The Frigate is one of the hardest activities in ARC Raiders, and boarding it without a plan costs you a full loadout.
You need three Raiders, armor-breaking weapons, and a route through Hydras, Power Cores, and a cargo drop.
This ARC Raiders Frigate guide walks through every stage and shows where Amplification Modules come from.
Table of Contents
- What Is the ARC Frigate in ARC Raiders?
- How to Find an Active Frigate
- Best Loadout for the Frigate
- How to Board the Frigate
- Frigate Route Step by Step
- Frigate Power Cores Explained
- How to Beat the Hydras and Flying ARC
- Solo, Duo or Trio: How Many Players You Need
- Frigate Loot and Amplification Modules
- How to Escape the Frigate
- Launch Bugs to Avoid
- Common Frigate Mistakes
- Key Takeaways
- FAQ
What Is the ARC Frigate in ARC Raiders?
The Frigate is a flying ARC warship that hangs over the map for the length of a raid. It arrived with the Frozen Trail update as a map condition, not a boss.
You cannot destroy it. You board it, fight through its interior, and sabotage its Power Cores to reach the loot.
Embark built it for highly skilled Raiders. You have to find a way aboard, unlock paths through its passageways, and fight ARC, while other Raiders on board either team up with you or shoot their way past you, according to Embark’s Frozen Trail preview.
The ARC Raiders Wiki lists four changes the condition makes to the raid:
- No free loadouts
- No active Raider Hatches
- No active locked doors
- Lower overall loot value across the rest of the map
The payoff is Amplification Modules, the item that unlocks the new fifth weapon quality level.
How to Find an Active Frigate
The Frigate does not spawn in every raid. Check the map list before you queue.
- Open Map Selection.
- Look for ARC Frigate listed beneath a map name.
- Queue with your full combat loadout.
- Watch the sky for the ship, then head toward it.
Maps: Players have boarded the Frigate on Pendola Pass, Dam Battlegrounds, and Buried City. Game files reportedly set it up for Blue Gate and Spaceport as well.
Embark’s design director Virgil Watkins said the Frigate can appear on other maps except Stella Montis and Riven Tides, per a Dot Esports interview. The community wiki still lists Riven Tides, so the Map Selection label is the only reliable check.
Timing: The ship usually arrives early in the raid. Go straight to it instead of looting the far side of the map first.
A full clear takes most of a raid, so an early start matters.
PvE test: Embark excluded the Frigate from the October 13 to 20 PvE matchmaking test, along with Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, and Locked Gate. Our PvE toggle test breakdown covers the rules.
Best Loadout for the Frigate
Free loadouts are disabled, so you are risking real gear. Bring more ammo and healing than a normal raid, because every core you start spawns more ARC.
| Slot | What to bring | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Main gun | A reliable close-to-mid-range weapon | Handles rival Raiders and smaller ARC in tight interior spaces |
| Armor-breaker | Hullcracker or Jupiter | Both deal more damage against ARC armor plates after 2.0 |
| Shields and healing | Two shields, stacked healing, shield rechargers | Fire and ranged hits wear you down across several fights |
| Traversal | Grappling Hook and Snap Hook | Climb the hull, skip platform puzzles, and get back to the return point |
| Descent | Powered Descender | A way down if the return point closes |
| Utility | Defibrillators, Barricades, Wolfpack grenades | Revive teammates, cover exposed routes, and counter Rocketeers and Fireflies |
For general builds, see our best ARC Raiders loadout guide. It predates Frozen Trail 2.0, so use the table above for Frigate-specific picks.
Why Explosives Matter
Embark reworked the explosive damage formula in Frozen Trail 2.0. According to the official patch notes, explosives like the Hullcracker deal over 50% more damage against armor plates and around 30% less against fragile parts.
The Jupiter got a similar shift. It is now stronger against armor and slightly weaker against weak spots.
Break plates with explosives, then switch to an accurate weapon for exposed weak points. Do not burn all your explosive ammo before you reach the central core.
Supply Changes to Plan Around
- Hullcracker and Anvil: Tian Wen no longer sells them. They now rotate through the weekly Nomadic Envoys offers.
- Launcher Ammo and Energy Clips: Both have a daily purchase limit, so stock up across several days.
- Snap Hook: Range dropped from 20m to 18m, durability cost rose to 4% per use, and power cost rose to 60. Bring a spare.
- Heavy Shield: Movement penalty fell from 15% to 10%, and durability decay fell from 0.20 to 0.15.
A Photoelectric Cloak also helps on the approach. You are slow and exposed on the boarding platform, and the cloak hides you from ARC.
