The Cold Snap update is Arc Raiders’ winter-themed refresh of the Rust Belt, combining harsh new weather conditions with fresh progression layers and limited-time events. It is the game’s second major update and shifts both how raids play and how long-term progression feels.
Topside, a new Snowfall map condition can roll in on locations such as Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and Blue Gate. Heavy snow covers the terrain, sharply reduces visibility, and leaves clear tracks, so movement paths become easier to read and ambushes harder to spot. Frozen water is less reliable to cross, and open-ground fights are much riskier than before.
Snowfall brings a new survival pressure as well. Staying exposed to the elements for too long inflicts frostbite, a status that steadily drains health until you find indoor shelter or heal aggressively. Because every squad is forced to rotate into covered spaces more often, expect more close-quarters encounters in buildings where multiple teams may be sheltering at once.
Underground in Speranza, Cold Snap introduces the Flickering Flames festival and the Candleberry Banquet project, which reward continued play with extra items, cosmetics, and Raider Tokens. The update also lines up with the first Expedition reset, an optional account progression reset that trades away your current raider’s progress for permanent bonuses. The Goalie Raider Deck arrives at the end of this winter calendar as the second major deck in the game.
Goalie Raider Deck release date and access
Raider Decks sit alongside quests and expeditions as long-term progression tracks. They bundle themed outfits, utility items, weapons, and Raider Tokens into a structured set of unlocks that you buy using Cred, a currency earned purely through play.
The Goalie Raider Deck is the second Raider Deck added to Arc Raiders and is tied thematically to the Cold Snap winter setting. It becomes available on December 26, 2025. Once it has been added, any player who owns Arc Raiders and has the update installed can access the deck from in game.
Like the launch deck, the Goalie Raider Deck is free and permanent. There is no real-money cost to activate it and no expiration date. Once it is live, it stays available indefinitely, so there is no pressure to clear it within a fixed “season” window.
This approach means new players arriving months later still find the Goalie deck in place, and existing players can work through it at their own pace rather than feeling forced into short-term grinding.
Rewards in the Goalie Raider Deck
The Goalie Raider Deck is built around a single flagship cosmetic line and a set of practical rewards that tie back into winter survival and long-term account value. The overall theme reimagines ice hockey protective gear as improvised combat armor used by raiders in the Rust Belt.
In the fiction of Speranza, some residents treat this set as the ceremonial equipment of famous old-world gladiators, even if the reality is closer to repurposed sports gear. That tongue‑in‑cheek framing fits Arc Raiders’ broader focus on scavenged technology and found objects elevated into survival tools.
A standout reward is a new Raider Tool with a hockey stick silhouette, which gives one of your key utility slots a winter-sport twist. Alongside it sits a mix of cosmetics and useful items that support day‑to‑day raids.
| Reward type | Description in the Goalie Raider Deck |
|---|---|
| Goalie Outfit | Hockey-inspired armor set that serves as the deck’s flagship skin, with variants that adjust its look while keeping the same theme. |
| Hockey Stick Raider Tool | A new Raider Tool styled as a hockey stick, giving one of your core utility slots a distinct Cold Snap identity. |
| Raider Tokens | Premium currency awarded at intervals in the deck, used for other Raider Decks, bundles, and cosmetic items such as outfits, backpacks, charms, emotes, and Scrappy outfits. |
| Weapons | Weapon unlocks that expand your loadout options, useful for adapting to the reduced visibility and close‑quarters fights common in Snowfall conditions. |
| Rare utility items | Higher‑value consumables and utility gear that provide practical advantages during raids, especially under harsher weather conditions. |
| Additional cosmetics | Extra cosmetic customizations that complement the Goalie theme and broaden your overall pool of visual options. |
The previous Raider Deck revolved around the Ryder and Voyager outfits and split its cosmetics between two lines. The Goalie deck focuses on a single cohesive set, sharpening the winter sports angle and tying directly into the update’s broader Cold Snap identity.
How the Goalie Raider Deck progression works
Progress in the Goalie Raider Deck is driven entirely by Cred. Cred is an in‑game currency you earn through regular play rather than purchases. It is distinct from Raider Tokens, which are the premium currency used across the cosmetic ecosystem.
You gain Cred by completing daily Feats and other gameplay challenges, as well as by finishing topside activities. Raids that go well, consistent participation, and checking off your Feats list all contribute to growing your Cred balance over time.
Cred is then spent inside the Goalie Raider Deck on its various rewards. As you play, your Cred pool increases, and you gradually unlock the outfit pieces, Raider Tokens, weapons, and utility items laid out on the deck. There is no separate “paid track” inside this deck and no requirement to spend Raider Tokens or money to access its contents.
Existing Cred is not wiped when the Goalie deck arrives, and Cred is also preserved when you opt into an Expedition reset. Any Cred you have already banked before December 26 can be used immediately on Goalie rewards, so players who have been active since launch may clear a significant portion of the deck on the first day.
Because the deck is permanent, there is also no downside to a slower approach. Players who prefer to experiment with Cold Snap’s new map condition or focus on other objectives for a while can circle back to the Goalie deck later without losing access to anything.
Cold Snap events that support Goalie Raider Deck progression
Cold Snap introduces several limited‑time structures that complement the Goalie Raider Deck by feeding you currencies, items, and reasons to keep returning during the winter window.
The Flickering Flames event is an automatic seasonal track that runs from December 16 to January 13. Once you have played at least five rounds of Arc Raiders, you are enrolled. During every raid, you earn Merits in parallel with your XP gains. When you return to Speranza, those Merits convert into progress along the Flickering Flames reward line, which grants gear, cosmetic customizations, and Raider Tokens.
Because Merits are tied to XP, virtually every activity contributes. Regular players can expect to complete much of the Flickering Flames track naturally. Focusing on high‑value targets such as larger ARC enemies like Bastions, Bombardiers, Leapers, or Rocketeers accelerates progress, since those encounters pay out more XP and therefore more Merits.
The Candleberry Banquet project adds a more directed layer on top of that. It is a five‑stage project that sends raiders topside to gather Candleberries and other special winter items. Each completed stage updates the banquet table scene in Speranza, visually tracking the community’s preparations for the festival, and awards additional cosmetics, Raider Tokens, and other items. Completing these stages also earns extra Merits, feeding back into the Flickering Flames event track.
Candleberries themselves are woven tightly into Rust Belt winter life. Boiled berries produce a wax that burns for hours, supporting candles that are vital during blackouts. Crushed berries become drinks, their roots steep into medicinal teas, and the plant can be turned into stews, perfumes, soaps, and green wreaths that bring a trace of topside foliage underground.
Alongside these events, the first Expedition reset runs from December 17 to December 23. Players who have fulfilled the Expedition requirements can choose to “ship off” their current raider, wiping blueprints, levels, quests, upgrades, and standard credits in exchange for lasting benefits such as additional skill points, more stash space, a unique icon, and special cosmetics, plus several temporary boosts to material gains, XP, and repair costs. Since Cred is not affected by the Expedition reset, you can still stockpile it beforehand with the Goalie deck in mind.
Taken together, the Cold Snap map condition, Flickering Flames, Candleberry Banquet project, Expedition reset, and the Goalie Raider Deck create a layered winter cycle. Regular play during this period feeds multiple overlapping tracks, with Cred driving progress through the free, permanent Goalie deck while Merits and Raider Tokens from the seasonal events broaden both your functional gear and cosmetic collection.
