Riven Tides — Patch 1.26.0 technical notes

Last updated: May 5, 2026

A complete, no-narrative reference of every change between patch 1.22.0 and 1.27.0. For the playable breakdown of why these changes matter, see the Riven Tides Patch Guide.

Patch chronology

1.26.0 (Riven Tides): full balance changes

New content

New map: Riven Tides

• Unlocks after 20 raids on any other map
• POIs: Hotel Panorama Azzurro, Port Authority Building, Stacking Yard, Customs House, Wave Breaker, Azuro Beach, Dried Riverbed, Field Depot
• Exclusive minor map condition: Beachcombing

New enemy: ARC Turbine

• Boss-tier flying ARC
• Spawns on every map except Stella Montis
• Highest spawn rate on Riven Tides; night raids significantly increase the spawn chance
• Spawn window: roughly 16 to 13 minutes remaining
• Does not spawn every match (community testing on Riven Tides suggests ~3 in 8)
• Multiple spawns possible (occasionally up to 3)
• Mine activation radius: 10m
• Drops: Turbine Compressor (purple)

New items:

• Powered Descender (Epic Gadget, controlled descent, ~15m effective range)
• Crash Mat (Uncommon Throwable, deployable fall cushion, single use)
• White Flag (Common Deployable)
• Dockmaster's Detector (Common Gadget, required for Beachcombing)

New augment: Tactical Mk.3 (Smoke)

New event: Last Resort (April 27 to May 25, merit-based)

New project: Avian Alarm (5 stages, Stage 1 grants Dockmaster's Detector, Stage 5 requires 2 Turbine Compressors)

Weapon balance

Bettina:

• Base damage: 14 → 16
• Base fire rate: 285 RPM → 235 RPM
• Per-shot dispersion: reduced ~40%
• Dispersion recovery time: improved ~30%
• Damage vs ARC armor: +33%

Item changes

Photoelectric Cloak:

• Weight: 1 → 3
• Power use rate: 2.5/s → 10/s

Vaporizer Regulator:

• Stack size: 1 → 3

Heavy Ammo:

• Stack size: 40 → 60

Trigger 'Nade:

• 1s lockout after throw
• 1.3s lockout after trigger

Surge Coil tooltip fix:

• Tooltip previously displayed range as 75m
• Actual range is 10m (no functional change, tooltip corrected)

Weapon economy / durability rework

Repair on upgrade (new):

• Upgrading a weapon now repairs 25% of its max durability

Spawn durability:

• Average durability on world-spawned weapons: 50 → 30
• Locked-room weapons can still spawn around 60
• Outskirts weapons may spawn as low as 15

Durability loss per shot:

• Common: +75%
• Uncommon: +50%
• Rare: +35%
• Epic: -5%
• Legendary: -10%

Durability loss on knockout:

• Reduced from -30% to -15%

Map / ARC density

Dam Battlegrounds:

• Comets removed from standard sessions
• Firefly presence "heavily reduced"

Buried City:

• Comet presence reduced

Vaporizers:

• Added to additional maps and conditions (specifics not enumerated by Embark)

Stella Montis:

• Exodus recyclables loot distribution rebalanced for more even container spread

Notable bug fixes (selected)

• Aim assist now correctly targets leg joints and weak spots on Bastion, Bombardier, Queen, Matriarch
• Bastion accuracy when switching targets mid-fire reduced (bug was over-accurate)
• Vaporizer and ARC Surveyor patrols no longer freeze until alerted
• ARC enemies now react to nearby breaching sounds
• Surge Coil tooltip range corrected (10m, was incorrectly displayed as 75m)
• Vita Spray simultaneous self/other healing speed exploit fixed
• Binocular zoom levels restored
• Multiple zipline placement / fall damage fixes
• Multiple map collision and stuck-spot fixes (Blue Gate, Buried City, Spaceport, Dam Battlegrounds)

Known issues at 1.26.0 launch

• "Off The Radar" quest could not be completed on Riven Tides (fixed in 1.27.0)
• Leaper can jump through the Turbine
• Rachetta outfit color details mismatched promo material
• Crash Mat visual issue in spectator mode
• Crossplay setting toggled off for all platforms after change (fixed in 1.26.1)

Embark dev notes (paraphrased)

Bettina: Buffed to push it closer to its rarity. Damage and ARC armor damage up to extract more value per bullet. Fire rate reduced to compensate. Dispersion adjusted to support longer accurate bursts. Heavy ammo stack increased to ease the resupply burden.

Photoelectric Cloak: Stated as "aggressively over-performing" especially in regards to length of activation. Same strength while active, but intentionality between uses now required.

Augments: A general balancing pass is planned. Combat Mk.3 (Flanking) explicitly flagged as underperforming. Goal is full augment roster representation.

Weapon economy: Stated intent is to make weapon attrition matter for all playstyles, while increasing high-tier weapon longevity vs low-tier and reducing PVP-induced durability loss.

1.26.1 (April 30, 2026)

• Crossplay setting fix (was toggled off across all platforms after 1.26.0)
• Frequent crash patches
• Backpack color variation fix

1.27.0 (May 5, 2026)

ARC

• Turbine attacks now visible from far away
• Players can drop carryable items to fight off Ticks while carrying
• Turbine proximity mine visibility adjusted
• Turbine landing behavior improved (less likely to land in trees)

Audio

• Turbine sound effects no longer drown out other game sounds
• Turbine audible from greater distance
• Riven Tides vegetation areas no longer lack audio feedback for movement / shooting
• Quick item-use audio/animation issues fixed

Maps

Riven Tides:

• Field Depot POI now correctly counts toward "Off the Radar" quest
• Floating / buried fruit baskets fixed
• Player fall-through-floor spot fixed

Stella Montis:

• Wall collision restored (players and ARC could shoot through it)

Utility

Trigger 'Nade:

• Recently introduced bug fixed where players could trigger grenades instantly when thrown (closes a regression of the 1.26.0 lockout)

Cosmetics

• Howdy emote available while sprinting
• Rachetta outfit colors corrected to match promo material

Progression

• Late Departure window now accurately displays Catch Up Rewards

1.22.1 to 1.25.0: minor patches

1.22.1 (April 1): Crash hotfix only.

1.23.0 (April 8): Bug fixes only. Notable: fixed Trigger 'Nade triple-damage exploit (two grenades detonating side-by-side dealt 3x damage), Anvil Splitter dispersion bypass exploit, weapon upgrade UI showing wrong tiers, several Close Scrutiny / Assessor bugs.

1.23.1 (April 9): Hotfix. Dupe glitch fix, reconnect exploit fix, PS5 crash patches.

1.24.0 (April 14): Bug fixes only. Crash patches, Vanguard Set model stretching fix, Stella Montis line-of-sight audio bug, AMD FSR Frame Generation visual fix, hold-to-use item activation fix.

1.25.0 (April 21): Hotfix. Dupe glitch fix, PS5 crash fix, store rotation delayed.

Updates sourced from Embark Studios official patch notes (arcraiders.com/news). For analysis and gameplay context, see the Riven Tides Patch Guide.