The Arc Raiders Frozen Trail update is bigger than anyone expected: new ARC, gun upgrades, a map, and personal outposts you can decorate

Frozen Trail: First Look | ARC Raiders - YouTube

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Here's the big stuff

• Pendola Pass: A snowy mountain region north of the Rust Belt flanked on all sides by a gigantic Emperor corpse. Embark says Pendola is its "most ambitious map to date" and has a unique "Flash Freeze" condition that punishes those who stay outside too long.
• New ARC types: The Frigate is a "massive airborne carrier" that apparently can't be totally destroyed. Embark framed this as a "high-stakes challenge for experienced Raiders." The Bully is a cousin of the Leaper—a four-legged belligerent that uses "hit-and-run tactics" to whittle away at raiders. The Skulker is a small, ground-level pest that keeps its distance and "takes pot shots" at players. The Hydra is a stationary turret that can target three players simultaneously.
• Outposts: Personal spaces outside of Speranza that players can build up and expand with decor, furniture, trinkets, and upgrade benches. You can't walk around your outpost, at least for now. "That is something we're thinking about as we look to evolve this feature," added executive producer Aleksander Grøndal in a press Q&A.
• Weapon Amplification: Using the new research bench, guns can be upgraded to a new "amplifaction" tier that grants them unique abilities, like flammable ammo or rapid-fire. Fifteen guns will have amplifications at first.
• Guns: The Stiletto is a light ammo battle rifle designed as an "early game alternative to the Renegade," and the Bantum is a quickfire revolver meant to compete with the Anvil.
• Reworked skill tree: Embark says it has reworked skills to be more impactful and force players to make choices about their playstyle. Not every skill can be acquired on a single raider, apparently.
• Gun skins: Raiders can now find "stencils" that serve as multi-use skins you can apply to guns. If you lose that gun, you'll need to reapply the stencil. Blueprints for stencils can also be found or unlocked through the new research station.
• Gadgets: A grapple hook, banjo, and camera tool will bring nonviolent flair to an Arc Raiders lobby near you.

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Let 'em cook

Embark said "let us cook" back in May and has reappeared with a three course meal. Frozen Trail is the first fruits of Arc Raiders' new six-month gap between major updates. The 2.0 patch gives a comprehensive pass on nearly every facet of the extraction shooter, reworking skills, introducing customizable homes, and delivering core add-ons like a new map, guns, and ARC enemies.

Having not played much Arc Raiders in 2026, this is getting me jazzed to get back to paramedic duty. As a casual raider with zero expeditions or accolades, I found it hard to keep up with all of Arc Raiders' happenings back when things were changing every month. This new schedule, where major updates are rarer but allowed to be larger, is already more my speed.

It wasn't the flashiest announcement of the day, but I'm really eager to try out that grapple hook. Judging by the reveal video, that's a proper mobility tool—the kind that can anchor to a point and swing you in any direction! You can even hook Arc bots with it and go for a ride. Sounds like a beautiful disaster waiting to happen.

Frozen Trail is out October 8 as a free update. Grøndal also went into more detail about the reworked skill tree during a press Q&A.

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Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.