[STEAM] Arc Raiders Update Patch Notes Reveal Nerfs for PvP and PvE Players as Shrouded Sky Brings New Threats to the Rust Belt

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Embark Studios has published full patch notes for

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update 1.17.0, revealing a wave of nerfs for PvP and PvE players hopping into Shrouded Sky.

The finer details for the new Arc Raiders patch were published on

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today. It comes with the promise that players will be met with more than just

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and

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when they log in to check out the new February content drop.

PvP players should know three of the most useful multiplayer weapons – the Stitcher, Kettle, and Venator – have all suffered from reductions to their base damage. The Stitcher and Venator pistols have also had their headshot multipliers reduced. These are targeted nerfs from Embark that will have a noticeable impact on PvP lobbies, while buffs for the Jupiter and Aphelion will likely make them more useful across the board.

PvE players will likely appreciate the update’s improvements for the two energy weapons, but they didn’t make it out of Shrouded Sky without also facing nerfs. Let’s rip the Band-Aid off: the Deadline, Trailblazer, Wolfpack, and Showstopper will now be much more difficult to craft.

As each piece of equipment can be extremely useful when taking down Arc, Embark is asking players to gather at least one more Arc resource to build them. That’s not so bad in the case of the Vita Spray, which only requires an additional Tick Pod. The Wolfpack and its flurry of aerial homing explosives, on the other hand, now asks Raiders for one Rocketeer Driver per craft. The Rocketeer resource is quite rare and notoriously difficult to farm, making this one of the more substantial crafting adjustments and a steep ask for PvE fans.

We knew Shrouded Sky would be one of Embark’s biggest updates so far, but the version 1.17.0 patch notes reveal more highlights following its launch earlier today. For example, players can now interact with topside pianos, adding to the growing list of playable instruments. Raiders will also notice that troublesome feats can now be rerolled three times per day, while PvP feats have been removed entirely. The patch notes also sign off with a message from the team regarding its

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, confirming it plans to

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and exploiters following today’s fixes for a few additional glitches.

The launch of Shrouded Sky now puts Embark halfway through its

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for Arc Raiders in 2026. The next update, Flashpoint, is expected to bring more threats and a Scrappy changes in late March, with Riven Tides set to add a new map and a new large Arc in April. We

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earlier this month and learned all about how the team plans to keep Raiders engaged throughout this year and beyond.

Finally, you can check out all of the nerfs, buffs, and other balance adjustments included today in the full patch notes below.

Arc Raiders Update 1.17.0 Patch Notes

Attention Raiders!

Violent hurricanes are sweeping topside, forcing new strategies for low-visibility combat, powerful gales, and hurtling debris. Scouts have spotted two new ARC types in the Rust Belt; we advise caution while the storm runs its course, but those who know how to read the weather will find opportunity in the chaos.

What’s New?

• Hurricane Map Condition
• Two New ARC Enemies
• The Weather Monitoring System - Seasonal Player Project
• Free Raider Deck
• Dam Battlegrounds Map Update
• Expedition Window
• Facial Hair Customization

Read more here:

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Patch Highlights

• Weapon balancing for Stitcher, Kettle, Venator, Jupiter and Aphelion.
• Added a piano as an interactable object in the world.
• Prevented enabling all NVIDIA Freestyle filters simultaneously to remove an unfair visual advantage.
• Feats can now be rerolled three times per day for free.
• Removed PvP Feats, updated a few existing Feats and added a few new ones.
• Ziplines can no longer be placed on carryable objects.
• Mines, traps, or remote flares can no longer be placed on other deployables.

Balance Changes

Weapons

In 1.13 we shipped an update that included an optimization fix for our weapons, but as many of you noticed this had the unforeseen consequence of lowering the total fire-rate of semi-automatic weapons. In 1.13.1 we reverted that fix, but something else made it into the update that shouldn't have.

Many of you have reported a "shadow buff" to the weapons, and after investigating it we found that 1.13.1 had inadvertently impacted our weapon input buffers. Where you previously would have to time your inputs to the intended cadence of a weapon to reach its full potential, you could now instead spam-click the button, effectively bypassing any skill requirement to learn the weapon's cadence. We want to keep some of that skill expression, but we also recognize that what we had previously didn't feel very responsive. To address that and land in some sort of middle ground, we have since added more levers for us to control the weapon input buffering window on a gun-to-gun basis, and we've adjusted the semi-automatic weapons accordingly. The weapons should now still be more responsive to fire when spam-clicking, but the players who choose to pace their shots will see better results.

In addition to these changes, we've also been looking into the balance between our low tier and high tier weapons. A lot of you have expressed concerns that some low tier weapons outperform our higher tier weapons at significantly reduced cost, and we're hoping to shift that balance a bit while still keeping some of that flexibility to punch above your weight if you are skilled enough. We're starting by reducing the overall TTK of the Stitcher and Kettle, and increasing the maneuverability of the Aphelion and Jupiter. We're also taking a second stab at the Venator, which still seems to be dominating a lot of our PvP encounters.

