Arc Raiders Winter Event: Cold Snap Will Actually Freeze You to Death
Arc Raiders is getting a winter event where the weather can kill you, and honestly that's way better than just slapping snow on existing maps.
Flickering Flames runs December 16 through January 13, bringing Cold Snap weather conditions to the Rust Belt. This isn't decorative snow. The freezing weather will kill your Raider in minutes unless you get indoors or heal up. Getting pinned down in the open during fights becomes a death sentence when frostbite is ticking alongside enemy damage.
The Blue Gate gets frigid winds. Blizzards hit the abandoned spaceport. Red Lakes freeze and crack under your feet, making movement unsteady. Your vision gets compromised by weather. All of this actually affects gameplay instead of just looking pretty.
Candleberries: The Event Currency
The event centers around collecting Candleberries for Speranza. According to the lore, Candleberries are absurdly versatile. Boiling them makes candle wax. Crushing them yields juice. The roots make tea. You can cook them into stews, make soap and perfume, fashion wreaths into decorations. They're basically the duct tape of post-apocalyptic winter survival.
Speranza needs tons of them for Candleberry Banquets, which means you're heading Topside to collect them while freezing to death. You're also grabbing light sources and heat items that survivors need to get through winter.
Turn in Candleberries and Special Items for:
Raider Tokens
New items
Rare utility items
Weapons
Cosmetics
Merits
You also earn Merits passively just for gaining XP in any Topside location during the event. So you're progressing whether you're actively hunting Candleberries or just playing normally.
The Goalie: Free Raider Deck With Hockey Gear
December 26th brings The Goalie, the second free permanent Raider Deck. You unlock items, Raider Tokens, and cosmetics by earning Cred Topside.
The flagship skin is described as "an old world outfit that some Speranzans claimed was worn by the world's most fierce and respected gladiators." It's hockey gear. They're not being subtle. The outfit comes with a hockey stick Raider Tool.
I genuinely appreciate Embark leaning into the absurdity of post-apocalyptic survivors thinking hockey equipment was gladiator armor. It's the kind of weird world-building detail that makes settings memorable.
The Goalie deck is permanent, meaning you can work toward it at your own pace without time pressure. Free progression tracks are always good design.
Cold Snap Changes How You Play
Cold Snap actually matters tactically. Extended outdoor fights become risky because the clock is ticking for everyone. You're balancing combat against environmental death timers.
Indoor locations become way more valuable. Buildings aren't just cover or loot spots anymore, they're survival zones. Controlling indoor spaces means controlling the only safe ground in an area.
Movement planning changes. Your extraction routes need to account for exposure time. Long treks across open terrain require health management or speed. Vision gets compromised by blizzards, affecting long-range engagements. Frozen water creates unstable footing near the Red Lakes.
The weather isn't just aesthetic, it's a routing and tactical consideration that changes how encounters play out.
Event Runs Nearly a Month
December 16 through January 13 gives you almost four weeks. That's reasonable timing that doesn't force daily logins or punish you for taking holiday breaks.
Cold Snap and Candleberry collection launch on the 16th. The Goalie deck drops ten days later on the 26th. Staggered content drops keep the event feeling fresh instead of frontloading everything day one.
Most live service winter events are just cosmetic overlays. Flickering Flames actually changes how Arc Raiders plays through weather mechanics that force tactical adaptation. Indoor spaces gain strategic value, movement routing changes, combat pacing shifts.
The Candleberry collection gives specific objectives tied to Speranza's winter survival lore. The Goalie deck adds long-term progression that sticks around after the event ends. And you get to beat people with hockey sticks in a frozen wasteland.
Whether Cold Snap weather is actually threatening or just minor annoyance remains to be seen December 16th. Either way, it's more interesting than another generic holiday battlepass.