Arc Raiders' latest update rightfully nerfs the Venator, buffs the drop rates of Aphelion blueprints, and brings crucial overhauls to your rubber duck showcase

Until now, most Arc Raiders patch notes have been little more than bug fixes and a few crafting balance changes. Welcome tweaks, of course, but no real swings at specific weapons and items.

And that's not completely unwarranted, as I'd say most guns are pretty well-balanced right now. But while everyone's been singing the praises of the Anvil as a weapon that shoots far above its weight, the Venator has been the sleeper pick all along for PvP. Firing two shots at once, this rare pistol was capable of dropping other players blazingly fast. It was only a matter of time until the reaper came knocking, and that day is today with the 1.3.0 patch notes.

In short, the Venator has had its incrementally upgraded fire rate reduced from 22/44/60% to 13/26/40%, and its weight from 2kg to 5kg. Embark explains in the patch notes that it's "re-tuning the fire-rate gained from upgrades to pull down the pacing a bit, while still keeping its damage and accuracy intact."

"This should encourage players to take some more time with their shots rather than mag-dumping the first poor soul they encounter. The community also rightfully pointed out that the weight of the Venator was inconsistent with the weights of our other pistols, so we’ve corrected that as well."

Alongside tweaks to the Venator, this patch has also made the devilishly powerful Deadline mine much more expensive to both craft and purchase:

• Buy value: From 8,100 to 15,000 Coins
• Sell value: From 3,000 to 5,000 Coins
• Crafting:
  • Old: 2 Explosive compound + 1 Synthesized fuel
  • New: 3 Explosive compound + 2 ARC Circuitry
• Deadline trader stock: From 3 to 1

Similarly, you're now also able to craft launcher ammo without a blueprint, which you previously got from one of Tian Wen's later quests. I imagine this is so the Hullcracker is more economical, thereby encouraging players to take on more boss Arcs. Its values have also been adjusted:

• Buy value:
  • Old: 10 launcher ammo for 6,000 Coins
  • New: 6 launcher ammo for 4,500 Coins
• Sell value: From 200 to 250
• Crafting:
  • Old: 6 launcher ammo for 4 Metal parts + 1 Explosive Compound
  • New: 6 launcher ammo for 1 ARC Motion Core + 2 Crude Explosives

Arguably more important than all of that is that the new, incredibly rare Aphelion weapon has had its blueprint drop rates increased. Hopefully this means players will actually be able to get a hold of it now, since it's sure to be one of the best guns, and is currently one of only three legendary weapons in the game.

Oh, and hidden in the miscellaneous section is the ominous line "Your Raider Den has been ducked out." While it's not explained in the patch notes, I assume this means your raider den can now show more rubber duckies; I've no doubt this was an update specifically for one duck hoarder over on Reddit who was disappointed they couldn't display over 600 rubber ducks. Is it useful? No. Is it the highlight of the update? Certainly.

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