The Shrouded Sky update landed in Arc Raiders on February 24, 2026, and it completely changed how topside runs feel. Gone is the relatively calm post-apocalyptic surface of the Rust Belt — in its place, a raging hurricane tears across Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Blue Gate, and Spaceport, bringing gale-force winds, reduced visibility, flying debris, and two terrifying new ARC enemies.
If you’ve been caught off-guard by the storm and wondering how to actually survive it — let alone profit from it — this guide breaks down everything: how each Hurricane mechanic works, how to deal with the Firefly and Comet ARCs, where to find First Wave Raider Caches, and the tactical adjustments that separate clean extractions from gear wipes.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Shrouded Sky Update?
- Hurricane Map Condition Explained
- Wind Mechanics: Tailwinds vs. Headwinds
- Debris and Your Shield
- Low Visibility: Risk and Reward
- New ARC Enemies: Firefly and Comet
- How to Beat the Firefly
- How to Beat the Comet
- First Wave Raider Caches: What They Are and Where to Find Them
- Best Loadout for the Hurricane
- Weather Monitoring System Project
- Hurricane Survival Tips Summary
What Is the Shrouded Sky Update?
Arc Raiders launched on October 30, 2025, and Embark Studios committed to monthly content updates under the Escalation roadmap for 2026. Shrouded Sky is the second update in that roadmap, following Cold Snap (January) and Headwinds. It is available free across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
The update’s headlining features include:
- Hurricane map condition — a new dynamic weather system affecting outdoor maps
- Firefly and Comet — two brand-new ARC enemy types
- First Wave Raider Caches — hurricane-exclusive, high-tier loot containers
- Surgeon Raider Deck — the third free Raider Deck in the game
- Controlled Access Zone at Dam Battlegrounds — a new high-value contested area marked by the Rocketeer chandelier
- Weather Monitoring System — a limited-time community Player Project running through March 31, 2026
- Expedition Window overhaul, facial hair cosmetics, and weapon balance changes
Embark has framed Shrouded Sky as a key chapter in the Escalation narrative — the in-universe explanation is that Speranza is locked down, Shani is urging everyone underground, and Raiders are, naturally, ignoring the warnings and heading Topside anyway.
Hurricane Map Condition Explained
The Hurricane is a rotating, time-limited map condition that can activate on the following outdoor maps:
- Dam Battlegrounds
- Buried City
- Blue Gate
- Spaceport
It does not appear on Stella Montis, which lacks the outdoor terrain the hurricane system requires.
When active, the Hurricane introduces four interconnected gameplay mechanics that affect every aspect of a run: directional wind, airborne debris, reduced visibility, and altered audio. This is not a visual filter or atmosphere reskin. Each mechanic has real, tangible effects on movement, stealth, combat, and loot strategy.
The Embark team’s official summary puts it plainly: the Hurricane turns the storm itself into a gameplay system. If you treat it like any other weather, you will lose your gear.
Wind Mechanics: Tailwinds vs. Headwinds
Wind direction is the defining Hurricane mechanic and the first thing you need to internalize before heading Topside.
Tailwinds (running with the wind) give you a speed boost and reduce stamina consumption by roughly 20%. Use these stretches to cross open ground quickly, rotate between objectives, and sprint to extraction. Tailwind routes are your efficiency engine.
Headwinds (running against the wind) slow you down noticeably and increase stamina drain by approximately 30%. Avoid sprinting directly into a headwind unless absolutely necessary. Repositioning against the gale without a plan will exhaust your stamina and leave you exposed.
Beyond your own movement, wind also affects throwables. Grenades, smoke, gas, and explosive charges all drift in the wind’s direction, altering their trajectories from what you’re used to. The same applies to jumping — the gale will push airborne Raiders in unexpected directions. Adapting your grenade throws to the wind early in a Hurricane run will give you a significant edge over Raiders who are still lobbing them straight.
Practical tip: Before you drop into a Hurricane raid, check the wind indicator and mentally plot your route to favor tailwinds on the way to your primary loot zone, and plan a headwind-aware exit toward extraction. Avoid sprinting in headwinds unless you’re in immediate danger.
Debris and Your Shield
The second major Hurricane mechanic is flying debris — and it has a counterintuitive twist that catches many players off-guard.
As the storm rips across the Rust Belt, it sends dirt, metal fragments, and surface wreckage hurling across the map. When this debris hits your energy shield, it causes visual glitches and sparks. Over time, each impact degrades your shield’s durability, meaning your shield drains faster outdoors during a hurricane than it ever would in normal conditions.
But here is the real danger: the sparking and flickering your shield produces makes you significantly more visible to other Raiders. In low-visibility conditions where everyone is already struggling to spot enemies, a glitching shield acts like a beacon. Wearing it in open terrain during heavy winds can actively work against you.
This creates a genuine tactical decision:
| Situation | Recommended Action |
|---|---|
| Crossing open ground with high player traffic | Remove shield — you’re a harder target without sparks |
| Tight corridors or indoor sections | Keep shield on — debris doesn’t reach indoors |
| Close-range ARC encounter | Keep shield on — extra health matters here |
| Stealth extraction with heavy loot | Remove shield — avoid drawing attention |
To quickly toggle your shield, double-click it in your inventory on PC, press X on PlayStation, or Square on Xbox. Practice this swap so it becomes second nature during a Hurricane run.
