Arc Raiders Update: Shrouded Sky patch notes and fixes in arc raiders update

The Shrouded Sky patch 1. 17. 0 for Arc Raiders arrives amid violent topside hurricanes and fresh combat challenges, and it includes a string of weapon fixes that trace back to earlier 1. 13 and 1. 13. 1 changes. The arc raiders update matters now because it pairs environmental shifts—two new ARC types in the Rust Belt and hazardous gales—with tuned weapon input buffering and tier balance adjustments.

Shrouded Sky: hurricanes, low-visibility combat and two new ARC types in the Rust Belt

Patch notes for Shrouded Sky describe violent hurricanes sweeping topside, forcing new strategies for low-visibility combat as powerful gales and hurtling debris reshape engagements. Scouts have spotted two new ARC types in the Rust Belt; players are advised to exercise caution while the storm runs its course, though the notes say those who know how to read the weather will find opportunity in the chaos.

Tracing the weapon problems back to 1. 13 and 1. 13. 1

The notes recount a weapon optimization fix shipped in 1. 13 that had the unforeseen consequence of lowering the total fire-rate of semi-automatic weapons. In 1. 13. 1 the team reverted that fix, but something else made it into the update that shouldn't have. Many players reported a so-called "shadow buff, " and the investigation found that 1. 13. 1 had inadvertently impacted weapon input buffers.

Where players previously had to time inputs to a weapon's intended cadence, the buffering change allowed spam-clicking to bypass that skill requirement. The team says it wants to preserve some skill expression while keeping weapons responsive, and has added more levers to control the weapon input buffering window on a gun-to-gun basis and adjusted semi-automatic weapons accordingly.

How the input buffering adjustments should affect firing behavior

Following those adjustments, weapons should still feel more responsive when spam-clicking, but players who choose to pace their shots are expected to see better results. The notes describe this as a middle ground between earlier unresponsive feeling and the unintended ease introduced in 1. 13. 1.

Tier balance and the first round of weapon changes: Stitcher, Kettle, Aphelion, Jupiter and Venator

The development team says it has been examining balance between low-tier and high-tier weapons after feedback that some low-tier options outperform higher-tier weapons at significantly reduced cost. To shift that balance, the team is reducing the overall time-to-kill of the Stitcher and the Kettle and increasing the maneuverability of the Aphelion and the Jupiter. The notes also say the team is taking a second stab at the Venator, which still seems to be dominating many PvP encounters.

Dev notes elaborate on the Stitcher as a close-quarters weapon that rewards thoughtful positioning but can produce very fast TTK when a majority of shots land as headshots. The team attributes ambush kills in part to the weapon's high headshot damage and plans to bring headshot TTK closer to body-shot TTK by reducing full-spray accuracy and lowering the headshot multiplier.

The Kettle is described as being in a "weird place": intended as a high-damage, medium-range weapon used at a deliberate pace, it is often wielded like an SMG in close quarters. To distinguish it from the Stitcher the team will reduce the Kettle's base damage to bring its TTK more in line while retaining a high headshot multiplier to encourage players to aim for headshots.

Unfinished note on Venator and other items in the feed

The patch notes reference earlier nerfs to the Venator in 1. 3. 0 and say the team has kept an eye on the data to—unclear in the provided context. The update feed also contains two brief, otherwise unrelated entries: one titled "Error 418 - I am a teapot" followed by the line "Short and stout, this is my handle, this is my spout, " and another entry titled "Just a moment... " with no body text provided; the latter is unclear in the provided context.

What’s not in the notes: Battle Pass 3 details unclear

One of the provided headlines referenced Battle Pass 3 and "Surgeon Raider Deck Rewards, " but details about Battle Pass 3 or the Surgeon Raider deck rewards are unclear in the provided context and do not appear in the patch notes themselves.