ARC Raiders Best Blueprints to Unlock First: Weapon Blueprints Ranked

Blueprints are how you go from scraping by with a Stitcher and a rusty pistol to actually crafting the guns that win fights in ARC Raiders. The problem: blueprints are scarce, your Gunsmith bench and material stockpile are limited early, and burning a rare recipe on the wrong gun sets your progression back hours. So which blueprints should you unlock first? This guide ranks every weapon blueprint worth chasing by performance, rarity, and how cheaply you can actually craft and maintain it — because the "best" gun on paper is useless if you can't afford to bring it topside.

Quick answer: the best blueprints to unlock first

Prioritize the Anvil blueprint above everything else — it's an Uncommon-rarity hand cannon that outperforms most Rare and Epic guns while costing a fraction to craft. After that, chase the Venator (double-shot pistol), Vulcano (close-range shotgun) and Bobcat (Epic SMG) as your kit and material income grow. Crucially, some of the best guns in the game — the Ferro, Rattler, and even the Rare Renegade — need no blueprint at all and craft directly, so don't waste raids hunting recipes you'll never need.

• Craft-first pick (best value): Anvil — Uncommon, cheap, S-tier performance, blueprint-gated
• Best pistol: Venator — fires two bullets per trigger pull, near-primary damage once upgraded
• Close-quarters king: Vulcano — Epic shotgun, deletes armored raiders point-blank
• Best full-auto: Bobcat — Epic SMG, a souped-up Stitcher
• Don't chase a blueprint for: Ferro, Stitcher, Rattler, Renegade, Kettle, Hairpin — these craft directly
• Buy the recipe instead of grinding: ARC Raiders Blueprints on timesaver.gg

How do blueprints work in ARC Raiders?

Before ranking anything, understand the system, because it dictates priority. ARC Raiders has two dozen guns (24 on the live weapons list), and every weapon has a fixed rarity — you can't find the same gun in two different rarities. Here's the key thing most tier lists gloss over: not every gun needs a blueprint. Many weapons — including the Ferro, Stitcher, Rattler, Renegade, Kettle, and Hairpin — are craftable directly at the Workbench or Gunsmith once you have the materials and bench level. Blueprints only gate a specific subset of (mostly rarer) weapons, and those are the recipes worth prioritizing.

You obtain a weapon blueprint by scavenging it (weapon blueprints live in Raider Containers — the Tempest being the notable exception), earning it as a Trials reward, or completing certain quests/projects. Per the ARC Raiders Wiki blueprint table, blueprints for Rare and Epic items drop more commonly during ×2 Major Map Conditions (Hidden Bunker, Hurricane, Locked Gate, and similar), and ARC Surveyors can drop them too — so running those conditions is the single most efficient way to farm recipes. Once you have one, open it in your Speranza inventory and choose Learn and Consume — the blueprint item is spent and the recipe is added to your known recipes (learned blueprints show a ✓ and can't be consumed again). From then on you craft the gun at the required Gunsmith bench level (Epic guns like the Vulcano need a Level 3 Gunsmith). One important caveat: Expeditions periodically reset your learned recipes — which is exactly why Ermal's Expedition Vault exists to let you carry key blueprints across a departure. So a "learned" recipe isn't unconditionally forever; plan around the Expedition cycle.

That consume-and-commit part is exactly why unlock order matters. A blueprint you learn is a material and bench investment you're spending it on. Get the order right and you snowball; get it wrong and you burn a rare recipe on a gun you rarely field.

ARC Raiders blueprint tier list — which to craft first

This ranking weighs three things a raw damage chart ignores: how good the gun is, how much rarity/material tax it costs, and how much it actually upgrades what you already have. A cheap Uncommon that plays like an Epic beats an Epic you can only afford to craft once a week.

