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ARC Raiders Patch 1.29.0 Breakdown: New Trader, Rascal Launcher, Weapon Buffs & Stash Upgrade Guide
The latest Patch Notes 1.29.0 for ARC Raiders have come as a pleasant surprise. Given the developer's previous announcement that the next major update wouldn't arrive until October, many players were left wondering: what exactly would ARC Raiders look like during the interim period?
While the pace of content updates for June and the months that follow remains unclear, the sheer scale of this May update, Patch 1.29.0, has truly exceeded our expectations. This update not only introduces brand-new content but also includes long-awaited balance adjustments that players have been clamoring for.
Today, well walk you through everything you need to know about 1.29.0 Patch, covering all the changes and new features you can expect to see and experience in the game.
Trader
Foremost, the most significant addition in this ARC Raiders update is undoubtedly the brand-new Trader. This new character's design aesthetic is absolutely badass; if they were to create a Raider-faction skin based on Nomadic Envoy style, it would be an absolute showstopper. Below, I'll break down exactly how this new character's trading mechanics work.
Weekly Rotating Trades
The items offered by this character, named Ermal, operate on a weekly rotation system. As it stands, the list of available items appears to be fixed. You must engage in a barter system, exchanging valuable items of your own to acquire what you want. Each item you wish to obtain will clearly display the specific exchange requirements needed to acquire it.
The price displayed for an item actually represents the total value of the items required for the exchange. For instance, let's say you're eyeing that Tempest Blueprint. ARC Raiders system indicates it has a value of 1 million. However, that 1 million figure refers solely to the cumulative value of the specific, designated items required for the trade.
These designated exchange items include Matriarch and Queen Cores, as well as components such as Bombardier, Rocketeer, Bastion, and Leaper Cells, along with Assessor Matrix, Turbine Compressors, and Vaporizer Regulators. In this scenario, you would need to gather a collection of these specific items that collectively add up to a total value of 1 million in order to complete the trade.
If you're looking to acquire these specific ARC Raiders Items, be prepared to invest a significant amount of time and effort into grinding for them. However, if you're currently feeling anxious about the high exchange values required for the items in this week's trading list - or worried that this might make ARC Raiders feel too tedious - I'd suggest you hold off on stressing out just yet. The settings you see right now are probably not the final version.
ARC Raiders team has stated that they will be closely monitoring player feedback and data to ensure that in-game balance remains both fair and challenging. Furthermore, these special offers will operate rotating. If you miss a specific deal this week, it is highly probable that it will reappear in a future rotation. The current pricing structure is not set in stone.
This approach is highly commendable; if you find the current difficulty of acquiring certain items to be daunting, rest assured that this situation may not persist indefinitely. As it stands, this new feature genuinely has the potential to make a substantial impact on your actual gameplay experience. I am personally very intrigued by the various goods and services this NPC is offering - both this week and in the future.
Expanded Stash Space
Expanded Stash space is an absolutely excellent perk, with each upgrade directly adding 12 new inventory slots. I am not entirely sure if any limits will be imposed in the future, as ARC Raiders team has mentioned that they are currently gathering player feedback regarding Stash expansion feature.
Expedition Vault
The slots within Expedition Vault allow you to carry up to five items with you into your next Expedition; these slots can be purchased individually. There is one crucial point that we must emphasize here: if you wish to carry a blueprint into the next Expedition, you must not only purchase the corresponding expansion slot but also possess the physical item crafted from that blueprint. This distinction is vital. As of now, provided you have sufficient time to prepare, achieving this is relatively straightforward.
New Weapon: Rascal
This is a Rare class launcher designed with a focus on lightweight construction and compact portability - essentially, it can be thought of as Hullcracker's little brother. Previously, Launcher category in ARC Raiders suffered from a severe lack of options; the only available weapon in this class was Hullcracker, which had an extremely high barrier to entry, requiring the completion of over 40 missions to unlock.
Many players never reached that milestone, particularly those focused on Expeditions, who were often reluctant to backtrack and grind through earlier content. Consequently, prior to this update, the vast majority of players never actually could experience using a launcher. With the introduction of Rascal, however, the situation has improved dramatically.
Rascal is now a relatively common drop item and can reportedly be found within Security Breach zones. Additionally, the corresponding blueprints and crafting recipes have now been made available. You can acquire the ability to craft these items simply by scavenging - no longer do you need to spend hours completing a grueling series of ARC Raiders missions just to earn a single blueprint.
