ARC Raiders Frozen Trail Guide to Pendola Pass

Frozen Trail is ARC Raiders' major 2.0 content update, released on October 8, 2026. Its headline destination is Pendola Pass, a frozen mountain map beyond the Rust Belt. You still enter raids to recover useful equipment and materials, then return to Speranza. The difference is how much the terrain, weather and new machines can complicate that return journey.

This guide covers access, route planning, Flash Freeze, the new activities and the progression systems that make the trip worthwhile. It reflects the public release through update 2.2.0, dated October 20, checked on October 23, 2026. Location and activity descriptions contain minor exploration spoilers. Embark Studios develops and publishes ARC Raiders, available on PC through Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and GeForce NOW.

Frozen Trail is an update for owners of the game at no additional charge, rather than a separate paid map or an Expedition reset. The October 8-12 free-play promotion has ended; that was an access promotion, not the map's expiry date. Embark has not announced an end date for Pendola Pass. Optional paid cosmetics and the Premium Reward Pass are separate purchases.

How to reach Pendola Pass

Open map selection and look for Pendola Pass. The map unlocks after 25 completed rounds; this is a rounds requirement, not a level-25 requirement. Check the lock message on your own account before preparing a dedicated trip. The update does not require buying the Collector Set to enter its new map.

Select the map and inspect the current condition before matchmaking. Redirection and ARC Frigate change the objectives and preparation needed for a run. Use the in-game selection and schedule for the current window: a condition is not necessarily available simply because Frozen Trail is installed. No fixed timetable is assumed here.

You can play solo or in a party of up to three. Removing the old Solo vs. Squads matchmaking toggle in 2.0 did not remove solo raiding. Do not confuse a party choice with a PvE setting: the separate October 13-20 PvE matchmaking test has ended, and Embark has not yet committed to making it permanent. Prepare for hostile Raiders in ordinary matchmaking.

A flexible run plan for the map and its current condition.

Choose the right kind of run

For your first visit, we recommend a short reconnaissance run: learn one local landmark, locate an extraction transceiver and leave with a modest haul. Entering the Emperor, calling a payload and boarding a Frigate are separate commitments. Combining all three before you know the exits is an unnecessary wager.

There is no single Frozen Trail completion timer because the update contains several activities. Let the round timer and your remaining supplies set the limit. The ARC Frigate condition uses 35-minute rounds, but that is a session limit, not a promise that clearing the vessel takes 35 minutes or that you should stay until the end.

Build a route around the current raid

Pendola Pass mixes open slopes with buildings, changes in elevation and underground spaces. Useful landmarks include the village square, supermarket, observatory, buried railway facilities and the Fallen Emperor. Treat these as navigation anchors, not a compulsory tour. A route that repeatedly crosses exposed ground may cost more healing and ammunition than the next loot stop is worth.

Dynamic Loot Zones are being tested on this map. An area's loot value can vary between raids while its category remains the same: Residential does not become a different loot type. Reassess your target when selecting the map and after arriving. Yesterday's profitable building is a reason to investigate, not a guaranteed payout.

For a material run near the railway facilities, check accessible offices, train compartments and breachable metal containers before crossing the whole valley. At the observatory, search interior work areas and technical passages if your objective calls for materials. These are candidate search areas, not guaranteed spawns. If containers are already empty, move on rather than defending a route that no longer serves your goal.

Before entering the Emperor, decide how you will retrace your approach if fighting starts. Avoid dropping into an unfamiliar space merely because you can see a container below you. On the way in, note doors, ramps and usable cover; on the way out, stop browsing low-value containers once you have the item you came for.

Survive Flash Freeze without inventing a winter build

Flash Freeze is a weather hazard on Pendola Pass. Avalanche Shelters open as a freeze approaches, providing protection and loot. That combination can attract other Raiders, so an available shelter is not automatically an uncontested room.

The reviewed documentation does not establish a reliable damage-per-second value, countdown, frost-meter formula or complete list of effects on stamina, movement, healing and weapons. It also does not establish a required thermal outfit, warming consumable or heater-based recovery loop. Do not spend your loadout budget on an assumed cold-resistance build.

Instead, keep a reachable shelter in mind before an exposed crossing. When a warning arrives, stop the optional detour and move toward protection. Approach the entrance from cover and check for occupants. Once inside, recover and reassess the exit rather than immediately starting a fight over the first container. This is route advice, not a claim that every ordinary roof blocks every cold effect.

