ARC Raiders Pendola Pass: Unlock, Frigate, Extracts, Loot

Pendola Pass is the snowbound map added to ARC Raiders with the Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, 2026. It unlocks once you have played 25 rounds in total, the highest map requirement in the game, and you leave it through Ballistic Gondola transceivers instead of the usual extracts. It is also the only map using Dynamic Loot Zones, so the richest area changes from raid to raid. This guide covers the unlock, the regions and where loot tends to be, how Dynamic Loot Zones and the Frigate work, the new ARC, extraction, and the Exploring Pendola Pass quest.

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

The map, Dynamic Loot Zones, map conditions, enemies and balance numbers are from the official patch notes. Region names, transceiver names, key rooms and the Flash Freeze hazard come from press guides written from in-game play, so treat those as player-reported and check them in the Destinations screen.

How do you unlock Pendola Pass in ARC Raiders?

Play 25 rounds. Maps are gated by total rounds played across any maps, not by level, so reaching a higher level does not open Pendola Pass any sooner.

Map	Rounds played to unlock
Dam Battlegrounds	Open from the start
Buried City	6
Spaceport	12
The Blue Gate	18
Riven Tides	20
Stella Montis	24
Pendola Pass	25

Your progress shows on the Destinations screen as "Rounds played" against the target, and the Select Destination button stays greyed out until you hit 25. You can open the full Pendola Pass layout before it unlocks, which is worth doing to learn the transceiver locations ahead of your first drop.

What is on the Pendola Pass map?

The developer describes Pendola Pass as an old Italian mountain village and Exodus transport hub beyond the Rust Belt, with a supermarket, an empty town square, an observatory, a buried train depot and a fallen Emperor that Raiders are sent to break into for rare technology. The terrain is steep and vertical.

Region	Named locations (as reported)
Northern Tracks	Researcher Lodgings, Dispatch Tower, Frozen River, Deep Space Telescope, Cielo Sereno Observatory
Almatera Village	Fallen Emperor, Old Town, Piazza della Rupe, Almatera Station, Porta Benvenuti
Freight Terminal	Railyard, Commissary Supermarket, Railroad Junction, Weather Station, Loading Platforms
Southern Pass	Old Hamlet, Truck Stop, Electrical Substation

Where is the best loot on Pendola Pass?

Press guides point to these stops, keeping in mind that Dynamic Loot Zones change the value of an area each raid:

• Railyard: a large complex with dozens of containers and wall lockers, plus Augment Boxes and a Weapon Crate. Great Mullein grows nearby.
• Commissary Supermarket: connected buildings full of lockers, the best reported spot for medical supplies.
• Cielo Sereno Observatory: mostly breachable containers with batteries and mechanical components, Augment Crates, and an Observatory key room.
• Almatera Station: mostly trinkets and industrial loot, with a Train Station key room.
• Old Town: small houses that are good for Research items, with tight rooms that suit ambushes, so clear them one at a time.
• Fallen Emperor: the map's headline area. Press guides report it needs an Emperor Gateway Conduit key crafted from three couplers found around the map, which makes it a late-raid target once you have the key.

How do Dynamic Loot Zones work on Pendola Pass?

Each zone keeps its loot type, but its loot value varies between raids. A residential area always rolls residential loot; what changes is whether it is a high-value or low-value raid for that zone.

The developer made the system exclusive to Pendola Pass as a test, so it does not apply on other maps yet. The practical effect is that fixed loot routes are less reliable here than on Dam or Spaceport. Pick a starting area by loot type (medical, mechanical, research), then let what you find in the first few containers decide whether to stay or rotate. Rival squads face the same uncertainty, so a usually quiet zone can be the contested one on a given raid.

How do the Frigate and Redirection map conditions work?

Both are map conditions added with Frozen Trail. The Frigate is a large flying ARC ship you board for loot; Redirection lets you move loot flow around the map using damaged Emperor beacons.

Frigate

The developer describes the Frigate as a large ARC vessel patrolling Pendola Pass. Raiders have to board it, work through its internal passages and unlock routes while fighting ARC, and other squads compete for the same objectives, so you either cooperate or fight through them. Press guides add that the ship has to be sabotaged before boarding. The Frigate is home to the Hydra turret described below, so board with full shields and a plan to break line of sight.

