The Vulcano blueprint is one of the more sought-after drops in ARC Raiders right now — and if you've been running raids hoping one falls into your bag, you already know it plays hard to get. It isn't a quest reward and it isn't sold on a fixed shelf; it's a condition-only Epic recipe you can only find during specific map conditions, learn onto your Raider in Speranza, and then feed a pile of Heavy Gun Parts to craft. This guide covers exactly where the Vulcano blueprint spawns, the fastest way to farm it, the full craft and upgrade recipe, and whether the gun is actually worth the grind.
ARC Raiders - Blueprints
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Quick answer: where is the Vulcano blueprint?
The Vulcano blueprint only spawns during the Hidden Bunker or Hurricane map conditions. It's scavengable anywhere during those conditions — and specifically from First Wave Caches during Hurricane — and it can also drop as a Trials reward. It is not sold by a trader and there's no quest that hands it out. Per the ARC Raiders Wiki blueprint table, rare and Epic blueprints are more commonly found during ×2 Major Map Conditions, so running Hurricane or Hidden Bunker is the whole game. Once you loot it, select the blueprint in your Speranza inventory and choose Learn and Consume, then craft the Vulcano at a Level 3 Gunsmith. It's an Epic semi-automatic shotgun that trades range for raw close-quarters power.
- Type: Epic Shotgun (Shotgun Ammo), semi-automatic, 6-round magazine
- Where: Condition Only — Hidden Bunker or Hurricane (scavenge anywhere, or First Wave Caches during Hurricane)
- Also from: Weekly Trials reward
- Craft at: Gunsmith Level 3 (Learn and Consume the blueprint first)
- Buy it instead: ARC Raiders Blueprints on timesaver.gg
What is the Vulcano in ARC Raiders?
The Vulcano is an Epic-tier semi-automatic shotgun that uses Shotgun Ammo and runs a 6-round magazine. Its official in-game description sums up the trade-off cleanly: "Has good bullet spread but sharp falloff" (ARC Raiders Wiki). In other words, it's a monster inside its effective range and near-useless past it — a dedicated close-quarters bruiser for indoor fights, breach rooms, and cornering ratty players who thought they had the drop on you.
Verified base stats from the ARC Raiders Wiki:
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Rarity | Epic |
| Weapon type | Shotgun (semi-automatic) |
| Ammo | Shotgun Ammo |
| Damage | 49.5 |
| Fire rate | 26.3 |
| Magazine | 6 |
| Range | 26 |
| Headshot multiplier | 1.0× |
| ARC armor penetration | Weak |
| Weight | 8.0 |
| Sell price (Vulcano I) | 10,000 coins |
That 49.5 per-shot damage plus a semi-auto trigger is the whole pitch: unlike a pump shotgun, you can keep tapping through a 6-round mag without a rack between shots. Note the 1.0× headshot multiplier — you don't get bonus damage for landing pellets on the head, so it's about volume of damage up close, not precision. The bigger catch is the Weak ARC armor penetration — the Vulcano is a people-and-light-drones gun, not an anti-ARC tool. If you want to punch through armored machines, the Equalizer, Hullcracker, or an energy weapon are the right calls; the Vulcano is for the PvP layer.
Where does the Vulcano blueprint drop?
The Vulcano blueprint is a condition-only drop: it only enters the loot pool when the map is running the Hidden Bunker or Hurricane condition. Outside those conditions, no amount of looting will produce one. It's still an RNG drop even then, so your job is to run the right conditions and stack the odds, not chase a fixed marker.
Where to find it:
- Hurricane First Wave Caches. During the Hurricane condition, special First Wave Caches spawn that are stocked with rare and Epic blueprints — the Vulcano is on that list, alongside other condition-only recipes like the Bobcat and Canto. This is the most targeted farm. (Full breakdown in our ARC Raiders Hurricane First Wave Caches guide.)
- Scavenging during Hurricane or Hidden Bunker. The wiki blueprint table lists the Vulcano as scavengable anywhere while either condition is active, not just in First Wave Caches — so weapon/Raider containers you crack during those raids can also cough it up. Rare and Epic blueprints are more commonly found during ×2 Major Map Conditions, which is exactly what Hurricane and Hidden Bunker are.
- Weekly Trials reward. Every blueprint in the scavenging loot pool — the Vulcano included — is eligible to appear as a Trials reward. The reward roll is random, so it's not a guaranteed Vulcano unlock, but grinding Trials is a second path that doesn't depend on running the right map condition. (Need a hand climbing the ranks? timesaver.gg runs ARC Raiders leveling and carries.)
Audio tip: First Wave Caches give off a digital ticking cue, but during Hurricane the howling wind makes it genuinely hard to hear — get close to a suspected spawn and listen, and keep a map overlay handy so you can sweep known cache areas methodically instead of wandering.
How to farm the Vulcano blueprint fast
The community's go-to method for grinding condition-only blueprints is the naked run, and it works perfectly for the Vulcano:
- Queue into a Hurricane raid (or Hidden Bunker, the Vulcano's other condition) with an empty loadout — no weapon, no gear equipped.
- Running with no loadout — as opposed to the Free Loadout — keeps your safe-pocket slot available, so anything you stuff in there survives even if you go down. Grab any Adrenaline Shots or gear you loot along the way for a fighting chance.
- Rush First Wave Caches and high-value weapon/Raider containers, and grab any blueprint you find.
- Slip the blueprint into your safe pocket, then surrender or extract. Rinse and repeat.
Because you're carrying nothing in, you have nothing to lose — the only thing that matters is getting a blueprint into that safe pocket. Keep a map overlay on a second screen if you can; it makes locating cache spawns during the audio-killing Hurricane far less painful.
