Arc Raiders Cold Snap Survival Mechanics Fully Detailed — Here's Everything You Need to Know

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has afloat elaborate the game’s Cold Snap update and its caller cold-weather endurance mechanics.

The update, retired December 16, adds the caller Cold Snap representation condition, which is simply a wintertime variant crossed Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and The Blue Gate maps. Cold Snap adds cold-weather endurance mechanics fueled by snowstorms crossed Speranza. Snowfall reduces visibility, lakes frost over, and the unfastened aboveground becomes adjacent much dangerous. Exposure to utmost acold causes frostbite, frankincense encouraging caller strategies astir healing items, loadouts, and indoor shelter.

Arc Raiders Cold Snap gameplay changes, from Embark Studios:

• Environmental Hazard: Cold, harsh upwind introduces caller risks for raiders who stay outdoors excessively long. Players indispensable ticker retired for frostbite, a creeping information that dilatory drains their wellness bar.
• Shelter Mechanics: To forestall frostbite, raiders volition request to accommodate their tactics arsenic the acold gradually seeps into their bones. Raiders indispensable rethink their loadouts, ensuring they tin heal themselves oregon their teammates and program their extractions with care, uncovering structure if needed.
• Visual Overhaul: Frost buildup, frozen lakes, snowfall accumulation and much crossed Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport and The Blue Gate maps.

Elsewhere, unsocial loot and rewards are disposable done the Flickering Flames lawsuit and Candleberry Banquet project.

Flickering Flames Event: An enactment of endurance and patience that tests Raiders’ endurance skills during the Cold Snap. Raiders tin unlock rewards crossed 25 levels, including caller gear, customizations elements and Raider Tokens by earning Merits, which are automatically gained from XP successful rounds. To activate the event, Raiders indispensable person played 5 rounds of the game.

Candleberry Banquet Project: A caller task that brings Raiders unneurotic to consciousness the fragile warmth that shines done the frigid cold. Raiders tin gain rewards by scavenging unsocial items topside and collecting Candleberries. It features 5 stages, each revealing a caller country connected the banquet table. Completing stages grants rewards specified arsenic cosmetic items, Raider Tokens and Merits, with Merits contributing advancement successful the Flickering Flames event.

Starting December 26, the Goalie Raider platform volition beryllium included successful the basal game. The caller platform includes caller items and feats for players to complete, offering rewards specified arsenic Raider tokens, cosmetic items and more. These see a hockey-inspired Raider outfit successful respective colour variants, on with a hockey instrumentality Raider tool.

And finally, the Expedition Project Raider Reset lets players restart their travel with definite buffs, advantages, and rewards. The Expedition Project volition supply Raiders with an accidental to acquisition a reset, bringing a caller raider and a caller communicative for the player. This optional reset is unlocked by collecting cardinal materials to physique a Caravan for the existing Raider past signing up for the departure during the Expedition window. By departing, players volition reset their quality advancement for a caller Arc Raiders travel with exclusive buffs, advantages and rewards that transportation over.

In a blog post, Embark explained wherefore it’s doing the seasonal reset. “Progression wipes are a notoriously hard happening to equilibrium successful online multiplayer games — we get that,” the developer said. “Mandatory planetary wipes person immoderate evident benefits: heavy invested players get to re-experience the archetypal grind erstwhile again and, for a time, the playing tract is levelled. The optional Expedition Project is our solution to immoderate of the problems that inevitably originate with mandatory wipes — specifically, by respecting your clip concern successful the game. We privation to connection you the choice:

“Not completed arsenic overmuch arsenic you’d like? Keep connected raiding, building, and growing. Ready for a caller situation and to grind erstwhile again? Depart connected the Expedition, and person buffs, rewards, and bragging rights.”

Arc Raiders Cold Snap update merchandise times:

Embark Studios launches Cold Snap connected Tuesday, December 16, astatine 10.30am CET / 9.30am UK clip / 1.30am PT / 4.30am ET.

Cold Snap includes limited-time events and elements moving from Tuesday, December 16 until Tuesday, January 13, 2026 astatine 10.30am CET / 9.30am UK clip / 1.30am PT / 4.30am ET.

Cold Snap is the past update listed arsenic portion of Arc Raiders' 2025 contented roadmap, and Embark has yet to outline what's coming successful 2026. Arc Raiders sold implicit 4 cardinal copies worldwide wrong 2 weeks of launch, cementing its commercialized success. Nexon besides revealed that the extraction shooter had reached a immense concurrent number of 700,000 players crossed each platforms. It's done truthful good it crossed implicit into the satellite of South Park with a astonishment quality that was enactment unneurotic successful conscionable a fewer days. Cementing its success, Arc Raiders won Best Multiplayer astatine past week’s The Game Awards.

IGN's Arc Raiders review, returned a 9/10. We said: "With polished gunplay and an irresistible grind, Arc Raiders sets a caller modular for extraction shooters."

If this has tempted you into jumping into Arc Raiders, cheque retired our usher to the champion settings, find retired what skills we urge unlocking first, and spot however to gain loot by delivering tract depot crates.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].