ARC Raiders Rascal: Grenade Launcher Guide

Patch 1.29.0 quietly deposited a new weapon into Topside's ecosystem and called it the ARC Raiders Rascal grenade launcher. Designed by Tian Wen: who apparently thought one shot, sluggish reload, and chaotic accuracy were charming design goals: the Rascal is the Rare tier answer to the Hullcracker. Cheaper to maintain, significantly worse in almost every way you care about, and yet undeniably useful when a Shredder is trying to ruin your afternoon.

It is, bluntly, a pocket-sized machine of controlled incompetence. One round in the chamber. Slow reload. Aim that describes a philosophical relationship with your intended target rather than an actual trajectory. If you find that appealing, congratulations: you're going to love this thing.

How to Get the Rascal Blueprint

There is no clean, deterministic answer here, and that is entirely on purpose. Unlike Legendary blueprints, the Rascal blueprint location has no fixed spawn: no dedicated room, no guaranteed event, no merchant standing behind a counter waiting to hand it over. It simply exists somewhere in Topside, distributed with the generosity of someone who really does not want you to have it.

Best Spawn Sources

• Raider Caches: The highest-probability option, especially during the Hurricane Major Map Condition. If you want a Rascal blueprint without losing your mind, farm these.
• Security Breach Lockers: Confirmed drops. Not as reliable as Caches, but worth clearing every run regardless.
• Weapon Crates: Common spawns across Topside. Low individual odds, but you'll open dozens per session.
• Beachcombing / Random Containers: Yes, really. Hit or miss. Weighted more toward miss.

Field Note Despite patch notes implying Tian Wen sells it, she does not. She crafted a batch and distributed them into random containers across Topside. Tian Wen is a menace and this is canon.

Once you have the blueprint, you will need a Tier 3 Gunsmith Workbench to craft the Rascal. Not Tier 1. Not Tier 2. The one that requires rare ARC materials to even exist in your Workshop. If you haven't upgraded your Gunsmith station yet, the blueprint will sit in your stash, taunting you, until you do.

Gunsmith Workbench Upgrade Path

The crafting requirements for the Rascal themselves pull from similar rare-tier materials. If you've been sitting on Bombardier Cells wondering what they're for: now you know. Start farming Bastions and Bombardiers with purpose.

The question everyone is going to ask and already knows the answer to: yes, the Hullcracker vs Rascal comparison does not go well for the Rascal. It was never supposed to. The Rascal is positioned explicitly below the Hullcracker in every measurable way: which is an honest, if brutal, product description.

The Rascal's actual advantage is accessibility. You don't need to treat it like a precious artifact pulled from a dying god. Lose it on a bad raid: inconvenient, not catastrophic. Use it as a dedicated anti-ARC sidearm while your primary slot carries something for Raiders, and suddenly the tradeoffs make sense.

Upgrades & Ammo

The Rascal supports three upgrade tiers, and every single one addresses the same problem: the reload. Rascal grenade launcher upgrades do not improve damage, do not fix the aim, do not add magazine capacity. They make the slow reload slightly less slow. That is the complete list of improvements on offer. Enjoy.

Launcher Ammo Notes

The Rascal runs on Launcher Ammo: Uncommon tier, 1 kg per round, max stack of 10. At full stack that's 10 kg of dedicated carry weight just for ammunition. Reliable spawn locations include Locked Rooms and Dam Battlegrounds, with secondary sightings at Spaceport. Do not go in with less than 6 rounds if you're planning to use this weapon against anything that can kill you.

Tactical Reality Due to one round per chamber and unpredictable accuracy, the Rascal rewards target selection over aggression. Bastions, Bombardiers, large slow ARCs: ideal. Attempting to snipe a Shredder across a courtyard with this: a personal choice you will regret.

Best Targets & Use Cases

The Rascal is an ARC enemies grenade launcher tool, full stop. It does not function against enemy Raiders. Do not attempt to blow up a hostile player with this weapon: it will not cooperate. It was designed with the explicit purpose of deleting machines, and within that scope it performs adequately.

• Shredders: 2 to 4 hits. The primary reason to carry this weapon.
• Bastions: Large, armored, harder to miss. The Rascal's inaccuracy becomes less relevant when the target fills the screen.
• Bombardiers: Same logic as Bastions. Big target, less painful to aim at.
• Fireflys: Confirmed viable. Less optimal than larger targets but workable.

Point-blank or short-range engagements mitigate the accuracy problem. On the Riven Tides map especially, where Riven Tides weapon tips often center around managing the density of ARC spawns, having a dedicated launcher for clearing armored threats without burning Hullcracker durability is a legitimate strategic decision.