Quick Answer
The Frigate is ARC Raiders' new endgame challenge, launching with the Frozen Trail update on October 8, 2026. It's one of ARC's largest vessels — a flying carrier that patrols the skies above the new Pendola Pass map after one of the Emperors falls there. You don't just shoot it down: the Frigate is a boardable endgame challenge zone. You climb aboard, fight your way through its interior hundreds of feet in the air, and sabotage it from the inside — all while rival Raiders chase the same prize and the new Hydra turret tries to wipe your squad. Embark frames it as a dangerous, high-skill challenge, and the studio has not published the full loot table yet, so treat launch day as a scouting run. This guide covers what the Frigate is, how to get aboard, how to survive the inside, and exactly how to prep before you drop in.
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What Is the Frigate in ARC Raiders?
The Frigate is the marquee endgame activity of Frozen Trail, Embark Studios' biggest post-launch content drop for ARC Raiders and the headline event of the game's first-anniversary window (ARC Raiders launched October 30, 2025). It arrives alongside the new Pendola Pass map on October 8, 2026.
In lore terms, the Frigate is ARC's response to a crisis. One of the Emperors — a colossal class of ARC machine — has fallen at Pendola Pass, and rare technology lies inside its wreck. ARC sends one of its largest vessels to patrol the area and protect the site. That vessel is the Frigate.
Embark is explicit that this isn't a boss fight you burn down from the ground. In the official First Look, the studio describes it as a vessel you board and move through:
"Raiders have started calling it the Frigate." — ARC Raiders Frozen Trail First Look (arcraiders.com)
That line is how Embark introduced the name in the First Look — "the Frigate" is what the vessel is called in-world, and it's stuck as the community's name for it too. One of the clearest descriptions came from developer remarks at the preview event, which compared the experience to boarding a pirate ship: you climb up onto a moving, hostile structure and have to work your way inward under fire. Embark frames it as an airborne, close-quarters endgame challenge for highly skilled Raiders — not a standard health-bar boss you burn down from the ground.
Here's the fast breakdown of what the Frigate is and isn't:
| Detail | What's confirmed |
|---|---|
| Type | Airborne, boardable endgame challenge zone (not a kill-it-from-the-ground boss) |
| Location | Patrols the skies above Pendola Pass (can appear on multiple maps) |
| Goal | Board → navigate internal passageways → unlock paths → sabotage from the inside |
| Threats | New Hydra turret, other ARC enemies (new and returning), and rival Raiders in close quarters |
| Launch | October 8, 2026 with Frozen Trail |
| Loot table | Not officially published — framed as a high-risk, high-reward challenge; verify drops on launch day |
How Do You Get Aboard the Frigate?
The Frigate is a flying carrier, so the first problem is simply reaching it — and this is where Frozen Trail's new mobility tools come in. The update ships a Grappling Hook gadget designed to climb hard-to-reach spots, abseil off buildings, and swing over large gaps, so expect vertical, traversal-heavy approaches rather than a convenient ground door. (Frozen Trail also adds a Tether Launcher that connects and restrains targets and a Yank Grenade that pulls them — combat tools, not climbing gear, but useful once you're aboard.) Note that Embark has not officially detailed the exact boarding method, so treat grapple-assisted entry as the likely route, not a confirmed instruction — the precise entry points are something the community will map on launch day.
What Embark has made clear is that boarding is the challenge itself, not an afterthought: you have to get aboard a hostile moving vessel, work through its interior, and survive ARC and rival-Raider pressure the whole way. Treat the approach like an infiltration — pick your entry, watch for rival squads staging the same boarding run, and don't commit until you've scanned for the Hydra.
One tactical knock-on reported from the press preview: while the Frigate is active over Pendola Pass, it's said to suppress the map's Flash Freeze weather event. If that holds at launch, the brutal flash freezes that force everyone else into Avalanche Shelters are off the table while the carrier looms, so your extraction windows and sightlines behave differently during a Frigate run than during a normal Pendola Pass raid.
What's Inside the Frigate? Navigating the Interior
Once aboard, the Frigate stops being a dungeon-crawl and becomes a puzzle box under combat pressure. Embark describes internal passageways you navigate, paths you have to unlock, and objectives you solve — the goal is sabotage from within, not a straight line to a loot room. A hands-on preview likened the layout to working through the decks of a ship: tight interiors, verticality, and chokepoints that force confrontations.
Three pressures stack inside at once:
- The Hydra. This new ARC unit is a turret split into three stacked, autonomous portions, each with its own weaponry — a "triple-threat" that Embark says can handle entire squads. It is found aboard the Frigate, not roaming Pendola Pass, so the vessel is where you'll meet it. If you want the full breakdown of how to kill it, see our dedicated ARC Raiders Hydra boss guide.
- Other ARC. Embark says to expect a mix of new and returning ARC inside — standard units layered on top of the Hydra, so you're rarely fighting just one threat.
- Rival Raiders. The Frigate is a shared objective. Multiple squads can be aboard the airborne vessel at once, competing for the same sabotage payoff. Close quarters plus a contested prize is a recipe for third-party ambushes.
Because paths must be unlocked and objectives solved, rushing is punished — but so is dawdling, since every minute aboard is another chance for a rival squad or the Hydra to catch you mid-objective.
What Rewards Does the Frigate Drop?
Here's the honest answer: Embark has not published the Frigate's full loot table. The studio frames it as a high-skill, high-risk challenge, which signals high-tier rewards, but exact item drops, reward rooms, and whether it's repeatable all require launch-day verification. Treat any "confirmed Frigate loot list" circulating before October 8 with heavy skepticism — nothing is official until the update is live.