Redirection

According to press guides, Redirection spawns damaged Emperor beacons that you loot and then deploy anywhere on the map to redirect where loot flows.

Flash Freeze and frozen doors

The official announcement mentions sudden freezes sweeping through the valley. Press guides report this as a Flash Freeze condition that constantly damages anyone caught outside without cover, and say some doors can freeze shut and need fire to thaw. Plan routes from building to building and avoid long sprints across open snow when a freeze is active.

Which new ARC enemies are on Pendola Pass?

Frozen Trail added three ARC types: the Bully, the Skulker and the Hydra.

Enemy	Behavior	How to handle it
Bully	Aggressive, machine-learned enemy that charges players with several lethal attacks	Stay near hard cover and time your dodge to its charge
Skulker	Waits at the edge of vision, ambushes with rapid strikes, retreats if distracted	Check corners and keep a teammate watching your back while looting
Hydra	Stationary turret on the Frigate, three stacked autonomous sections with multiple weapons	Pull its attention with one player, use cover, and strike fast

The official notes list a known issue where the Hydra can detect and shoot players through walls in the Cargo area, though those shots deal no damage. Frozen Trail also changed explosives against ARC: they deal more than 50% more damage to armor plates and about 30% less to fragile parts, so grenades are now better for stripping armor than for finishing weak spots. Press guides also report a Bastion near the Cielo Sereno Observatory power console.

Where do you extract on Pendola Pass?

You return to Speranza through four Ballistic Gondola transceivers, reported as Northern, Supermarket, Reckless and Glacial.

• Glacial: reported near the Railyard.
• Supermarket: at the Commissary Supermarket.
• Reckless: reported near Almatera Station, Old Town and the Fallen Emperor.
• Northern: the fourth transceiver; check its spot on the map screen before you drop.

The developer's Hotfix 2.4.1 on November 5, 2026 fixed a bug where leaving the Ballistic Gondola could make players invisible, along with invisible collision inside residential buildings. If you still see odd behavior at a gondola, restart the game to make sure the hotfix downloaded.

How do you complete Exploring Pendola Pass?

Exploring Pendola Pass is a four-step quest available once the map is unlocked. Bring one Wire and a Snap Hook before you drop.

1. Destroy 20 ARC enemies of any type.
2. Search the control room at the Cielo Sereno Observatory for power, using the console on the outer edge of the building's left side.
3. Use 1 Wire to patch into the antenna on the tallest tower in the Railyard. Reaching the roof needs a Snap Hook.
4. Search three containers inside the Commissary Supermarket.

Reported rewards are a Breathtaking Snow Globe, an Osprey I and a Medium Shield. Note that the Snap Hook was nerfed in Frozen Trail: range dropped from 20m to 18m, durability cost per use rose from 2% to 4%, and power cost rose from 50 to 60. The new Grappling Hook is an alternative for climbing, abseiling down buildings and swinging across gaps. The official notes also list the quest Picking up the Pieces as impossible to complete on Pendola Pass, so finish it on another map.

What should you bring to Pendola Pass?

Pack for vertical movement, armored ARC and quest photos. Frozen Trail added several tools that fit this map better than any other.

Item	Why it helps on Pendola Pass
Grappling Hook	Climb, abseil down buildings and swing across gaps on the steep terrain
Snap Hook	Needed to reach the Railyard tower roof for Exploring Pendola Pass
Camera	Required for the Outpost project, and five older quests now need photos: The League, Reduced to Rubble, Life of a Pharmacist, Battening Down and Groundbreaking
Explosives	Now deal more than 50% extra damage to ARC armor plates
Tether Launcher	Connects two points with a wire to root targets or drag them, including flying ARC
Yank Grenade	Pulls nearby targets toward the blast, useful for dragging a Skulker out of hiding

The Heavy Shield is also a stronger pick than it was before Frozen Trail: its durability decay dropped from 0.20 to 0.15 and its movement penalty from 15% to 10%, and Live Update 2.3.0 raised its base charge from 80 to 90. For the Outpost project that sends you here to damage Bullies, see the Outpost and Amplified Weapons guide.

Related guides

• ARC Raiders Outpost guide: Amplified Weapons and skill tree
• ARC Raiders hub
• All guides