Arc Raiders has received patch 1.3.0 with balance tweaks meant to curb one pistol that was dominating close fights and a whimsical change that could finally let a collector show off hundreds of rubber ducks in their Raider Den.
The official 1.3.0 patch notes say the semi-automatic Venator has been re-tuned. Embark says the weapon “has been overperforming recently” and that upgrades that increased its fire rate are being pulled back. Damage and accuracy remain the same, but players should notice a slower firing pace when using upgraded Venators, and the pistol’s weight has been corrected to match other sidearms.
Explosive damage was also made more consistent. Embark found that explosions could hit more areas than intended, allowing weapons like the Hullcracker to kill larger drones too quickly. The team narrowed the explosive hit registration, then rebalanced the Hullcracker so it requires a bit more precision going forward. There are a few crash fixes and collision clean-ups as well, but the patch notes also include a lighter moment that fans are already talking about. The update is nicknamed the “duck update” and the misc section consists of the line “your Raider Den has been ducked out” alongside an image of a den full of rubber ducks.
Please tell me the guy with hundreds of ducks is still here to confirm this means what I think it means.
byu/SometimesHardNipples inArcRaiders
This follows earlier patch coverage when the game moved to 1.1.0 and began adjusting rewards and matchmaking, and the new update continues that pattern of rapid iteration across weapons and quality-of-life improvements. For background on the game’s earlier tweaks see our 1.1.0 patch coverage. Players who rely on quick magazine dumps with the Venator should expect to slow down and aim more carefully. Drone encounters that used to feel like a splash damage lottery should now reward more precise shots. Feedback channels will likely light up as soon as more players test the new balance, so watch for follow-ups if any change looks over- or under-tuned.
Arc Raiders Patch Notes 1.3.0
Balance Changes
Items:
Deadline
- Buy value: From 8,100 to 15,000 Coins
- Sell value: From 3,000 to 5,000 Coins
- Crafting:
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- Old: 2 Explosive compound + 1 Synthesized fuel
- New: 3 Explosive compound + 2 ARC Circuitry
- Deadline trader stock: From 3 to 1
Power cell
- Sell value: From 640 to 270 Coins
Launcher ammo
- Buy value:
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- Old: 10 launcher ammo for 6,000 Coins
- New: 6 launcher ammo for 4,500 Coins
- Sell value: From 200 to 250
- Crafting:
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- Old: 6 launcher ammo for 4 Metal parts + 1 Explosive Compound
- New: 6 launcher ammo for 1 ARC Motion Core + 2 Crude Explosives
- Launcher ammo crafting is available at the Workbench without needing a blueprint.
Venator
Dev note: The fully upgraded Venator has been over-performing recently, capable of outgunning full squads using close range weapons. We’re re-tuning the fire-rate gained from upgrades to pull down the pacing a bit, while still keeping its damage and accuracy intact. This should encourage players to take some more time with their shots rather than mag-dumping the first poor soul they encounter. The community also rightfully pointed out that the weight of the Venator was inconsistent with the weights of our other pistols, so we’ve corrected that as well.
- Reduced Fire-rate gained from upgrades from 22/44/60% to 13/26/40%.
- Increased Weight from 2 to 5.
Explosive Damage
Dev note: We noticed that explosives dealt damage to more parts at once than intended, allowing weapons like the Hullcracker to kill larger drones too quickly. We’ve adjusted explosive damage to make it more consistent across the board, and we’ve re-balanced the damage of the Hullcracker to account for that change. This will require Hullcracker shots to need a bit more precision while still dealing good damage to the targeted spot.
- Rebalanced explosive damage against ARC for a more consistent experience.
- Explosions on smaller enemies, e.g. Turrets are largely unaffected.
- Explosions on larger sized enemies, e.g. Bastion will typically deal a bit less damage.
Content and Bug Fixes
ARC
- Fixed a bug where ARC could call down reinforcements outside the map.
- Shredder
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- Shredder will now detect and move more reliably towards Lure Grenades.
- Shredder movement and handling updated: slightly reduced turn speed, improved braking, stiffer suspension, and more consistent reactions to impacts for steadier behavior in combat.
- Improved Shredder navigation to prevent it from getting stuck on corners when moving toward the player.
Audio
- Reduced volume attenuation for explosion tinnitus and concussion effects to improve clarity.
Maps
- Barricades can no longer be placed overlapping your character, preventing clipping through walls and access to locked rooms.
- The Dam Battlegrounds
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- Fixed an issue where players would get stuck in the Dam Control Tower elevator shaft.
- Spaceport
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- Added collision to the staircase walls and ceiling in the Hidden Bunker on Spaceport.
- Fixed an issue where players could enter the wall near the Launch Tower ramp on Spaceport, preventing unfair ambushes.
- Fixed an issue where players could access the locked room on the Control Tower without a key.
- Blue Gate
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- Fixed railing props on Blue Gate that mistakenly blocked bullets; shots now pass through as expected.
- Stella Montis
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- Fixed a collision issue on Stella Montis near the Train Station that could cause players to fall through the terrain.
- Fixed a location in Stella Montis Train Station where players could get stuck.
- Removed two player spawns on Stella Montis that were too close to ARC spawn areas.
- Fixed missing visibility collision on walls in the Business Center area of Stella Montis that allowed shots to pass through.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed a crash when using Raider Voice (proximity chat) on PCs without AVX2 support.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when surrendering after reconnecting to a session.
- Fixed an issue where scavenging parts from the Shredder could leave behind invisible collisions.
- Fixed an issue where the Trials weekly rollover could display an outdated rank; the celebration now reflects the correct current rank and the UI remains accurate during the cooldown period.
- Updated recommended AMD graphics driver to version 25.11.1 to reduce recent crash issues on AMD GPUs.
- Your Raider Den has been ducked out.
Movement
- Improved enemy ground detection to better handle steep surfaces, reducing erratic movement when traversing angled terrain.
Weapons
- Aphelion
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- Fixed an issue where Aphelion tracers could become excessively bright at distance, reducing visibility for the player being shot at.
- Increased Aphelion blueprint drop rates.
- Stitcher
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- Corrected player facing stats for the Stitcher, showing incorrect scaling of reload time across upgrade levels.
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ARC Raiders
Developed by Embark Studios
ARC Raiders is a multiplayer, extraction adventure, set in a lethal future earth, ravaged by a mysterious mechanized threat known as ARC.
- Genre: Shooter
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Modes: Multiplayer, Co-operative
- Release: 2025-10-30
- Publisher: Embark Studios
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Age Rating:
ESRB T / PEGI 16 / GRAC 15+ / USK 18 / CLASS_IND 14 / ACB M
- IGDB Rating: 89.7/100
