ARC Raiders Frigate Guide: How to Board, Destroy the Power Cores and Drop the Cargo

What Is the ARC Frigate?

The Frigate is a map condition that arrived with the Frozen Trail update on October 8, 2026. In the game's story, one of the Emperors has fallen on Pendola Pass, and the ARC answered by sending one of their largest vessels to patrol the area. Raiders started calling it the Frigate.

It shows up early in the raid, hovers over the map and sends small Reclaimer drones down to scan the ground. Those drones are your way up. Once you're aboard, you're fighting through tight passageways and open decks hundreds of feet in the air, against ARC new and old, while other squads try to do the same thing.

Frigate raids also change the rules of the map. While the condition is active:

• Locked doors across the map are open.
• Raider Hatches are disabled, so you can't extract through one.
• Free Loadouts are not allowed. You bring your own kit.
• Ground loot is worth less than on a normal raid. The value is on the ship.

Which Maps Does the Frigate Appear On?

The Frigate rotates on the same hourly schedule as other map conditions. So far it has cycled through Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport and Pendola Pass, and some guides report the game files are set up for more maps. The reliable check is the map selection screen: look for the ARC Frigate tag under the map name before you deploy.

Before You Drop: The Frigate Loadout

This is an endgame fight. Most of the ship is armored ARC, so build for armor first and Raiders second.

• An armor-breaking weapon The Hullcracker or Jupiter is the standard pick. Update 2.0 reworked explosive damage so weapons like the Hullcracker now deal over 50% more damage to armor plates, which is exactly what the Hydra and Power Cores are made of.
• A heavy-ammo primary You still need something for Rocketeers, Vaporizers and other squads.
• A mobility gadget A Snap Hook or the new Grappling Hook saves you from the three-person lift and is your best way off the ship if the cargo plan falls apart.
• A Powered Descender It slows your fall if you have to leave the ship the hard way.
• Shields, healing and Defibrillators Bring more than feels reasonable. A Medium or Heavy Shield, stacks of bandages and shield rechargers, plus Defibs for downed teammates.
• Barricades and explosives Barricades give you cover on the open top deck. Wolfpacks and grenades help with clustered ARC.
• Lots of ammo One launch-week trio reported going through over 150 Hullcracker rounds each in a contested lobby.

How to Board the Frigate

Head toward the back of the ship once it settles over the map. Round Reclaimer drones move between the ground and the Frigate's underside.

1. Wait for a Reclaimer to land on a rooftop or the street.
2. Climb on top of it.
3. Use the Disrupt option on its center. The drone flies back up to the hull and carries you with it.
4. Step off at the docking bay. Your objective changes to finding a way on top of the Frigate.

Getting to the Top Deck

The interior is a vertical puzzle. You'll climb panels, open side routes and fight your way up.

• The Move Up lift The first lift needs its buttons pressed at the same time, which usually means three Raiders. A Snap Hook or Grappling Hook lets you bypass it, and solo players can climb the outside of the wing and engine rings.
• Yellow targets Shooting the yellow nodes on the walls folds out steps and deploys platforms that open new sections.
• Hatches and fire Thermal vents on the top deck send flames across the surface, and since Update 2.1, Frigate hatches also deal burning damage over time when they open. Don't stand on a hatch.

How to Beat the Hydra

The Hydra is the Frigate's signature enemy. It's a stationary turret split into three stacked sections that move and aim on their own, and Embark built it to handle entire squads at once. Several can rise on the top deck, usually in waves.

• Spread out Each section can target a different player, so bunching up lets one Hydra hit your whole squad.
• Bait and punish Have one Raider pull its attention from cover while the others hit it from a flank.
• Use armor damage Hullcracker and Jupiter rounds do the heavy lifting here.
• Clear Hydras before the cores Fighting a core with a live Hydra overhead is how squads wipe.

Expect Rocketeers and Vaporizers too. Rocketeers tend to show up after the deck takes heavy damage, and Vaporizers fire a multi-target laser that Update 2.0 tuned to give you a clearer window to dodge.

How to Destroy the Power Cores

Breaking the Frigate means breaking its Power Cores, and they're armored, shielded and spread across the ship.

1. The central core. Three Move Up panels sit around the central ring. Three Raiders need to activate them at the same time to raise the core into a vulnerable position. Then shoot the glowing orange sections.
2. The two side cores. Look up on the left and right of the central structure. Two smaller cores sit there and also need to go.
3. The deeper cores. More armored cores sit in locked rooms further into the ship. Break the yellow buttons to open the doors, and destroy every core to open the route down to the cargo.

How to Drop the Cargo and Ride It Down

The cargo hangs at the bottom middle of the ship and holds some of the best loot of the whole run.

1. Breach the containers around the cargo first.
2. Two Raiders press the release panels on opposite sides at the same time. Repeat until the cargo drops. It can take a few rounds.
3. Jump on the cargo as it falls and ride it to the ground.
4. Breach the round containers inside the cargo once it lands, then head for extraction.

Frigate Loot: What's Worth the Risk

• Amplification Modules (Mk. I to Mk. V) The headline reward. The Frigate and the fallen Emperor on Pendola Pass are the only two sources, and you need modules to push weapons to the new fifth quality tier at your Outpost.
• Research items These feed Outpost research points and the Research Workstation.
• Rare ARC tech and industrial materials Plenty of crafting value in the breachable containers along the way.
• Frigate Diagnostic Node Players are pulling these from the ship, though what they're for isn't confirmed yet.

How to Get Off the Frigate Without the Cargo

If your squad gets split or the cargo run isn't happening, you still need a way down. Raider Hatches are disabled during the condition, so your options are:

Once you're on the ground, extract normally. On Pendola Pass, that means the Ballistic Gondolas.

Common Frigate Mistakes

• Queueing solo and expecting a full clear. The central core and cargo need multiple Raiders.
• Bringing a free kit. It isn't allowed, so plan a real loadout.
• Standing under the ship's cannon during the approach.
• Fighting cores with Hydras still alive.
• Running out of armor-breaking ammo halfway through.
• Leaving modules in your main inventory.
• Starting late. A full run takes most of a raid.