Arc Raiders Shrouded Sky Update — Everything New in Patch 1.17

The Shrouded Sky update dropped on February 24, 2026, and it's the biggest Arc Raiders patch of the year so far. Here's the full breakdown.

Hurricane Map Condition

The headline feature is Hurricanes — a new rotating weather condition hitting Blue Gate, Buried City, Spaceport, and Dam Battlegrounds. These aren't just visual effects. Wind physics are fully simulated:

• Tailwinds boost your movement speed
• Headwinds slow you down and drain stamina faster
• Thrown items are affected by wind trajectory — grenades, flares, everything
• Visibility drops significantly during peak gusts

This fundamentally changes how you approach extractions. Planning your route around wind direction is now a real tactical consideration.

Two New ARC Enemies

Embark introduced two new threats:

Firefly

An armored flying machine that emits a jet of flame. It hovers above engagements and strafes Raiders with fire. Prioritize shooting it down before it locks onto your squad.

Comet

A spherical ARC machine that calmly patrols until it spots a Raider. Once it locks on, it charges with intense focus before detonating with a seismic boom. Think of it like a smarter, faster Pop — you need to take it out before it reaches you.

Surgeon Raider Deck

The third Raider Deck is here, and it's free for all players who own the game. No time restrictions — it's permanently accessible. Earn Cred topside by completing Feats, then spend it to unlock rewards including Raider Tokens, cosmetics, and the Full Beard cosmetic.

Speaking of Feats, you can now reroll them three times per day for free. No more getting stuck with objectives that don't match your playstyle.

Controlled Access Zone (Dam Battlegrounds)

A newly uncovered high-security area in the northern section of Dam Battlegrounds. This industrial sector features a massive Rocketeer wrapped in creeping vines, and it hides the game's first four-player cooperative puzzle.

Four players must locate and simultaneously press hidden buttons scattered across the zone to unlock a secret loot room packed with weapons, breachable containers, and weapon crates. A second locked door requires repairing items displayed on a panel — with random items each time.

This is the kind of emergent co-op content that makes Arc Raiders special. Finding three other Raiders willing to coordinate in a PvPvE environment is its own challenge.

Weapon Balance Changes

Some big meta shifts this patch:

• Stitcher headshot multiplier nerfed from 2.5x to 1.75x — this was the dominant PvP weapon since launch
• Kettle damage reduced from 10 to 8.5
• Venator damage reduced from 9 to 8
• Aphelion reload buffed from 4.5s to 3.5s — making it more viable
• Jupiter ADS zoom increased to 2.2x with faster equip/unequip
• Wolfpack now requires a Rocketeer Drive to craft

Semi-automatic weapons got precision rewarding adjustments — pacing your shots now yields better results than spam firing.

Deployable Changes

• Ziplines can no longer be placed on carryable objects
• Mines, traps, and remote flares can't be placed on other deployables

These changes close some cheesy strategies while keeping deployables useful.

Il Toro Exploit Hotfix (Feb 26)

Two days after launch, Embark pushed hotfix 1.17.1 to fix the "Shinya roll" exploit — a technique where players could crouch during dodge-roll recovery to cancel the animation, letting the Il Toro fire much faster than intended in close quarters. Named after the content creator who discovered it, this was a significant PvP advantage that's now patched.

What's Next

The Escalation roadmap continues with Flashpoint in March, bringing another new map condition, a new ARC enemy, and a third player project. Then in April, Riven Tides introduces the first new map since Stella Montis — a coastal environment with naval infrastructure and a new large ARC enemy.

Arc Raiders continues to deliver consistent, meaningful updates. See you topside.