ARC Raiders Outpost Guide: Amplified Weapons, Skill Tree

The Outpost is the personal base added to ARC Raiders in the Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, 2026, and it is the gateway to the game's new endgame: its Research Workstation unlocks Amplified Weapons, a fifth quality level for 15 guns. You open it by finishing the Sheltered Retreat project, which press guides say appears at level 18. This guide covers the unlock steps, what the Research Workstation does, every Amplified weapon and how to amplify one, the reworked skill tree, the Reward Pass that replaced Cred, and what has changed in the patches since.

Checked against the official ARC Raiders Frozen Trail 2.0 patch notes, Live Update 2.3.0 and Hotfix 2.4.1 on November 12, 2026.

System rules and numbers here are from the official patch notes and announcement. The Sheltered Retreat stage details, the level 18 gate, and the Amplified Weapon requirements and research costs come from press guides written from in-game play.

How do you unlock the Outpost in ARC Raiders?

Complete the Sheltered Retreat project. It does not unlock automatically with the update; once you reach level 18 it appears in the Projects section, and all three stages must be finished.

Stage	Task	Reported reward
1. Research Topside Living Conditions	Photograph a farmland house near Ruined Homestead on The Blue Gate with a Camera	Camera Blueprint
2. Gather Building Materials	Deliver 3 Planks, 5 Sheet Metal, 10 ARC Alloy and 3 Advanced Electrical Components	Red Light Stick Blueprint
3. Safeguard the Building Site	Damage flying ARC and Bullies, including on Pendola Pass	Decorative Chair, 15 Planks, 5 Durable Cloth and Outpost progression

Accept the project before you drop and carry a Camera into the raid; simply visiting the house does not count. Cameras can be bought from Shani, crafted at the Workbench or found Topside. Stockpile the Stage 2 materials in your stash while you work on Stage 1 so you can hand them in right away. Stage 3 asks for damage on Bullies, which are most common on Pendola Pass.

What does the Outpost Research Workstation do?

The Research Workstation turns Research Points into blueprints, furniture designs and Amplified Research. It is how you push weapons past their normal four quality tiers.

• Blueprint crafting: the new Stiletto and Bantam are part of research progression, though press guides report their blueprints also drop in normal play.
• Design crafting: Furniture Designs decorate the Outpost. There are 100 in total: 73 found Topside, 22 unlocked by upgrading the Outpost, 4 exclusive to the Frozen Trail Pass and 1 exclusive to the Collector DLC.
• Amplified Research: the fifth weapon tier, covered below.

Outpost Modules expand the base with more sections, and the developer has said it plans to grow the Outpost in later updates. The two new weapons are worth knowing early: the Stiletto is a cheap light-ammo battle rifle meant as an early alternative to the Renegade, and the Bantam is a snub-nosed heavy-ammo revolver with a hip-fire option.

What order should you progress the Outpost in?

1. Reach level 18 and accept Sheltered Retreat before your next raid, with a Camera in your loadout.
2. Bank the Stage 2 materials (Planks, Sheet Metal, ARC Alloy, Advanced Electrical Components) while you finish the photo.
3. Clear Stage 3 on Pendola Pass, where Bullies show up, to open the Outpost.
4. Upgrade the Research Workstation and the Gunsmith to level 4 in parallel, since amplification needs both.
5. Pick one supported weapon you already use, take it through its normal tiers, and save Research Points for its first amplification project.

How do Amplified Weapons work in ARC Raiders?

Amplified Weapons are a fifth quality level with branching perks that change how a gun behaves, such as a fully automatic Burletta, a scoped Renegade or a Rattler with incendiary rounds and a 64-round magazine. You need the Research Workstation fully upgraded to reach them.

According to press guides, the full requirement list is:

• The Outpost unlocked through Sheltered Retreat.
• Gunsmith at level 4 and the Outpost Research Station at level 4.
• One of the 15 supported weapons, upgraded through its normal tiers first.
• An Amplification Module matching that weapon's original rarity.

Module	Weapons
Mk. I (Common)	Hairpin, Kettle, Rattler
Mk. II (Uncommon)	Burletta, Il Toro
Mk. III (Rare)	Anvil, Canto, Osprey, Rascal, Renegade
Mk. IV (Epic)	Bettina, Hullcracker
Mk. V (Legendary)	Aphelion, Equalizer, Jupiter

The Anvil uses a Mk. III module because Frozen Trail raised its rarity from Green to Blue. The Bantam and Stiletto are not in the first amplification pool.