Moreover, the crafting requirements are quite accessible, requiring only 2 Advanced Mechanical Components, 3 Heavy Gun Parts, and 5 Canisters to synthesize. Based on player feedback, Rascal appears to be a single-shot version of Hullcracker - albeit one with slightly lower accuracy. Because of its single-shot design, it requires frequent reloading; however, upgrading the weapon allows you to significantly reduce this reload time. Overall, while Rascal may not necessarily become a mainstream meta choice, it offers a much more easily obtainable option within the launcher category - a welcome addition indeed.
Weapon Balance Adjustments
Bettina SMG has received a buff: its base fire rate has been increased from 235 to 250. This weapon had already received a boost in ARC Raiders Riven Tides update; while this latest adjustment is merely a marginal increase, veteran Bettina users will undoubtedly be able to feel the tangible difference in performance.
The adjustments made to weapon durability are sure to delight many players. ARC Raiders development team acknowledged that the durability changes introduced in the previous patch had an overly severe impact on certain specific weapons.
Consequently, this update focuses on fixing those weapons that were suffering from excessively rapid durability depletion and fragility. By extending their operational lifespan, the goal is to restore their durability performance to a standard level that aligns with the rest of the weapon arsenal.
One weapon benefiting significantly from these adjustments is Pharaoh assault rifle, which has received a substantial 18% boost to its durability. Furthermore, this figure represents only the increase applied to its base stats; as the weapon is upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 4, the additional durability gains at each tier will further enhance its overall resilience.
Weapon Mods
New: Extended Barrel I, II, & III
In this update, Extended Barrel attachment has undergone a comprehensive expansion and fundamental rebalancing. Extended Barrel variant that players previously possessed has now been renamed and reclassified as Extended Barrel III. Prior to the release of ARC Raiders Patch 1.29.0, this epic-tier attachment had no corresponding lower-tier or transitional versions to accompany it.
This meant that you could not craft it directly using default recipes, nor could you simply stumble upon it in the wild like standard loot; unless you possessed the extremely rare crafting blueprint for it, acquiring this item was virtually an impossible feat. However, now that it has been officially designated as Extended Barrel III, ARC Raiders has naturally introduced its lower-tier counterparts: Extended Barrel I and II. Notably, the crafting recipe for Extended Barrel I is unlocked by default, allowing players to craft it immediately with no need to search for a blueprint.
The stats and bonuses of Extended Barrel III have indeed undergone changes. Following the update, it now not only boosts projectile velocity by 30% but also extends the effective range before damage begins to fall off by 15%; the negative effect - a reduction in vertical recoil control - remains unchanged.
Augments
ARC Raiders Augments have also received a degree of enhancement. The primary targets of this adjustment were Combat Mark III: Flanking and Tactical Mark III: Healing Augments.
For Tactical Mk. 3 (Healing) Augment, the healing output of its Cloud of Renewal effect has been increased from 20 to 45, while its cooldown period has been extended from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. This modification significantly boosts the healing efficacy of the ability, making it far more valuable than it was previously.
As for Combat Mk. 3 (Flanking) Augment, ARC Raiders development team has adjusted its shield capacity, allowing it to now equip Medium Shields. This is a highly significant change, as prior to this update, the unit could only equip Light Shields - a limitation that severely hampered its utility and rendered it a choice simply not worth making.
Thanks to these enhancements, these Augments now perform far better than before, becoming both highly practical and competitively viable options. I am very pleased with these adjustments. What is particularly commendable is that, in an effort to better integrate these components into the game's overall balance, ARC Raiders development team did not resort to nerfing other components as a balancing mechanism. Rather than simply weakening existing elements, they chose to elevate the overall standard by strengthening the weaker components - a balancing philosophy that is truly worthy of praise.
With a volume of content far exceeding expectations, Patch 1.29.0 has injected a powerful surge of vitality into this interim period for ARC Raiders. It serves as far more than a mere content supplement; rather, it acts as a precise response to the core demands of the player base, with every single change aligning perfectly with long-held community expectations.
Although the major October update still lies some distance away, Patch 1.29.0 has undoubtedly infused this waiting period with ample novelty and replayability, reigniting excitement for the future update cadence of ARC Raiders.
…ARC Raiders May 18-24 Weekly Trials Guide: Complete every Objective easily with Minimal Risk!
Attention ARC Raiders players! The new Weekly Trials have begun, running from May 18th to May 24th. If you want to rack up a high score and climb the leaderboard, follow along with this article.
You'll learn the details of this Trial and how to quickly and easily achieve three stars to earn cosmetic items, emotes, and most importantly, blueprint as Challenge Rewards!
