Arc Raiders' first major update, Northern Front, goes live tomorrow – here's what to look forward to

Arclight GuideThe first major update, North Line, will be released tomorrow, November 13th.

Starting at 1.30am PT (4.30am ET / 9.30am GMT / 10.30am CET), the new update introduces a brand new region north of the Rust Belt called Stella Montis, which is described as “cold, primitive and filled with the remnants of humanity's lost ambition”. Ouch.

“Raiders who complete the challenge will recover rare resources, new in-game items and potential weapon blueprints hidden in the ruins, revealing the next steps in the fight to retake the surface,” developer Embark Studios teases. “Gaining access to Stella Montes must first occur – tunnels to new areas will only open once the global community completes Breaking New Ground.”

Speaking of which, Breaking New Ground is a new community-unlocked event where players must work together to restore Stella Monteith's tunnels, earning a new event currency called Merits as they go. It goes live alongside new content unlocks, along with new challenges as the community works to reveal the next frontier and trigger the second phase of Staking Our Claims. But don't wait any longer – the new track won't be available until December only.

That's not all. Embark has confirmed that we'll also encounter two new enemies, “each of which will bring unique challenges to the surface.” Matriarch – described as a “clunky ARC that makes the Queen look friendlier by comparison” – will appear under certain map conditions and will be available at the start of Breaking New Ground.

However, the Shredder will be exclusive to Stella Monteith and will only appear when new areas open, “forcing raiders to stay sharp in close combat.” To fight them, players will have access to a new Energy Burst Battle Rifle, a new set of mines – Pulse, Timed and Gas Jump – as well as new playstyles “Lone Wolf” and “Trailblazer”, as well as a new Stella Montes-themed quest line.

Overview of arc guide northern route content:

• New map: star mountain
• Community unlock activities:
  • break new ground
  • Starting at 10:30am CET on November 13th
  • Multi-stage community event leads to Stella Montis unlocking
• New arc:
• New weapons and game items:
  • energy burst battle rifle
  • Pulse mines, timed mines, gas jumping mines
• New game style: Lone wolves and pioneers
• New Stella Montes Mission

After that, “Cold Snap”, the follow-up update of “Arc Raiders” will be launched in December. “Northern is just the beginning of the post-launch roadmap for Arc Raiders,” Embark concluded. “The next update, Cold Snap, is coming this December – introducing the Flickering Fire event, new snow map conditions, the long-awaited Expedition Raider reset, and more.”

The Northern Line update is online at the same time Revised cosmetics prices lowered due to strong opposition from players. Embark confirmed that duo matchmaking quietly went live earlier this week.

“Arc Raiders raises the bar for extraction shooters across the board, with incredibly gripping progression grinds and tense battles against NPCs and other players that make the games unforgettable and the loot feels completely worth all the effort and stress involved in obtaining it,” we wrote in the article. IGN's Arc Raiders Reviewreturned an “amazing” 9/10.

We're not the only ones having fun playing Arc Raiders; Despite the controversy surrounding the use of artificial intelligence. In less than two weeks since its release, Arc Raiders has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, cementing its commercial success. Nexon also revealed that evacuated shooters have reached The number of people online at the same time across all platforms reaches 700,000.

If this tempts you to jump into Arc Raiders, check out our guide Best settingsfind out what Skills we recommend unlocking First, look at How to earn loot by delivering Battlefield Warehouse crates.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist and consultant for IGN with over 15 years of experience working with some of the largest gaming sites and publications in the world. She's also a Guardian, a Spartan, a Silent Hill Warrior, a Legend, and an eternal High Chaos. find her in blue sky.