The Hullcracker blueprint is one of the most-asked-about unlocks in ARC Raiders right now — and plenty of players get tripped up on the same step: they finish the quest that "rewards" it, head to the Gunsmith, and get confused because Launcher Ammo crafts fine but the gun doesn't appear. Here is exactly how to get the Hullcracker blueprint, how to actually learn it, the correct craft recipe and Gunsmith level, and whether this anti-ARC launcher is worth 30,000 to buy outright instead.
Quick answer: The Hullcracker blueprint is rewarded by the quest "The Major's Footlocker" (the trader Shani also sells it for Cred) — but either source hands you a blueprint item you then have to Learn and Consume before it shows up at the Gunsmith. If you'd rather skip blueprints entirely, the trader Tian Wen sells a finished Hullcracker for 30,000 Coins, once per day. It's a Special-category, Epic-rarity pump-action grenade launcher whose explosive rounds only detonate on ARC machines — a dedicated robot-killer, not a PvP gun.
ARC Raiders - Blueprints
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Key Takeaways
- Blueprint sources: the quest "The Major's Footlocker" awards a Hullcracker blueprint item, and the trader Shani also sells the blueprint for Cred (a one-time buy, no restock). Either way you must Learn and Consume the blueprint item to add the weapon to your Gunsmith list — completing the quest alone is not the final step. Note: the Shani/Cred route is tied to the pre–Frozen Trail Cred economy, which is being phased out around the October 8, 2026 update, so the quest is the more future-proof unlock.
- "I can only craft ammo" is normal, not a bug. Launcher Ammo is craftable at the Workbench without any blueprint, so seeing the ammo recipe tells you nothing about whether the weapon blueprint is learned. If the gun is missing, you still need to learn the blueprint item.
- Buy-it-now route: Tian Wen sells a built Hullcracker for 30,000 Coins, limited to 1 per day — this is the finished gun, not the blueprint.
- The Hullcracker is anti-ARC by design: its grenades only explode on ARC contact, with Very Strong armor penetration — devastating on Rocketeers, Bastions and the Matriarch, useless as a direct-fire PvP weapon.
- Stats: 100 base damage, 5-round magazine, pump-action, Launcher Ammo, ~216–308 shot durability depending on quality tier.
- Want the gun without the grind? A Hullcracker blueprint unlock or ARC Raiders Materials package skips the quest chain and the material farm entirely.
What Is the Hullcracker in ARC Raiders?
The Hullcracker is a Special-category, Epic-rarity pump-action grenade launcher that fires Launcher Ammo. ("Special" is its weapon category; "Epic" is its rarity grade — they describe two different things.) What makes it unique in the sandbox is its fuse logic. As the community-run ARC Raiders Wiki puts it, the Hullcracker "fires explosive projectiles that only detonate when hitting ARC." Shoot a wall, the floor, or another Raider and the round simply lands inert — no splash, no kill. That design is deliberate: the Hullcracker is the game's purpose-built answer to the heavy ARC that shrug off normal gunfire.
Per the community-run ARC Raiders Wiki, its core stats are:
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Category / Rarity | Special / Epic |
| Ammo type | Launcher Ammo |
| Base damage | 100 |
| Magazine size | 5 |
| Firing mode | Pump-action |
| ARC armor penetration | Very Strong |
| Durability (by tier) | 216 / 240 / 270 / 308 shots |
| Fire rate | 20.3 |
| Range | 38.9 |
| Weight | 7.0 |
| Sell price (by tier) | 10,000 → 22,000 |
The takeaway: this is a boss-and-heavy deleter. Against a Rocketeer, a Bombardier, or a downed Matriarch, five explosive rounds with "Very Strong" penetration end the fight in seconds. Against a rival Raider pushing your extract, it is dead weight — keep a conventional secondary for human threats.
How to Get the Hullcracker Blueprint
There are two routes to a Hullcracker: get the blueprint (then craft as many as you want), or buy a finished one from a trader. The blueprint itself has two origins — a quest and a Cred purchase — and both still require the Learn-and-Consume step below.
Earn the blueprint — the "The Major's Footlocker" quest
The Hullcracker blueprint is rewarded by the quest "The Major's Footlocker." Here's the step most players miss: the quest hands you a blueprint item, not an automatic unlock. You have to open that item in your inventory and choose Learn and Consume — that's what actually adds the Hullcracker to your Gunsmith crafting list. Complete the quest, then learn the blueprint. Both steps are required.
