ARC Raiders Frozen Trail: Everything You Need To Know
After months of relatively small additions to the game, Embark Studios has finally revealed information about their next, and seemingly biggest, update.
Here is everything you need to know about ARC Raiders: Frozen Trail, including new weapon upgrades, new enemies, new quests, and the new map.
New Map- Pendola Pass
Frozen Trail brings Raiders beyond the Rust Belt for the first time in ARC Raiders. Celeste and Chani will start us off with the new quests that will take us to Pendola Pass, a “large map” which will feature the husk of a massive walker, by far the largest ARC we’ve seen.
Building on the Cold Snap update, Frozen Trail’s Pendola Pass is a ruthless map where players will need to handle the Flash Freeze mechanic. According to Embark Studios’ Creative Director, Pendola Pass will allow players to engage in both close quarters and long range fights.
Frozen Trail ARC Boss- Frigate
The Frigate is the newest boss coming to ARC Raiders with Frozen Trail. Embark described the new boss as “similar to boarding a pirate ship”. We won’t be able to damage it with any weapon, being forced instead to “sabotage” it, likely akin to completing a map puzzle.
Frozen Trail ARC Enemies
Frozen Trailers multiple enemies to ARC Raiders.
Bully
The Bully appears to be a fusion between the Bastion and the Leaper. Embark promise that this is an extremely aggressive enemy that will relentlessly pursue the players.
Although the Bully will quickly chase you like the Leaper, it also has short-ranged attacks, seemingly in the vein of the Shredders.
Skulker
On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the Skulker. As the name implies, this new ARC enemy will focus on stealth to get the drop on your with long-range, high damage attacks.
It will try to hide and pounce while you’re distracted by PVP, looting, or other ARC. Audio cues will be key in to keep track of these sneaky enemies.
Hydra
The Hydra has “three pairs of guns that are able to target several squads at once”. Taking down the Hydra seems to be a mini-boss encounter. Its arsenal will likely be too much for a single player or squad to handle, so players will be incentivized to work together.
Outposts
With players moving beyond the Rust Belt, Raiders will need new settlements beyond the Hideout. The first one will be placed in the new Frozen Trails area, allowing players to customize their “home”, a new way for Raiders to express their preferences and probably a new type of microtransactions.
Beyond the cosmetic aspect, Outposts will house a new workstation, the Research Bench, which will allow players to “upgrade to higher tier weapons".
Amplified Weapons
Amplified Weapons are unique, although they’ll fulfill the role of the “fifth tier” of weapon. Before Frozen Trails, weapons were capped to the fourth tier, which only improved their stats (faster reloads, more damage, etc).
Weapon Amplification will only be available to 15 weapons at launch and will go beyond stat increases. Embark Studios gave examples like transforming the Burletta into a fully-automatic weapon or giving the Renegade a ranged scope.
This will allow players to bring new life to the classic weapons that they might’ve left gathering dusts in their stash.
Frozen Trail Weapons
Beyond the Amplification, Frozen Trail brings two new weapons to ARC Raiders.
Stiletto
The developers described this weapon as “an early game alternative to the Renegade”. It will use Light Ammo so it will deal considerably less damage, but it will function as a middle point between the mid range Rattler and the break-action Ferro.
Bantam
This snub-nosed revolver is the Anvil’s cowboy-inspired close-range cousin. It seems to excel in close quarters and while using hip-fire.
Frozen Trail Gadgets
ARC Raiders will get three more gadgets with the Frozen Trails update.
Grappling Hook
This new mobility-focused gadget seems to be Embark’s response to the crazy (and seemingly unintended) things players were pulling off with the Snap Hook.
While the Snap excels on covering large distances and instantly scaling structures, the Grappling Hook focuses on a more horizontal mobility. You can grapple to ceilings, walls, and directly to ARC.
Tether Launcher And Tether Grenade
The Tether Launcher is a throwable gadget that will activate upon contact with a surface and automatically connect to a player or ARC. It will keep them tethered and locked to a certain range.
On the other hand, the Tether Grenade servers as a more aggressive alternative, violently pulling ARC or players towards the starting point, allowing players to instantly kill small flying ARC like Wasps or Hornets.
Frozen Trail Instruments And Camera
Embark Studios is following the tradition of adding instruments with every new major update. Frozen Trails will bring a Banjo and an Harmonica to ARC Raiders.
Additionally, following the outpouring of ARC Raiders photographers making smart use of Binoculars, Embark Studios added an official Camera (essentially a photo mode), including a selfie-mode.
Frozen Trail’s Version Of Raider Decks
ARC Raiders finally unveiled what will replace the Raider Decks. The Frozen Trail update will bring the first Reward Pass. It will essentially mix the old Raider Deck system with a more classic Battlepass.
Players will have a free tier unlocking access to most things, but they’ll also be able to spend real money for a Premium tier, giving them cosmetics like exclusive outfit versions.
Frozen Trail Release Date
You’ll be able to experience all these ARC Raiders additions, changes and more when Frozen Trail releases on October 8.