Redirection explicitly removes Flash Freeze. Its falling debris is a different environmental danger, so a route planned around storm shelters alone will not cover that condition's risks.

Understand the new ARC threats

Bully pressures your position aggressively. Our recommendation is to keep a retreat lane available and fight from cover you can leave. Do not spend your last ammunition clearing it merely to reach an optional container.

Skulker uses ambushes and withdraws out of sight. After an attack, resist the urge to stare only at the spot where you last saw it. Recheck nearby approaches before opening your inventory or crossing to a teammate.

Hydra is a stationary, three-section weapon platform associated with the Emperor and Frigate. Use solid cover, move between firing opportunities and avoid assuming one distracted section makes the entire machine harmless. A squad should communicate angles before exposing several players at once.

The practical goal is not to kill every new machine. If your purpose is a photograph or a small material haul, bypassing an avoidable encounter can be the better result. No universal spawn route or guaranteed safe corridor is assumed.

Redirection and Emperor Beacons

When Redirection is active, Emperor Relays and their beacons create a payload-looting opportunity. Find an Emperor Beacon, deploy it in an open area and get clear of the impact zone. Search the arriving Harvester Payload after the falling debris has settled. Check the surroundings before breaching: the drop can turn your chosen location into somebody else's target.

Emperor Beacon stacks to three and weighs 2.0 per item. It becomes a Ruined Emperor Beacon after extraction and can no longer call a payload. Carrying an unused one home is therefore not a way to bank an operational beacon for a later raid.

The payload can contain specialist Coupler items and the Emperor Gateway Conduit blueprint; the smaller debris containers do not provide those Couplers. These are loot possibilities, not a promise of a particular rare item every time. The beacon is a tool for this activity, not a currency shared with the Reward Pass.

Before deploying, we recommend checking two things: whether you can retreat behind cover and whether you still have enough supplies to reach extraction after looting. A backpack full of ordinary materials may be a reason to leave now rather than start another public contest.

Environmental hazards, ARC machines and other Raiders require different responses.

Decide whether to board the Frigate

ARC Frigate is a condition available on Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, The Blue Gate, Riven Tides and Pendola Pass. It is not simply the name of a boss waiting inside the snowy map. The operation involves boarding a vessel and navigating its defenses, with other Raiders able to pursue the same loot.

Free Loadouts and Raider Hatches are unavailable in this condition. Ordinary loot value is reduced and locked loot rooms are inactive, so bringing keys for your usual room circuit does not substitute for a boarding plan. If you only need basic supplies, consider another condition instead of accepting the Frigate's restrictions by accident.

For a first attempt, treat reaching a new section and finding a reliable retreat as progress. Do not follow an unfamiliar player into a lift or passage without knowing where your own group is. Cooperation may help, but a verbal truce does not secure the contents of your backpack.

Turn recovered loot into progression

Outpost progression gives the update a purpose beyond a single successful extraction. Open the Outpost tab and start Sheltered Retreat. Its first stage asks for a photograph of a farmland house around Ruined Homestead on Blue Gate; accept the objective and bring a Camera. Follow the project's subsequent material and ARC requirements rather than assuming the first photo unlocks everything.

The Outpost provides the Research Station and customization through modules and furniture. Weapon Amplification requires both the Gunsmith and Research Station at level 4. It unlocks a fifth quality level for supported weapons and is irreversible. Choose an upgrade because its changed behavior suits your runs, not because a higher tier must improve every situation.

Keep unlearned blueprints, useful designs and required research materials separate from items intended for sale. Check your current project and station requirements in Speranza before your next trip. A rare-looking item that blocks your next upgrade can be more useful than a higher sale-value trinket.

Reward Pass progression is separate again. Reward Points replace Cred and automatically advance the one pass you have selected. Frozen Trail has 60 levels with Free and Premium tracks; earlier Raider Deck rewards sit in the Legacy Pass, preserving existing unlocks. Check the active pass before working on Feats so your progress goes where you intend. Raid loot and pass rewards should not be treated as the same reward pool.

Before reusing an old build, revisit the reworked Skill Tree. Its larger nodes now ask you to choose one of two skills, then up to two of three deeper in the branch. Pick a path that supports your actual plan for movement, carrying capacity or survival instead of reproducing a pre-update setup from memory.

