I wasn't even planning on grinding tonight, but Update 1.11.0 dropped on January 13 and I caved. I jumped in "for one raid," checked my stash, skimmed a couple notes, and ended up running hours. If you've been tracking builds and hunting ARC Raiders BluePrint routes, you'll notice it fast: the pace of fights feels different now, and the game's got that sweaty, heart-in-your-throat tension again.
Kettle Feels Like A Different Gun
The big one is the Kettle nerf, and yeah, you can feel it in your hands. The fire rate drop from around 600 to about 450 RPM doesn't just lower damage, it changes the whole beat of a push. Before, my squad could storm a mid-tier POI and it'd be over before anyone really set up. Now there's this awkward extra window where defenders can actually do something smart: rotate to a better angle, toss a counter nade, or wrap around while you're still committing. You can't just hose a doorway and hope the recoil lottery goes your way. You've gotta track, burst, and pick your moments, which sounds obvious, but it wasn't how people played last week.
Utility Spam Got Checked
Trigger 'Nade taking a hit was overdue. The constant tossing was turning fights into noise and guesswork, not reads. With the spam toned down, you start thinking in steps again: clear this corner, pressure that window, then move. I've ended up swapping to a slower, harder-hitting primary and saving standard grenades for actual problem-solving, like flushing someone off a headglitch or buying three seconds to heal. It's less chaotic, more "okay, what's the plan," and raids don't feel like they're decided by whoever brought more nonsense.
Night Raids Look Meaner Now
Stella Montis Night is the other surprise. The new lighting makes shadows properly dark, not that grey-blue wash we had before. You'll catch yourself slowing down, checking corners twice, listening harder. It's great for stealth players, but it also punishes sloppy movement because silhouettes pop in the wrong places. And the Abyss cosmetic set is suddenly everywhere, which I didn't think I'd care about, but it fits. When a team in that deep-sea, bioluminescent look slides out of a dark corridor, it's honestly unsettling in a fun way.
The Economy Breathes Again
The quiet win is the key card duplication exploit getting fixed. That stuff was wrecking the blueprint economy and making legit runs feel pointless, especially when you'd watch people loop bunker rewards like it was a job. Now the grind feels cleaner, and your loot decisions matter again instead of being drowned out by unlimited farming. If you've been waiting for a good moment to come back, this patch is it, and chasing BluePrint in ARC Raiders rewards actually feels worth the risk again.
