ARC Raiders Frozen Trail went live on 8 October 2026: 22 new quests, a skill tree revamp, Reward Points and a free weekend running to 12 October.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"blog_tag":[],"class_list":["post-7661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arc-raiders"],"acf":{"redactor":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"
Yes, ARC Raiders Frozen Trail<\/a> is live: Embark Studios released the 2.0 update on 8 October 2026, with the new Pendola Pass map as the headline. <\/span> The game is also free to play until 12 October at 08:00 UTC, so this page covers what shipped, what changed in progression and the Reward Pass, and which balance changes you will notice in a raid. <\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" TL;DR<\/p>\n Embark calls Frozen Trail its biggest update since launch. <\/span> The new map, Pendola Pass, is described in the official preview as an old Italian village and Exodus transport hub beyond the peaks of the Rust Belt. <\/span> We already covered the map itself in the Pendola Pass, Outpost and PvE test preview, so this page sticks to what came with the live update.<\/p>\n The free weekend grants access to the full game. Embark specifically confirms that new players can enter Pendola Pass immediately when teamed with someone who has already unlocked it. Exact solo unlock requirements for the other maps are not established by the sources reviewed here. <\/span> Read the full free weekend announcement<\/a> before the cutoff.<\/p>\n Tip<\/p>\n If you are new, queue with a friend who has already unlocked Pendola Pass, because that is the condition the free-weekend post gives for immediate access. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Free weekend detail"},{"header_text":"What Embark says"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Window"},{"cell_text":"8 Oct 09:00 UTC - 12 Oct 08:00 UTC"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Platforms"},{"cell_text":"Steam, Xbox, PlayStation (PS5 in Germany: \u20ac0.25 fee)"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Scope"},{"cell_text":"All maps, no level or progression cap"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Pendola Pass access"},{"cell_text":"Immediate if teamed with someone who unlocked it"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Progress"},{"cell_text":"Carries over if you buy the game"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Embark’s free weekend FAQ<\/a> answers the two questions most new players have: “All maps, and there’s no level or progression cap”, and “All progress made during the free-to-play event carries over if you decide to purchase the game.” For the event, no PlayStation Plus or Game Pass subscription is needed; on PS5 in Germany a \u20ac0.25 fee applies.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Progression Changes: Quests, Skill Tree and Stash","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":7669,"caption":"Neonsect illustration","alt":"An ARC Raiders raider sorting salvage from a loot crate in a snow-dusted Italian house"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" These are the changes from the official 2.0 patch notes<\/a> that touch how your character advances.<\/p>\n Frozen Trail adds 22 new quests. <\/span> Completing quests and quest objectives now grants XP, and XP shows as a visible reward in quest descriptions and on completion. <\/span> Several older quests were updated so that objectives which previously asked for a photo now require that photo to be taken with the new camera; the patch notes name five of them: The League, Reduced to Rubble, Life of a Pharmacist, Battening Down and Groundbreaking. <\/span><\/p>\n The middle of each branch is now one path with a binary choice between two skills, and you can make that choice again when you reset your skill tree. <\/span> At the end of each branch there are two nodes where you choose up to two of three skills, after reaching the required skill point investment. <\/span> A few skills carried over from the old tree were also retuned to fit the new layout: Fight or Flight now grants roughly a quarter more stamina at each level, Stubborn Mule’s stamina regeneration rises by about a third, and Back on Your Feet’s healing climbs from 30 up to 40. <\/span> Embark says more tweaks are likely as it watches how players use the revamp. <\/span><\/p>\n Embark added two more upgrade tiers to the Stash, pushing the new ceiling to 328 slots before counting any Expedition rewards or acquired Nomadic Envoy space. <\/span> For how Expeditions currently stand, see our Expedition 5 dates and pause<\/a> piece. <\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Reward Pass: Reward Points Replace Cred","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":" Embark explains the system in its Reward Pass breakdown<\/a>. In the Hotfix 2.0.2<\/a> notes (9 October) Embark said it is aware of the Reward Pass not progressing for some players and is working on a fix. Cred is gone from the game entirely. In its place, the Reward Pass is now the progression system, fueled by a new currency called Reward Points that counts automatically toward whatever pass you have set as active. <\/span> Only one Reward Pass can be active at a time. <\/span> The first new pass is the Frozen Trail Pass, with 60 levels across a Free and a Premium track. <\/span> Existing Raider Decks were moved into a Legacy Pass; rewards you already unlocked are kept and appear as granted, and you can keep progressing it by setting it as your active pass. <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Quests now give XP, and 22 are new<\/h3>\n
Skill tree: binary middle node, choose up to two of three at the end<\/h3>\n
Stash: two more tiers<\/h3>\n