Embark Studios has released an extended look at Frozen Trail, the next major update for ARC Raiders, and it covers a lot. The update lands on October 8 and sends Raiders past the Rust Belt for the first time, into a new mountain map called Andala Pass. Around that map sit three new enemies, a sabotage-based end-game challenge, player Outposts, weapon amplification, a grappling hook, a camera and a new reward pass.
The presentation is a developer walkthrough featuring Creative Director Tair Tenish, Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal and several designers and programmers. Here is what Embark showed.
Andala Pass Takes Raiders North of the Rust Belt
Andala Pass is a large map in the mountain range north of every region players have visited so far. Tenish says Raiders have never been here, so it works as a first-contact experience for the area.
The story hook is a downed Walker. Celeste and Shauny pick up strange signals that turn out to come from the wreck, and Celeste sends Raiders out to see what they can find inside. Embark says it is the first time players get up close to one, and the goal is to make them feel like they are somewhere they shouldn't be.
On the design side, Embark wanted a big map with plenty of ways to play. It mixes verticality, open ground, tight spaces and close-quarters sections. Players can move more carefully and strategically through some areas, or drop into the close-quarters parts and go looking for PvP.
Flash Freeze Forces Raiders to Find Shelter
The region also brings harsh weather. Flash Freeze is a hazard Raiders need to keep watching, because once it hits, you have to get out of it fast. Refuge means going indoors or reaching one of the shelters scattered around the map.
That should change how routes are planned. Knowing where the nearest shelter is matters as much as knowing where the loot is, and a freeze can interrupt a fight or an objective at the worst moment.
The Frigate Is a Sabotage Puzzle, Not a Boss Fight
The wreck does not go unnoticed. ARC responds to the downed Walker by launching a rescue operation, and one of its biggest vessels, the Frigate, shows up as part of it.
Embark describes the Frigate as an end-game challenge for highly skilled players. The task is to get on top of it, solve the puzzle, get through the hazards and take the loot. Tenish compares the feeling to boarding a pirate ship.
Raiders are not expected to take it down with firepower. Tenish says you can't blow it up. You have to sabotage it.
Three New ARC Enemies: Bully, Skulker and Hydra
Frozen Trail adds three machines, and each one pressures players differently. Senior Designer David Spinnier says they fill a gap in the current roster.
The Bully is a hulking ground enemy that never lets up. It doesn't pause between attacks and keeps coming at you. Reinforcement Learning Engineer Klas Henriksson says the team hopes it creates dynamic moments too, like the Bully stumbling, falling and crashing into players to knock them down.
The Skulker is the opposite. It is much smaller, opportunistic and fast, taking pot shots from range, repositioning and hiding behind rocks to get the drop on you. It keeps a low profile until it unfolds to shoot, then slips back into the shadows. Spinnier says he regularly loses track of it in testing, only to find it behind him, and that is intentional. Players will need to listen for it.
The Hydra has three pairs of guns and can target several squads at once. How you tackle it matters, since you can pull its attention in different directions to spread its firepower.
Outposts Give Raiders a Base to Call Their Own
Outposts are described as an extension of the Raider Den. The story idea is that Raiders are starting to settle in the regions near Frozen Trail and the downed Walker. Players can craft furniture and pick from different themed modules to build the place their way, which Embark frames as a way to express yourself beyond character skins.
Tenish calls this just the beginning for Outposts and says the studio sees them evolving over time.
They also matter for progression. Outposts include a new Research Bench, a workstation where players research upgrades on the way to higher-tier weapons.
Weapon Amplification Changes How Guns Behave
The Research Bench feeds into Weapon Amplification, a system built on Raiders getting better at adapting ARC tech. Players research upgrades, then find rare materials to apply them to their weapons.
Weapons Designer Simon Ströberg says an amplified weapon is like a fifth quality level, except it doesn't give stats on its own. Instead it opens a branching path of modules that change how the weapon behaves. The system launches with 15 weapons. Examples shown include:
- Turning the Beretta into a fully automatic machine pistol
- Attaching a scope to the Renegade
- Adding fire bullets to the Rattler
- Fitting a drum mag to the Rattler
Ströberg says the drum mag is a favorite of his. The Rattler keeps its double-bullet reload, but emptying a 65-round magazine is very satisfying. Embark hopes the system lets players personalize weapons more than earlier mods allowed, and turns guns they don't normally touch into new favorites.
Stiletto and Buntam Join the Arsenal
There are two brand-new weapons as well. The Stiletto is a light-ammo battle rifle that acts as an early-game alternative to the Renegade. It is more effective against ARC than the Catalyst and also works well against Raiders. Ströberg suggests staying at medium to long range, pacing your shots and dipping in and out of cover. You can fire it fast, but accuracy suffers, so that is more of a fallback if someone pushes close.
The Buntam is a snub-nose revolver meant as a contrast to the Anvil. Ströberg admits he likes it slightly more than the Anvil right now, and gameplay programmer Melody Ju points to a very flavorful special hip-fire animation.
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Grappling Hook and Tether Gadgets Add Movement and Chaos
The grappling hook is a new mobility gadget and, according to Ju, one of Embark's most ambitious so far. It is a hand-thrown rope you can attach to surfaces. You can rappel down the side of a building and climb in through a window, swing across gaps and jump off, or attach yourself to AI.
It is part of a larger system of tethers and constraints, which brings two more items in this update. The Tether Launcher is a point-to-point gadget that connects two parts to each other. The Tether Grenade, also called the Yank Grenade, attaches to something nearby when thrown at the ground and pulls it in with violent force. Ströberg says it can drag players out of cover or smash drones into the ground.
A Camera, a Banjo and a Harmonica
Embark keeps up its habit of adding instruments with big updates, and this one brings a banjo and a harmonica. Ju admits to being a little addicted to the banjo.
The bigger addition is a camera, which the team says was pushed over the edge by the game's photographers. It includes zoom, aperture presets, autofocus, manual focus racking and a selfie mode with selfie emotes. Ju expects a lot of crazy selfies.
Reward Passes Replace Raider Decks
Product Director Gerardo Basurto says Frozen Trail introduces reward passes, an evolution of the Raider Decks. The Frozen Trail pass has a free tier with all the basic cosmetics, including outfits, plus a premium track for players who want more.
The premium track adds premium toggles for some outfits, color variants, extra hairstyles, extra backpacks and other cosmetics, along with unique legendary weapon stencils. The presentation doesn't cover pricing.
Frozen Trail Launches October 8
Grøndal closes the presentation by noting it has been 12 months for ARC Raiders. The citizens of Speranza have been on the defense for a long time, he says, and now it is time for players to go beyond the Rust Belt. Frozen Trail arrives on October 8.
