ARC Raiders Patch Notes 1.7.0 - Cold Snap December Update Breakdown

ARC Raiders just shipped the Cold Snap (December Update 1.7.0), and it is not a "tiny winter skin patch". This update adds a new Cold Snap map condition with frostbite pressure, launches the Flickering Flames live event, delivers a free Raider Deck ("Goalie") soon, and stacks a long list of quality-of-life changes, balance tweaks, and bug fixes. If you are searching for "ARC Raiders Cold Snap update", "ARC Raiders 1.7.0 patch notes", or "ARC Raiders December update", this is the clean, complete breakdown of what is new, what changed, and what you should care about right now.

Quick take: Cold Snap punishes open-field standoffs, Flickering Flames rewards consistent topside XP and winter item turn-ins, and 1.7.0 finally adds big QoL for build tuning (Skill Tree Reset) plus control comfort (ADS toggle). If you are returning after a break, this patch is the kind that fixes friction and makes progression feel less stubborn.

The headline additions in Update 1.7.0 are the Cold Snap map condition, the Flickering Flames event, new quests and items, and a new free Raider Deck called "Goalie" (arriving later in December). The patch also introduces major usability improvements like Skill Tree Reset and an Aim Down Sights toggle, plus a long list of fixes across maps, UI, audio, and progression systems.

If you only care about the "what should I do tonight" angle: learn to route indoor-to-indoor during Cold Snap, keep your event progress rolling through normal raids, and use the new Skill Tree Reset to immediately fix any outdated build without rerolling your whole account progression.

Cold Snap is a new map condition built around survival pressure. When it is active, frozen water makes footing unreliable, visibility drops during blizzards, and frostbite becomes a real threat. The core rule is simple: you cannot stay exposed for long. The freezing weather can kill your Raider in minutes unless you get indoors or keep healing, which makes open-field pin downs and long standoffs a bad idea during Cold Snap raids. The practical shift is that positioning matters more than raw aim during this condition. If you take a fight where the only "reset" is a long crawl across open ground, you are gambling your raid against the weather timer. Cold Snap rewards faster rotations, shorter peeks, and fights that end with a clean reposition into cover you can actually survive in.

Practical Cold Snap tips (search keywords: "ARC Raiders frostbite", "Cold Snap map condition tips"):

• Plan indoor-to-indoor routes and treat exposed rotations as timed sprints.
• Do not commit to long-range ego fights in the open unless you can quickly break line of sight.
• If you get pinned, disengage fast. Cold Snap turns "safe" stalls into guaranteed deaths.

Simple rule that saves raids: if you cannot finish the fight quickly, rotate earlier than you think you need to. Cold Snap is not "extra difficulty", it is a hard clock that makes late decisions lethal.

Flickering Flames is the live winter event running from December 16, 2025 through January 13, 2026. The event centers on collecting Candleberries and other Special Items for Speranza's Candleberry Banquets, and trading them in for rewards like Raider Tokens, new items, rare utility items, weapons, cosmetics, and Merits. You also earn Merits through normal play by gaining XP topside, which feeds into event progression and rewards. If the event track does not appear for you yet, it typically activates after you have completed five raid rounds (successful extraction not required).

What makes this event good for "normal players" is that you are not forced into a single narrow activity. You can progress by simply playing efficient raids (more XP topside, more Merits) and by being intentional about looting winter items when you spot them. It is the kind of seasonal track where consistent extractions beat a few high-risk hero runs.

Event efficiency tip: do not treat Candleberries like a side quest you do "after" you are rich. Treat them like a loot priority whenever you are already in a safe position to extract, because they convert directly into event rewards.

The December update also adds a second free, permanent Raider Deck: "Goalie". It becomes available on December 26, 2025. As you earn Cred topside, you unlock items, Raider Tokens, and cosmetics, including a hockey-themed outfit. The deck also comes with a new hockey stick Raider Tool.

If you are the type of player who likes long-term account progression, this is the cleanest kind of content drop: permanent, free, and tied to normal play. The practical point is simple - you will want to avoid wasting Cred if you are close to unlocking deck rewards, especially now that the game surfaces the soft cap more clearly.

Update 1.7.0 adds several quality-of-life and progression changes that matter to every player, especially anyone optimizing builds or returning after a break:

• Skill Tree Reset: you can now reset skills for Coins at 2,000 Coins per skill point.
• Aim Down Sights toggle option added.
• Wallet now shows your Cred soft cap (800), with the intent of preventing large Cred hoards from instantly unlocking new Raider Decks. Previously earned Cred is not removed.
• Raider Tool customization added.
• Aphelion blueprint drop moved from the Matriarch to Stella Montis.
• Improved Stella Montis spawn distance checks to reduce players spawning too close together.

Skill Tree Reset is the big one for meta and returning players. It means you can stop "living with" an old build just because you do not want to lose momentum. If you are testing movement changes, stamina economy, or ADS behavior after 1.7.0, this is the patch where adjusting your build is finally a normal decision, not a permanent commitment.

