Frozen Trail 2.0 went live in ARC Raiders on October 8, 2026 at 09:00 UTC on Steam, PS5 and Xbox. It is the largest update since release and the first one under Embark's new schedule of two big updates a year. The short version: a snowy new map called Pendola Pass with loot zones that change value between raids, a Frigate event, new ARC types, a full Skill Tree rework, and a free weekend that floods the servers with new players. If you play with software, the usual rule applies after a patch this size: check the status before you launch anything. GHOST, the build we carry for ARC Raiders, was updated by its developer on patch day and is listed as undetected.
What Frozen Trail 2.0 adds to ARC Raiders
Embark switched to two major updates a year back in May, so a lot was riding on Frozen Trail, and there is plenty in it. Below, the new content is grouped roughly the way you will run into it in game.
Pendola Pass and dynamic loot zones
Pendola Pass is a mountain region buried in snow, built around a fallen Emperor and set outside the Rust Belt. The main new system is dynamic loot zones: the value of the loot in a given zone can climb or drop from one raid to the next. So the spot that paid out yesterday might be a waste of time today, and you will spend more time planning routes than before. The map also gets its own exclusive map condition, Redirection. If you read our pre-release breakdown of the new map, that prep comes in handy now.
Frigate and the new ARC
Frigate is a large new ARC event and map condition. You fight through ARC while other raiders compete with you for the same loot, so expect it to be one of the busiest spots on the map whenever it is up. Bully, Skulker and Hydra also join the ARC roster.
New weapons and the Amplified tier
Two guns arrive with the patch. The Bantam is a heavy-ammo revolver with its own hip-fire behavior, and the Stiletto is a light-ammo battle rifle built for accurate shots at range. Amplified Weapons add a fifth quality tier with branching upgrades, crafted on the Research Bench inside your Outpost.
Outpost, Reward Pass and Skill Tree
The Outpost is your own customizable raider base. You unlock it through a quest that starts by photographing a farmhouse. At launch it has a Research Workstation and Bench, 100 furniture designs and 14 weapon stencils.
Raider Decks are gone. The new Reward Pass has 60 levels with free and premium tracks, and anything you already earned stays in your collection. The Skill Tree has been rebuilt so that branches now include choice nodes where you pick one of two skills. Fight or Flight gives roughly 25% more stamina per level, and Back on Your Feet now heals 40 instead of 30.
New items, quests and quality of life
There are 22 new quests and a pile of new gear. The items:
- Grappling Hook
- Tether Launcher
- Yank Grenade
- Cameras, in Basic and Advanced versions
- Mountaineer's Detector
- Banjo and Harmonica
Stash space is capped at 328 slots before Expedition rewards, you can now drop loot straight from a container, and the map is available while you are downed.
Balance changes worth knowing
Most of the balance pass is small, but four changes will shift how fights play out. Snap Hook gets hit hardest, which hurts if you used it to get out of bad fights.
| Item | Before | After Frozen Trail |
|---|---|---|
| Snap Hook | 20 m range, 2% durability per use | 18 m range, 4% durability per use |
| Heavy Shield | 15% movement speed penalty | 10% movement speed penalty |
| Anvil | Green rarity, Tech Mod slot | Blue rarity, no Tech Mod slot |
| Hullcracker | Previous damage values | Over 50% more damage to armor plates, about 30% less to fragile parts |
The patch also continues the crackdown on accounts holding large amounts of duplicated items, and duped items are being removed from inventories. Embark's notes say nothing specific about cheat bans in this update, so we are not going to guess.
Free weekend, PvE test and launch bugs
From October 8 at 09:00 UTC until October 12 at 08:00 UTC, ARC Raiders is free for new players on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation. Expect lobbies full of fresh accounts for the next few days, many of them heading straight for Pendola Pass.
Right after that, a PvE test runs from October 13 to October 20. Player damage is turned off, loot value is lower, and Frigate, night raids, Hidden Bunker and Locked Gate are not part of it.
Frozen Trail also shipped with some known issues:
- Hydra can spot players and shoot them through walls in the Cargo area.
- The Picking up the Pieces quest cannot be completed on Pendola Pass.
- Tether Launcher cannot be repaired.
- Field Repair becomes unavailable after you unlock it; restarting the game fixes it.
- Non-English keyboard layouts reset keybinds after a raid.
If you see Hydra lighting you up through a wall in Cargo, that is the game, not a cheater.