Stitcher Dev Note: The Stitcher has played its role well as a close quarter weapon that rewards thoughtful positioning, but we've found that its fast TTK can sometimes lead to situations where you're ambushed and killed before you have much time to react. As many of you have pointed out, the high headshot damage is a large contributor to this problem. The TTK is often fine when the weapon is aimed at the center of mass, but when you get close enough to land the majority of the shots in your target's head, we see TTK numbers that are much faster than other weapons. These changes aim to bring that headshot TTK a bit closer to the body shot TTK by both reducing the full-spray accuracy of the weapon, and reducing the headshot multiplier.

• Reduced Headshot Multiplier from 2.5 to 1.75
• Reduced Base Damage from 7 to 6.5
• Increased Per Shot Dispersion by around 50% (Making it bloom faster)

Kettle Dev Note: The Kettle has been in a bit of a weird place. Its high damage output was intended to be used in a more medium range setting at a more deliberate pace, but we see many of you bringing it up in close quarters and effectively turning into an SMG. We want to distinguish it more from the Stitcher, but we also see that you enjoy the versatility of this weapon. So we're reducing the base damage to bring its TTK more in line, but we're keeping the high headshot multiplier to see if we can push players to go for more headshots.

• Reduced Base Damage from 10 to 8.5

Venator Dev Note: Since the last nerfs to the Venator in 1.3.0, we've kept an eye on our data to see how it performs. During this time many of you have raised concerns that it's still dominating in PVP, and our data has shown that it is one of the highest performing weapons in the game right now. For a weapon of this tier we want it to perform well, but maybe not this well. We're looking at an overall nerf to its damage to bring down its TTK, and if that doesn't work we might need to look into its ammo consumption and cost efficiency.

• Reduced Headshot Multiplier from 2.5 to 2
• Reduced Base Damage from 9 to 8

Jupiter Dev Note: In PVP, the Jupiter does the most headshot damage in the game, but it's quite difficult to hit headshots with it at longer ranges. You're also quite vulnerable when you use it in closer ranges since missing one shot will make you a sitting target until you either reload or swap weapons. We're increasing how much you zoom when you use ADS to give you a better view of the targets you're trying to hit, and we're reducing its equip and unequip time to make it easier to swap to a secondary weapon to follow up on your shot.

• Improved ADS Magnification from ~1.9x to ~2.2x
• Improved Equip Time from 1.2s to 1.05s
• Improved Unequip Time from 0.9s to 0.75s

Aphelion Dev Note: We weren't quite happy with the previous balancing of the Aphelion. It was intended to be a more PVP focused legendary weapon, but it couldn't quite keep up with the pacing of many of our other PVP weapons. We've made some changes to make it feel less bulky and a bit more nimble to use, to make it more viable in PVP.

• Reduced Base Reload Time from 4.5s to 3.5s
• Reduced Time Between Shots from 0.9s to 0.7s
• Reduced Vertical Recoil by ca 50%
• Improved ADS Settle Speed by ca 35%

Item and Crafting

Energy clip

• Now available by default in the Workbench.

Item Value and Cost Changes Following item values and costs have been adjusted with appropriate recycle and salvaging adjustments:

• Deadline
  • Value increased from 5,000 to 6,000.
  • Trader price increased from 15,000 to 18,000.
  • Added a new ARC part as a crafting cost.
• Trailblazer
  • Value increased from 1,600 to 2,200.
  • Trader price increased from 4,800 to 6,600.
  • Added a new ARC part as a crafting cost.
• Wolfpack
  • Value increased from 5,000 to 6,000.
  • Added Rocketeer Driver as a crafting cost.
  • Reduced Refined Explosive cost.
• Vita Spray
  • Value increased from 3,000 to 3,400.
  • Added Tick Pod as a crafting cost.
• Showstopper
  • Value decreased from 2,200 to 2,100.
  • Added Hornet Driver as a crafting cost.
  • Changed crafting component from Advanced Electrical Components to Electrical Components.
• ARC Parts sell value has been reduced to better reflect their crafting and progression uses.

Content and Bug Fixes

Achievements

• Fixed an issue where the “Blindsided” achievement sometimes did not trigger as intended on the first attempt.

Animation

• Fixed various animation issues while vaulting.
• Fixed an issue where some weapons didn't drop magazines during reloads.
• Fixed an issue where reattaching to a ladder after jumping could distort the climbing animation.
• Polished equip animations for pistols and hand cannon to better match timing and reduce visual popping when switching from unarmed.
• Improved arm and weapon positioning when swapping shoulders to prevent visual popping during the transition.
• Fixed an issue where fall damage wouldn’t get applied if the player was in a knockback animation.
• Polished low-health reaction animations for improved clarity.
• Fixed weapon-shake animation incorrectly triggering indoors during freezing weather; it now only occurs outdoors.