"But I can only craft the ammo!" This is the most common confusion, and it's not a bug. Launcher Ammo is craftable at the Workbench on its own — it needs no blueprint at all. So the ammo recipe showing up tells you nothing about whether the weapon blueprint is learned. If the gun isn't in your Gunsmith list, the fix is almost always the same: find the Hullcracker blueprint item from the quest reward and Learn-and-Consume it. If you never picked up the reward item, re-check the quest's completion rewards.
Buy the blueprint — Shani (Cred)
If you've got Cred to spend, the trader Shani sells the Hullcracker blueprint directly — a one-time purchase with no restock. Buy it, then Learn and Consume it exactly like the quest reward to unlock crafting. One caveat: this route depends on Cred, which is usable only until October 8, 2026, before the Frozen Trail transition retires the old economy — so if you're reading this afterward, the quest is the reliable path.
Buy the finished gun — Tian Wen (30,000 Coins, once per day)
If you can't reach the quest yet — or you just want a Hullcracker tonight for a boss run — the trader Tian Wen sells a finished Hullcracker for 30,000 Coins, limited to one per day. This hands you the built weapon directly (not a blueprint), so it's the fast lane when you've got the currency to spare and a Matriarch or other heavy ARC to delete.
Buying from Tian Wen does not teach you the blueprint — to craft your own copies you need the learned blueprint from either the Footlocker quest or Shani, followed by the Learn-and-Consume step. Treat Tian Wen as the "I need a built one today" option and the blueprint (quest or Shani) as the repeatable unlock.
How to Craft and Upgrade the Hullcracker
Once you've learned the blueprint, the Hullcracker is built at the Gunsmith — but note the station requirement: crafting the base Hullcracker I needs Gunsmith level 3. Per the wiki's crafting data, the base recipe is:
- 1× Magnetic Accelerator
- 3× Heavy Gun Parts
- 1× Exodus Modules
- (requires Gunsmith 3 + the learned Hullcracker blueprint)
Once you have the base gun, the upgrade path only needs Gunsmith level 1 — it's the initial craft, not the upgrades, that gates you behind a higher station tier. Taking a Hullcracker I → Hullcracker II costs 1× Advanced Mechanical Components + 2× Heavy Gun Parts, and grants +18% increased fire rate and +10 durability. Each tier climb raises durability (216 → 240 → 270 → 308 shots), so a maxed Hullcracker fires noticeably faster and survives far longer between repairs than the base model.
Two things worth planning around before you commit the mats:
- It allows Underbarrel and Stock mods. You can bolt on a stock to improve stability and an underbarrel attachment for utility — tune it toward steady, accurate lobs rather than hip-fire.
- Recycling returns parts. If you ever scrap one, a Hullcracker I recycles into 2× Advanced Mechanical Components + 2× Heavy Gun Parts (more at higher tiers), so a spare built gun is never truly wasted inventory.
Stockpile the gating materials before your crafting run — a Magnetic Accelerator, an Exodus Modules and plenty of Heavy Gun Parts for the build, then Advanced Mechanical Components for the upgrade ladder. Those are the exact resources our ARC Raiders Materials service covers if the farm is slowing you down.
Is the Hullcracker Worth It?
Yes — if you fight ARC bosses. No — if you expected an all-purpose gun. Here's the honest breakdown:
- Against heavy ARC: elite. "Very Strong" penetration plus 100-damage explosive rounds make it one of the fastest ways to strip a Rocketeer's armor or finish a Matriarch. Against other heavy ARC and the new Frozen Trail encounters, it earns its inventory weight.
- Against players: near-useless. Rounds don't detonate on Raiders, so you're firing rounds that do no explosive damage to players, with a 5-shot mag and slow pump cycle. Always pair it with a conventional primary or secondary for PvP.
- Ammo economy: it eats Launcher Ammo, which is heavier and scarcer than rifle rounds. Bring enough — a 5-round mag with a slow reload punishes you if you run dry mid-fight.
- Durability: 216–308 shots depending on upgrade tier means a high-tier Hullcracker lasts several raids before repair, which softens the sting of the 30,000-Coin Tian Wen price or the crafting cost.
If you're routinely diving ARC-dense zones or chasing boss loot ahead of the Frozen Trail update, the Hullcracker is a top-three utility pick. If you mostly PvP over extracts, skip it and invest in a better all-rounder.