How to Board the Frigate
You cannot climb onto the ship from the ground. You ride a Reclaimer, a circular ARC platform that shuttles between the surface and the ship’s underside.
- Head for the back of the Frigate. It stays in one spot for the raid.
- Climb onto a Reclaimer while it is low. A Grappling Hook or Snap Hook helps if it hovers out of reach.
- Use Disrupt on its center. The platform starts flying back to the ship with you on it.
- Ride up and step off onto the hull. One guide notes a second Disrupt prompt at the docking bay.
- Look for the new objective. It reads “Find a way on top of the Frigate.”
Reclaimers are ARC, but they do not shoot you. The ship does.
A large turret beneath the Frigate targets you on the approach. You are slow and in the open during the ride, so clear the area first and avoid riding up alone if another squad is watching the platforms.
The Boarding the Frigate Quest
Celeste’s Boarding the Frigate quest is the easiest way to get value from your first run. It asks you to reach the top, then deal 100 damage each to a Hydra, a Vaporizer, and a Rocketeer.
You do not need the kills. A short burst at each is enough.
Extract from the raid, then turn the quest in to Celeste. One guide reports a follow-up quest called Disrupting the Frigate that asks for three Power Cores, cargo access, and more kills, so verify its objectives in your quest log.
Frigate Route Step by Step
Embark has not published a route. Most of the detail below comes from a small number of creator and community walkthroughs, and several guides repeat the same details, so treat specifics as reported rather than confirmed. Every stage you open spawns more ARC, so clear as you go.
1. Reach the First Deck
The main entrance is a lift with Move Up buttons that must be pressed at the same time. Plan on three players. A Snap Hook can bypass it.
2. Kill the Hydras and Shoot the Yellow Targets
Up to four Hydras rise from the deck, two first and two more after. Rocketeers and Vaporizers join in. A destroyed Hydra stays down.
Look for small yellow targets on the walls, similar to the ones inside a Harvester. Shoot every target on one side and its wall sections fold out into climbable steps. The compartments that open hold loot.
3. Raise the Central Core
Three Move Up panels sit around the large ring in the middle of the deck. With a Raider on each, a large Power Core rises out of the ring.
Most squads skip this and race up the opened walls for loot. Agree on it as a group before you start.
4. Survive the Upper Deck
- Jet blast: After the first Hydra up here dies, engine wind pushes you toward the edge. Run into it and it will not throw you off.
- Fire: Flames sweep across the deck and knock you down.
- Fire rooms: Two rooms, left and right, hold about three loot containers each and fill with flames on a timer. Shoot the small Power Core in the middle of each room to shut off the fire.
Painted arrows on the walls point the way, and you climb through vents toward the interior.
5. Destroy the Remaining Cores
Work through the armored cores spread along the ship, then find the small core at the bottom. The next section covers every core in detail.
6. Open the Cargo and Ride It Down
The cargo sits in the bottom middle of the ship. Some breachable panels are red and need two Raiders at once. Open them to reach the last core inside, then destroy it.
Next, the cargo’s release panels light up. Two Raiders interact on opposite sides at the same time, and repeat until the cargo lets go. It took three rounds in one reported clear.
Get on top as it drops. The cargo falls to the ground with you on it, and it is a canister lined with round containers. Breach and search every one.
Where it lands is unconfirmed. One clear reported it coming down beside the Commissary Supermarket on Pendola Pass.
Frigate Power Cores Explained
Power Cores are the Frigate’s main objective. They are shoot-to-progress targets, not items you carry, so do not confuse them with ARC Powercell crafting materials.
How many are there? The reported Disrupting the Frigate quest asks for three Power Cores on top of the ship. Those three are the large central core and two smaller cores above it, one on each side.
The first full clear found more. Players who completed it reported armored cores with rotating shields spread down both sides and into the corners, a small core at the bottom, and a last core inside the cargo. Embark’s launch notes do not list a total.
How to destroy them:
- Clear enough ARC to give your squad room to shoot.
- Activate the core, then fire on it together. One squad put several Raiders on each core and fired on a countdown.
- Watch the entrances for more ARC and rival Raiders.
- Repeat for the next core.
One trick: Activate a core, climb somewhere safer above it, and shoot from there once the ARC below calm down.
The hidden core: After every visible core was down, the first full-clear squad saw nothing happen. The missing piece was a small core at the bottom, reached through a red-lit hatch. Destroying it opened the bottom of the ship.
Use armor-breakers on the shielded cores, then finish exposed sections with accurate fire.
