The Dolabra is the most-talked-about weapon to come out of the Flashpoint update — and for good reason. This legendary energy shotgun packs a dual-fire mode that lets you switch between a wide electrical burst and a focused armor-piercing beam, making it devastatingly effective in both PvP and PvE. If you’ve seen another Raider melt your shields in two hits and wondered what they were running, it was almost certainly this.
Getting the Dolabra isn’t as simple as buying it from a vendor or looting it from a chest. The blueprint is locked behind one of the most dangerous map conditions in the game, and even once you have it, the crafting requirements will send you back into the danger zone. This guide walks you through every step — where to find the blueprint, how to farm it efficiently, what materials you need to craft it, and how to use it once it’s in your hands.
What Is the Dolabra in Arc Raiders?
The Dolabra is a Legendary energy shotgun introduced with the Flashpoint update on March 31, 2026. It runs on Energy Clips rather than standard shotgun shells, carries eight rounds in a semi-automatic configuration, and sits at 100 durability baseline.
What separates it from every other shotgun in the game is the variable focus firing mechanism:
- Hipfire mode fires a wide cone of electricity — ideal for close-range crowd control and ARC enemies in tight spaces.
- Aim Down Sights (ADS) mode collapses that spread into a tight, focused beam capable of punching through heavy armor plating.
This isn’t just a novelty. The two firing modes give the Dolabra genuine versatility that no other shotgun can match. Against the Vaporizer and Shredder, the focused beam is especially effective. In PvP, the wide burst can be swapped in to obliterate shields at close range. The community has already placed it firmly in S-tier for close-range engagements, and a nerf window is only a matter of time.
One more notable detail: the Dolabra is the first Legendary weapon in Arc Raiders that does not require a Queen or Matriarch core to craft. That makes it more accessible than weapons like the Equalizer — though the crafting materials are still rare enough to require targeted farming.
Where to Find the Dolabra Blueprint
The Dolabra blueprint drops from ARC Assessor containers, and those containers only appear during the Close Scrutiny ARC Operation map condition.
What Is Close Scrutiny?
Close Scrutiny is a major map condition introduced alongside the Flashpoint update. It rotates on an approximately hourly schedule across four of the five current Rust Belt maps: Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and Blue Gate. Stella Montis is the only map excluded, as its indoor bunker layout does not support the Assessor’s open-air landing mechanic.
When Close Scrutiny is active, the usual map loot is significantly reduced. The Assessors — the large three-legged ARC probe platforms that drop from the sky — become the primary loot source for the entire session.
Check your world map before queuing. You need to confirm Close Scrutiny is active before loading into a match, or you will not encounter a single Assessor.
What Are Assessors and How Do You Breach Them?
Assessors are massive ARC platforms that descend from orbit after a Surveyor calls them in. Once they land, they emit three large red vertical beams visible from almost anywhere on the map. Follow the beams on foot or use your compass marker — they will point you directly to the landing site.
Each Assessor has three breach containers, one at the end of each arm. Every container you open is an independent roll for the Dolabra blueprint. That gives you three chances per Assessor — one of the better odds in the game for a Legendary drop, though it is still not guaranteed.
Warning: Assessors are heavily defended. Vaporizers — the large aerial ARC drones introduced in Flashpoint — circle each landing zone in numbers. Other Raiders will also be racing to the same Assessor. Arriving first is an advantage, but arriving unprepared is a fast way to lose your loadout.
To understand how Vaporizers behave and where to engage them safely, check out the detailed Arc Raiders Vaporizer location and Regulator guide on 8BitToast.
Two Strategies for Farming the Blueprint
The Dolabra blueprint is not a guaranteed drop. Some players report finding it within the first few Assessors. Others go through more than fifteen without seeing it. The drop rate is on the lower end for a Legendary, so your farming strategy matters.
Strategy 1: Speed Run (Low Loadout)
This approach minimizes your gear loss per attempt at the cost of combat effectiveness:
- Bring a minimal loadout — smoke grenades, adrenaline shots, and a Photoelectric Cloak in your safe pocket.
- Race to the Assessor before other Raiders arrive. The Photoelectric Cloak lets you turn invisible to ARC enemies, giving you time to breach the first container without triggering the full Vaporizer swarm.
- Safe-pocket the blueprint the moment you find it, then surrender and requeue immediately.
- If the blueprint does not appear after breaching one container, you have two choices: reposition for a second container or extract and requeue.
This approach is efficient but only gets you one container at a time per attempt. It works best for players who are still building out their stash and cannot afford to lose high-tier gear.
Strategy 2: Full Kit (Maximum Containers Per Run)
This approach requires proper gear but maximizes your blueprint chances per session:
- Bring a strong ARC-killing primary — the Hullcracker or Aphelion are solid choices for dealing with Vaporizers efficiently.
- Pair it with an S-tier secondary like the Venator or Bobcat for PvP situations, since other Raiders will be competing for the same Assessor loot.
- Pack Herbal Bandages, Vita Shots, Vita Spray, and Shield Rechargers — Vaporizer thermal lasers drain health quickly.
- Fight through all three containers per Assessor for three blueprint rolls per landing zone.
- When you find the blueprint, safe-pocket it immediately and decide whether to extract or push a second Assessor.
The full kit strategy is higher risk but significantly improves your expected number of blueprint rolls per hour of farming. If you have gear to spare and a solid loadout, this is the more efficient option over time.