Weapon Buffs

• Bettina: durability burn rate reduced from about 0.43% to about 0.17% per shot (roughly 12 full mags to break before, about 26 now when accounting for the magazine increase). Base magazine size increased from 20 to 22. Base reload time reduced from 5 to 4.5.
• Rattler: base magazine size increased from 10 to 12.

ARC Adjustments

• Shredder: reduced weapon knockback, increased movement speed and turning responsiveness, increased head health to prevent unintended behavior, improved navigation to reduce getting stuck, faster combat engagement, and more individually destructible parts.

The weapon changes are straightforward buffs that reduce friction (Bettina durability and handling, Rattler ammo economy). The ARC changes read like "less jank, more consistency", especially around Shredder engagement and navigation. In practice, this should reduce the number of fights that feel unfair because the enemy got stuck or behaved strangely, and increase the number of fights that are decided by your positioning and DPS decisions.

Achievements

• Achievements are now enabled in the Epic store.

Animation

• Fixed issues causing sliding/movement without input when interacting with certain crate and grenade combos.
• Fixed Snap Hook + zipline/ladder momentum storage launching players long distances.
• Fixed running animation issues after small drops when over-encumbered.
• Interactions now end correctly when dodge rolling, and interacting while holding items/deployables no longer twists arms.
• Added more animations to character skins and equipment for more natural motion.

ARC (General Fixes)

• Fixed deployables attached to enemies causing launches or clipping out of bounds when shot.
• Missiles no longer reverse course after passing a target and can track targets at different elevations.
• Sentinel: fixed laser range issue over longer distances.
• Surveyor: disabled vaulting onto ARC Surveyors to prevent unintended launches while moving.
• Fixed Bombardier projectiles shooting through the Matriarch shield from the outside.

Audio

• Fixed mines (Gas, Stun, Impulse) missing trigger sounds and light changes when triggered by being shot.
• Footsteps: increased simultaneous sounds and priority, fixed quiet footsteps on metal stairs when walking slowly.
• Improved directional audio for ARC enemies.
• Added sounds for sending/receiving text chat messages in the main menu.
• Removed a "mom?" line from Speranza cantina ambience and tweaked announcement loudness in several main menu screens.

Maps

• Fixed reconnect spawning logic that could place players next to others at session start.
• Various collision, geometry, VFX, texture, stuck spot, camera clipping, and terrain gap fixes across maps.
• Fixed the Raider Hatch slope being too steep for downed Raiders to crawl on.
• Security Lockers now dynamically spawn across all maps instead of being statically placed.
• Fixed Raider Caches not spawning during Prospecting Probes in some cases.
• Fixed lootable containers and Supply Drops spawning inside terrain on The Dam and Blue Gate.
• Fixed doors appearing closed for some players despite being open.
• Electromagnetic Storm: lightning strikes sometimes leave behind a valuable item.
• Increased the number of possible Great Mullein spawn locations across all maps.
• Dam Battlegrounds: moved the Matriarch spawn point to an area that better suits her behavior.
• Spaceport: adjusted locked room protection area in Container Storage so it does not affect players outside the room.
• Blue Gate: added the Locked Gate map condition, adjusted map bounds near a ledge, improved distant tree LOD lighting, fixed loot spawning outside a Locked Room in the Village, and added props/visual cues for the final camp in "A First Foothold".
• Stella Montis: increased some item and blueprint spawn rates, reduced Rubber Duck outcomes from some breachable containers when using "A Little Extra", and improved window glass clarity for visibility.

Miscellaneous, Progression, And Stability

• General crash fixes (including AMD-related crashes).
• Fixed a bug causing players to spawn without gear and with default customization, resulting in lost loadout items.
• For ranks up to Daredevil I, leaderboards now have a 3x promotion zone for the top 5 players, and new objectives were added.
• Fixed tutorial door breach canceling that could block progression, and fixed players being able to breach doors while downed.
• Fixed issues with Discord invites failing to place players into a party when accounts were not linked.
• Fixed textures/meshes flickering between quality states, corrected depth of field scaling by resolution scale, and improved focus regain input handling after alt-tab.
• Skill Tree: Effortless Roll now gives greater stamina cost reduction, and Calming Stroll now applies while moving in ADS.

Movement

• Fixed traversal issues blocking jump/climb in certain crouched areas.
• Fixed ladder climbing over open gaps causing automatic detachment.
• Added a small stamina cost to entering a slide, and reduced acceleration when dodge rolling from a slide.