A practical counter to shield drain is to bring extra shield rechargers and time your outdoor exposure. Ducking indoors periodically resets debris exposure and slows shield degradation significantly.
Low Visibility: Risk and Reward
The Hurricane’s third mechanic — reduced visibility from low clouds and airborne dust — cuts both ways.
On the threat side: long-range engagements become unreliable, ARC units can ambush you more easily, and you cannot rely purely on visual spotting. Audio awareness becomes critical. Listen through the wind for mechanical ARC signatures, footsteps, sliding debris, and the echo direction of gunfire. Equip headphones if you play on console — the directional audio cues matter more during a Hurricane than in any other map condition.
On the opportunity side: the same fog that hides enemies also hides you. This update heavily rewards a patient, positioning-focused playstyle. Raiders who drop their shields and move deliberately through the storm become genuinely difficult to detect. You can flank distracted squads, ghost past ARC patrols, and extract quietly with a loaded safe pocket — all because the storm gives you cover.
The Hurricane favors patience and positioning over brute-force aggression. If your standard playstyle is to rush objectives and fight everything in your path, Shrouded Sky will punish that routine.
New ARC Enemies: Firefly and Comet
Alongside the Hurricane, Shrouded Sky introduces two new ARC enemies that fundamentally change how you approach outdoor combat. Both spawn on all outdoor maps — not just during Hurricane events — and both drop unique components needed for the Weather Monitoring System Player Project.
How to Beat the Firefly
The Firefly is a flying ARC drone that combines the aerial mobility of a Hornet with a devastating close-range flamethrower. Think of it as a Hornet on steroids.
Key characteristics:
- Armored flying unit with 360° armor plating
- Emits a continuous jet of flame that deals heavy fire damage
- Forces rapid repositioning or cover usage
- Requires vertical awareness — it flies above ground level and attacks from difficult angles
- During Hurricane conditions, its reduced visibility makes it harder to spot until it’s already on top of you
How to defeat it:
- Prioritize breaking the turbines before it closes distance. Once the turbines are damaged, the Firefly becomes less mobile and easier to finish.
- Use hard cover and elevation to limit the flamethrower’s effective angle. Doorways, tall structures, and corners all work in your favor.
- Bring mid-range weapons with good armor penetration — light ammo chips away slowly while it burns you.
- Never stay in the open against a Firefly. The flame stream will kill you quickly in exposed ground.
The Firefly drops a Firefly Burner component on death, which feeds directly into Stage 2 of the Weather Monitoring System Project.
How to Beat the Comet
The Comet is a spherical, ground-based ARC unit — a much more lethal variant of the Pop ARC. It patrols calmly until it detects a Raider, then locks on and charges toward them before detonating in a massive seismic explosion.
The critical mechanic to understand: if the Comet detonates before you kill it, the Comet Igniter it carries is destroyed. You must burst it down before it reaches you.
Visual identification:
- Single front light and a glowing top strip
- Strip is yellow while patrolling
- Strip turns red when it detects you — that’s your signal to immediately open fire
How to defeat it:
- Spot it before it spots you — engage while the strip is still yellow
- Take elevated or elevated cover positions to slow its approach
- When it charges, its plating opens to expose a vulnerable core — target this core for increased damage
- Use high-impact weapons: the Hullcracker is considered the most efficient option (1–3 hits), followed by the Anvil, Ferro, and Bettina
- After the kill, loot both the outer ring (common ARC parts) and the central core (Comet Igniter)
Note: a visual glitch occasionally makes the core appear empty even when it contains loot. Interact with it anyway if you killed the Comet before detonation.
If you’re struggling with the Comet Igniter farm, check out our detailed guide on how to get the Comet Igniter in Arc Raiders, which covers every spawn location and the best weapons for a clean kill.
For players dealing with the Rocketeer alongside these new enemies during a Hurricane raid, our Arc Raiders Rocketeer Driver guide covers the safest methods for extracting that high-value component without losing your gear.
First Wave Raider Caches: What They Are and Where to Find Them
First Wave Raider Caches — nicknamed “Hurricane Caches” by the community — are the defining loot opportunity of the Shrouded Sky update. They only spawn during an active Hurricane event and replace normal Raider Caches at their existing spawn locations on outdoor maps.
What They Drop
The loot pool for First Wave Caches is dramatically better than standard runs:
- Purple-tier weapon blueprints: Tempest, Bobcat, Vulcano, Bettina (community data suggests roughly 60% of caches contain at least one blueprint)
- Tier 3–4 weapons: Renegade 4, Anvil 4, Tempest 4
- Premium healing: Vitashots, Sterilized Bandages, Defibs
- High-tier mods: Magnetic Accelerators, Exodus Modules
- Coins: Experienced players report 150,000+ coins per run, with efficient multi-cache routes reaching 500K+ credits per hour
How to Identify a First Wave Cache
First Wave Caches emit the same electric ticking sound as regular Raider Caches, but wind noise makes them harder to pick up during a Hurricane. Use headphones. Stop 30–50 meters from known spawn clusters and listen carefully before approaching. The ticking is a faint alarm-clock-like pulse — distinct from wind and debris sounds once you know what to listen for.
