With the “Shrouded Sky” update, new map conditions were introduced in ARC Raiders. While these bring high-quality loot, they have already forced the developers to make adjustments as players were too good at collecting it.
The “Shrouded Sky” update not only brought a new project to ARC Raiders, but also new map conditions where weather plays a significant role. Hurricanes can appear as a new situation on the maps.
They gradually destroy your shields and make you shine like Thor in the storm when hit by flying debris. To remain undetected, many players now completely avoid wearing shields in these areas.
What’s up with the loot? The storms also reveal numerous Raider caches. These boxes can contain high-level materials as well as powerful blueprints. However, since the community has cleaned them out significantly, Embark had to adjust the drop rate of the contents from the caches within the hurricanes on March 3, 2026.
Players were “damn good” at looting
This is what the developers say about the blueprints: In the official patch notes for patch 1.18.0, Embark explains that they have slightly lowered the drop rate for rare blueprints. This is primarily because the Raider caches contained an extremely high number of blueprints, and players were “damn good” at finding and looting them.
As compensation, the developers have increased the drop rate for high-tier materials in the caches. You will now receive fewer blueprints from the boxes, but more rare resources. The caches are still supposed to be a reliable source for blueprints, but no longer guarantee that you leave every round with a huge stack of them.
To find the boxes faster, you can check out our overview of all hurricane caches.
What else did the update bring to the game? Patch 1.18.0 also delivered important bug fixes. For instance, it was fixed that the snaphook could simply be put into the safety pocket while in use. A bug in the quest “Worth Your Salt” was also fixed.
The detailed English patch notes can be found here to expand:
Patch Notes for Patch 1.18.0
- Exploit Fix: A bug was fixed that allowed players to store weapons without the “Safekeeper Augment” in their safety pocket (Safe Pocket).
- Snaphook Fix: An issue was fixed where the Snaphook could be stored in the safety pocket while in use.
- Loot Adjustment: The drop rate for rare blueprints (Blueprints) has been slightly lowered, while the drop rate for high-tier materials in the “First Wave Caches” (when active hurricane map condition) has been increased.
- Developer Note: The main reason for this change is that the “First Wave Caches” had extremely high amounts of blueprints – especially since players are damn good at tracking them down and looting them. To balance this out, we are increasing the drop rate for high-tier materials in the caches. You will generally see slightly fewer blueprints, but will get better materials as compensation. The caches will remain a solid source for blueprints, but no longer to the extent that you can reliably leave every round with 3-5 pieces.
- Hotfix: A very urgent fix for the “Dam Controlled Access Zone” has been added.
- Performance: An issue was fixed where certain ARCs occasionally caused performance drops.
- Quest Fix: A bug in the quest “Worth Your Salt” was fixed, where the last level could not be completed if someone else had already done so in the same raid.
- Crash Fix: A rare crash was fixed that occurred when navigating to the “Player Proximity” menu.
Additionally, the “Shrouded Sky” update introduced a new player project. On behalf of Shani, you collect special materials and ARC components to build a weather observation system. A detailed list of the required resources and rewards can be found here: ARC Raiders: Weather Observation System – All about the new project from Shrouded Sky
