If you have spent any amount of time farming blueprints, you will know the drop rates in ARC Raiders can feel wildly uneven. After checking over 3,100 confirmed spawns, one thing jumps out fast — Gunsmith plans are everywhere. They make up just over 40% of the pool, so most of the time you are going to see weapon mods or schematics pop out, with things like the Angled Grip II being pretty common. Medical Lab gear is catching up at nearly 29% thanks to the recent survival tweaks. Utility Station blueprints sit lower at about 18%, and Fabrication is rarest at just under 13%. Of course, map choice changes the odds — Spaceport pushes Utility items close to 24%, while Buried City’s tunnels give Fabrication a handy 18% bump. If you are trying to stack value runs, these little shifts matter almost as much as getting your hands on enough ARC Raiders Coins.
When you break it down by location, some spots are head and shoulders above the rest. Marano Station in Buried City is ridiculous for blueprint farming. It alone pulls in more than a quarter of the total drops, with an efficiency rating you will struggle to match anywhere else. The trick? Hit the breachable doors in the north tunnels before the ARC alert goes crazy. Next on the list is the Pattern House cluster in Victory Ridge. It pairs beautifully with Ruby Residence if you are chasing more Gunsmith plans, making it easy to double dip. Further down, Orbital Docks are your go-to for Utility gear, Stella Montis Outskirts offers a chill solo route, and the Blue Gate Vaults in high-density zones are worth the risk if you need Fabrication loot.
There is another side to it — the game actually throws more rewards at you if you play risky. Raids flagged as “High ARC Activity” spawn about 22% more blueprints. Even the time of day matters. Running missions in the dusk window, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., gave an average boost of 18% to Medical Lab drops. Squad size plays into it too. Rolling with three or more players seems to trigger a quiet 14% drop bonus, so it is worth dragging extra hands along even if it means splitting loot. And then there are contested extracts. Crack open crates right next to a hot extraction point and you will see up to 31% more rare finds — the kind you really remember pulling.
When you wrap all of this up, the winning run is clear. Drop straight on Marano Station, make sure you hit the dusk cycle if your consumables are low, always bring a full squad, and do not ignore those high ARC markers — the payoff stings less than the risk. Before you leave, swing past a contested extract and push your luck one last time. That last stand can easily turn an ordinary raid into one packed with purple or gold upgrades, and if you have got a stash of cheap Raider Tokens ready to burn, you will keep the grind rolling without missing a beat.
