ARC Raiders update 2.3.0 landed on October 27, 2026, and it reshapes how you approach two of the game's most rewarding locations. The Emperor dungeon and the Frigate both got loot redistributions that punish quick entrance sweeps and reward players who push deeper. On top of that, a new limited-time project called Souls Offering gives you reasons to farm specific materials across all three maps, six weapon blueprints are now available in any major map condition, and the Expedition Vault is being shut down. Here is what changed and how to take advantage of it.
Emperor deep loot room layout
How does the Emperor loot redistribution work?
The short answer: containers near the entrance now drop lower-tier rewards, and the high-value loot sits deeper inside.
This directly kills the "rush the entrance, grab a wave, extract" loop that many players relied on. To get the good stuff, you have to commit to the puzzle rooms and reach the Grand Loot Room. Embark also expanded the exploit prevention previously used in locked rooms into the Emperor itself, and adjusted the compactor kill boxes at the top to reduce unfair deaths.
A few collision fixes came with this: a missing ceiling that let players leave the playable space is patched, and Barricade Kits can no longer be forced into solid walls or excessively narrow spaces. The late-entry exploit prevention is expanded, but Embark did not explicitly confirm that every late-entry tactic is fully blocked. Plan your extraction route with other players in mind.
The Frigate received the same philosophy. Deeper areas now have a higher chance of better rewards. Visual hatches were added to show puzzle progress, audio cues better distinguish vent and hatch states, and long-range pings now find the arriving ship while close-range pings mark exact positions. Wing collision and cargo-area memory were also repaired.
What is the Souls Offering project and when does it end?
Souls Offering is a four-stage Raider Project introduced by Celeste, asking players to gather materials, craft three offerings, and finally set off fireworks on the rooftop of Santa Maria Houses in Buried City to honor fallen Raiders. The project runs until November 16, 2026, so check the countdown in the Projects tab for your local cutoff.
Completing all four stages rewards weapons, attachments, the Pilgrim Backpack, and the Offering Display Table design. The Noxious Set announced alongside this update is a separate store cosmetic, not a project reward.
Souls Offering stage requirements and rewards
| Stage | Key Materials | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Craft Vaulto's Offering | 1 Wilted Flower, 2 Rock Salt, 15 ARC Alloy, 1 Expired Rebreather | Stiletto II, Extended Barrel I, Angled Grip II, Stable Stock II |
| Craft Ferrovia's Offering | 3 Wilted Flowers, 2 Railway Lanterns, 15 Advanced ARC Powercell, 10 Ranged Raider Flare | Torrente II, Compensator III, Extended Medium Mag III, Stable Stock III |
| Craft Murteta's Offering | 2 Fine Plate, 1 Mask Fragment, 1 Insulated Roll, 5 Fertilizer | Vulcano I, Shotgun Suppressor, Extended Shotgun Mag III, 3 Firework Boxes |
| Honor the Fallen | Set off fireworks on Santa Maria Houses rooftop | Pilgrim Backpack, Offering Display Table design |
Where to farm Souls Offering materials
- Wilted Flowers: drawers and residential containers in Buried City and Pendola Pass old town
- Rock Salt: kitchen cabinets in Buried City's Grandioso Apartments
- Railway Lanterns: breakable metal containers at the Pendola Pass observatory
- Fertilizer: agricultural containers in Dam Battlegrounds, including the dome area
For broader material farming strategies, the ARC Raiders crafting and looting guide covers workbench priorities and material sourcing across all maps.
Souls Offering project stages
What changed with weapon blueprints?
This is one of the most practically useful changes in 2.3.0. Six blueprints, Dolabra, Bobcat, Equalizer, Jupiter, Tempest, and Vulcano, can now drop in any major map condition: hurricane, storm, hidden bunker, locked gate, night raids, and others. Previously these had condition-specific restrictions.
The Dolabra change is the biggest single unlock here. More eligible conditions means more opportunities per session without waiting for a specific weather event.
Embark slightly lowered the drop chance for this pool to account for its wider availability, so broader eligibility does not mean better odds on every individual run. No numerical percentages were provided.
The Emperor Key blueprint drop chance from Redirection pods was also reduced, with a small chance of ARC parts and high-tier loot added as compensation. Furniture Design drop rates had a bug where rarer items dropped more often than Legendary blueprints; that is now corrected.
For a full breakdown of blueprint locations and unlock priorities, check out the ARC Raiders blueprint farming guide.