S-Tier blueprints — unlock these first

• Anvil (Uncommon Hand Cannon) — The single best blueprint investment in the game. It's a lightweight, hard-hitting single-action hand cannon packing 6 shots and Strong ARC Armor Penetration (its firing is on the slower side, so make each shot count), and it's better than most Rare or Epic weapons despite its low rarity. Its blueprint is scavengable in Raider Containers on any map (or as a Trials reward), so it's easy to obtain. Because the gun is cheap to craft, you can field several and stop fearing death. This is your #1 unlock.
• Venator (Pistol) — A featherweight pistol that fires two bullets per trigger pull while consuming a single unit of Medium Ammo. Small magazine by default, so pair it with an Extended Medium Mag II/III and push it to Rank IV to unlock its full fire rate — then it punches like a primary. Top-tier close-to-mid power once fully upgraded.
• Vulcano (Epic Shotgun) — The undisputed king of close quarters. It deals colossal damage inside a few meters and drops even heavily armored players near-instantly. Its blueprint is a condition-only find (Hidden Bunker/Hurricane), and it crafts at a Level 3 Gunsmith — but for breach rooms and indoor fights nothing beats it. Slap an Extended Shotgun Mag on it and you're set.
• Bobcat (Epic SMG) — Essentially a Stitcher with the ceiling removed. Its blistering fire rate melts armored raiders up close. Same SMG drawbacks (poor range, high recoil), but in its lane it's elite. Blueprint is condition-only (Locked Gate/Hurricane).

A-Tier blueprints — strong follow-ups

• Tempest (Epic Assault Rifle) — An Epic upgrade over the starter Rattler with higher damage, a much larger magazine, and better handling. Note its blueprint is the one weapon recipe that does not come from Raider Containers (per the wiki), so it's harder to track down — but it's a rock-solid do-everything primary once you have it.
• Osprey (Sniper Rifle) — The first true sniper most raiders unlock. Comes pre-fitted with a long-range scope and out-ranges a Ferro handily; the catch is you can't remove the scope, so it's a liability if someone closes the gap.
• Bettina (Heavy Assault Rifle) — Hits harder than the Tempest and shreds players, but it's a full-auto gun that eats expensive Heavy Ammo and costs more to maintain, so it's a want, not a need, early on.

Lower-priority blueprints

• Dolabra — A Legendary energy shotgun with a variable focus: it can fire a wide short-range burst or a focused funnel of electricity. Flashy and strong in the right hands, but demanding — a situational pick-up, not a priority.
• Canto — A blueprint you'll typically farm during Hurricane; decent, but outclassed by the S-tier picks for most loadouts.
• Rascal — One of the newer additions to the blueprint pool; solid, but grab your core guns first.
• Aphelion — A Legendary two-round-burst Battle Rifle that runs Energy Clips, found on Stella Montis; a niche late-game pick for endgame raiders, not an early unlock.
• Equalizer / Hullcracker / Jupiter — Niche energy and launcher/special weapons. Real blueprints, but situational — unlock them once your core loadout is sorted, not before.
• Il Toro / Torrente / Burletta — Solid B-tier options with blueprints; fine to pick up, but they don't leapfrog the S-tier picks above.

That's the full weapon-blueprint pool accounted for — 17 gun recipes in total. Everything else on the roster crafts without a blueprint.

Weapons you DON'T need a blueprint for

This is where a lot of raiders waste raids. The following guns craft directly at the Workbench or Gunsmith with no blueprint hunt required — so don't chase a recipe that doesn't exist:

• Ferro — the fan-favorite starting Battle Rifle and easily the most dangerous early-game gun.
• Stitcher — your starting SMG; cheap, easy to upgrade, and it holds its own.
• Rattler — the reliable starter Assault Rifle.
• Renegade — a Rare lever-action Battle Rifle whose upgrades boost fire rate by 25%, 50%, and 75%; genuinely one of the best guns in the game, and it crafts at Gunsmith 3 with no blueprint.
• Kettle — still craftable directly (no blueprint); once dominant, it was nerfed from 600 to 450 RPM and has slid down the meta.
• Hairpin — the weakest gun in the game (low armor penetration), and you never needed a blueprint for it anyway.

