Weapon customization in ARC Raiders goes deeper than loadout optimization. Stencils are the game's weapon skin system, and they work differently from what most extraction shooter veterans expect. You learn them once, but every single application costs materials, and losing the gun means losing that skin instance too. Here's everything you need to know to collect, apply, and get the most out of every Stencil in the game.
How do Stencils work in ARC Raiders?
Stencils function like blueprints. You find or earn a Stencil, then open it in your inventory outside of a raid to learn it permanently. Learning it doesn't cost anything extra, but actually putting it on a weapon requires Stencil Parts, a dedicated crafting material used exclusively for this system.
Once you apply a Stencil, that specific weapon gains a Stencil line in its tooltip. The skin travels with the gun, so if another player loots your body after a death, they get that stencil instance along with the weapon. There's no recovering it.
The Stencils tab in your inventory lets you preview how a skin looks on a weapon before committing your parts. The first tile always shows the weapon's default appearance, and only Stencils you've already learned that are compatible with that weapon will appear as options.
ARC Raiders Guide: All Stencils & How to Get Them
How to get Stencils in ARC Raiders
There are three distinct sources for Stencils, and each one feeds into a different playstyle.
Topside exploration (containers)
Eight Stencils drop from containers, lockers, and key rooms during raids. These are random drops, so consistent topside runs across any region will eventually yield them. There's no guaranteed spawn location tied to a specific Stencil, just keep raiding and opening containers.
Frozen Trail Rewards Pass
Five Stencils are locked behind the Frozen Trail Premium Pass, which costs 1,150 Raider Tokens. This is the only way to get those specific skins. The pass also rewards Stencil Parts in bundles of 3 at select tiers, with confirmed drops at levels 11 and 47.
ARC Raiders Guide: All Stencils & How to Get Them
Shop bundles
The Frozen Trail Collector Set bundle contains the Dragon's Breath Stencil, making it the only DLC-exclusive skin currently in the game. It's the one Stencil you can't earn through gameplay or the standard pass.
What does each Stencil cost to apply?
Stencil Parts cost scales directly with rarity. Legendary skins cost significantly more per application than Common or Uncommon ones, so running multiple copies of a high-tier weapon with a Legendary Stencil adds up fast.
| Rarity | Stencil Parts per application | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Common / Uncommon | 2 | Verdigris |
| Rare | 4 | Milky Terracotta, Cerulean |
| Epic | 7 | Fortuna, Sacrifice, Slipstream |
| Legendary | 15 | Serac, Bulwark |
After testing applications across multiple rarities, the part cost is the single biggest factor in deciding which Stencils to use regularly versus which ones to save for special loadouts. A Legendary Stencil at 15 parts per gun gets expensive if you're dying frequently.
Every Stencil and compatible weapons
Not every Stencil works on every weapon. Some are single-gun skins that completely reshape the model, while others apply across a wide range of compatible firearms.
| Stencil | Rarity | Compatible weapons | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verdigris | Uncommon | Osprey, Canto, Stitcher, Bobcat, Vulcano, Il Toro, Hairpin, Stiletto | Raid drops |
| Milky Terracotta | Rare | Canto, Hairpin, Burletta, Renegade, Ferro, Kettle | Raid drops |
| Cerulean | Rare | Osprey, Bobcat, Vulcano, Venator, Anvil, Bantam, Bettina, Arpeggio | Pendola Pass Observatory key room |
| Fortuna | Epic | Anvil | Frozen Trail Reward Pass |
| Sacrifice | Epic | Renegade | Raid drops |
| Slipstream | Epic | Il Toro, Anvil, Rattler | Raid drops |
| Serac | Legendary | Bobcat | Raid drops (early access) |
| Bulwark | Legendary | Hullcracker | Raid drops (early access) |
| Dragon's Breath | Unconfirmed | To confirm | Frozen Trail Collector Set DLC |
The Cerulean Stencil stands out as one of the more targeted farm targets since it's tied to a specific key room in the Pendola Pass Observatory rather than being a pure random drop. If you want that Rare skin, that's the room to prioritize.
How to apply a Stencil
The application process is straightforward once you know where to look:
- Open your stash outside of a raid.
- Select the weapon you want to skin.
- Choose the Stencils option from the weapon menu.
- Pick a Stencil from the ones you've learned that are compatible with that weapon.
- Confirm the application and pay the required Stencil Parts.
Each weapon needs its own application. Learning a Stencil once doesn't mean all copies of that weapon get it automatically. If you're running two Anvils, each one needs 7 parts of Fortuna applied separately.
ARC Raiders Guide: All Stencils & How to Get Them
Where to find Stencil Parts efficiently
Stencil Parts drop in Commercial, Residential, and Industrial POIs across all maps. The Frozen Trail Rewards Pass provides bundles of 3 at specific tiers, which is worth factoring into your pass value calculation if you plan on applying Legendary Stencils regularly.
For pure farming, Buried City and Blue Gate are the strongest options given their concentration of Residential zones. Running those maps consistently while opening every container you find will build up your parts supply faster than most other routes.
For more on building out your arsenal before worrying about cosmetics, the ARC Raiders weapon tier list covers which guns are worth skinning in the first place. And if you're still hunting specific weapon blueprints, the blueprint farming guide has the most efficient routes mapped out.
For a broader look at everything available in the game right now, the full ARC Raiders guides collection has you covered on progression, weapons, and map knowledge.