Details of this Weekly Trials
As before, this Weekly Trials includes five different ARC Raiders game scenarios, covering various objectives such as searching, combat, and destroying objects. This article will provide a detailed overview.
This Weekly Trials:
- Search Lockers
- Damage Rocketeers
- Search containers in Medical Research wing
- Damage Leapers
- Destroy Pops
How to Easily Complete Weekly Trials and Get Three Stars?
Next,we will provide a detailed breakdown of how to achieve three-star ratings in each scenario and what details to pay attention to in your ARC Raiders game.

Complete Two Trials in Stella Montis
First, I recommend playing in Stella Montis, where you can easily complete two of the trials.
Here, you can not only complete Search containers in Medical Research wing but also destroy pops. Medical Research wing has many high-value containers to loot, and you might even unexpectedly obtain an ARC Raiders blueprint while completing the trials.
You only need to loot about 20 times in Medical Research wing to get three stars.
If you feel that you might encounter many other players also there for Trials, making conflict unavoidable, you can choose to wait in the raid until later before entering Medical Research wing.
Don't worry about other players stealing your container search opportunities; The tests show that looting containers opened by others also earns points.
Destroying pops is also very easy; you just need to pay attention to the buildings to avoid missing pops. About 8 pops will get you three stars. Assembly, Atrium, and Business Center are recommended locations.
Buried City can also be used to complete Destroy Pops
Pops can be found on any map with many buildings, except Stella Montis. Buried City is a good choice, as it usually has the most Pops in Buried City after entering Metro area.
Damage Rocketeers
The next Trials are slightly more difficult. You need to defeat at least two Rocketeers, provided they haven't been damaged by others. Otherwise, you may need more to get three stars.
You need to ensure that you kill Rocketeers independently, so it's best to prevent them from being damaged by others.
Each independently killed Rocketeers will give you approximately 1430 points. After killing two Rocketeers, dealing a small amount of damage to another will get you three stars.
Blue Gate is a recommended map, where you can find about four to five Rocketeers.
Wolfpack is a good choice, as it automatically locks onto ARC enemies after being thrown and deals significant damage.
Jupiter, as the weapon with the highest single-shot damage in ARC Raiders, also allows you to deal effective damage to enemies from a considerable distance.
In short, when it comes to equipment, it's best to use ARC Raiders items that can deal a large amount of damage to enemies in a short time.
Search Lockers
This is the easiest part of this Weekly Trials. It can be completed in any mode on all maps, without any combat or resource consumption. Free Loadout is recommended. Dam Battlegrounds is the wisest map choice, as you'll find the most Lockers here; you'll likely need to loot around 20.
You can follow the route provided: first head to Water Treatment Control, then south to Electrical Substation, and then to Small Creek.
Note that when you reach the upper level of Research and Administration building, you need to be aware of your surroundings. This ensures you can loot four keyless Lockers in each raid.
Control Tower and Testing Annex also have a significant number of Lockers that randomly spawn on the map.
You can basically complete all Search Locker objectives in one run to get three stars. If you unfortunately don't complete them, you can enter a new raid without any cost and without worrying about losing any ARC Raiders items.
Damage Leapers
Unlike Rocketeers, you only need to kill two Leapers with your team to reach three-star score. Each Leaper provides approximately 1700 points.
Dam Battleground is still your best choice. You need to familiarize yourself with the possible spawn locations of each Leaper and move between these locations to ensure sufficient distance for them to spawn and to kill them as soon as they appear.

You can bring Trailblazers, which are very effective against ground-based ARC enemies like Leapers. Approximately two Trailblazers can eliminate one Leaper, and bringing four to five should be enough to get three stars in this Trial.
This concludes latest Weekly Trials guide. Open your ARC Raiders game now, easily achieve three stars, climb the leaderboard, and win your rewards!
…Diablo 4 Season 13 Silent Chests Guide - Find & Open Rare Loot in Helltides
Silent Chests remain one of the most frustrating items for players in Diablo 4 Season 13. As part of the season's challenges, finding these chests is tricky because they don't have fixed spawn points. At least they don't exist in any fixed spawn point category. Even if they did exist in previous seasons, that's all in the past.
Moreover, Silent Chests have changed in at least one fundamental aspect: how they are opened. This article will provide you with practical tips on easily finding and opening Silent Chests in Diablo 4 Season 13.
About Silent Chests
Silent Chests are a unique loot container in Sanctuary, extremely rare, and subject to specific rules. Unlike other chests, they are visually distinctive, typically encased in gold chains and marked with a large padlock on the front.