How do you amplify a weapon?

1. Socket the matching module to open the weapon's amplification tree.
2. Complete the research for the perk you want. Press guides report each level 4 research project costs 5,000 Research Points plus a specific ARC component and a gameplay objective.
3. Spend the required materials, which include Pneumatic Actuators and Pressure Regulators, to apply the perk.

Amplification is permanent, perks cannot be swapped out, and some perks exclude each other, so plan the build before you commit. Reported perk paths include More Reload, Drum Mag and Incendiary Rounds on the Rattler, Full-Auto and Sprint Shooting on the Burletta, Anti-Shield and Full-Auto on the Kettle, and Bigger Mag, Scoped and Ergonomic Bolt on the Jupiter. Amplified weapons are repaired with Amplified Fragments, and the Anvil Splitter is an upgrade option for the Amplified Anvil. Keep in mind other players can take your weapon if they down you, so an amplified gun is a real risk to bring into a contested raid.

What changed in the ARC Raiders skill tree?

Frozen Trail rebuilt the large nodes in the middle and at the end of each branch. Mid-branch nodes are now a choice between two skills, and branch-end nodes offer three skills of which you can take two after investing enough points.

• You can change a mid-branch choice whenever you reset the tree, so a reset is the way to respec for a new weapon or role.
• Fight or Flight now gives about 25% more stamina per level.
• Stubborn Mule gives about 33% more stamina regeneration.
• Back on Your Feet healing rose from 30 to 40.

Two of the three listed number changes are stamina buffs, which suits Pendola Pass, where long climbs and open snow punish slow movement.

How does the ARC Raiders Reward Pass work?

Reward Points replaced Cred and go automatically to whichever pass is active; only one pass can be active at a time. The Frozen Trail Pass has 60 levels across Free and Premium tracks, and the old Raider Decks moved into a free Legacy Pass you can switch back to at any time.

Source	Reward Points	Milestone progress
Easy Feat	15	+1
Medium Feat	25	+2
Hard Feat	50	+3
Weekly milestone (at 4, 8 and 12 progress)	250 each	n/a

One Hard Feat gives the same milestone progress as three Easy Feats and slightly more points (50 against 45), so it saves raids when it fits your plan. The Free track includes 200 Raider Tokens, five outfits, gameplay items and 20 cosmetic items; the Premium track adds outfit toggles, colorways, weapon stencils, hairstyles and 1,150 Raider Tokens. Completing quests and objectives also grants XP now, and Frozen Trail added 22 new quests, so running quests alongside Feats is the fastest way through the pass.

Weapon Stencils and the Collector Set

Frozen Trail also added 14 Weapon Stencils, which are cosmetic weapon skins: 5 are exclusive to the Premium Frozen Trail Pass, 1 comes with the Collector DLC and 8 are found Topside. Applying a stencil uses Stencil Parts, which you also find Topside. The Collector Set DLC includes both the Free and Premium pass tracks plus the Renzo cosmetic set, a Dragon's Breath stencil, a Bob hairstyle and 2,400 Raider Tokens.

What has changed since Frozen Trail launched?

Two patches matter for progression: Live Update 2.3.0 on October 27 and Hotfix 2.4.1 on November 5, 2026.

• Expedition Vault disabled (2.3.0): its contents moved to your stash, and players who bought vault slots received Bronze Statuettes.
• Heavy Shield (2.3.0): base charge raised from 80 to 90, on top of the Frozen Trail change that cut its movement penalty from 15% to 10%.
• Flame Spray (2.3.0): damage up from 10 to 13 per second and 50% less durability drain.
• Adrenaline Shot (2.3.0): usable at full stamina; a second shot refreshes the duration instead of stacking.
• Firefly Burner (2.3.0): now triggers on impact when thrown.
• Stash: Frozen Trail raised the maximum to 328 slots without Expedition bonuses.
• Schedule: fixes now ship on a three-week cycle and store updates weekly. Hotfix 2.4.1 fixed the Seed Vault extract opening while shut, a Ballistic Gondola invisibility bug and Xbox crashes.

Related guides

• ARC Raiders Pendola Pass guide: unlock, Frigate and extracts
• ARC Raiders hub
• All guides