Prepare for the run you actually intend to make

Stiletto is an Uncommon semi-automatic rifle using Light Ammo. Its handling deteriorates under sustained fire, so it suits measured shots better than frantic firing. Bantam is an Uncommon Heavy Ammo revolver with strong ARC armor penetration but limited accuracy and range. Neither description makes it a mandatory choice for every snowy raid.

Bring a familiar weapon, matching ammunition, healing and shield recovery, then leave capacity for your target items. Check your Augment's weight limit, shield compatibility and Safe Pocket space before launching; an Augment cannot be swapped Topside. Do not discard the supplies for your return trip just to fit another low-priority object.

Grappling Hook can help with climbs, descents and gaps. Learn its attachment and release behavior somewhere forgiving before using it above a fatal drop. A Camera is useful when your accepted objective requires photographs; it is not an automatic requirement for every visit to Pendola Pass. Utility should solve a specific problem in your plan.

For a loot-focused run, make the shopping list short and stop when it is met. For an objective-focused run, reserve room for the required item and avoid a second dangerous objective on the return leg. These are recommended limits, not hidden game rules.

Solo and squad priorities

A solo player can change direction quickly and avoid coordinating every stop, but should be conservative about encounters that consume the escape route. We recommend one primary destination, one fallback and an early exit after securing a valuable find.

A squad can divide observation and support duties, but should agree on loot priorities and extraction timing before splitting up. Keep someone watching the approach while another player searches. Do not assume one player's pickup duplicates rewards across the party; divide the haul intentionally. More teammates do not remove noise, exposure or the risk of an ambush.

Extract by Ballistic Gondola

On Pendola Pass, locate a Gondola Transceiver, activate it and follow the indicated landing location. At the gondola, breach a red panel on one of its three tubes, then enter to extract. Regroup before boarding rather than leaving a teammate searching distant rooms.

Keep medical supplies accessible during the approach. Being inside the gondola is not an unconditional guarantee of survival: current official known issues warn that a downed Raider close to elimination can still die after entering. Stabilize before boarding when possible and confirm successful extraction before treating the haul as safe.

Ordinary carried gear and scavenged items are lost on elimination; eligible items in a Safe Pocket are the exception. Check that your Augment actually provides one and that the item fits its restrictions. A successful extraction secures the haul, but item-specific transformations still apply, including the Emperor Beacon becoming ruined.

Changes returning players should account for

Hotfix 2.0.2 addressed crashes and a Pendola Pass grate that could trap players. Update 2.1.0 improved Grappling Hook traversal and fixed a gondola elimination bug. Update 2.2.0 slightly increased enemy presence on Pendola Pass, changed Hydra targeting with a compensating damage increase, and made ARC react to transceiver interactions. An extraction point you used quietly at launch can now draw machine attention.

Plan around those changes: clear an approach before calling, keep the group nearby and avoid lingering beside the terminal. Do not rely on a grapple stunt as your only way out. The latest notes still list traversal and downed-gondola issues, so a conventional boarding plan is preferable for a valuable haul.

Four checks before committing to Ballistic Gondola extraction.

Mistakes that turn a useful raid into a loss

·        Crossing an exposed slope without a nearby shelter option. Check the condition and your fallback before moving.

·        Treating a remembered loot hotspot as guaranteed. Reassess the current raid instead of completing an empty circuit.

·        Starting a payload or boarding operation with depleted supplies. Leave while the return journey is still affordable.

·        Giving away healing space for one more ordinary material. Preserve the kit that gets your useful items home.

·        Forgetting other Raiders when a storm or machine fight starts. Watch entrances and disengagement routes as carefully as your target.

·        Calling extraction before the squad can reach it. Regroup, interact, then move together toward boarding.

Frequently asked questions

What is Frozen Trail in ARC Raiders?

It is the major 2.0 update released on October 8, 2026. Pendola Pass is its new map; Frozen Trail also adds activities, equipment and progression systems.

How do you access the new map?

Find Pendola Pass in map selection after completing 25 rounds. Check the current condition before queueing. The Collector Set and Premium Reward Pass are not required to enter the map.

What rewards make the update worth playing?

You can work toward research, weapons and Outpost customization while recovering raid loot. Redirection adds payload opportunities, and the Reward Pass offers separate progression. Rare drops are not guaranteed for every run.

Can you play solo after the PvE test ended?

Yes. Solo raiding remains supported. The PvE toggle test ended on October 20; do not assume solo matchmaking removes hostile players. Start with a limited objective and an extraction plan.