The value of Silent Chests has increased further in Season 13. Not only do they contain a wealth of items such as Gold, Rare Items, Legendary Items, Unique Items, and Crafting Materials, but they are also a key element in completing Diablo 4 Season 13 Ranking objectives.
How to farm Silent Chests?
Before starting to farm Silent Chests, it's crucial to understand this season's update. You no longer need Whispering Keys to open these chests; instead, you now need 25 Murmuring Obols.
In Diablo 4, the best place to find Silent Chests is during Helltides period. Open the map and look for areas shrouded in red shadows. These areas will be marked with a Helltides icon, and this is where you should look for chests. However, this area changes every hour, so be prepared to move.
Once you enter Helltides area, you can begin searching. Unlike some fixed collectibles, Silent Chests spawn randomly and don't appear on Diablo 4 map, so you'll have to search carefully within Helltides region. They often appear in the same locations as regular world chests.
However, Silent Chests have a distinctive appearance and are generally not easily confused. Once you know what to look for, they're easy to identify. Interacting with the chest will open it, scattering the items inside on the ground. Remember that these chests are temporary and will disappear if not opened promptly, so you should open them immediately upon discovery.
To obtain these chests more quickly and efficiently, follow these search routes:
- Outer Edge Search: Proceed along the edge of Helltides region, especially near cliffs, walls, and boundaries. These hidden locations are often missed.
- Inner Edge Search: After completing the outer edge search, move through the center of the region. Be sure to explore areas outside the main roads, checking ruins and small corners.
While Silent Chests spawn randomly, they are reportedly more frequent in certain areas. The most frequently mentioned hotspots are listed below. Note that these areas are usually near enemy camps or hiding places.
- Fractured Peaks - Gale Valley - Mistral Woods: Northern Area
- Frigid Expanse - Lake Klokova: On the eastern shore
- Desolate Highlands - Southern area near Nevesk
- Kehjistan - Caldeum Residential District: Southwestern corner
- Scouring Sands - Central section: Look for a rock formation
- Hawezar - Fethis Wetlands - Northeastern part in Devouring Moor
- Dry Steppes - Just north of Bear Tribe Refuge waypoint
How to Obtain Murmuring Obols?
After finding a treasure chest, you'll need Murmuring Obols to open it, so you'll need to prepare some. Here's how to obtain them:
- World Events: This is the best way to obtain Murmuring Obols. Look for orange circles on the map and try to complete Mastery achievement.
- The Pit of the Artificers: Completing this dungeon will also reward you with a large amount of Murmuring Obols.
- Whisper Caches: Obtain Grim Favors from Tree of Whispers to receive a chest containing Murmuring Obols.
Note: During Diablo 4 Season Journey, treat Obols as crucial. Do not spend Murmuring Obols at Surveyor of Curiosities until you have opened the required number of Silent Chests. Spending just 20 Obols gives you a chance to obtain Legendary items or even Diablo 4 Uniques - why not?
Summary Recommendation
While Silent Chests may also appear in other locations in Diablo 4, based on current experience, I do not recommend choosing other methods. The best place to find them remains Helltides area; the spawn rate elsewhere is significantly lower.
Meanwhile, you need to find and open five of these chests to complete your season challenge. Fortunately, Helltides appear frequently in War Plans activities, allowing you to kill two birds with one stone: complete War Plans first, then teleport to the vicinity of Helltides area and search around. Since these chests spawn randomly, don't be discouraged if you don't find them immediately.
Any guides suggesting you need to obtain Whispering Keys first are outdated and do not apply to Diablo 4 Season 13.
This concludes the article on how to obtain Silent Chests in Diablo 4 Season 13. Hopefully, this guide will help you find and unlock Silent Chests. For many players, opening chests is both to complete Season Journey requirements and to obtain more rewards. Good luck!
…Blizzard Just Did Unthinkable to Tanks in WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.7
According to the latest news, Tank classes in WoW Midnight will be buffed in Patch 12.0.7.
This is quite surprising, because in past Patches, nerfing powerful classes has often been Blizzard's usual method for adjusting class balance. However, in Patch 12.0.7, they surprisingly didn't nerf the strongest Tank class in the current Patch - Brewmaster Monk - but instead buffed some of the weaker Tank classes.
This article will explain in detail how Patch 12.0.7 buffs Tank classes, helping you better prepare for the new Patch.
Blood Death Knight
Of all Tanks, Blood Death Knight's core mechanics are unique and perplexing for new players. This is because in WoW Midnight, Tank classes typically use abilities in advance, attempting to mitigate damage with shields or armor before the boss's attacks arrive.