Where They Spawn (By Map)
Dam Battlegrounds — Highest cache density of any outdoor map. The Controlled Access Zone added in Shrouded Sky contains particularly high-value loot, marked by the Rocketeer chandelier. Efficient farming routes through multiple cache clusters are possible here.
Blue Gate — Highly recommended by the community, especially for beginners. High concentration of First Wave Cache spawns and a relatively straightforward layout make rotation efficient.
Buried City — Stick to central areas, especially the Town Hall to Plaza Rosa corridor, which has been identified by multiple players as a reliable blueprint hotspot. Avoid map edges — spawn clusters are too spread out relative to the hurricane timer.
Spaceport — Viable, particularly in the open sections of the facility grounds. Cache density is lower than Dam or Blue Gate.
Stella Montis — No First Wave Caches. Hurricane events do not affect this indoor map.
Farming Tips
- Use a lightweight or “naked” kit on cache runs. There’s no point risking a full loadout if your only goal is First Wave Caches. Zero gear lost on death means you can hit multiple clusters per session without consequence.
- Plan multi-cluster routes. Hitting several cache spawn points in a single raid dramatically improves blueprint odds per hour.
- Cache spawns are randomized each raid within the same fixed marker locations. Checking the same spot twice in one run won’t respawn anything.
- First Wave Caches spawn once per raid. Once opened, they’re gone for that session.
- Avoid over-encumbrance. Going in with a full inventory means you’ll have to drop items to fit First Wave Cache loot, or waste valuable time clearing space under pressure.
Best Loadout for the Hurricane
The Hurricane fundamentally shifts optimal loadout composition toward shorter-range, close-quarters setups.
Why: Reduced visibility makes most long-range engagements unreliable, and the new ARC enemies (Firefly and Comet) demand burst damage up close. Most engagements during a Hurricane happen at distances where your short-range weapon’s disadvantages don’t matter.
Recommended adjustments:
- Swap long-range rifles for reliable mid-to-short-range weapons. SMGs, shotguns, and compact ARs all perform more consistently than snipers in Hurricane conditions.
- Bring armor-penetrating options — you will fight Comets and Fireflies, both of which have heavy plating.
- Extra shield rechargers are worth a slot — debris drain is real, and going shieldless for an entire run is a risky proposition against Comet explosions and Firefly flame.
- Seeker Grenades pair well against Comets, helping you shave health off quickly before it closes distance.
- Wolfpack Grenades are the opener of choice against Rocketeers you encounter en route to caches.
- Audio awareness replaces visual scouting — play with the sound mix adjusted and prioritize headsets.
Weather Monitoring System Project
Alongside the Hurricane mechanics, Shrouded Sky introduced a limited-time community Player Project running from February 24 to March 31, 2026. The project tasks all Raiders collectively with contributing specific topside materials to help Speranza NPC Shani build a weather monitoring system.
The five-stage project rewards included gameplay items, 250 Raider Tokens, and the Anemometer Backpack Charmon full completion.
Key materials tied to the project: Comet Igniters (from Comets) and Firefly Burners (from Fireflies) were required for specific stages. This gave players a direct incentive to learn and repeatedly engage both new ARC enemies rather than avoiding them.
Note: as the project ran through March 31, 2026, the community rewards phase has concluded. However, the Hurricane map condition and both ARC enemy types remain in the game as permanent additions to the rotation.
Hurricane Survival Tips Summary
Here’s a condensed reference for every tactic covered in this guide:
Movement:
- Always check wind direction before planning your route
- Use tailwinds for crossing open ground; plan headwind stretches carefully
- Avoid sprinting directly into headwinds — the stamina drain is severe
- Factor wind drift into all throwable trajectories
Shield Management:
- Drop your shield in open terrain with heavy debris and high player traffic
- Keep it on for indoor sections, ARC encounters, and close-range fights
- Use the quick-swap shortcut (double-click on PC, X on PS, Square on Xbox)
- Bring extra shield rechargers for longer runs
Visibility:
- Treat reduced visibility as both a threat and an opportunity
- Rely on audio rather than visuals to track enemies and Raiders
- Move stealthily through the storm when loaded with loot
- Use headphones for directional audio cues
New ARCs:
- Firefly: prioritize turbines, use cover, avoid open ground during flame attacks
- Comet: engage early while strip is yellow, target exposed core during charge, loot the central core
First Wave Caches:
- Only spawn during active Hurricane events
- Use a light kit on dedicated cache runs
- Listen for the electric ticking sound with headphones
- Focus on Dam Battlegrounds and Blue Gate for best density
Surviving the Hurricane in Arc Raiders Shrouded Sky is less about raw gear and more about adapting your approach to the storm itself. The Raiders who come out ahead are the ones who treat the wind as a tool, the debris as a stealth system, and the chaos as cover. Drop in prepared, and the storm will be worth every risk.
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