The Aphelion is the new weapon addition in the ARC Raiders meta everyone wants, and for a good reason. It’s an energy-burst battle rifle with amazing precision, long-range punch, and the clean retro ARC silhouette. After the latest 1.3 update increased its spawn rate, it’s now easy to find the Aphelion blueprint to craft the weapon. So, here’s exactly how you can get your hands on this powerful weapon’s blueprint and how to craft it with all the requirements.
How to Get Aphelion Blueprint in ARC Raiders
Currently, every confirmed Aphelion blueprint comes from the Matriarch boss. This boss is one of the nasty world events in ARC Raiders, but after the blueprint drama from the earlier North Line patch—where nobody could find it—the developers confirmed it was in the game and then buffed the drop rate in Patch 1.3.
The blueprint can drop from the Matriarch’s lootable body parts after the kill, but it’s most commonly earned from the Matriarch Core (the big spherical reactor piece that usually gives the best loot). The Aphelion blueprint isn’t guaranteed, but the odds are high currently even to get it in the first run. Once the Matriarch is killed, there appear to be only two or three total blueprint rolls across her full carcass. If multiple squads are around, loot quickly. If you’re playing solo or duo, it’s even better due to less competition, and you can take your time to clear the parts.
Once you have found the Aphelion blueprint, you must safely extract from the map to use it in the Workbench. Head back to the Raider Den to learn the blueprint and unlock the weapon recipe. Before the recent update’s drop-rate buff, players (and so are we) tore apart Stella Montis map searching for blueprints in hidden bunkers, puzzle doors, glitched rooms with interact prompts, and red-tinted locked areas, but all in vain.
Currently, all confirmed Aphelion blueprints only drop from Matriarch kills with not puzzles, hidden rooms, or event modifiers. These new map areas may be for future content, but they play no role to unlock the rifle today.
How to Craft the Aphelion Rifle
Once the blueprint is learned, you’ll need a fully upgraded crafting setup and a pile of rare parts.
Required Bench Level:
- Gunsmith Level 3
Crafting Materials:
- 3 Magnetic Accelerators
- 3 Complex Gun Parts
- 1 Matriarch Reactor
If you’ve previously farmed the Matriarch or just done it to obtain the blueprint, you will already have the Matriarch Reactor in inventory. Magnetic Accelerators are usually the bottleneck because they don’t drop often, so expect to spend some time scavenging or trading them.
ARC Raiders Aphelion Stats
For a rifle with this much hype behind it, this is all the power you receive by equipping it:
- Ammo: Energy Clip
- Mag Size: 10
- Fire Mode: 2-round burst
- ARC Armor Penetration: Strong
- Trait: Experimental
The handling leans toward long-range pickoffs with great stability and excellent reach. Its big drawbacks are a slow fire rate, a brutal reload animation, and being weak for stealth play. In PvE, it quickly cracks ARC weakpoints, and in PvP, it’s playing like a near-hitscan burst DMR—not meta-break, but very competitive.
