ARC Raiders Update 1.000.065: Grappling Hook, Turbines and Hydra

The latest arc raiders update is live, and it changes more than it first seems. Update 1.000.065 arrived on October 20, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It is not a huge new map or a new game mode. Instead, it fixes movement, rebalances one scary enemy, and moves one of the most farmed resources in the game to different maps.

If you only read one thing before your next raid, read this: stop planning turbine runs around Dam Battlegrounds, start practising the new Grappling Hook routes, and stop standing still as a group when a Hydra shows up. The rest of this guide explains why, map by map and fight by fight, in simple terms.

One important note before we start. This article covers game version 1.000.065. Future patches can change spawn behaviour, enemy damage and quest rules again, so if something in this guide ever stops matching what you see in game, the newest patch notes win.

Release date

October 20, 2026 Version|1.000.065 Platforms|PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC Biggest movement change|Grappling Hook can now transition into ladders and ziplines while wall climbing Best turbine maps now|Buried City, Riven Tides, Blue Gate and Spaceport Biggest enemy change|Hydra fire now spreads across multiple Raiders, with higher base damage

What the arc raiders update 1.000.065 actually changes

At a glance, update 1.000.065 does four big things. First, it polishes the Grappling Hook so climbing, swinging and vaulting feel smoother and more reliable. Second, it makes ARC Turbine spawns much more consistent on four maps, while taking them out of standard Dam Battlegrounds sessions. Third, it fixes the "To the Skies" quest so your progress is no longer tied to one map. Fourth, it rebalances the Hydra so it threatens a whole squad instead of deleting one player.

Around those headline changes, the patch also includes smaller fixes. These include smoother rope and dodge-roll animations, more reliable auto-vaulting on steep slopes, fixes for Frigate cargo drops and Emperor platforms, lower memory use for loot spawning, and a rebalance of Reward Pass Feats. None of those small fixes change your daily strategy on their own, but together they should make raids feel a little cleaner and more stable.

It helps to see this patch in context. It follows the much bigger Frozen Trail 2.0 expansion from October 8, 2026, which added the Pendola Pass map, the Frigate, and the Bully, Skulker and Hydra enemies. Then came update 2.1 on October 13, 2026, which ran a PvE mode beta from October 13 to October 20 and added the Carrion set, followed by hotfix 2.1.1 on October 16, which fixed locked-room access and item duplication problems. Update 1.000.065 is therefore best understood as a clean-up and balance patch after a very busy two weeks, not as the start of a new season. Some listings also label this October 20 patch as Store Update 2.2.0, which is why you may see both version names used for the same release.

Grappling Hook overhaul: what is different now

The Grappling Hook is the star of this patch. Before, climbing a wall could feel like a dead end: you went up, and then you had to work out your next move from a fixed position. Now, Raiders can interact with ladders and ziplines while they are wall climbing. In plain terms, a wall is no longer just a wall. It can be the middle step of a longer route that ends on a ladder, a zipline, a ledge or a rooftop.

The patch also smooths out the small moments that used to break your flow. Rope swings should transition more cleanly when you climb upward or jump away from a rope. Rappelling back down to the ground should feel better. Auto-vaulting, the move where your Raider hops over a ledge automatically, should now detect walls more reliably, especially on steep slopes. Climbing that starts near the ground should also continue briefly instead of cutting out, and your momentum toward a rope should carry into the climb when you jump into it.

One change deserves special attention because it can catch experienced players out. Jumping off a wall during a Wall Run now requires you to hold backward to activate. If you are used to jumping off walls without thinking about it, you may find that your old muscle memory does not work the same way. Spend a few minutes in a quiet area relearning that input before you try it in a fight, because a failed wall jump at the wrong moment can leave you exposed in the open.

Weapon animations were also fixed for the case where switching weapons right after throwing the Grappling Hook used to break them. That sounds minor, but in a fight it matters. You want to throw the hook, move, and then have your weapon ready without a strange animation getting in the way.

How the new Grappling Hook changes your routes

Think of routes in three parts now: approach, climb and exit. The approach is how you reach the wall, usually with a throw from the ground or a nearby ledge. The climb is the wall itself. The exit is the new part. Instead of dropping back down or stopping at the top of the wall, look for a ladder or zipline within reach while you are climbing, and plan to grab it as your exit.