UI, Settings, And UX

• Added Aim Down Sights toggle option.
• Added a new "Cinematic" graphics setting for high-end PCs.
• Codex: improved player stat tracking for damage dealt, field-crafted items now count in stats, fixed missing Codex audio, and added a section to rewatch videos.
• Console: improved PlayStation 5 button prompts and fixed an Xbox crash when using Show Profile from Player Info.
• Customization: character rotation added, notifications for newly unlocked items, and fixes for equip behavior and customization purchases from the Loadout screen.
• End of round: reduced survey pop-up frequency and added an optional Round Feedback button on the final screen.
• Expedition Project screens: tooltip show/hide hint, "Expeditions Completed" in stats, resource tracking for stages, reward display per goal and completion, and fixed an input conflict while tracking resources.
• Inventory: multiple controller and tooltip stability fixes, layout adjustments, and canceling interactions correctly during breaches.
• In-game UX: fixed missing prompts/icons, stabilized quick-equip wheel layout, improved HUD marker layering, fixed incorrect item icons, improved reconnect stability, and slightly delayed loot screen open/search transitions.
• Main Menu: added a Live Events carousel, improved Quests and Raider Deck shortcuts, improved navigation from notifications, fixed tab shifting and map screen responsiveness issues during live events, and improved item inspection UI.
• Quests UI: quest pickups show icons, improved quest interaction styling, fixed quest notification persistence, added loading state for server responses, fixed rapid video skipping UI soft-lock, and improved objective marker clarity and quest item naming.
• Settings: motion blur intensity slider added, clearer quality tooltips, explicit Hold/Toggle labels, flash effect now respects Invert Colors, and multiple slider/settings crash fixes (including video settings).
• Store and Social: fewer purchase cancel errors, "new product" indicators, refreshed Discord presence behavior, Party Join icon, and social context menu stability fixes.
• Tooltips: repositioning improvements, fixed ARC stun duration tooltip issues, and corrected blueprint reward tooltip text.
• Trials: objectives now indicate bonus conditions (including by Map Conditions), added a ranking explainer popup, and fixed missing rank icon after starting the game.
• VOIP: microphone test added, better device checks, push-to-talk thumb button no longer triggers menu back, corrected voice status icon issues, and VOIP HUD icons no longer show when voice chat is disabled.

Utility And Items

• Increased loot value in Epic key card rooms.
• Expanded blueprint spawn locations to improve availability.
• Moved Aphelion blueprint drop from the Matriarch to Stella Montis.
• Fixed a rare "cannot perform actions" state related to carriable objects under bad network conditions or revive interactions.
• Fixed Deadline damage going through walls.
• Fixed deployable launch and environment pass-through issues when deployables attached to enemies/buildables were shot.
• Keys are no longer removed from the safe pocket when using the Unload backpack.
• Fixed cheater-compensation rewards sometimes granting an integrated augment item.
• Fixed Flame Spray dealing too much damage to some ARC.
• Fixed sticky throwables disappearing when thrown at trees (Trigger 'Nade, Snap Blast Grenade, Lure Grenade).
• Fixed incorrectly calculated deployment range for deployables.
• Fixed mines not being triggerable through damage before arming.
• Playing an instrument now applies the Vibing Status effect to nearby players.
• Fixed Rubber Ducks not being placeable into the Trinket slot on an Augment.
• Set integrated binoculars and integrated shield charger weight to 0.

Weapons (General)

• Lighter ARC are now pushed back slightly when struck by melee attacks.
• Fixed stowed weapons not appearing on first spawn.
• Fixed an exploit allowing energy weapons to reload without consuming ammo.
• ADS now resumes if it was interrupted while the aim button is still held (example: after reload or stun).
• Fixed an exploit allowing shotguns to bypass intended fire cooldown.

Quests (Gameplay)

• Fixed "Greasing Her Palms" objective triggering incorrectly.
• Made ESR Analyzer easier to find in Buried City.
• Improved clue clarity for "Marked for Death".
• Fixed quest videos triggering multiple times.
• Added interactions to find spare keys for several locked-room quests.
• Added unique quest items to "Unexpected Initiative".
• Fixed squad sharing incorrectly completing objectives that spawn quest-specific items.

Known Issues

• Players with AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT may see a startup driver warning popup even on the latest driver that fixes a Blue Gate load crash.
• If your stash overflows, the value of items that do not fit is not shown on the final departure screen, but it is included in reward calculations.

Separate from the 1.7.0 patch notes list, ARC Raiders also announced an Expedition Project departure window opening on December 17, 2025 and closing on December 22, 2025. You must sign up during this period, and everyone who signs up automatically departs at the same time on December 22, 2025. If you depart with the Caravan you built, your progress resets (Skill Tree, Level, Stash, Workshop, crafting abilities, blueprints), but you gain advantages for your next Raider. Your next Raider can earn up to five skill points based on the total value of your Stash and Coins at departure, with one million Coins worth of value granting one extra skill point. Permanent unlocks include the Patchwork Raider outfit, Scrappy Janitor Cap, an Expeditions indicator icon, skill points (based on stash value), and +12 stash space. Temporary buffs include a 10% repair buff, 5% XP boost, and 6% more materials from Scrappy.

When it is worth departing: if your current run is "stuck" (stash bloat, build regret, progression fatigue) and you want a clean restart with long-term perks, this window is the intended reset lever. If you are actively progressing the event and your stash is strong, you can also skip it and treat it as an optional system, not mandatory seasonal content.