Collin is a Guides Staff Writer at TheGamer who has been writing guides for nearly ten years. He is also a professional game/level designer. More importantly, he’s still waiting for a new Ape Escape game to release.
A new update for Arc Raiders has just launched, and you might want to pack some snowshoes because winter has arrived on topside. Dubbed the “Cold Snap” update, this introduces new quests, map conditions, and the Flickering Flames event for players to complete.
Bringing some new free content for all players to enjoy and some cosmetics to chase, here’s everything you need to know about the Flickering Flames event.
Cold Snap Event
Perhaps the most substantial change arriving is a new map condition that sees these levels absolutely covered in snow and freezing winds. While this makes for some striking visuals, it actually introduces new gameplay elements as well. Unlike most of the weather in Arc Raiders, the snowstorm you’ll be stuck in can directly damage your health if you’re outside too long.
This will force you to move between covered shelters, as staying out in the snow too long will begin to drain your health. You can tell when it’s about to start affecting your Raider as they will rub their hands together, shiver, and their body will begin to become covered in snow. To avoid these effects, head to a building to warm yourself up.
It’s easy to tell when it’s working as the snow on your Raider will begin to melt, indicating you are no longer under the conditions of frostbite. Keep in mind, not all rundown shacks are the same, as some won’t provide enough insulation to stay warm. Pay attention to your character, because if they’re still shivering, then you’re still going to take damage.
You can also find snowball piles and make snowballs to throw at people! They don’t really do anything, but who doesn’t love a good snowball fight?
The big driver for the event, the Flickering Flames Project, tasks you with completing an Expedition-esque series of tasks to donate objects to the celebration. This includes a bunch of materials you’ve seen before, such as Empty Wine Bottles, Durable Cloth, and Plastic. Unsurprisingly, this means a bunch of those items you never thought you needed will suddenly have an actual use and a reason for you to hold onto them.
Here’s a breakdown of each step and what you’ll need to progress:
Remember, once you commit something to this event, you will permanently lose it, so make sure you can actually spare the materials you find. Thankfully, a lot of these don’t have a ton of alternate uses, so they can be safely committed without fear of needing them later. Additionally, you will earn Merits, Raider Tokens, and physical items you can use in raids for completing each of the individual steps!
Where To Find Candleberries
Candleberries are the new, event-specific material introduced in this update. Tied exclusively to the Cold Snap event, players will need a whopping 260 Candleberries if you plan on completing this event from end to end.
Now this sounds like a lot, but you can actually shave off a lot of them since you can obtain 180 Candleberries by just leveling up the Gathering Candleberries event rewards track. You can level up the rewards track by simply earning Merrits, which are given out by just earning XP while playing the game or completing specific steps in the Flickering Flames project.
Additionally, Candleberries can be found in the wild on any map with the Cold Snap event active. In the snowstorms, you can find bushes with bright red berries that can be looted. These will produce around 1-3 Candleberries each, and they are often clumped close to one another.
Raider Caches in Cold Snap events are another good way to find them, as they usually have between 3–5 Candleberries each, making them absolutely worth the extra time to open. Finally, you can also find Candleberries in rare baskets scattered around Nature-themed points of interest, and they often yield the highest number of berries.
Some of my favorite places to hunt for Candleberries are:
In and around Hydroponic Dome Complex on Dam Battlegrounds
The final part of the Flicker Flames event is a new reward tracker that you can earn a bunch of cosmetics (and Candleberries!) by completing. Made up of 25 individual rewards, players can progress through the tracker only by earning Merits.
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These are given out at the end of each match, with every 100 XP equaling a single Merit. Given a good run, with a decent amount of ARC and enemy Raiders killed, can earn you thousands of XP. This will be the primary source for all the Merits you earn, and it’s not something you should worry too much about, since you’ll passively earn enough of these by just playing the game.
You can also earn several thousand Merits by just completing specific steps in the Flickering Flames project. For example, committing 3 Light Bulbs will net you 1,000 Merit. While you cannot rely on this to fully complete the Gathering Candleberries tracker, it’s a good way to supplement your Merit intake.
The event is currently live for 27 days, so you have plenty of time to actually earn all your Merits and these rewards. As mentioned previously, don’t worry too much about the amount of Merits you’re earning. So long as you are playing the game, you will simply earn enough to complete the event in time. Put your focus more towards finding the key items for the Flickering Flames project!
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