This opens up routes that were awkward before. A tall building with a ladder halfway up is now a two-step climb rather than a climb, a drop and a second climb. A zipline that starts near a wall can now be reached mid-climb, which lets you cross open ground from height instead of running across it at ground level. Rooftops that used to need a long walk around a building may now be reachable with one hook throw, one climb and one ladder grab.

For new players, the best way to learn this is to pick one map and one building and practise the same route five times. Throw, climb, grab the ladder or zipline, and then drop to a safe spot. Once that sequence feels natural, try it in a real raid when you are not being chased. Do not try a brand-new vertical route for the first time while an ARC unit is shooting at you. Height is only an advantage if you can reach it calmly and leave it quickly.

For experienced players, the bigger change is in escapes. A wall climb that ends in a zipline is much harder for an enemy to follow than a straight run across flat ground. If you are being chased, climbing and then ziplining away changes your direction twice in a few seconds, which makes you harder to track. Just remember that ziplines also make noise and leave you visible in the air, so use them to break line of sight, not to fly slowly across the middle of a fight.

If you are still learning movement basics, our ARC Raiders beginner guide is a good place to start before you practise advanced hook routes.

ARC Turbine spawns: where to farm now

ARC Turbines are a resource many players plan whole raids around, so this is the change that affects farming the most. After update 1.000.065, turbines should spawn far more consistently in Buried City, Riven Tides, Blue Gate and Spaceport. In sessions where they previously only had a chance of appearing, they should now appear in the overwhelming majority of sessions, if not all of them.

At the same time, ARC Turbine spawns have been removed from standard Dam Battlegrounds sessions, and from most minor map conditions there. Dam is now a combat-focused map rather than a turbine farm. That does not mean Dam is useless. It means you should go to Dam when you want fights, loot from combat, or practice under pressure, not when your main goal is turbines.

Here is the simple before-and-after picture:

One small detail is worth knowing. The patch notes say turbines were removed from standard Dam sessions and most minor conditions, and that in the remaining eligible conditions they should now spawn in the overwhelming majority of sessions. So do not assume every single Dam session in every condition is turbine-free forever. The safe rule for planning is simple: never plan a turbine run around Dam. If you happen to find one there under a special condition, treat it as a bonus, not as your plan.

How to plan a turbine run now

Start by picking one of the four reliable maps and learning its turbine spots properly, rather than hopping between all four and knowing none of them well. Buried City is a good first choice if you like dense buildings and vertical movement, because the new Grappling Hook routes pair well with its rooftops. Spaceport is a good choice if you prefer wide, open sightlines and want to practise spotting turbines from a distance. Riven Tides and Blue Gate are strong picks if you already know their layouts and extraction points.

Plan your extraction before you start looting. Turbines are only useful if you get out with them, and the new consistency means more players will be farming the same four maps. That means more competition at popular spots and extraction points. Pick a quieter extraction route, even if it is slightly longer, and avoid fighting over a turbine if you already have enough for your current goal. A clean extraction with two turbines beats a dead raid with four.

Play in a squad if you can, and split roles. One player watches for ARC units and other Raiders while the other grabs the turbine. Solo players should move slower, check rooftops and doorways before interacting, and always have an escape route in mind. The new hook movement helps here: a climb into a zipline can be your escape plan, but only if you spotted the zipline before you started looting.

Check our ARC Raiders map guide if you want to compare map layouts before choosing your new farming map.

"To the Skies" quest fix: what it means for you

The "To the Skies" quest used to be frustrating in a very specific way. If you started the objectives on one map, your progress felt locked to that map. That forced you to return to the same place even when your squad wanted to play elsewhere, or when the map rotation did not suit your plans.

Update 1.000.065 fixes that. You can now complete "To the Skies" at any installation location, on any map, no matter where you made your earlier progress. You only need to complete the installation in one location to finish the quest. That is a quality-of-life change, not a new reward, but it removes a lot of wasted raids.

In practice, this means you should finish the quest at the first safe opportunity instead of saving it for a specific map. If your squad is already on a map with an installation location and the area is quiet, do it there. Do not extract early and requeue on a different map just because you started the quest somewhere else. The old rule no longer applies.

One piece of practical advice still applies, even with the fix. Installation objectives make you stand still and interact, which makes you an easy target. Clear the area first, have a teammate watch your back, and know your extraction route before you start. The quest is more flexible now, but the moment of installation is still the moment you are most vulnerable.

