Embark has laid out what the Frozen Trail update brings to Arc Raiders on Steam, and it is easily the biggest content drop the game has had so far. The update lands on October 8 and takes you past the peaks that close off the Rust Belt, into a frozen valley where one of the Emperors has fallen. Here is what is waiting for you up there.
New map: Pendola Pass
Celeste and Shani have triangulated the strange signal that has been echoing across Toledo, and every trace leads to an old Italian village and Exodus transport hub called Pendola Pass. Icy air has preserved the place almost untouched: a supermarket, an empty town square, and clear fingerprints of the Exodus Project in the form of an observatory and a buried train depot that once worked as a major transit hub.
The real reason Raiders are being called there, though, is the fallen Emperor that dominates the valley. Rare technology is sitting inside it, and your task is blunt – get to it and find a way in. Expect a scrambled ARC response and brutal flash freezes rolling through the valley, so the trip will not be a sightseeing tour.
The Frigate
A downed Emperor is unprecedented, and ARC reacts fast by sending one of its largest vessels to patrol the area. Raiders have started calling it the Frigate, and it is aimed at highly skilled players. You will need to find a way on board, work through internal passageways, unlock paths, and fight both familiar and brand new ARC machines.
You also will not have the place to yourself. Other Raiders want the same loot, so you will either cooperate or cut your way through them. Embark points out that close-quarters fighting hundreds of feet in the air may force you into a very different approach than the one you are used to on the ground.
Three new enemies
- Bully – a machine-learned aggressor that gives up no ground, gallops straight at your position and chains several lethal attacks. Use cover, time your answers, and land your shots, because it is fast on its feet.
- Skulker – the opposite approach. It waits, skirts the edge of your vision and jumps in with a flurry of blows. Lose track of it for a second and it vanishes, only to reappear right on top of you.
- Hydra – a turret split into three stacked, autonomous sections that can handle a whole squad thanks to its triple weaponry. You will meet it aboard the Frigate, and beating it means splitting attention, grabbing cover fast, and striking in short windows.
Raider Den extension: Outpost
Celeste is handing anyone who answers her call a home away from home. The Outpost sits between the Rust Belt and the dangerous mountain range and is described as the first step toward reclaiming parts of the surface. You can customize it with different modules and decorate the interior with furniture.
The important part is the Research Workstation, which lets you investigate new elements of the world and unlocks higher tiers of weapon customization and modding. Embark says the Outpost is only the beginning of a feature it wants to push much further, toward a deeply personal space for each player.
Amplified Weapons
Frozen Trail adds new guns, but the bigger change is systemic. With a fully upgraded Research Workstation in your Outpost you get access to a fifth quality level for a selection of weapons. That level opens a branching path of abilities and enhancements that can completely change how a gun behaves – think a fully automatic Burletta, a Renegade with a scope, or a Rattler firing incendiary bullets out of a 64-round magazine.
The goal is to let late-game Raiders reinvent an arsenal they already know instead of chasing only new drops. The system launches for 15 weapons, with more planned later. If you want to see where the game stood before this shift, we covered the previous big patch in our piece on update 1.45.0.
New weapons: Stiletto and Bantam
- Stiletto – a light-ammo battle rifle positioned as an early-game alternative to the Renegade. It is cheap to craft and easy to handle, ideal if you like fighting at range. The fire rate can be high, but mashing the trigger costs you accuracy.
- Bantam – a snub-nosed revolver on heavy ammo that punches straight through a target. It works against ARC and Raiders alike and comes with a unique hip-fire capability.
Grappling Hook and tether gadgets
The Grapple Hook is built around traversal: climbing to hard-to-reach spots, abseiling off buildings and swinging across large gaps. Embark expects creative Raiders to read the terrain in completely new ways.
Alongside it come two gadgets from the studio’s wider system of tethers and constraints. The Tether Launcher connects two points with a wire and roots them in place, and you can even attach a Raider to an ARC machine and watch them get dragged away. The Yank Grenade works on the same principle, except the explosion violently pulls a nearby target – perfect for slamming flying ARC into the ground or yanking a Raider out of cover.
Camera, instruments and Weapon Stencils
A fully functioning camera gadget is joining the game, with zoom, aperture, manual and automatic focus racking, plus a selfie mode with custom emotes. Photos save into your Codex so you can go back to your best runs from home.
Two new instruments arrive as well, the Harmonica and the Banjo, with the Banjo blueprint offered in the Collector Set DLC. Weapon Stencils then let you re-skin your gun – just remember that whoever kills you will happily walk off with your personalized weapon.
Reward Pass replaces Raider Decks
Frozen Trail also launches a new progression mechanic. The Reward Pass is an evolution of the Raider Decks and is split into three tracks:
- Free Pass – rewards unlocked by completing Feats, including 200 Raider Tokens, five new outfits, new gameplay items and 20 cosmetics covering Scrappy Outfits, Furniture, Charms, Attachments and Emotes.
- Premium Pass – premium toggles for all the outfits, exclusive colorways, weapon stencils, hairstyles and 1,150 Raider Tokens.
- Legacy Pass – free for everyone and combining all existing Raider Decks, so no current progress is lost and you can keep working through those rewards.
The Collector Set DLC bundles both the free and premium Reward Passes together with a new cosmetic set called Renzo, the Dragon’s Breath Weapon Stencil, the Bob Hair Style and 2,400 Raider Tokens.
What else is coming and where to ask questions
On top of everything above, October 8 brings new questlines, general improvements, a Skill Tree rework with new and improved skills, and a new Map Condition. Embark is also hosting a dev Q&A livestream about Frozen Trail on Friday, September 25 at 6pm CEST, where you can submit questions about the First Look event. The full breakdown sits on the official content preview.
If you missed how the update was first announced, read our report on the Frozen Trail First Look, and everything else we have written about the game sits in our ARC Raiders news section.
FAQ
Frozen Trail goes live on October 8, together with the new map, enemies, weapons, gadgets and the Reward Pass.
Pendola Pass is a new map set in an old Italian village that also served as an Exodus transport hub. It sits beyond the Rust Belt peaks and features a supermarket, a town square, an observatory, a buried train depot and a fallen Emperor holding rare technology.
Once your Research Workstation in the Outpost is fully upgraded, you can unlock a fifth quality level for selected guns. That level opens a branching path of abilities and enhancements that can radically change a weapon’s behavior. It launches for 15 weapons, with more planned.
No. The Legacy Pass is free for all Raiders and combines every existing Raider Deck, so you keep your progress and can continue claiming those rewards.
Both the free and premium Reward Passes, the Renzo cosmetic set, the Dragon’s Breath Weapon Stencil, the Bob Hair Style, 2,400 Raider Tokens and the Banjo blueprint.