How to Beat the Hydras and Flying ARC
The Hydra is a turret split into three stacked, autonomous sections, as Embark describes it. Our dedicated Hydra guide covers its weak points and tactics in full. It can handle entire squads, and Embark’s advice is to divert its attention, find cover fast, and attack when the moment opens.
- Spread out. Its sections can aim at different players, so never stack behind one piece of cover.
- Rotate aggro. When it targets you, break line of sight while a teammate shoots.
- Peek and retreat. Do not stay exposed to finish a magazine.
- Watch the flanks. Rocketeers and Vaporizers punish anyone who ignores them mid-fight.
Rocketeers hit hard from range. Fireflies set you on fire, which drains you fast while you are also dodging the Hydra. A homing grenade like the Wolfpack suits both.
Embark also adjusted the Vaporizer’s multi-target laser in 2.0 to give a clearer dodge window. Fast traversal and dodge mechanics now work against it.
Our ARC enemies guide covers weak points for Rocketeers, Vaporizers, and Fireflies. The other two Frozen Trail machines roam the wider map, so see our Bully guide and Skulker guide before you queue.
Solo, Duo or Trio: How Many Players You Need
Three is the minimum for a full run. The first lift and the central core need three Raiders on buttons, and the cargo needs two on its panels at once.
- Solo: You can board and finish the Boarding the Frigate quest. The central core is a wall without help.
- Duo: You are one Raider short for the lift and central core.
- Trio: You can run every interaction and split combat roles.
Friendly Raiders on board often have the same problem. Proximity chat and a wave go a long way.
Expect betrayal anyway. Once the core is exposed and the loot opens up, temporary allies can turn into competitors. Keep your squad close and keep shields charged.
Frigate Loot and Amplification Modules
The Frigate is one of the two main sources of Amplification Modules. The other is the fallen Emperor on Pendola Pass. Our amplified weapons guide covers what to do with the modules.
Embark’s design director called both activities the current pinnacle content because they feed weapon amplification.
Module Marks
Each Mark maps to a weapon rarity, and you need the matching module for the weapon you want to amplify.
| Module | Unlocks Amplification for |
|---|---|
| Amplification Module Mk. I | Common weapons |
| Amplification Module Mk. II | Uncommon weapons |
| Amplification Module Mk. III | Rare weapons |
| Amplification Module Mk. IV | Epic weapons |
| Amplification Module Mk. V | Legendary weapons |
Where Modules Drop on the Frigate
Modules are not only at the end of the route. Players report finding them in round Breach and Search ports set into recessed hatches along the underside of the hull, as well as in the cargo containers.
Check every hull port you can reach. On busy lobbies other Raiders empty them fast.
Individual drop odds are not published, and players are still confirming which containers can roll a module.
Move the module to your safe pocket the moment you loot it. Players who were knocked out on the deck lost everything except the module they had secured this way.
Do not sell spare modules. Amplification is a late-game system, and the modules are deliberately tied to hard content.
What You Do With a Module
Amplification adds a fifth quality level to 15 weapons, which opens a branching path of upgrades. Embark’s examples include a fully automatic Burletta, a Renegade with a scope, and a Rattler with incendiary bullets.
The unlock chain looks like this:
- Unlock your Outpost. Our Outpost guide covers the unlock and the Research Bench.
- Fully upgrade the Research Workstation inside it.
- Research the amplification for a supported weapon.
- Socket the matching module.
Not every amplified weapon needs the Frigate. Watkins said the Burletta is easier to build because its materials are more accessible, while weapons like the Jupiter require the pinnacle content.
Other Frigate Loot
- ARC materials: High-tier components from the ship and its defenders.
- Rare ARC technology: Part of the confirmed reward pool.
- Research items: Reported to feed research progress at the Outpost.
- Cargo containers: The main reward for completing the sabotage route.
Leave bag space for the haul. Do not fill your backpack on the way in.
How to Escape the Frigate
Getting off the ship is often harder than getting on. Raider Hatches are disabled, so your exit is always a standard extraction. Our guide on how extraction works covers the basics.
- Finish looting before your bag is overloaded.
- Retrace your route to the boarding area.
- Step onto a returning Reclaimer platform to ride back down.
- Use a Grappling Hook or Snap Hook for the climbs on the way back.
- Once you land, move away from the Frigate immediately.
- Head to a standard extraction.
If your group released the cargo, you can ride it down instead of retracing the route.
Carry a Powered Descender. One group was stuck on top with the return point shutting down and no obvious way off.
Do not jump. Relying on fall damage and a revive is far riskier than the intended route.
Launch Bugs to Avoid
Embark’s launch notes list two Frigate issues.
- Hydra in the Cargo area: It can detect and shoot players through walls but cannot deal damage that way. Do not trust cover there, and do not panic when shots land.