Hydra balance change: how to fight it now

The Hydra is a large ARC unit that can feel unfair when it locks onto you. Before this patch, one player could end up taking most of its fire and getting overwhelmed very quickly, while the rest of the squad watched. Update 1.000.065 changes that behaviour. The Hydra's fire now spreads across multiple Raiders instead of focusing on a single target, so the pressure is shared across the squad.

To balance that change, Embark increased the Hydra's base damage. That sounds scary, and it is meant to be. The Hydra is still a serious threat. The difference is the shape of the threat. Instead of one player being deleted while everyone else is safe, the whole squad now takes meaningful damage over time. If your team ignores the Hydra, everyone will feel it. If your team spreads out and focuses fire, no single player should be instantly overwhelmed the way they could be before.

We are not giving exact damage numbers in this guide, because the official patch notes describe the change in general terms rather than publishing a full damage table. Any site that claims an exact new damage value without an official source should be treated with caution. What matters for your gameplay is the pattern: shared fire, higher base damage, broader squad threat.

How to fight Hydra after the update

First, spread out. This is now the most important Hydra rule. If your whole squad stands close together, spreading fire does not help you, because the Hydra can still hit everyone in the same area. Keep distance between teammates, use separate pieces of cover, and avoid clustering behind the same wall or rock. When one player moves, the others should hold position and keep shooting, so the Hydra has to choose between separated targets.

Second, heal as a team, not as individuals. Before, the focused player was the only one who needed urgent healing. Now, two or three players may all be hurt at the same time. Bring enough healing for the squad, and call out when you are low instead of waiting until you are down. A squad where everyone is at half health is in more danger than it looks, because the next burst of Hydra fire can finish more than one player.

Third, do not stand still and trade shots with a Hydra in the open. Use cover, peek out to shoot, and move to a new position after each burst. The Hydra's higher base damage punishes players who stay exposed, even if the fire is spread. Cover and movement are your real defence here, not just health.

Fourth, focus fire when you decide to fight. A Hydra that is allowed to shoot your whole squad for a long time will wear you down. If you commit to the fight, everyone should shoot the same target, aim for weak points where possible, and keep pressure on until it goes down. If you are low on ammo, healing or cover, it is better to leave early than to stay and slowly lose the whole squad. Retreating from a Hydra is not cowardly. It is often the smartest play, especially when you are carrying valuable loot.

Solo players need a different plan. You cannot spread fire across a squad if you are alone, so you should be even more careful about range and cover. Fight a Hydra only when you have strong cover, a clear escape route and enough healing. If you do not have all three, skip the fight and come back with a squad. The patch makes group Hydra fights fairer, but it does not make solo Hydra fights easy.

Other fixes worth knowing about

Beyond the four headline changes, update 1.000.065 fixes a few problems that used to ruin good raids. Frigate cargo drops should no longer eject players unfairly or burn riders during descent, except near the landing zone where heat is expected. Moving platforms inside the Emperor should stay in sync more reliably. Tether Launchers can now be repaired in round, which is a small fix with a big effect if you rely on them for movement or utility.

Pendola Pass also gets attention. A collision problem that could trap players inside the Fallen Emperor is fixed, enemy presence is increased slightly, and lighting and reflections are improved for clearer visibility. Several spots where players could get stuck or fall through terrain are fixed as well. If Pendola Pass felt rough around the edges after Frozen Trail, this patch should feel smoother.

On the technical side, the patch reduces memory use from loot spawning systems and optimises Frigate interiors, which should help stability during long rounds. It also rebalances Reward Pass Feats by adding new ones, removing some old ones and adjusting others, so your Feat progress may look a little different after the update. None of this changes your core strategy, but it is worth knowing so you are not surprised when a familiar Feat is gone or a new one appears.

Tips: what to do differently from today

• Relearn wall jumps first. Practise the new hold-backward Wall Run jump in a safe area before you rely on it in a fight.
• Chain your climbs. Look for a ladder or zipline while wall climbing, and treat it as your exit, not as a separate move.
• Move turbine farming off Dam. Pick Buried City, Riven Tides, Blue Gate or Spaceport, and learn one of them properly.
• Finish "To the Skies" anywhere. Take the first safe installation chance instead of waiting for a specific map.
• Spread out against Hydra. Separate cover, shared healing and focused fire beat standing together every time.
• Extract with what you have. More consistent turbines mean more competition, so a clean extraction beats a greedy one.
• Check your blueprints and gear after the patch. If you are saving turbines for crafting, see what you can build now on our ARC Raiders blueprints guide.

