ARC Raiders doesn't hand you a full armory. Expanding your weapon collection requires a mix of blueprint hunting, crafting, and opportunistic looting — and with the Flashpoint update now live, two brand-new guns have entered the mix alongside the existing pool. Here's how the entire weapon-acquisition loop works and where to focus your time.
Quick answer: Find gun blueprints in high-loot zones (red-bordered areas on the map), night raids, locked rooms, hidden raider stashes, weapon caches, and special map-condition containers like First Wave Raider caches. Then craft the weapon at a Gunsmith workstation with the required materials.
Blueprints are the key to consistent crafting
Owning a blueprint lets you craft that weapon repeatedly, as long as you have the right resources and a high-enough-level Gunsmith workstation. Without the blueprint, you're stuck hoping to find the gun itself in the field or pulling it off another player's body. Blueprint drops are random, but certain containers and locations dramatically improve your odds.
| Blueprint source | Details |
|---|---|
| High-loot areas (red-bordered POIs) | Named locations outlined in red on the map. Consistently the best general-purpose spots for blueprint drops. |
| Night raids | Blueprint drop rates feel noticeably higher during night raids. Bring a free kit to limit risk. |
| Locked rooms (key-required) | Almost every key room contains a weapon case. Blueprints can appear alongside weapons. |
| Hidden raider stashes | Found across maps — the Dam Battlegrounds center-of-map stashes are especially productive. |
| Residential containers | Cabinets and drawers in residential buildings have decent odds for weapon blueprints and actual guns. |
| Weapon caches | Spawn in predictable spots on every map. Memorize locations or use an interactive map tool. |
| Quests and projects | Some quest rewards include weapon blueprints you can't easily find elsewhere. |
Standout farming spots include the towers in Spaceport, the library in Buried City, and the Santa Maria area of Buried City for newer players still building their collection.
Flashpoint update weapons — Canto and Dolabra
The Flashpoint update added two weapons to ARC Raiders on March 31, 2026. Each one has a different acquisition path tied to specific map conditions.
Canto (Medium Ammo SMG)
The Canto is a submachine gun that runs on Medium Ammo instead of the Light Ammo used by other SMGs like the Bobcat and the Stitcher. That makes it unusually effective against ARC enemies for its weapon class. Its blueprint appears to be tied to the Hurricane map condition — specifically, it drops from First Wave Raider caches, which only spawn while a hurricane is active. These caches appear on all maps except Stella Montis.
There is no fixed spawn location for the Canto blueprint. Your best approach is to open as many First Wave Raider caches as possible during Hurricane conditions. You can also try high-tier loot areas as a secondary option, though the drop rate there appears lower.
Crafting the Canto requires a Level 3 Gunsmith workstation and the following materials:
| Material | Quantity | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Mechanical Components | 2 | Drop from advanced ARC enemies, or craft at a workstation |
| Magnets | 5 | Random loot across maps |
| Medium Gun Parts | 3 | Craft at a workstation |
Dolabra (Energy Ammo Shotgun)
The Dolabra is an energy shotgun with a variable focus — you can fire wide bursts or tight, concentrated funnels of electricity. It's designed to punch through ARC armor plating at close range. Unlike the Canto, the Dolabra blueprint is tied to the Close Scrutiny ARC Operation, a new type of major map condition introduced in the Flashpoint update. During Close Scrutiny, less loot spawns across the map, but the ARC Assessor — a large, landed machine at the center of the operation — holds high-value rewards, including the Dolabra blueprint.
Expect heavy PvP competition around the Assessor. Bring your best gear.
Surge Coil deployable
Alongside the two guns, the Flashpoint update also introduced the Surge Coil. It's a deployable device that periodically electrifies the area around it, shocking anything — players or ARC — that wanders too close. It functions as area denial, similar in concept to a Jolt Mine but with a persistent, repeating shock radius.
Getting weapons without blueprints
Blueprints are the long-term goal, but you have several ways to arm yourself in the meantime.
Weapon caches are scattered across every map in semi-predictable locations. Once you memorize a handful of spawn points, you can reliably grab weapons on most raids. Interactive map tools can help you learn these spots faster.
Looting other players is the fastest way to get guns you don't have blueprints for. Running a free loadout with a Stitcher and hunting other Raiders is a viable — if aggressive — strategy that can fill your stash quickly.
Buying from Tian Wen is an option if you're cash-rich but blueprint-poor. The Anvil, for example, costs around 15,000 and is a solid anti-ARC weapon. It's not the most efficient use of money long-term, but it solves immediate gear problems.
Upgrading existing weapons is often underrated. The Ferro, Stitcher, and Kettle are all competitive even at endgame once fully upgraded. A Level 4 Ferro performs dramatically better against ARC enemies than a Level 1 version, and the investment is far cheaper than chasing rare blueprints.
Crafting improvements in the Flashpoint update
The Flashpoint update also overhauled the crafting interface. Previously, crafting a weapon that required multiple components meant jumping between separate menus to recycle, refine, or purchase missing materials. Now, when you're short on a component, the crafting screen presents all available ways to obtain it — recycling, refining, or buying — in a single window. This cuts down significantly on the time spent navigating menus in Speranza and gets you back into raids faster.
Weapon acquisition in ARC Raiders is ultimately a numbers game. The more containers you open, the more map conditions you play through, and the more raids you survive, the faster your blueprint collection grows. Focus on high-loot zones and special event conditions like hurricanes and Close Scrutiny operations for the newest and rarest drops, and don't sleep on upgrading the reliable starter weapons that can carry you through nearly any encounter.