ARC Raiders - Materials
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How to Use the Hullcracker in Combat
The Hullcracker rewards discipline, not spray. With only 5 rounds and a pump-action cycle, every shot has to land on metal.
- Lead moving ARC. The projectile has travel time and only arms against ARC, so lob slightly ahead of a moving Rocketeer or a strafing Bastion rather than at where it currently stands.
- Aim for exposed cores and joints. The 100-damage explosion plus "Very Strong" ARC penetration chews through armor plating fastest when it detonates on a weak point rather than a shielded front.
- Open on heavies, finish with your sidearm. Use the Hullcracker to crack the armor and stagger a boss, then swap to a conventional weapon for the cleanup instead of burning your last launcher round.
- Mind the splash — and the giveaway. Explosions are loud and bright; firing one announces your position to every rival on the map. Pick your moment, especially on open maps where a third party can swoop your boss kill.
- Don't bring it to a Raider fight. Because rounds pass through players without detonating, you lose a gunfight carrying only a Hullcracker. Treat it as a specialist slot, never your primary.
Hullcracker vs. Other Anti-ARC Options
The Hullcracker isn't the only way to deal with heavy ARC, but it occupies a specific niche: sustained, repeatable burst damage against armored machines without relying on consumables.
- Vs. grenades and traps: throwables are one-and-done and compete for your Quick Use slots. The Hullcracker gives you five armor-shredding detonations per magazine and reloads, making it far better for a drawn-out boss fight or a zone full of patrolling heavies.
- Vs. high-penetration rifles: a strong rifle is more flexible (it also works on players), but it takes many more rounds to strip a Rocketeer or Matriarch. The Hullcracker trades flexibility for raw anti-armor speed.
- Vs. one-use consumables: throwables and single-use boss tools cost you something every run. A crafted, repairable launcher you can repair and re-use is a more durable long-term plan than burning consumables every raid.
Bottom line: if ARC bosses are a regular part of your loop, the Hullcracker pays for itself. Keep one built, upgrade it when you can spare the Heavy Gun Parts, and pair it with a proper PvP weapon.
Fastest Way to Unlock It
The free route (the Footlocker quest) is the cheapest but slowest — you have to grind your quest log to reach it, and newer Raiders may be dozens of quests away. If you want the Hullcracker in your loadout without the quest chain or the daily Tian Wen cap, you can shortcut the whole thing:
Want the Hullcracker in your kit today, not three play-sessions from now? Our ARC Raiders team handles the unlock and the farm so you can jump straight to boss hunting.
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FAQ
Where do I get the Hullcracker blueprint in ARC Raiders? The blueprint is rewarded from the quest "The Major's Footlocker," and the trader Shani also sells it for Cred (a one-time buy, tied to the pre–Frozen Trail Cred economy being phased out around October 8, 2026). Either source gives you a blueprint item — open it and choose Learn and Consume to add the Hullcracker to your Gunsmith list. Separately, the trader Tian Wen sells a finished Hullcracker for 30,000 Coins (one per day), though buying the gun does not teach you the blueprint.
I did "The Major's Footlocker" but I can only craft ammo — is the blueprint bugged? Almost certainly not. Launcher Ammo crafts at the Workbench without any blueprint, so seeing the ammo recipe doesn't mean the weapon is unlocked. Make sure you actually picked up the Hullcracker blueprint item from the quest reward and used Learn and Consume on it — that's the step that adds the gun to the Gunsmith. Also confirm you've reached Gunsmith level 3, which the base craft requires.
How much does the Hullcracker cost from Tian Wen? 30,000 Coins, and Tian Wen stocks one per day. That gets you a built weapon, not the blueprint.
Is the Hullcracker good against other players? No. Its explosive rounds only detonate on ARC machines, so they do nothing to Raiders on direct impact. It's a dedicated anti-ARC / boss weapon — always carry a conventional gun for PvP.
What ammo does the Hullcracker use? Launcher Ammo. It has a 5-round magazine and fires in pump-action, so manage your ammo carefully — it's heavier and scarcer than standard rifle rounds.
Is the Hullcracker worth it for boss fights? Yes. With 100 base damage and Very Strong ARC armor penetration, it melts heavy ARC like Rocketeers, Bombardiers and the Matriarch faster than most conventional weapons — a strong pick heading into the Frozen Trail update's tougher encounters.
