

Quests

  • 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 an issue that could block quest progression in some cases, and to improve visualization. Progress bars now indicate what progress may be lost if you fail to extract.

Stability

  • Resolved a crash that could occur in the tutorial.
  • Fixed a rare crash that could occur when loading into a Practice Range session.

UI

  • Crafting improvements:
    • Quickly acquire missing materials directly from the crafting view.
    • Recycling, refining, or purchasing missing materials is now available in the same window to complete crafting.
  • 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 an issue where stash overflow could be shown incorrectly when detaching mods from the inspect screen.
  • The store tab now shows a new items marker when the store rotation changes.
  • Fixed inverted gamepad camera zoom on Decks and Store screens.
  • Fixed missing action text for several throwable items; prompts now display correctly.
  • Added an option to change HUD visibility mode in Gameplay Options for console (also available via F10 on PC).
    • These HUD options are:
      • Visible
      • Crosshair and Interactions Only
      • Crosshair Only
      • Hidden
  • The inventory screen now shows stash value.
  • Pinging a Barricade now shows the ping by the crosshair instead of offset.
  • Emote tiles in character customization now show a wheel icon indicating which slot each emote is equipped in.
  • Purchase preview dialog now displays a detailed breakdown of bundle contents.
  • The customization screen now shows a small preview of the bundle.

VFX

  • Fixed an issue where Sentinel’s laser was shorter than its sight range in some cases.
  • Fixed ARC damage visual effects sometimes being visible through walls under certain circumstances.

Known Issues

  • 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.
  • There is an 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 when switching between them.
  • Player animations may appear broken when interrupting a search of the Baron Husk.
  • Pressing fire with an empty mag triggers a reload, and once the reload is complete, the weapon automatically fires a shot without an additional trigger press.
  • When equipping quick-use items, clicking too rapidly may prevent them from activating – you need to release and press again for the input to register.
  • The top stairs in Grandioso apartments are not visible even though the collision is there.

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2026-03-31 13:12