What you can reasonably expect, based on how ARC Raiders structures its highest-risk content:
- High-tier materials and gear commensurate with an endgame challenge — the kind of loot that feeds crafting of top blueprints and amplified weapons.
- A reason tied to the fallen Emperor's rare technology, which the whole Pendola Pass storyline is built around reaching.
We'll update this section with the verified drop table once the update is live and the community confirms it in-game. Until then, go in for the experience and the materials, not for a guaranteed named reward.
Want endgame gear ready before you board? The Frigate rewards skilled, well-kitted squads. If you'd rather drop in with top-tier equipment and blueprints already in hand instead of grinding for them:
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How to Prep for the Frigate Before October 8
The Frigate is explicitly built for skilled, well-equipped Raiders. Some prep you can do now; the rest unlocks the moment Frozen Trail goes live.
Before October 8 (do this now):
- Spend your Cred first. Cred expires on October 8, 2026 per Live Update 1.45.0 — anything you're hoarding becomes worthless the moment Frozen Trail drops. Spend it with Shani or on remaining Raider Deck rewards before the deadline; already-claimed rewards carry over, unspent Cred does not.
- Stockpile ammo, meds, and materials. You'll want a deep supply bench so you can rebuild a Frigate loadout fast once the new systems are live. Materials and consumables don't expire with the Cred reset.
- Build for sustained fights, not one-shots. You'll face the Hydra, mixed ARC, and rival squads in close quarters. Prioritize ammo economy, healing, and a reliable mid-range weapon over a single high-risk burst setup.
On launch day (October 8, the moment you're in):
- Beeline the Research Workstation. Amplified Weapons — a new fifth quality tier — unlock at the fully-upgraded Research Workstation in the new Outpost. Prioritize building that out early so you can craft a Frigate-grade loadout sooner.
- Get comfortable on the new Grappling Hook. Reaching an airborne carrier is traversal-heavy, so spend your first sessions learning to climb, abseil, and swing cleanly before you attempt a boarding run.
- Bring a squad if you can. A three-portion turret built to handle entire squads, plus third-party Raiders, makes solo runs brutal on day one. Coordinate roles — one baits the Hydra, others push objectives.
What's the Best Launch-Day Frigate Strategy?
On day one, information is your scarcest resource — nobody has the interior memorized yet, so play for survival and intel over greed. A few concrete principles hold up regardless of what the loot table turns out to be:
- Scout before you commit. Watch the Frigate's patrol pattern over Pendola Pass for a full loop before you grapple up. You want to know how many rival squads are already boarding and whether the Hydra is active on your intended entry side.
- Stagger your boarding. If you're in a squad, don't all grapple from the same point at the same second — a single Hydra portion can shred a stacked team mid-climb. Enter from two angles so the turret can't track everyone at once.
- Treat objectives as timers, not checklists. Each path you unlock and objective you solve is time the Hydra and rival Raiders get to converge on you. Assign one player to overwatch while the rest work the objective, then rotate.
- Plan your exit before you need it. Because the Frigate suppresses Pendola Pass's Flash Freeze, your usual Avalanche-Shelter timing doesn't apply during a run. Identify your extraction route on the way in, not when you're low on health and being third-partied.
- Bank the win, then get greedy. With the loot table unconfirmed, the safe play early is to complete the sabotage, confirm what dropped, and extract — then push for more on the next run once you know what's actually worth the risk.
Expect the meta to shift fast in the first week as squads map the interior and the community confirms drops. Bookmark this guide; we'll update the rewards and interior sections the moment the data is verified in-game.
Frigate vs the Rest of Frozen Trail
The Frigate is one piece of a huge update. For context on how it fits with everything else arriving October 8:
| Content | What it is |
|---|---|
| Frigate | Airborne boardable endgame challenge (this guide) |
| Pendola Pass | New snowy mountain map; the Frigate patrols above it |
| Hydra / Bully / Skulker | Three new ARC enemies (Hydra lives on the Frigate) |
| Amplified Weapons | New fifth weapon quality tier via the Research Workstation |
| Outpost | Your new customizable Raider Den extension |
| Reward Pass | New progression system replacing Raider Decks |
If you want the full map rundown, read our ARC Raiders Pendola Pass map guide, and for the enemy that guards the Frigate, see the Hydra boss guide.
FAQ
Is the Frigate a boss fight in ARC Raiders? Not exactly. Embark frames the Frigate as an airborne, boardable endgame challenge zone — a vessel you infiltrate and sabotage from the inside, not a health-bar boss you burn down. The Hydra turret you fight aboard the Frigate is the closest thing to a boss encounter inside it.
When does the Frigate release? The Frigate launches with the Frozen Trail update on October 8, 2026, the same day as the Pendola Pass map.
Can you solo the Frigate? Embark markets it as a challenge for highly skilled Raiders, with a turret built to handle entire squads plus rival players competing for the same objective. It's not officially solo-locked, but on launch day a coordinated squad is far safer than going in alone.
What loot does the Frigate drop? The full loot table has not been officially confirmed. Embark frames it as a high-risk, high-reward challenge for skilled Raiders. Expect high-tier materials and gear, but verify exact drops in-game after launch — treat any pre-launch loot lists with skepticism.
Does the Frigate appear on other maps? Previews indicate the Frigate can appear on multiple maps, but it is built for and tied to Pendola Pass, where the fallen Emperor it's protecting is located. While it's active over Pendola Pass, it suppresses the map's Flash Freeze weather event.
How do you get onto the Frigate? It's a flying carrier, so boarding is vertical. Embark hasn't detailed the exact boarding method, but Frozen Trail's new Grappling Hook gadget — made for climbing, abseiling, and swinging across gaps — is the most likely tool for getting aboard a moving airborne vessel. Expect the community to confirm the precise entry on launch day.