What the patch means if you play with cheats
A major update changes the game client, and external software usually goes on update until the developer adapts it to the new version. That is normal, and it is why we keep telling people to check before launching. On our ARC Raiders hub every build in the catalog shows its status as working or on update, and each product card carries its own status too. We have not verified every build against Frozen Trail yet, so do not assume anything works until its card says so.
Then there is the dupe cleanup. Duplicated items are being wiped from inventories and accounts with large dupe stacks face further measures. If you were sitting on duped gear or thinking about buying some, read our post on dupes, RMT and bans first. Dupes and real-money trading get banned on their own track, separate from software.
GHOST after Frozen Trail: updated on patch day
GHOST for ARC Raiders is an external cheat, and its developer pushed an update on October 8, the same day Frozen Trail went live. The developer lists it as undetected. Keys are in stock in our catalog and are delivered right after payment.
How the features line up with the new content
GHOST covers aimbot with humanization settings (Jitter, Deadzone, Reaction Min/Max, Max Speed), Memory or Mouse aim methods, Target Lock, Hitbox selection and Recoil Control. Player ESP includes Box, Skeleton, Health, Armor Bar, Weapon, Player Status, Team ID and Offscreen Arrows, and there is a Radar with a Compass Bar. Misc options are No Recoil, No Spread and Rapid Fire, and the menu has AI Chat and a Battle Mode.
Where that helps with the new content:
- Dynamic loot zones. Loot ESP filters by rarity from Common to Legendary and shows item value, which helps you judge whether a zone on Pendola Pass is worth the raid this time.
- Frigate. Player ESP and the radar show who else is pushing the event before they reach you.
- Free weekend crowds. With servers full of new accounts, seeing player positions early saves a lot of surprise fights.
- Snap Hook nerf. Fewer escapes on the hook means spotting a threat in advance matters more than it used to.
One caveat. GHOST's ARC list covers 21 types, including Queen, Matriarch, Bastion, Hornet and Wasp, along with containers such as Raider Cache and world objects. The new Bully, Skulker and Hydra are not on the developer's list yet, so we are not promising they get highlighted.
Requirements
- Steam only
- Windows 10 | 11 (1903-26H1)
- Intel | AMD
- NVIDIA | AMD
- Windowed or borderless mode
- No USB drive needed
- No built-in spoofer
Prices
GHOST costs 300 RUB for 1 day, 1500 RUB for 7 days and 3000 RUB for 30 days. A one-day key is a cheap way to try it on the new map before committing to longer. Setup is covered step by step in our guide to running the GHOST loader.
Staying safe after a big patch
A few habits that keep accounts alive through updates like this one:
- Do not launch any software right after the patch drops. Wait until the status on the product card confirms it works with the current version.
- Do not dupe and do not buy loot. Frozen Trail is actively removing duped items, and dupes and RMT get punished separately from cheats.
- Do not treat the free weekend as a free pass. New accounts are easy to make, but bans still land on the account you play on.
- Read the requirements of your build before buying, including the window mode it needs.
If something looks off, ask in our Telegram (300+ members) or Discord (2000+ members). Players there usually report how a build behaves on a new patch within hours.
Frozen Trail and cheats: FAQ
Does GHOST work after the Frozen Trail update?
The developer updated GHOST on October 8, the day the patch came out, and lists it as undetected. Keys are in stock on our site. Still, check the status on the GHOST card before you launch, since that is where any change shows up first.
Can I use a cheat during the free weekend?
The free weekend runs the same client as everyone else, so the same rules apply. Keep in mind that a ban hits the account you play on, whether it is a brand new free weekend account or your main. Check the build status first and play with the same care you would on a paid account.
Will I get banned for duping in ARC Raiders?
Frozen Trail continues measures against accounts holding lots of duplicated items and deletes duped gear from inventories. Duping and buying loot for real money are handled as their own violations. Our dupes and RMT post covers how that has played out so far.
Does GHOST show Bully, Skulker and Hydra?
Not yet. The developer's list of ARC types has 21 entries, such as Queen, Matriarch, Bastion, Hornet and Wasp, but the new ARC from Frozen Trail are not on it. Player ESP, radar and Loot ESP do not depend on that list, so they still do their job on Pendola Pass.
How much does GHOST for ARC Raiders cost?
One day costs 300 RUB, seven days cost 1500 RUB and thirty days cost 3000 RUB. Keys are delivered right after payment. GHOST runs on the Steam version only, needs windowed or borderless mode and has no built-in spoofer, so check that before you buy.