Crafting the Dolabra: Materials and Requirements
Once you extract the blueprint, learn it at Speranza, then head to your Gunsmith Station. You need a Level 3 Gunsmith Station before you can craft the Dolabra — lower levels will not unlock the recipe.
Crafting Materials Required
| Material | Quantity | How to Get It |
|---|---|---|
| Shredder Gyro | 3x | Loot from destroyed Shredders (now on all maps post-Flashpoint) |
| Magnetic Accelerator | 3x | Found in Stella Montis, or guaranteed drop from Matriarchs and Queens |
| Vaporizer Regulator | 2x | Drops from Vaporizers during Close Scrutiny |
Where to Farm Each Material
Shredder Gyro: The Flashpoint update spread Shredders to Blue Gate, Buried City, Spaceport, and Dam Battlegrounds, making Gyros the most accessible of the three materials. Farm them on any map during regular raids or pick them up passively while running Close Scrutiny for the blueprint.
Magnetic Accelerator: These are Exodus-tier materials primarily found in Stella Montis or as guaranteed drops from high-tier ARC bosses — Matriarchs and Queens. If you have been running any endgame content, you may already have a few stockpiled.
Vaporizer Regulator: The trickiest material. Vaporizers only spawn during Close Scrutiny, and the Regulators only drop from the Vaporizer enemy itself. The good news: if you are farming Assessors for the blueprint anyway, Vaporizers are everywhere during those runs. A useful tip from the community — when an Assessor breach triggers an ARC wave, other Raiders often kill the Vaporizers but forget to loot the wreckage. Check each destroyed Vaporizer fragment before moving on.
Do not sell Vaporizer Regulators. They are also required for the High-Gain Antenna community project added in the Flashpoint update, and contributing to that project is the only way to earn Raider Tokens for the Wasp Hunter Set and unlock permanent crafting bench upgrades.
For a full breakdown of Vaporizer farming tactics and Regulator drop rates, the Arc Raiders Vaporizer and Regulator guide covers everything in detail.
Ammo: Energy Clips
The Dolabra does not use standard shotgun shells. It runs on Energy Clips — a separate ammo type that does not stack with anything else in your loadout.
You have two ways to keep stocked:
- Craft them at your Workbench using Advanced ARC Powercells and Batteries.
- Purchase them from Tian Wen for 3,000 coins per clip.
Both options are on the expensive side. Stock up before heading into a Close Scrutiny run where you plan to actively use the Dolabra. Running dry mid-engagement is a painful experience.
Is the Dolabra Worth It?
The short answer: yes, and the window to enjoy it at its current strength may be closing.
In PvP, the focused ADS mode can drain shields in two hits from close-to-mid range. Against ARC enemies, particularly the Vaporizer and the Shredder, it outperforms every other shotgun in the game. The hipfire burst mode handles grouped enemies cleanly, while the focused beam is one of the few tools in the game that makes a Vaporizer manageable solo.
The Dolabra is also notable for requiring no Queen or Matriarch core, which historically gated Legendary weapons behind boss-kill requirements that forced squad play. The Dolabra’s crafting path is more achievable for solo players willing to grind the right events.
Community consensus currently places it S-tier for close-range builds, and a balance adjustment is widely anticipated in an upcoming patch. If you want to experience the Dolabra at full strength, sooner is better.
Tips for Using the Dolabra in Arc Raiders
Switch firing modes deliberately. Hipfire is for crowd control at close range. ADS is for single targets, heavy armor, and any situation where precision matters more than spread. Do not ADS into a swarm and do not hipfire at long range — both are common mistakes.
Prioritize Vaporizers before breaching Assessors. The Dolabra’s focused beam disrupts Vaporizer flight sensors, which can temporarily ground them for a faster finish. Clearing the air before triggering a breach makes the entire fight significantly more manageable.
Safe-pocket the blueprint as soon as you find it. This sounds obvious, but extraction pressure during a Close Scrutiny run is real. The moment the blueprint is in your inventory, it goes into your safe pocket. Losing it to another Raider — or to a poorly timed Vaporizer — after a long farm session is exactly as painful as it sounds. Check our Arc Raiders extraction guide for smart exfil strategies after a successful Assessor run.
Manage your Energy Clips actively. Unlike standard ammo types, Energy Clips are expensive to replace. Track your remaining rounds between engagements and avoid firing into situations where you will waste shots.
Watch for the Riven Tides meta shift. The Riven Tides update is confirmed for April 28, bringing a new map, a new large ARC enemy type, and a third Expedition window. New content often comes with balance adjustments. If the Dolabra receives changes in Riven Tides, this guide will be updated accordingly.
Quick Summary
- The Dolabra is a Legendary energy shotgun added in the Flashpoint update (March 31, 2026).
- The blueprint drops from Assessor containers during the Close Scrutiny map condition only.
- Close Scrutiny rotates hourly across Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and Blue Gate.
- Each Assessor has three containers, each an independent blueprint roll.
- To craft it, you need a Level 3 Gunsmith Station and: 3x Shredder Gyro, 3x Magnetic Accelerator, 2x Vaporizer Regulator.
- It runs on Energy Clips — craft them or buy from Tian Wen for 3,000 coins each.
- Currently S-tier for close-range PvP; a nerf is widely anticipated.
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