ARC Raiders December Update Nerfs Best Skill Into The Ground

Holiday festivities are now underway in ARC Raiders, and the accompanying update brings a massive nerf to the coveted Security Breach skill. It was not uncommon for players to tailor their runs around Security Breach locations since they were guaranteed to consistently provide great loot, but the December update has made this strategy much less viable.

According to ARC Raiders‘ December Update 1.7.0 patch notes, “Security Lockers are now dynamically spawned across all maps instead of being statically placed.“ Previously, the Security Breach skill, which opens Security Lockers, could be used at specific places on each map in every raid, provided another player hadn’t gotten there first. Security Locker spawns will now be effectively random.

Security Locker Spawn Changes Tank Security Breach’s Value

The patch note wording leaves a little room for interpretation. Either all the possible spawn points for Security Lockers remain the same, and there is a reduced chance they appear, or new spawn points have been added to the pool in addition to the lower appearance chance. Regardless of how exactly Security Locker spawns work—which will likely be figured out very soon—the result is that Security Breach has been heavily nerfed.

The Survival skill tree, on which Security Breach is one of the final skills, was clearly the best option when considering where to spend skill points. Most skills in ARC Raiders grant minor buffs, like incremental improvements to climbing speed, stamina regeneration, or looting noise. Security Breach, because of its reliability in producing coveted items, was in a tier of its own, but the December update has now seriously jeopardized its effectiveness.

This Is A Good Change For ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders' Buried City map covered in snow during the Cold Snap condition. — ARC Raiders’ Buried City map covered in snow during the Cold Snap condition.

The Security Breach nerf may be particularly annoying for players who have just recently unlocked the skill, but it’s ultimately an improvement for ARC Raiders overall. Extraction shooters like ARC Raiders operate with a certain amount of unpredictability, and loot is a major component of that. The gameplay loop stays interesting because of emergent situations, but planned routes to search Security Lockers undercut that design.

Players will certainly start learning where to look for Security Lockers again, but it’s important that finding one is no longer guaranteed. Security Breach is still a very lucrative skill, but if the nerf proves too annoying, the December update also adds the ability to respec your skills, in exchange for Coins.

Security Lockers being scattered will help bring more variety to PvP combat as well. The set locations had become unintended hot spots, often more active than the high-loot zones demarcated by red outlines on the map. Building your Raider toward Security Breach will still be a viable option in ARC Raiders, but this change will hopefully encourage more exploration.