ARC

• Fixed an issue where Surveyors and Fireballs could open prematurely before stabilizing.
• Reduced erratic movement of ARC parts when they are stuck to a looted item.
• Hornets now keep their upper armor after being destroyed, making the lootable piece easier to distinguish from Wasps.
• Fixed an issue where the Rocketeer sometimes would not shoot despite having a clear view of its target.
• Reduced cases where the Sentinel's shots could pass through geometry when its weapon clips into walls at very close range.

Audio

• Limited bullet sound effects per trigger pull on burst weapons to the burst size to prevent extra shots from playing.
• Reduced audio stuttering on lower-spec PCs for smoother, more consistent sound during gameplay.
• Lowered non-radio voice volumes: in-game dialogue.
• Fixed an issue where sliding on stairs or debris could cause audio stutters.
• Scrappy has received your feedback about being too noisy, he will now try to cluck less frequently.
• Reduced overall volume and rebalanced the menu SFX and music mix for a more comfortable Speranza experience.
• Shortened one tube deployment music track that lingered for too long in session.
• Birds perched on ziplines now screech with correct positional audio when startled.
• Decreased audio occlusion / obstruction slightly across the board and especially for players .
• Updated acoustic guitar music tracks.

Cosmetics

• The Volare Set
• The Surgeon Set
• The Devotee Set coming soon.
• Added a new facial hair customization option.
• Fixed incorrect visor glass material on the Marco outfit's green color variant.
• Fixed various instances of clipping on certain outfits.

Gameplay

• Added a piano as an interactable object in the world.
• Fixed an issue where interactions could be triggered from too far away, allowing players to open doors, start hatches, or loot items without being nearby.
• Hold and continuous interactions now cancel when equipping another item or weapon.
• Fixed an issue where players could become unable to move after being revived with a defib.
• Prevented players from standing on or being carried by thrown grenades and other non-walkable items.
• Added missing gamepad aim assist for Sentinels, Turrets, Shredders and Surveyors.
• Disabled queuing for Practice Range while in a party to prevent matchmaking errors.
• Fixed an issue where a downed raider’s body could block hatch extraction by triggering a search prompt.
• Prevented enabling all NVIDIA Freestyle filters simultaneously to remove an unfair visual advantage.
• You can now make purchases with seeds and free loadout augments even if your stash is overflowing.

General

• General performance improvements.
• Fixed some popping issues.
• Fixed a ****** when launching the game with DirectX 11.
• Fixed a ****** that could happen when traversing ziplines.

Maps

General

• Fixed broken interactions near the top of certain ladders.
• Fixed missing collision on several environment props to reduce clipping and unintended traversal.
• General lighting fixes across different maps.

Buried City

• The chance of finding rare loot in chimneys has been lowered slightly during Bird City map condition.

Stella Montis

• Fixed multiple collision issues on Stella Montis (Lobby, Atrium, Loading Bay, Train Station tunnels, Seed Vault) to prevent players from reaching out-of-bounds areas using the ‘Unstuck’ function and to address shots coming from the Lobby ceiling.
• Adjusted night lighting on Stella Montis to improve visibility in darker areas.
• Improved night-time visibility at the Seed Vault extraction by adding local lighting.
• Fixed an issue where lowered Spillway bridges still displayed an interaction prompt, interaction is now correctly disabled when the bridge is down.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to get on top of metro trains.

Blue Gate

• Improved thunderstorm lighting for better visual clarity.
• Fixed an issue where players could go out of bounds in the Blue Gate tunnels.

Movement

• Adjusted ladder jump-off to match vault jump-off behavior, smoothing movement and preventing unintended momentum from rapid inputs.
• Fixed an issue where sliding could clip through stairs and escalators.

Progression

• You can now reroll Feats three times per day for free.
• Removed PvP Feats, updated a few existing Feats and added a few new ones.
• Added an Expedition catch-up system to earn missed Skill Points from previous runs, with an updated UI to track your progress.
• Fixed an issue where players occasionally did not receive a skill point as indicated in the result screen.
• Candleberries in Blue Gate now count toward the Harvest Plants trial.

Quests

• Added clearer ping labels for quest-related world objects to improve readability.
• Fixed an issue where the next objective pop-up in multi-step quests could be missing or show a completed step. It now consistently displays the correct upcoming objective.
• Fixed an issue where a quest item could appear as world loot without the related quest being active.

