The Stella Montis map is the major addition in Arc Raiders’ North Line update, released on November 13, 2025. It is the game’s fifth map, added on top of the four launch locations.
In the game’s story, Stella Montis is a secluded research facility hidden in the mountains. The area is described as cold and untouched, littered with the remains of ambitious human projects that never reached completion. Visually and thematically, it pushes the game toward harsher, high‑altitude terrain and a more secretive, experimental setting than the existing maps.
Access to Stella Montis is not immediate. Instead of appearing in the rotation by default, the map is tied to a global community unlock event that must be completed before anyone can deploy there. Once the event goal is met, the tunnels into Stella Montis open for all players, and the map enters the regular pool, along with its own quests and an exclusive ARC enemy.
Breaking New Ground community event for Stella Montis
The route into Stella Montis is controlled by a multi‑phase community event called Breaking New Ground. The fiction is simple: the tunnels from the hub town of Speranza toward the North Line and Stella Montis are blocked, and Raiders are asked to help clear and restore them.
The event started on November 13, 2025, at 1:30 a.m. PT / 4:30 a.m. ET. From that moment, every player could donate in‑game resources toward a shared global objective. Each contribution advances a progress meter that represents work on the tunnels, and grants a temporary event currency called Merits.
Breaking New Ground is structured in two main phases:
| Phase | Name | What players do | Main outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Breaking New Ground | Donate resources at the event terminal in Speranza to “restore the tunnels”, filling a global progress bar and earning Merits. | When the bar reaches 100%, the tunnels open and the Stella Montis map is unlocked for the entire playerbase. |
| Phase 2 | Staking Our Claim | Play on Stella Montis and complete event‑specific challenges along a dedicated progression track, using Merits earned from participation. | Access to map‑focused rewards and challenges that remain available until sometime in December. |
Early on, players pushed Phase 1 far faster than expected, rapidly driving the progress bar into double digits within roughly an hour of the update going live. In response, the developers increased the total resources required, which caused the visible global progress percentage to drop back down (for many players, from around 10–15% to roughly 1%).
The developers explained that the goal was to slow the completion rate so that players in different time zones and with different schedules would have a fair chance to contribute and earn Merits. The structure of the event remains the same; only the scale of the requirement has changed.
Once Breaking New Ground completes and Stella Montis opens, Phase 2 (“Staking Our Claim”) takes over. During this period, the focus shifts from unlocking the map to engaging with it: running missions there, filling out the event’s progression track, and collecting time‑limited rewards tied specifically to the new zone.
New ARCs on and around Stella Montis
The North Line update introduces two new ARC enemy types, both tied to the rollout of Stella Montis:
| ARC | Where it appears | Key characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Matriarch | Spawns only under specific map conditions, similar to the limited appearances of the Queen. | A very large ARC machine billed as more intimidating than the Queen, designed to soak heavy firepower and act as a set‑piece threat. |
| Shredder | Exclusive to Stella Montis. | Built around close‑quarters combat; forces Raiders to fight at short range where a few mistakes can quickly lead to extraction failure. |
The Matriarch adds another rare, high‑stakes target to the game’s rotation, intended to test squads that bring strong explosives and anti‑armor weapons. The Shredder, in contrast, is tied directly to the identity of Stella Montis. Encounters with it are meant to make the new map feel distinct, emphasizing tight spaces and sudden pressure rather than only long‑range duels with distant ARC formations.
New weapons, grenades, and mines for Stella Montis
To support the tougher ARC threats and new map layout, the North Line update also adds a set of weapons and tactical items that become part of the wider sandbox once unlocked.
| Item | Category | High‑level role |
|---|---|---|
| Aphelion | Rifle | An additional energy‑based primary weapon, expanding options for squads that prefer energy guns against ARC targets. |
| Trailblazer Grenade | Grenade | Part of the new throwable lineup; gives Raiders another way to shape engagements when moving through tight corridors or choke points. |
| Seeker Grenade | Grenade | A second new grenade type, broadening explosive choices beyond the original roster. |
| Pulse Mine | Mine | One of three new deployable mines, aimed at controlling ground and punishing advancing ARC units. |
| Deadline Mine | Mine | Another mine option that adds more flexibility in how squads defend objectives or retreat routes. |
| Gas Mine | Mine | A mine variant that introduces a new type of area denial effect into the mix. |
While none of these items are restricted to Stella Montis, they are clearly designed with the new map’s more confined spaces and tougher enemies in mind. Close‑quarters encounters with the Shredder, in particular, give these grenades and mines more room to shine than on some of the more open launch maps.
Shivam Malani
New quests and progression focused on Stella Montis
Unlocking Stella Montis does more than add another destination to the deployment list. The update layers in new quests and progression hooks centered on the zone and its resources.
Once the tunnels are open, a new questline becomes available in Speranza that sends Raiders toward Stella Montis and the dangers surrounding the facility. These quests tie into the broader narrative threads about mysterious factions capable of disabling large ARC machines and the ongoing seismic activity hinted at in earlier missions.
Alongside the quests, the Phase 2 “Staking Our Claim” portion of the event brings its own progression track, challenges, and rewards that are all built around playing in Stella Montis. This track runs until December, giving players a defined window to explore the map, face the Shredder, and extract the new items and cosmetics attached to the event.
All of this sits on top of wider quality‑of‑life improvements shipped in the same update, such as reduced character movement latency, faster feedback when shooting ARC targets, and fixes for terrain issues where players could fall through the world. Those changes apply across every map but are especially noticeable when fighting the new, more demanding ARC enemies or navigating the more vertical, tight spaces of Stella Montis.
In short, Stella Montis is not just another tile on the Arc Raiders map screen. It arrives as the centerpiece of a global unlock effort, brings a pair of new ARC threats, and is backed by fresh weapons, quests, and event‑specific progression that give Raiders a clear reason to head north once the tunnels finally open.