- Cargo drop ledge: Standing on the side of the cargo drop can cause instant elimination. A fix was in the works at launch. Stay off that ledge.
Both were still listed as known issues after the October 9 hotfix.
Common Frigate Mistakes
- Stacking behind one piece of cover. The Hydra splits fire across targets.
- Spending all explosive ammo early. Save it for the central core and armored defenders.
- Skipping the safe pocket. A knockout on the deck costs you everything else.
- Filling the bag before the cargo. Keep space for the rewards.
- Ignoring Rocketeers and Fireflies. They end more runs than the Hydra.
- Starting late. The full route takes most of a raid.
Key Takeaways
- The Frigate is a map condition. You board and sabotage it, you do not destroy it.
- Free loadouts and Raider Hatches are disabled, so risk only gear you can lose.
- Board with a Reclaimer and use Disrupt. Bring three players for the lift and central core.
- Destroy the Power Cores, including the small core at the bottom, then open the cargo.
- Amplification Modules drop from hull ports and cargo. Safe-pocket them immediately.
- The Frigate is excluded from the October 13 to 20 PvE test.
FAQ
How do you board the Frigate in ARC Raiders?
Climb onto a circular ARC Reclaimer platform when it descends beneath the ship and use Disrupt on its center. The platform carries you up to the hull, where you step off and the objective changes to finding a way on top. Spend as little time under the ship as you can, because a turret beneath it targets Raiders on the approach. A Grappling Hook or Snap Hook helps if the platform hovers too high to climb.
How many players do you need to finish the Frigate?
Three Raiders is the practical minimum. The first lift and the central Power Core both need three players pressing controls at the same time, and the cargo release needs two players on opposite panels. You can board alone and finish the Boarding the Frigate quest solo, but the full sabotage run needs teammates or friendly Raiders aboard.
How many Power Cores are on the Frigate?
One quest guide lists three Power Cores on top of the ship as the objective: the large central core and two smaller cores above it, one on each side. Players who completed the first full clear reported more cores deeper inside, including a small core at the bottom behind a red-lit hatch. Embark’s launch notes do not list a total, so treat any number beyond the first three as unconfirmed.
Where do Amplification Modules come from?
The Frigate and the fallen Emperor on Pendola Pass are the two known sources. On the Frigate, modules appear in round Breach and Search ports along the hull and in the cargo containers. Embark’s design director described both activities as the main routes to amplification materials.
What do Amplification Modules do?
A module unlocks Amplification for a weapon of matching rarity. Mk. I covers common weapons, Mk. II uncommon, Mk. III rare, Mk. IV epic, and Mk. V legendary. You research the amplification at the Research Workstation in your Outpost, then socket the module to open a branching path of upgrades. Amplification launched for 15 weapons.
Which maps can the Frigate appear on?
Players have boarded it on Pendola Pass, Dam Battlegrounds, and Buried City. Embark’s design director said it can appear on other maps except Stella Montis and Riven Tides, although the community wiki still lists Riven Tides. Check Map Selection for the ARC Frigate label before you queue, because the rotation changes.
Can you bring a free loadout on the Frigate?
No. The ARC Frigate condition disables free loadouts, so you risk the gear you bring. It also disables Raider Hatches and locked doors and lowers overall loot value on the rest of the map. Pack only what you can afford to lose.
How do you escape the Frigate?
Retrace your route to the boarding area and step onto a returning Reclaimer platform to ride back to ground level. A Powered Descender is a backup if the return point closes, and jumping without one is a fast way to lose your loot. Raider Hatches are disabled, so walk to a standard extraction once you land. If your group released the cargo, you can ride it down instead.
Is the Frigate available in the PvE matchmaking test?
No. Embark excluded the Frigate, Night Raids, Hidden Bunker, and Locked Gate from the PvE test running October 13 to 20, 2026. Embark says those conditions depend on the tension of meeting other Raiders. You need standard PvPvE matchmaking to run the Frigate.
What is the best weapon for the Frigate?
No single gun wins, but you want a reliable close-to-mid-range weapon plus an armor-breaker. Explosives like the Hullcracker deal over 50% more damage to ARC armor plates after the 2.0 update, and the Jupiter is also stronger against armor. Both do less against fragile parts, so keep an accurate gun for exposed weak points.
What is the Boarding the Frigate quest?
Boarding the Frigate is Celeste’s quest for your first Frigate run. You reach the top of the ship, then deal 100 damage each to a Hydra, a Vaporizer, and a Rocketeer. You do not need the kills. Extract from the raid and turn the quest in to Celeste to keep the progress.