But Blood Death Knight doesn't do this. Its core logic is called reactive damage reduction, which means first using its extremely high health to Tank damage, and then using its signature skill, Death Strike, to heal itself.
This rollercoaster-like experience of its health bar is thrilling, but it also leads to a fatal weakness: if the enemy enters their burst phase during Blood Death Knight's Death Strike cooldown, its health can often be reduced to almost zero within seconds, making it very easy to be killed instantly.
In the past, many players would use Gold to acquire numerous healing potions or wear equipment that increases health before entering a dungeon to cope with this situation.
However, in WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.7, Blizzard did three things. First, the parry chance of Dancing Rune Weapon has been increased from 20% to 25%, meaning Blood Death Knight can now completely block an attack.
Second, the stamina bonus from Blood Enhancement has been increased from 35% to 40%, further raising the ceiling of his base survivability. Third, the healing effect of Death Strike has been enhanced from 5% to 15%, resulting in a higher percentage of full health restored with each heal.
It's clear that these changes target Blood Death Knight's greatest weakness and enhance his survivability. However, as a precaution, Blood Death Knight players should still bring plenty of healing potions obtained from WoW Midnight Gold before entering dungeons, as his class characteristics make him easily killed, a point Blizzard hasn't changed.
Vengeance Demon Hunter
While Vengeance Demon Hunter is friendly to new WoW Midnight players, it has consistently underperformed in high-difficulty dungeons. In fact, its biggest problem stems from the fragility of its basic defensive skills - it often gets beaten up by enemies because of this.
In response, Blizzard made several adjustments in Patch 12.0.7: First, the damage reduction effect of Demonic Wards was increased from 8% to 12%, meaning that Vengeance Demon Hunter will have additional damage reduction regardless of their location;
Second, the stamina increase from Thick Skin was increased from 50% to 55%; third, the overall effectiveness of Fel Blood was increased by a full 20%.
Finally, the damage reduction provided by Void Reaver's Frailty effect was increased from 4% to 5%. If you've played this class, you'll know that Frailty is a curse your attacks inflict on the target, granting you damage reduction whenever the target of attacks you.
Protection Paladin
The changes to Protection Paladin are particularly noteworthy. First, Ardent Defender was already a powerful trump card for Protection Paladin, and after this change, the duration of this skill was extended from 8 seconds to 12 seconds, and the damage reduction effect jumped from 20% to 30%. This is fantastic news for Protection Paladin enthusiasts.
Secondly, Sentinel's duration has been increased from 16 seconds to 20 seconds.
Thirdly, Blessing of Dusk has become more interesting and counterintuitive: its damage reduction increases as your health decreases, and after WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.7, the cap of this increase has expanded from 10% to 20%.
While Tanks generally don't intentionally lower their health in dungeons - because that's a recipe for ins1tant death - the maximum benefit of Blessing of Dusk often remains theoretical. However, experimenting with this playstyle is worthwhile.
Finally, the stamina increase from Protection Paladin's Sanctified Plates skill has been adjusted from 5%/10% to 7%/15%. Stamina is essentially base health for Tanks, so this change effectively strengthens their health pool.
Read More: WoW Midnight 12.0.7 Overview: Raids, Lore, and Gameplay Improvements
Protection Warrior
Protection Warrior has always excelled at dealing with melee physical attacks, but his defense is less robust against magical abilities and damage-over-time spells. Therefore, the main changes in WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.7 focus on increasing his magic resistance and providing minor damage reduction.
Specifically, firstly, Blizzard increased his Fight Through the Flames magic damage reduction from 4% to 6%; secondly, Phalanx's damage reduction was increased from 5% to 8%; and thirdly, the overall effect of Ignore Pain was increased by 8%.
While these changes enhance Protection Warrior's overall defensive capabilities, his defense may still be insufficient for battles with purely physical attacks. Players will still need to employ other methods - such as wearing gear obtained with WoW Midnight Gold that increases character defense or health - to prevent their characters from being killed.
However, there's a hidden highlight: Phalanx's damage reduction effect is stackable, and this stacking theoretically guarantees near 100% uptime - because as long as you play normally, you can repeatedly refresh your own damage reduction buff.
Therefore, the changes in Patch 12.0.7 can still improve the weaknesses of Protection Warrior to some extent.
The above are the enhancements made to Tank classes in WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.7. Two Tanks were not mentioned: Brewmaster Monk, who was already very strong and received no changes; and Guardian Druid, who also received virtually no changes and is therefore omitted.
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