Ever since the 1.3 “Duck Update” landed, farming blueprints in ARC Raiders has felt way less frustrating. If you have been chasing that last handful for your collection, now is the perfect time to jump back in. The devs have really cranked up the drop rates on those top-tier Aphelion prints, so you are not just grinding on pure luck anymore. It is more about knowing where to go and hitting the right spots. And here is a bonus – launcher ammo no longer needs a blueprint, you can just craft it right at the bench with Motion Cores and Crude Explosives. That alone frees up space for another schematic and makes each run feel more rewarding. For me, it clicked after I read about this change on ARC Raiders Items – really turned my runs around.
Not every container is worth your time though. You will quickly figure out that Weapon Cases are top priority – they have the highest blueprint drop chance. I have had multiple Aphelions drop from them in just a few days. They often sit inside breach rooms or locked areas. Always scan nearby shelves and odd corners too – easy to miss stuff there. Black Raider Boxes come next, and you will know you are close when you hear that ticking sound near checkpoints or vaults. Red Lockers, usually tucked in staff bathrooms or perched on rooftops, have solid odds too. And strangely enough, Med Duffel Bags can be surprisingly worth it, especially if you are using a looting augment. Ammo crates and desk drawers are technically lower chance, but since you can crack dozens in quick bursts, they are still decent filler during a run.
If you want to pull in loot faster, you have got to run tight routes instead of clearing whole maps. Aim for 20 or 30 high-value containers, then get out. That way you can chain runs back-to-back without too much PvP slowing you down. On Buried City, a clean loop is to hit Marano Station Breach first, then swing up to the Grandioso Rooftops – which now seem to have extra raider caches tucked into the bushes. For Stella Montis, the Security Checkpoint is the jackpot. Run all four floors through the vents since those old key-room tricks are gone. Spaceport got a nice change too – the Staff Bathroom is breachable now and often hides quality loot. The trick is favouring zones that make you work a bit, like puzzle or parkour areas, because their loot tables tend to be richer.
Couple of extra tips – night raids and storms are goldmines thanks to better drop modifiers. Do not ignore ARC Surveyors either; hit them with a Showstopper grenade and sometimes they cough up blueprints. Always slot the Looting Mk II Augment so you can haul more in one go, avoiding the pain of ditching good prints. Keep an eye on weekly trials and Harvester events – they often cough up rare items you will barely see otherwise. And honestly, multiple short ten-minute runs will beat one long sweaty hour most days. Got duplicates? Sell 'em for 5k coins a pop and fund your workbench upgrades. That is how I have kept my stash growing, and it is how you will nail those last prints in your ARC Raiders BluePrint collection.