If the RNG simply refuses to cooperate — and with a condition-locked Epic recipe, it often will — you can skip the grind entirely and pick the Vulcano and other ARC Raiders blueprints up directly on timesaver.gg.
ARC Raiders - Materials
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How to craft and upgrade the Vulcano
Once you've looted the blueprint, head to Speranza, select the blueprint in your inventory, and choose "Learn and Consume." ARC blueprints work this way across the board: the recipe stays learned on your current Raider — until an Expedition reset, when Blueprints and Crafting Abilities are wiped — while the physical blueprint item is spent the moment you learn it (already-learned blueprints are marked with a ✓ and can't be consumed again).
Craft Vulcano I at a Level 3 Gunsmith with:
- 1× Magnetic Accelerator
- 3× Heavy Gun Parts
- 1× Exodus Modules
From there you upgrade the gun at the Gunsmith, and the Vulcano scales nicely as you feed it Advanced Mechanical Components and Heavy Gun Parts:
| Rank | Key materials | Perks |
|---|---|---|
| II | 1× Advanced Mechanical Components, 2× Heavy Gun Parts | +10% fire rate, 13% faster reload, +10 durability |
| III | 2× Advanced Mechanical Components, 1× Heavy Gun Parts | +20% fire rate, 26% faster reload, +20 durability |
| IV | 2× Advanced Mechanical Components, 3× Heavy Gun Parts | +30% fire rate, 40% faster reload, +30 durability |
The 40% reduced reload and +30% fire rate at Vulcano IV are what turn it from a decent close-range gun into a genuine room-clearer — a semi-auto shotgun that reloads fast and taps quickly is brutal in a breach. Heavy Gun Parts are the bottleneck across every rank, so stockpile them; you can grab ARC Raiders materials on timesaver.gg if you'd rather not farm the whole stack.
Best Vulcano mods
The Vulcano accepts Shotgun-Muzzle, Underbarrel, Shotgun-Mag, and Stock mods. The highest-impact pick is an Extended Shotgun Mag — the base 6-round magazine is the gun's biggest weakness in a drawn-out fight, and squeezing out extra shells directly extends how long you can keep tapping before a reload. A Stock or Underbarrel to tame the spread and improve handling comes next, so more of that 49.5-damage spread actually lands on target at the edge of its short effective range.
Is the Vulcano worth farming?
Yes — if you fight indoors and value PvP power, no if you're a long-range or anti-ARC player. The Vulcano's identity is pure close-quarters lethality: 49.5 damage a shot, six semi-auto rounds, and enough spread to punish anyone who lets you get close. Where it falls apart is range (that "sharp falloff" is real) and armored ARC, which its Weak penetration barely dents.
A useful frame from the community is the Vulcano-vs-Il Toro debate. The Il Toro's pump-action wins the first shot (roughly 63 vs 49.5 damage), so it's scarier for peek-shooting a corner and ducking back. The trade-off is rhythm: the Vulcano's semi-auto 6-round mag lets you keep firing without racking a pump between shots, so in a fight that runs longer than one shell it can put out damage faster. Pick the Il Toro for one-and-done peeks; pick the Vulcano when you expect to actually trade shots in a room.
Bottom line: it's a specialist, not an all-rounder. If you already run a versatile primary (Anvil, Bobcat) and want a dedicated indoor sledgehammer, the Vulcano earns its bag space. If you spend your raids topside sniping ARC, spend the grind elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you get the Vulcano blueprint in ARC Raiders? It's a condition-only drop that only spawns during the Hidden Bunker or Hurricane map conditions. It's scavengable anywhere during those conditions — and stocked in First Wave Caches during Hurricane — and it can also be earned as a Weekly Trials reward. It is not sold by a trader and no quest grants it, so you either loot it during the right condition, unlock it through Trials, or buy it. Rare and Epic blueprints appear more often during ×2 Major Map Conditions.
What level Gunsmith do you need to craft the Vulcano? A Level 3 Gunsmith. The first craft (Vulcano I) needs 1× Magnetic Accelerator, 3× Heavy Gun Parts, and 1× Exodus Modules, plus the learned blueprint. Later upgrade ranks can be done at a lower-tier bench but still lean on Heavy Gun Parts and Advanced Mechanical Components.
Is the Vulcano good against ARC machines? Not really. Its ARC armor penetration is rated Weak, so it struggles against armored drones. It's a PvP and light-target weapon. For anti-ARC work, use the Equalizer, Hullcracker, or an energy weapon like the Jupiter instead.
Vulcano vs Il Toro — which shotgun is better? The Il Toro wins the opening shot (~63 vs 49.5 damage), making it stronger for peek-and-retreat play. The Vulcano's semi-automatic 6-round magazine wins drawn-out fights where you need follow-up shots without a pump. Choose based on how you fight: burst peeks favor Il Toro, sustained room fights favor Vulcano.
Can you buy the Vulcano blueprint instead of farming it? You can skip the RNG grind — timesaver.gg stocks ARC Raiders blueprints, including hard-to-farm Epic weapon recipes, with fast delivery. It's the reliable route if the loot pool keeps handing you everything except the Vulcano.
Get the Vulcano the fast way
Farming a condition-locked Epic blueprint out of the RNG pool can eat a lot of raids. If you'd rather skip straight to crafting:
Grab the blueprint and the mats without the grind:
- ARC Raiders Blueprints — from $0.99 — 80+ blueprints, unlock rare weapons, fast & secure delivery
- ARC Raiders Materials — from $0.02 — Heavy Gun Parts, Advanced Mechanical Components & more, instant delivery
- All ARC Raiders services — leveling, carries, and gear, done fast
Weapon stats and craft recipes verified against the ARC Raiders Wiki and official ARC Raiders patch notes (arcraiders.com). — timesaver.gg Team