Blueprint priority at a glance

Priority	Weapon	Type	Blueprint source	Why unlock it
1	Anvil	Hand Cannon (Uncommon)	Raider Containers / Trials	Cheapest S-tier gun; outperforms Epics
2	Venator	Pistol	Scavenge / Trials	Double-shot pistol, near-primary damage upgraded
3	Vulcano	Shotgun (Epic)	Condition-only (Hidden Bunker/Hurricane)	Best point-blank damage in the game
4	Bobcat	SMG (Epic)	Condition-only (Locked Gate/Hurricane)	Highest full-auto ceiling up close
5	Tempest	Assault Rifle (Epic)	Scavenge (not Raider Containers)	Reliable do-everything primary
6	Osprey	Sniper	Scavenge / Trials	First real long-range option
7	Bettina	Heavy AR	Scavenge / Trials	Hard-hitting, but Heavy-Ammo hungry
—	Ferro / Rattler / Renegade / Kettle / Hairpin	—	No blueprint needed	Craft these directly — don't hunt a recipe

What's the single best value blueprint?

The Anvil, without much debate. ARC Raiders' own gun economy is built around risk versus reward: every raid, your gear is on the line, and dying means it's gone. The Anvil breaks that math. It performs at a Rare/Epic level while costing Uncommon-tier materials, so you can field it constantly without going broke. Rock Paper Shotgun's August 2026 meta breakdown puts it bluntly — the Anvil is "almost too strong in the current ARC Raiders gun meta, relative to how early and easily you can access it." If you unlock and learn only one blueprint this week, make it the Anvil.

A useful rule of thumb: the value of a blueprint isn't its damage number, it's damage-per-material-cost multiplied by how often you'll actually risk it. By that measure the cheap-but-lethal Anvil beats the flashy Epics you'll hoard and rarely bring topside — and it's why a fully-kitted, no-blueprint gun like the Renegade is such good value alongside it.

The material problem — and the shortcut

Learning a blueprint is only half the battle. Crafting and upgrading these guns burns Gun Parts, Mechanical Components, and rarity-specific materials you also need for armor, gadgets, and Expedition objectives. Many raiders hit a wall where they've learned the Vulcano or Bobcat recipe but can't afford to craft one without gutting their stash. If you'd rather skip the map-condition grind entirely, you can pick up the exact blueprints and the materials to craft them directly:

Get raid-ready faster:

- ARC Raiders Blueprints — from $0.99 — 80+ blueprints, unlock rare weapons, fast & secure delivery

- ARC Raiders Materials — from $0.02 — all rarities, instant delivery, trusted

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best blueprint to unlock first in ARC Raiders? The Anvil. It's an Uncommon-rarity hand cannon that hits like a Rare or Epic weapon but costs far less to craft and sustain, so you can bring it into raids without fear of losing an expensive gun. It packs 6 shots and Strong ARC Armor Penetration, making it reliable against both ARC machines and enemy raiders.

How do you get blueprints in ARC Raiders? You scavenge them from containers (weapon blueprints come from Raider Containers), earn them as Trials rewards, or occasionally buy them from a rotating trader. Rare and Epic blueprints drop more often during ×2 Major Map Conditions like Hidden Bunker and Hurricane, so farming those conditions is the fastest way to build your recipe collection.

Which guns don't need a blueprint in ARC Raiders? Several of the best guns craft directly with no blueprint: the Ferro, Stitcher, and Rattler (your starters), plus the Rare Renegade, the Kettle, and the Hairpin. Don't waste raids hunting recipes for these — spend your first blueprints on the Anvil, Venator, Vulcano, or Bobcat instead.

Are blueprints consumed when you use them? Yes. When you select a blueprint and choose "Learn and Consume" in Speranza, the blueprint item is spent and the recipe is added to your known recipes (already-learned blueprints show a ✓ and can't be consumed again). You then craft the weapon at the required Gunsmith bench level — Epic weapons like the Vulcano need a Level 3 Gunsmith. Note that Expeditions can reset your learned recipes, so Ermal's Expedition Vault is worth using to carry key blueprints across a departure.

Where do you find weapon blueprints? Weapon blueprints are scavenged from Raider Containers (the Tempest is the one exception), and blueprints for Rare and Epic weapons drop more often during ×2 Major Map Conditions like Hidden Bunker and Hurricane. Many are also earnable as Trials rewards or from quests, and ARC Surveyors can drop them too.

How many weapons are there in ARC Raiders? The live weapons roster lists 24 guns, and only a subset of them are locked behind blueprints — the rest craft directly. That's why "which blueprints to unlock first" matters more than raw weapon count: you want to spend limited recipes on guns like the Anvil and Vulcano that actually upgrade your kit.