Embark recently updated ARC Raiders, adding new content and, importantly, reversing the unpopular changes to weapon durability. The update also addresses ongoing cheating problems in ARC Raiders, with the developers promising a lasting fix for all players in the near future.
Following its release, ARC Raiders is getting some big changes. Embark Studios announced they’re shifting from releasing smaller updates every month to focusing on two major updates each year. They realized trying to meet the monthly schedule was making it difficult to deliver the ambitious, large-scale improvements they envision for the game. Fans got a first look at ‘Frozen Trail,’ the first of these major updates, coming in October – and it will include the game’s biggest map yet. Smaller updates and ongoing live service features, like the patch released on May 19th, will still be released regularly.
Embark is releasing Live Update 1.29 with a bunch of new additions. One of the highlights is the Rascal, a new weapon for ARC Raiders. It’s a lighter sidearm launcher designed as a good alternative to the Hullcracker when fighting ARC enemies. While effective, the Rascal reloads a bit slower and can be slightly harder to aim accurately.
This update introduces Ermal, the Nomadic Envoy, a new trader available to players level 25 and up. You can trade with Ermal using valuable ARC materials and rare weapons to get exclusive items. These include extra storage space, a special Expedition Vault for storing 5 items, and a rotating selection of weekly rewards like cosmetic items, blueprints, and raider tokens.
Critical Mass
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Scales
Results
Players were unhappy with how quickly weapons broke after the recent update to ARC Raiders, so Embark is fixing the issue. The update reduced the durability penalty, meaning weapons will now last longer before breaking. The biggest improvement is for the Renegade weapon, which now lasts 54% longer. The Ferro and Canto weapons also received boosts, but smaller ones at 18%.
This update includes several bug fixes and improvements to make the game more enjoyable. Players can now customize their characters with sideburns, a highly requested feature similar to the beards added in ARC Raiders. We’ve also reduced the energy usage of the Photoelectric Cloak from 10 per second to 5. The Queen and Matriarch enemies will now attempt to move around obstacles more intelligently, which should reduce frustrating knockbacks. Finally, the Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing) Augment’s Cloud of Renewal now affects an area, providing better healing, though it has a slightly longer recharge time.
Loadout Logic
Tap on a weapon to rotate it or press R while dragging.
Results
Embark has announced details about how it’s tackling cheating in ARC Raiders. To better detect cheaters, the game will add Denuvo Anti-Cheat, a system already used in Embark’s other game, The Finals. The rollout will begin on May 19 with a small group of players, allowing Embark to monitor performance before expanding to everyone. Importantly, Embark is only using the anti-cheat software and not Denuvo’s DRM, which some players have reported causing performance problems.
ARC Raiders Update 1.29.0 Patch Notes
What’s New?
New Trader – Nomadic Envoy
Ermal, a traveler from a nomadic group, has set up camp in Speranza, offering interesting goods from the surface world for trade.
Players who’ve leveled up to 25 can trade valuable ARC resources and any rare weapons they’ve saved for great rewards.
- Expanded Stash space (resets post-expedition)
- Expedition Vault access – Enabling Raiders to safely store up to 5 of their most prized items for retrieval post-Expedition
Ermal also offers a variety of weekly rotating trades:
- Cosmetics
- Blueprints
- Raider Tokens
- Gameplay and progression items, including items for current Raider projects
Ermal will be back every week with fresh items, coordinating with the other Nomads. Be sure to check out his newest deals before he’s gone!
Dev Note:
We’ll keep a close eye on your feedback and data to ensure the balance stays fair and challenging.
During the first week, we’re releasing a limited amount of Stash expansion and Expedition vault space to collect feedback and fine-tune pricing before making more available.
Deals change regularly, so if you didn’t see an offer you wanted this week, keep an eye out – it might be available in a future update.
New Grenade Launcher – The Rascal
Tian Wen’s been busy in her workshop! Check out the Rascal, her newest creation designed to help you defeat heavily armored enemies.
Despite a few oddities, this launcher is surprisingly powerful for its small size and light weight. It’s not the fastest to reload and aiming can be a little tricky, but it’s a great backup weapon if you need to take down ARC units without the bulk of a larger cannon.
And:
- Mod Improvement: Extended Barrel
- End of Round Changes
- The Sandveil Set
- Facial Hair Style – Sideburns
- The Sheath Set will be available on June 2nd
Patch Highlights
- Fixed an issue where players would be teleported when standing on destroyed ARC parts.
- Reduced the power cost of Photoelectric Cloak from 10/s to 5/s.
- Weapon durability adjustments.
- Queen and Matriarch will now more often step over things than through them, reducing the amount of times players suffer unfair knockback.
- Added an option to block players after reporting.
- An Update on Security and Anti-cheat.
Balance Changes
ARC
- Increased the granularity of ARC vision through bushes and smokes, rewarding strategic positioning. Raiders near the edge of cover are now easier to spot, while those deeper in foliage or behind smoke are harder to detect.
- Improved how ARC perceives sound in open outdoor spaces, while reducing their sensitivity to sounds in indoor environments and those passing through geometry.
Firefly
- Improved how the Firefly applies fire. The effect now matches the visuals more closely, and briefly grazing the flame no longer feels as punishing, reducing the sensation of being hit around corners.
Rocketeer
- When the Rocketeer shoots several missiles at once, they are now consistently spread out over a larger area to prevent unfair situations where multiple missiles hit the same location.
