ARC Raiders launches Cold Snap update: it’s huge and adds skill reset

The extraction shooter closes 2025 with profound changes, balance adjustments, and highly requested new options.

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Embark Studios has decided to bid farewell to the year with one of the most ambitious updates to date for its extraction shooter. ARC Raiders receives Cold Snap, a patch that not only introduces winter-themed content but also overhauls fundamental systems that directly impact progression and gameplay.

Although some of the new features had been previously announced, the update has turned out to be much more extensive than expected. There are adjustments to weapons, maps, loot, and economy, as well as new features that the community had been requesting for a long time, which significantly change the overall experience.

Everything that changes with the Cold Snap update of ARC Raiders

The most notable novelty is the possibility of resetting and redistributing abilities, allowing players to re-specialize their character in exchange for a large amount of credits. This opens the door to experimenting with new configurations without having to start from scratch, something especially useful after the balance changes introduced.

• Along with this, comes greater customization: the Raider tool now supports aspects, with a first free design available during the Cold Snap event. Significant adjustments have also been made to progress, such as the relocation of the Aphelion project to Stella Montis, eliminating the need to defeat the Matriarch to obtain it, and an increase in loot in purple key rooms.
• The patch also introduces more controversial decisions, such as a limit on Nomea Points, the blue currency used to unlock Arsenal rewards. Embark justifies this change to avoid excessive accumulation in the face of future passes. Additionally, the location of special lockers has been randomized, and multiple corrections and general improvements have been made to maps and armament.

With Cold Snap now active and the next Arsenal scheduled for December 26th, ARC Raiders enters the final stretch of the year with a more polished and flexible base, paving the way for what’s to come in the next few months.