Social

• When playing in a party, map selection now shows all locations unlocked by the member with the most rounds played.
• Fixed an issue where previous teammates could appear in the Social tab’s In Proximity list after starting a new session.
• Added clearer error messages when friend requests fail due to too many outgoing requests or rate limiting.
• Fixed friends appearing offline when they have more than one platform linked.
• Added the ability to hide friend requests.

UI

• Item pings for items in containers now appear above the container's interaction point and no longer appear at the wrong location in certain containers.
• Added a ready-up warning when deploying with Raider Hatch keys into a map with no active hatches.
• Added icons to inventory tooltips to show recycle/salvage outputs.
• Fixed an issue where squad colors could display incorrectly after squad changes.
• Fixed a bug where adding a secondary keybind would overwrite the primary keybind in the next round.
• Updated localization for unique loot from new enemy variants to improve in-game naming and clarity.
• Improved matchmaking messaging when some party members are still topside.
• Fixed an issue where end-of-round health was not correctly shown for all players.
• It is now clearer when you join a party which party member is topside while you're in Speranza.
• You can now use the mouse scroll wheel to switch between pages in the Raider Deck.
• Polished UI text and updated translations across supported languages.
• Added additional ping labels for various quest objects to improve clarity.
• Fixed an issue where mouse smoothing could remain enabled despite being turned off, ensuring the setting is correctly applied at round start.
• Improved the red zipline preview when the zipline cannot be placed.
• Updated login message to clearly explain when access is restricted because the shared account owner has been banned.
• Fixed an issue in Expeditions where the timer could go negative after the departure countdown and the Sign Up button stayed active; the screen now updates correctly and the button is disabled.
• Fix an issue where the repair preview wasn't displayed correctly when repairing items.
• Crafting and recycling screens now display item costs and rewards in a consistent order for easier reading.
• The VoIP icon in the HUD will now better visually represent if the microphone is going to transmit or not if you're using Push To Talk or Toggle To Talk.

Utility

• Pop Triggers and Spotter Relays can now be used in quick slots.
  • The Spotter Relay can now be deployed as a trap that lures nearby ARC.
  • The Pop Trigger can now be deployed to roll forward briefly before exploding.
• Added a new Field craft item: Shaker instrument.
• Adjusted Vita Spray so healing applies continuously while in use to prevent exploit cases.
• Fixed an unintended behaviour with the Snaphook causing it to pull players after it had been cancelled.
• Ziplines can no longer be placed on carryable objects.
• Fixed Zipline placement on ARC remnants that could consume the item or leave it partially placed.
• Mines, traps, and remote flares can no longer be placed on ziplines, or on other small deployables.
• The T3 Tactical (Healing) Augment now correctly states that healing is applied instantly.

VFX

• Fixed an issue where Jupiter’s windup visual could face sideways, making the beam appear misaligned.
• Fixed an issue where Trailblazer’s gas effect could persist indefinitely if interrupted by the Matriarch’s shield.

Known Issues

• ‘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.
• Certain containers may be unavailable to be interacted with.
• Ziplines placed onto destroyed ARC parts will not appear correctly.
• Scrappy ‘Batting Helmet’ and the ‘Slugger’ outfit might not appear correctly in the event preview.
• ‘Comparative Study’ achievement sometimes does not progress correctly after damaging the hanging drone dummies.
• The 'Unyielding' achievement/trophy fails to progress on console when knocking out raiders using the associated prompt.
• Some unintended VFX can appear occasionally.
• One of the new ARC enemies has an unusable interaction occasionally when destroyed.
• Flying ARC may sometimes appear stuck in idle.
• Sometimes the Embark ID Discriminator fails to show.
• Pressing LMB outside of the item select area closes the item select window in the Expeditions menu.

Anti-Cheat

When we shared our last update about tackling unfair play, we didn’t fully convey the complexity and scale of what goes into cheat detection. Our defenses operate on multiple levels: some checks are simple and definitive, while others are behavioral and data-driven and evolve over time. We also leverage broad gameplay telemetry and machine learning techniques to spot patterns that aren’t obvious at first glance. These methods take longer to develop, must adapt as game systems change, and don’t always offer instant certainty the way blunt software detections can.

We’ve recently taken action against different exploits and we are further tightening our rules and stepping up enforcement. Serious infractions now carry stricter consequences. Strong detections will receive permanent bans right off the bat, while others will receive a temporary suspension and a single chance to correct the behavior. Recent updates to Family Sharing have strengthened our ability to curb misconduct and streamlined the removal of bad actors from the game. We are preparing to launch a systematic manual review of ban appeals. The game is young and the volume of telemetry is enormous, but this process ensures every case is handled with care as we continue to learn quickly and invest heavily in the precision of our enforcement tools.

Our dedicated anti-cheat team works tirelessly to keep the game fair. It’s an ongoing fight, and we’re committed to it.

//Ossen
And the ARC Raiders Team

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and

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(@MikeCripe).

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