Of the many progression paths to follow in extraction shooter Arc Raiders, perhaps one of the most rewarding are blueprints. They expand your arsenal by giving you access to craft all sorts of new weapons, gun mods, grenades, and more. Once you hit max level, finish all your quests (you get blueprints for many of these!), and even wrap up the expedition project, collecting blueprints is the true end-game grind.
Read More: One Player Turned 2025’s Hit Extraction Shooter Into A Stunning War Photography Sim
But blueprints are often quite tricky to find. Outside of the ones you earn for completing quests, most players come across blueprints randomly, without much rhyme or reason as to why they’re found in certain areas.
In my extensive time with the game, blueprints can be very hard to source reliably, unlike much of the game’s loot, which typically is found in specific environmental categories. It truly feels random.
Read More: This Is The ‘Easiest’ Way To Kill A Leaper In Arc Raiders
But don’t despair, there are some clear strategies that can amplify your chances of finding new blueprints. Let’s get into it.
Blueprint hunting? Prioritize Night and Electromagnetic Storm Raids
Arc Raiders’ five unique maps see a regular rotation of activities, such as Night Raids, raids with intense lightning storms, and Spaceport’s exclusive Hidden Bunker activity. These activities have fewer extraction points, as well as environmental conditions that can prove more dangerous than a normal run.
But in my experience, they seem to dramatically improve your chances of finding blueprints. Also, running an activity like a Night Raid will double the amount of trial points you get for completing certain activities, and it’s not uncommon to earn a blueprint from completing a trial.
Read More: The Hoarder’s Guide To Managing Your Arc Raiders Inventory
These activities are dangerous, however, so you want to go in well-equipped or without much to lose. Whether you want to bring in your valuable weapons or minimize your losses is up to you, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned by hitting Night Raids and similar activities, it’s to avoid running with a Free Loadout when possible.
Don’t use Free Loadouts when hunting for blueprints
Free Loadouts are wonderful. They’re a quick way to warm up without much risk of loss. But they don’t include a safe pocket, which lets you stash away a single item (that isn’t a gun or shield) to be preserved even if you fail to extract with it.
So yes, while rolling into a Night Raid with a Free Loadout situates you with nothing to lose and everything to gain, scoring a blueprint on a run won’t do you much good if you get taken out without the ability to safely secure that item.
By the time you start grinding for blueprints and hitting up the more challenging map conditions, you should have enough loot to at least put together a basic loadout with an augment that includes a safe pocket.
Read More: The Best Guns For Every Possible Situation In Arc Raiders
Remember, you can always trade a Free Loadout augment for any of the starting augments from Lance in the Traders tab of the main menu.
Once you find a blueprint, toss that thing into your safe pocket immediately. Don’t take any chances.
Now that you have a safe pocket for blueprints, where should you look?
There might be a blueprint hiding in some random hood of a car in a parking lot. There could be one in a trash can tucked away in an alley somewhere. They’re exceedingly random in their hiding spots, and it’s hard to predict just where you’ll find one.
For that reason, you’re going to want to prioritize locations with tons of loot containers, especially office buildings that have no shortage of desk drawers, lockers, and cabinets to rifle through.
In my experience, it’s not so much that things like desk drawers and lockers have a higher likelihood of containing a blueprint, but it’s that in a room filled with them, you’re simply opening far more containers and are thus increasing your odds of finding a blueprint by numbers alone. Think of them like loot boxes (that you don’t pay for). Do you want to open one or two with the chance of finding something good? Or a dozen of them?
Read More: Arc Raiders: The Best Cheat Sheets And Third-Party Resources
I recommend searching the following locations as they’re filled with lockers and drawers:
Spaceport
- Arrival Building
- Departure Building
- Control Tower A6
Dam Battlegrounds
- Research & Administration
- Control Tower
- Testing Annex
Buried City
- Plaza Rosa (especially the locked pharmacy)
- Library
- Space Travel
- Research
- Hospital
As for the remaining two maps, you can certainly end up finding blueprints on them, but Blue Gate, in my experience, doesn’t have as many office suites filled with tons of drawers to improve your lottery chances. That said, the Reinforced Reception area is pretty good, but that location is likely to be hot with other players as there’s some great weaponry to be found down there.
Similarly, Stella Montis, the game’s tiniest map, has quickly made a name for itself as a slaughterfest. It’s basically the unofficial PvP map. So, while you might stand to find some good blueprints here, expect some overwhelming fights. If you’re dead set on going here to hunt blueprints, you probably want to prioritize Medical Research, Loading Bay, or the many discarded suitcases in Lobby. Still, Stella Montis is typically such a dangerous map that I wouldn’t advise going here unless you’re looking for a brawl. You might find a blueprint, only to be killed moments later without a chance to even stash it away in your safe pocket.
Read More: Extraction Shooter Player Puts Down Guns And Starts Selling Fruit Instead
Finally, trash cans seem like they have a higher percentage of containing a blueprint. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you need to run up to every single trash can you see. You can tell if a trash can has loot if it has an extra cover on top, making it appear taller than other receptacles.
Search everything in key rooms
In general, it’s best to loot the locked rooms during Night Raids and similar activities. But as with the locations listed above, be thorough in your searches of these rooms. I recommend bringing Door Blockers and Barricade Kits, as well as other items to booby trap these rooms once you get in. That will buy you time to sift through every possible loot container in case another player tries to jump you while you’re looting the now-unlocked room.
Blueprints are essential for piecing together a new Arc Raiders loadout that’s powerful and effective after a crushing loss.
Happy hunting!