Common mistakes after update 1.000.065

The most common mistake is also the most understandable: going back to Dam for turbines out of habit. If you have farmed Dam for weeks, your fingers will take you there automatically. Break the habit on purpose. Set your next three raids on the four reliable maps, and only return to Dam when you actually want combat.

The second mistake is clustering against Hydra. Old habits say to group up behind the biggest piece of cover. New Hydra behaviour punishes that, because its fire spreads and its base damage is higher. If you die as a group behind one rock, the problem was probably positioning, not bad luck.

The third mistake is trying a new Grappling Hook route for the first time under fire. The new movement is powerful, but only when it is automatic. Practise routes when you are safe, so that when you are chased, your hands already know the sequence.

The fourth mistake is delaying the "To the Skies" quest. Some players will keep waiting for the "right" map out of habit, even though the quest can now be finished anywhere. If the opportunity is safe, take it. Flexibility only helps if you actually use it.

The fifth mistake is trusting exact numbers from unofficial sources. If a video or post claims a precise new Hydra damage value or turbine spawn percentage, check whether it cites an official source. Update 1.000.065 describes turbine consistency in general terms, such as the overwhelming majority of sessions, rather than a fixed percentage. Treat any exact percentage you see elsewhere as unconfirmed unless Embark itself publishes it.

Troubleshooting

The update is not downloading

First, check that your platform has enough free storage, then fully close and restart the game and your launcher or console. Updates sometimes appear only after a restart, especially on consoles. If the download still does not start, check your internet connection and try again after a few minutes, because patch-day servers can be busy. If the game launches but still shows the old behaviour, confirm the version number in the game menus or launcher. I could not verify a single universal version display location for all three platforms, so check your platform's usual update and version screen rather than guessing from gameplay alone.

The game crashes or stutters after updating

Restart the game first, and then restart your console or PC if the problem continues. The patch includes memory and stability fixes, but a fresh restart after a large update still helps clear old cached data. If crashes happen mainly in Frigate interiors, note the exact situation and check for a follow-up hotfix, since that area was specifically optimised in this patch. Lowering graphics settings temporarily can also help while you test whether the problem is performance-related.

"To the Skies" still will not complete

Make sure you are completing the full installation in one location, because the fix removes the map lock, not the installation requirement itself. Try the quest on a different map if your first attempt fails, since that is exactly what the fix is meant to allow. Also check that you are tracking the correct quest and that you have not mixed it up with a different objective. If it still fails after a clean attempt on a fresh map, restart the game and try once more before reporting it, because quest trackers can lag behind the actual in-game state.

Turbines are not spawning where you expect

First, confirm you are on Buried City, Riven Tides, Blue Gate or Spaceport, not Dam Battlegrounds. Dam no longer has turbines in standard sessions, so a Dam run with no turbines is working as intended, not a bug. On the four reliable maps, remember that "far more consistent" does not mean guaranteed in every single session. If one raid has no turbine, that alone does not prove the patch is broken. Try two or three raids on the same map before concluding that something is wrong.

Hydra feels harder, not easier

That feeling is normal, and it does not mean you are playing badly. The Hydra's fire is now spread, which helps the single most-targeted player, but its base damage is higher, which hurts the whole squad if you stay exposed. If Hydra fights feel harder, the fix is usually positioning: spread out more, use cover between bursts, heal earlier, and leave fights you cannot win. Do not judge the change from one fight. Judge it from three or four squad fights where everyone spreads out on purpose.

Final verdict: is this a good update?

Yes, for most players. Update 1.000.065 does not add a new map or mode, but it fixes the kind of problems that affect every raid. Movement feels smoother, turbine farming is more predictable, a frustrating quest is more flexible, and Hydra fights are fairer for squads. The Dam change will annoy players who loved farming there, but it also gives Dam a clearer identity as a combat map, and the four replacement maps are genuinely more reliable for turbines now.

The best response is simple. Learn one new Grappling Hook route, move your farming to a reliable map, finish "To the Skies" at the next safe chance, and spread out the next time a Hydra appears. Do those four things, and this patch will feel like an upgrade from your very first raid after updating. Good luck out there, Raider, and extract safe.