Gameplay
- Reduced the power cost of Photoelectric Cloak from 10/s to 5/s.
Augment
- The Cloud of Renewal effect on the Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing) Augment has been changed to an AoE effect.
- The Cloud of Renewal healing has been increased from 20 to 45.
- The cooldown on Cloud of Renewal has been increased from 30s to 45s.
- Changed the shield capacity on Combat Mk.3 (Flanking) Augment to accept Medium Shields.
- Dev note: As mentioned in the patch notes for Patch 1.26, we continue to focus our sights on underperforming Augments. In this update, we are making the Tactical Mk.3 (Healing) Augment offer more utility in line with its place as a support-focused Augment. Now you can also heal your allies (and your enemies, if you’re not careful) after being revived. We also increased the survivability potential of the Combat Mk.3 (Flanking) to make it more viable as a flanking combat Augment.
Weapons
- Bettina Base Fire Rate has been increased from 235 to 250.
Weapon Durability Adjustments
We’ve noticed that some weapons were breaking too fast after the last update. In this new update, we’re focusing on those specific weapons, making them more durable so they last as long as others.
We’ll keep listening to your thoughts and watching for any issues with how well the product holds up over the next few weeks, and we’ll make changes as needed.
Weapon Mods
- Weapon mods can now affect aim-down-sights transition speed for scoped weapons.
- Extended Barrel:
-
- Bullet Velocity Bonus has been increased from 25 to 30%.
- Increased the damage fall off distance by 15%.
- Renamed to Extended Barrel III.
- Added new mesh.
- Added 2 lower tier variants:
-
- Extended Barrel I
- Extended Barrel II
Content and Bug Fixes
ARC
General
- Fixed an issue where flying ARC could get stuck.
- Queen and Matriarch will now more often step over things than through them, reducing the amount of times players suffer unfair knockback.
- When Raiders first spawn into a session, ARC will be less perceptive of them and less likely to engage.
- Fixed some instances of ARC spawning in unexpected locations.
ARC Turbine
- Fixed ARC Turbine legs becoming invisible in odd angles.
- Improved ARC Turbine probability of finding good angles for the legs when landing.
- Improved ARC Turbine landing positioning to mitigate visual clipping issues.
- Increased the odds of Raiders getting burned by the ARC Turbine when inside of it.
Animation
- Updated cloth physics on character outfits for more natural movement.
- Fixed an issue causing some ARC weapon rotations to snap and appear laggy.
- Fixed an issue where items would clip into Field Crates when picked up while holding a gadget.
- Fixed the inspect animation for the Metal Detector.
Audio
- Reduced how much sounds are lowered while taking damage.
- Added a distinct sound when Bastion and Bombardier switch targets.
- Added comb filtering to footsteps and movement sounds to achieve clearer perception of distance, elevation and movement direction.
- Improved binaural audio to make it easier to distinguish the height and elevation of sounds.
Cosmetics
- Ongoing work to unify character texture settings for better performance and more visual consistency.
Gameplay
- Players are now immune to stuns while entering a Raider Hatch, preventing interruptions when returning to Speranza.
- Fixed an issue where downed players could move out of bounds.
- Fixed an issue where pressing fire during certain actions like dodgeroll or climbing wouldn’t buffer fire.
General
- Fixed an issue where players would be teleported when standing on destroyed ARC parts.
- Fixed an issue where characters could float when disconnecting in mid-air.
- Fixed an issue where the Expedition timer was not showing the correct duration.
Items
- Agave Juice now Quick Moves into available Quick Use slots instead of the Backpack, and will not be unloaded from Backpack when emptying it.
- Free loadout Augment sell price: 100 -> 660.
Maps
General
- Fixed low-res textures, odd spray paint decals, and a misaligned wall in tunnel and highway areas.
- Fixed overly dark shading on vent materials to improve visibility.
Riven Tides
- Fixed a balcony structure clipping into a hotel doorway that could block passage.
- Fixed floating objects and improved rope visuals and physics.
- Fixed a misaligned balcony in the hotel lobby and missing wall collision at Room 207.
Stella Montis
- Polished environment textures and fixed collision issues.
Social
- Added an option to block players after reporting.
- Fixed an issue where voice chat could fail when opening the console UI on PS5/Xbox.
- End of Round Changes
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- Raiders will now be able to see all squad members at the end of the round whether they extracted successfully or not.
- Interacting with the squad member’s name plate will display a range of social actions that can be taken, which include reporting, muting or blocking the player.
- Players will also be able to immediately leave the squad in the tunnel sequence.
Stability & Performance
- General performance and stability improvements.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the loading screen to remain stuck.
UI
- Added information to the Crash Mat tooltip to showcase the additional safe fall height gain.
- Deployable previews now show occluded portions with a striped overlay, making placement easier.
- Fixed an issue where pinging an ARC Turbine as it entered the map could cause the ping marker to behave erratically.
Utility
- Removed unintended delay after cancelling a Trigger ‘Nade throw during which the grenade could not be thrown or triggered.
- Fixed an issue where throwing grenades could not be cancelled.
- Cancelling deployment of Pulse Mine or Gas Mine no longer consumes the item.
- Fixed an issue where the ‘Use Zipline’ prompt was missing, preventing interaction at close range.
- Fixed an issue where vaulting could trigger while moving upward or while standing on the ground with the Powered Descender active.
- Fixed an issue where the Surge Coil would not damage teammates of the player who placed it.
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2026-05-19 17:09