Uh oh, Arc Raiders servers are down again. Reports of outages with the extraction shooter began around 10AM PST and seem to be persisting over an hour later. I just tried to log in and hit a "queue" for the first time since launch day, suggesting a lot people are trying to login at the same time (likely because they were booted out).

Embark has yet to comment on the outage, but this wouldn't be the first time. Arc Raiders has gone down a few times over the last few weeks, but thankfully, the disruptions tend to clear up quickly. We'll update this article when we know more.

While we wait, I recommend killing some time by checking out a handful of Arc Raiders tips our own Rory Norris has recently published, including a guide to this week's Trials, a breakdown of weapon attachments, and a tip about moving while downed.

Arc Raiders apricot hunters know full well that Scrappy the rooster is your closest ally down here in Speranza. The ever-reliable animal companion keeps essential crafting supplies like metal parts and plastic trickling in as you labor away in the Rust Belt, quietly fueling future raids and saving you some scavenging. In a new post, developer Embark reveals that Scrappy is based on a real bird named Hȧkan, who was initially photoscanned into the game as a gag.

Like so many great stories, 3D artist Johan says "it all began when a flock of chickens crashed my Zoom meeting."

"Mid-Zoom meeting, the birds somehow snuck into the house and strutted around behind me, instantly stealing the show and derailing the meeting entirely," Johan recalls. "Among those birds was Hȧkan, the rooster that would go on to become Scrappy."

"One day, I decided to photoscan Håkan and sneak him into the game," Johan says. You know, as you do. Sometime afterward, Embark was looking for a "resource producer" to help cut down on the most boring parts of the loot economy: scrounging up rags and scrap. Johan says the team considered robots, cats, and yes, robot cats, until somebody, "in a moment of brilliance," said, "'Don't we have a Rooster?'"

And thus, Scrappy was born. "Scrappy went from hidden Easter egg, to 'temporary mesh we’ll definitely replace later', to a beloved and irreplaceable part of the ARC Raiders universe," Johan summarizes. "So next time you see Scrappy, tell him I say hello!"

The best part of this story is that Scrappy is living it up in Speranza. Through his "training" questline, which improves his gathering abilities as you bury him in gifts, the bird is treated to sweet fruits, comfy beds, lavish pillows, and even a fashionable little collar. It might be a pain to gather those little fruits – thank goodness for Blue Gate – but it's all worth it to brighten the underground life of our resident gatherer.

Arc Raiders dev answers one big question about what counts toward bonus skill points for Expeditions, but Embark still won't say how much cash you actually need.