Equipment and balance changes at a glance
| Equipment | Before 2.3.0 | After 2.3.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy Shield | 80 base charge | 90 base charge |
| Flame Spray | 10 damage per second | 13 damage per second, durability drain halved |
| Firefly Burner | Had to be shot to release fire | Activates on impact, leaves fire trail, explodes after ~3 seconds |
| Adrenaline Shot | Could not use at max stamina; effects stacked | Usable at max stamina; second use refreshes duration only |
Heavy Shield
Base charge went from 80 to 90. Embark notes that usage remained relatively low even after an earlier small buff, so this is a second nudge. The gap between heavy and medium shields widens slightly, but not dramatically.
Flame Spray
Damage increased from 10 to 13 per second and durability drain cut by 50%. Fire no longer passes through walls, which closes an unintended damage vector. Worth reconsidering in close-quarters loadouts.
Firefly Burner
Previously required a shot to vent fire. Now it activates on impact when thrown, leaves a trail of fire while traveling, and explodes after roughly 3 seconds. The practical shift: throw it at where enemies will be, not where they are currently standing.
Adrenaline Shot
You can now use it at max stamina, which means popping it before a fight rather than waiting for stamina to drop. Using a second one refreshes the duration instead of stacking the effect.
What is happening to the Expedition Vault?
The Expedition Vault is being disabled. Everything stored there transfers to your stash, and players who purchased vault slots receive Bronze Statuettes as compensation. Embark did not provide an exchange rate for the Statuettes or announce a replacement storage feature.
Expeditions themselves are paused until early 2027, which is why the Vault has no practical use for now. Check your stash capacity after the transfer: items moved from the Vault occupy normal stash space.
The mistake most players make here is ignoring their stash until it overflows. Clear out low-value items before the transfer hits your account.
Grappling Hook, movement, and map fixes
The Grappling Hook received a significant pass in 2.3.0:
- Works inside an active Matriarch shield
- Tether items now affect players swinging on the hook
- Fewer extreme launches when the rope snags on geometry
- Hook reattaches to debris when the attached object breaks apart
- Reeling an ARC pulls it toward the rope's wrap point instead of straight at you
- Fixed stuck hand animation after swapping away from a thrown hook
A known issue remains: falling while using the hook can still cause a high bounce. This was not resolved in 2.3.0.
Other movement fixes include: Ziplines now correctly lift you on entry from the ground, Rolling ARCs stop leaving tracks after death, players can no longer stand indefinitely on a Skulker, and heavy landings now trigger correctly during dodge rolls.
On Pendola Pass specifically: collision fixes near the fallen Emperor closed an out-of-bounds route and a missing ceiling, the Gondola clipping issue is patched, shelter chairs that blocked looting are removed, and storm hut container placement was improved.
UI, camera, and quality-of-life changes
- Toggle order unified across all customization: "On" appears first, "Off" last
- Camera bob toggle added to Gameplay settings
- Advanced Camera gains Color Push and Black & White filters
- Basic Camera selfies have reduced depth-of-field blur
- Daily Quests now refresh correctly in menus after expiry
- Weapon mod screen correctly shows attached mods and applied stencils
- Reward Pass renames Daily Feats to Feats and Weekly Bonus to Milestones, with clearer timers
- Weapon Amplification branch tooltips now name the upgrades they exclude
- Projects tab yellow dot clears after checking projects
- FSR updated to version 4.1.1
Xbox Series S audio memory use was reduced to cut out-of-memory crashes, particularly around the Frigate. A workaround for AMD RX 7000-series ray tracing crashes is included, though some Xbox instability remains on the known-issues list.
Reward Pass renamed Feats and Milestones
Known issues still present after 2.3.0
Several problems were not resolved in this update:
- "To the Skies" can become impossible to complete if you extract with partial progress
- Some "When Everything Falls" objectives, including Photograph Port A, may fail to register
- "Clean Hands" can be blocked if the Equatorial Sundial is lost or sold
- ARC Reclaimers may fail to dock on the Frigate, and vaulting onto one can push you off
- Weapon models can grow dramatically in size during a raid
- Grappling Hook high bounce when falling
- A stuck spot near the Railroad on Pendola Pass
- Some Xbox crashes and instability
After 2.3.0, Embark is returning to a three-week fix cadence. Store updates continue weekly.
Practical checklist for 2.3.0
- Push deeper in the Emperor and Frigate: entrance containers now yield lower-tier loot
- Start Souls Offering before November 16 and save at least 1 Firework Box from stage three
- Farm any major map condition for Dolabra, Bobcat, Equalizer, Jupiter, Tempest, and Vulcano blueprints
- Check your stash space before the Expedition Vault transfer arrives
- Reconsider Heavy Shield in your loadout: base charge moved from 80 to 90
- Do not sell quest-critical items until objectives have confirmed completion
For more on the broader economy and how to maximize your returns per raid, the ARC Raiders Raider Coins farming guide covers extraction strategies and loot prioritization that pair well with the new Emperor layout. For everything else added in the Frozen Trail season, the complete ARC Raiders guides collection has you covered.
