ARC Raiders Patch Notes 2.3.0: Flame Spray Buff, Vault Gone

The ARC Raiders patch notes for Live Update 2.3.0, out yesterday (October 27), look like a cosmetic drop: the Noxious Set and a new player project, Soul's Offering. The changes that reach your raids are elsewhere. The Emperor now saves its best containers for the back, six blueprints drop in any major map condition, Flame Spray hits 30% harder and the Expedition Vault is gone.

Key Takeaways

• Emperor containers near the entrance now give lower-tier loot; higher-tier loot sits deeper inside. The Frigate got the same treatment.
• Dolabra, Bobcat, Equalizer, Jupiter, Tempest and Vulcano blueprints can drop in any major map condition, at a slightly lower chance.
• The Emperor Key blueprint drops less often from Redirection pods.
• Flame Spray goes from 10/s to 13/s with half the durability drain. Heavy Shield base charge goes from 80 to 90.
• The Expedition Vault is disabled: its contents move to your stash, bought slots are refunded as Bronze Statuettes.
• Embark returns to fix patches every three weeks and store updates weekly.

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What changed, at a glance

The loot changes are the real patch

Embark's note on the Emperor is one line: "Containers near the entrance now yield lower-tier rewards, with higher-tier loot placed deeper inside." The Frigate gets the same rule, with areas further in having "a higher chance of higher-tier rewards." A raid that grabs the first few containers and leaves now gets less out of them.

The blueprint change pulls the other way. The Dolabra, Bobcat, Equalizer, Jupiter, Tempest and Vulcano blueprints "can now drop in any major map condition," and Embark "slightly lowered the drop chance of that pool to account for the increased value." More places to find them, a lower chance at each one. Our blueprint guide covers where blueprints come from, and the loot guide covers what to keep once you have them.

Two quieter fixes matter for collectors. Embark says furniture Design drop rates were inverted; after the fix, "rarer items now drop less frequently." And the Emperor Key blueprint now has a lower drop chance from Redirection pods, with a small chance of ARC parts and high-tier ARC loot added to those pods to compensate.

Flame Spray, Heavy Shield and two utility items

Flame Spray damage rises from 10/s to 13/s, a 30% increase, and its durability drain is halved. Embark also fixed fire from Flame Spray passing through walls, so the extra damage stays on your side of the wall.

The Heavy Shield change gets the only developer note in the patch. Base charge goes from 80 to 90 because "the usage rates for this shield are still relatively low," and Embark says it wants the shield to survive slightly better "without creating too large a margin between the Heavy and Medium Shields."

The Firefly Burner now goes off when it lands, instead of waiting for you to shoot it. Adrenaline Shot can be used at full stamina, but its effect no longer stacks; a second shot only refreshes the duration. Our crafting guide covers field-crafting the Flame Spray and Adrenaline Shot during a raid.

The Expedition Vault is gone

Store Update 2.2.0 on October 20 removed the Vault tab and its offer. 2.3.0 finishes the job: "Everything you had in the Vault will be moved to your stash," and anyone who bought Vault slots receives Bronze Statuettes. If your stash was near full before the patch, check it now. Our stash size guide has the current stash tiers.

Image: Embark Studios, Live Update 2.3.0 post (arcraiders.com)

Soul's Offering and the Noxious Set

Soul's Offering is a player project from Celeste, built around honoring Raiders lost topside. Embark's post gives the setup, not the steps: "Each offering is unique, but all who pause in reverence share in their Soul's Offering." The Noxious Set is a character outfit, per its store tile in the same post.

How we checked this

On October 28 we read the full 2.3.0 notes on arcraiders.com and the matching Steam announcement, then compared the Known Issues list line by line with Store Update 2.2.0. We also watched Embark's 62-second Soul's Offering video: the end card at 0:58 names the project reward, a backpack called Pilgrim.

What 2.3.0 did not fix

Of the nine known issues Embark listed in 2.2.0, three are addressed in the 2.3.0 fix list. Downed Raiders no longer keep losing health after entering the Ballistic Gondola, the Grappling Hook now works inside the Matriarch's shield, and a snagged grapple line should no longer launch players into the air. Our extractions guide covers the gondola.

Six carry over word for word: the Raider Tool showing its default skin, To The Skies breaking after a partial extract, When Everything Falls objectives such as "Photograph Port A" not completing, Clean Hands failing if you lose or sell the Equatorial Sundial, Xbox instability, and ARC Reclaimers failing to dock on the Frigate. Our Frozen Trail quest list walks through To The Skies and Clean Hands step by step.

Four entries are new: a spot near the Railroad on Pendola Pass where players can get stuck, weapon models that occasionally grow during a raid, players being pushed off when vaulting on an ARC Reclaimer, and a Grappling Hook "bounce" high into the air when falling.

What players are saying

The Emperor Key change drew the sharpest reaction in the r/ArcRaiders patch thread. "It's the exact opposite of what the community has been asking for. Bizarre change," wrote u/half-giant. On the Emperor loot shift, u/wvtarheel predicted "This is just going to encourage people to camp the last room." Flame Spray users were kinder: u/Bokonon-- reported that melting ice over doors had cost 50% durability per door, and expects "to melt 4 doors instead of 2. Still niche, but better than nothing." That door count is one player's test, not an Embark figure.

Image: Embark Studios, Live Update 2.3.0 post (arcraiders.com)

Our take

Read 2.3.0 as a routing patch. The loot changes reward squads that push deep into the Emperor and the Frigate instead of skimming the first rooms, and the wider blueprint pool spreads the rest across every major map condition. The risk players already flag is camping at the last room, which nothing in these notes addresses. We would bring a Flame Spray back into rotation, and avoid extracting partway through To The Skies until a fix lands; with fixes back on a three-week cycle, that may be a while.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did ARC Raiders Live Update 2.3.0 come out? October 27, 2026. Restart the game to download it.

What happened to the Expedition Vault in 2.3.0? It is disabled. Its contents move to your stash; bought slots are refunded as Bronze Statuettes.

Did 2.3.0 buff the Flame Spray? Yes: 13/s from 10/s, with 50% less durability drain.

Is the Emperor Key blueprint harder to get after 2.3.0? From Redirection pods, yes. Those pods now have a small chance of ARC parts and high-tier ARC loot instead.

Did 2.3.0 fix the To The Skies quest bug? No. It is still a known issue, as are When Everything Falls and Clean Hands.

Related Reading

• ARC Raiders Updates and Patch Notes: every update since launch in one timeline, 2.3.0 first.
• ARC Raiders Hotfix 2.1.1: the October 16 locked-room and dupe fix.
• ARC Raiders Endgame Guide: What to Do After Frozen Trail: Trials, Gunsmith level 4, the Outpost and why Expeditions are on hold.
• ARC Raiders Quests in Order: every main-line quest with trader, map and prerequisite.

References

• Live Update 2.3.0, Embark Studios
• Live Update 2.3.0, ARC Raiders on Steam
• Store Update 2.2.0, Embark Studios
• Soul's Offering: New Player Project, ARC Raiders on YouTube
• ARC Raiders on Steam
• Live Update 2.3.0 thread, r/ArcRaiders
• Emperor loot redistributed in 2.3.0, r/ArcRaiders