ARC Raiders has been knocking it out of the park lately with regards to updates and optimizations. The third person survival shooter also unveiled ‘Shrouded Sky’, a numbered version update (v1.17.0) which brings with it plenty of optimizations.
The patch also makes some small changes in terms of the anti cheat employed, and should serve as a way to ensure stricter crackdowns on cheaters and hackers, which have been a bit of a problem.
ARC Raiders Shrouded Sky Patch Notes, Summarized
ARC Raiders recently unveiled the full patch notes for v1.17.0, a major (and mandatory) version update for the game. The update is live as of the time of writing this article, and you’ll have to restart your game client after the download finishes to access the updated, patched version. This is necessary, since you can only matchmake with players on the same, updated client.
Going back to the contents, here’s the most important few bits:
- A new Hurricane map condition
- Two brand new ARC variants
- A seasonal player project, the Weather Monitoring System
- Dam Battlegrounds map update
- A free Raider deck
- An Expedition Window
- The most important addition of all time, being able to customize your facial hair
- Weapon balance for Kettle, Venator, Jupiter, Stitcher and Aphelion
- Pianos are now intractable world objects
- NVIDIA Freestyle Filters cannot be all enabled simultaneously
- You can now reroll Feats three times a day for free
- PvP Feats have been removed entirely
- New Feats have been added, and older ones have been updated
- Ziplines cannot be placed on carryable objects any longer
- Mines, traps and remote flares cannot be placed on ziplines anymore
It’s a pretty significant patch, all things considered. The weapon balance changes and zipline fixes made the game a lot more enjoyable, and are a welcome addition.
How This Affects The Anti Cheat Implementation
In a nutshell, by a little. Arc Raiders uses East Anti Cheat (EAC), a popular anti cheat solution that is compatible with a wide range of systems, including alternative operating systems such as Linux.
Unfortunately, EAC isn’t the most bulletproof anti cheat solution out there, and a large part of the additional work is left up to the developer to fix by themselves. Going on in the official Shrouded Sky patch notes, the team acknowledged the challenges involved in developing a fool proof anti cheat.
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Due to the complex nature of anti cheat detection systems (and of false positives), there really is no quick and simple solution for this. Anti cheat solutions take some time to work and develop, so the team needs more time to work out on something better.
That being said, the team has already employed strict actions against suspected and convicted cheaters. A more serious offense might result in a permanent ban, but lighter punishments might incur a one time only account.
Arc Raiders appears to be fully committed to the fight, and will ensure a ban on cheaters as effectively as they can.
