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There is not one officially identified “new ARC Raiders gadget.” Embark Studios’ Frozen Trail 2.0 update, published October 8, 2026, adds three items that could match that description: the Grappling Hook, Tether Launcher, and Yank Grenade. The update does not provide a gadget-specific PvP counter guide, exact ranges, cooldowns, damage, stun durations, or immunity rules.
Until you know which item an opponent is using, the safest counter is to deny line of sight with hard cover, keep teammates from standing in one cluster, avoid predictable strafes and pushes, and hold an angle that catches the user immediately after the gadget is committed. Those are tactical principles rather than frame-tested statistics. Once you identify the item, adjust your spacing and timing as described below.
What “the new gadget” can mean in Frozen Trail 2.0
Frozen Trail 2.0 is described by Embark Studios as the biggest update since launch. Alongside Pendola Pass, new map conditions, enemies, weapons, amplified weapons, a skill-tree revamp, and the Outpost, its item list includes the Grappling Hook, Basic and Advanced Cameras, Tether Launcher, Yank Grenade, Mountaineer’s Detector, Banjo, and Harmonica.
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| Item | What is confirmed | What the official notes do not establish | Default counter posture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grappling Hook | Added in Frozen Trail 2.0 to give mobility items more differentiated roles. | Raider-targeting rules, anchor requirements, cooldown, travel speed, hit effects, and recovery timing. | Use hard cover, avoid chasing a committed user blindly, and watch the landing or reposition angle. |
| Tether Launcher | Added in the update; its repair option is currently unavailable and is scheduled for a future fix. | Exact tether range, pull or restraint behavior, duration, break conditions, cooldown, and damage. | Maintain enough separation that one commitment cannot expose several players, then focus the user after line of sight is broken or the tool is spent. |
| Yank Grenade | Added in the update. | Blast radius, direction and strength of displacement, fuse, damage, immunity, and whether cover blocks the effect. | Do not stack in a doorway or on one piece of cover; move behind solid protection before the throw creates value. |
The names suggest mobility or displacement roles, but a name is not a published specification. Treat the item-specific advice as conditional until live patch notes or an in-game description gives you verified behavior.
The universal PvP response
All three gadgets can be answered by making the opponent spend the tool without receiving a clean target. Your goal is not merely to dodge a projectile. It is to deny the follow-up that makes a mobility or displacement commitment dangerous.
- Identify the threat before re-peeking. If you hear or see a gadget commitment, do not immediately repeat the same strafe or doorway peek. Move behind hard cover and make the opponent show whether the tool was aimed at you, a teammate, or a route to another position.
- Break line of sight with solid geometry. Use a wall, large rock, building corner, or other hard obstruction rather than relying on a predictable side-to-side movement in the open. The official notes do not state whether any item can pass through cover, so do not assume a thin visual obstruction is safe unless the game clearly treats it as solid.
- Preserve team spacing. Leave enough distance that one pull, yank, or mobility commitment cannot expose multiple Raiders at once. Spacing is not the same as abandoning a teammate: keep overlapping fields of fire while avoiding a single shared doorway, ledge, or corner.
- Hold the exit angle. A gadget user must eventually arrive, finish the displacement, or return to a normal weapon. Pre-aim the likely recovery or landing lane rather than staring at the original angle. This is where you convert a defensive dodge into pressure.
- Focus fire during commitment or recovery. Call the user by position and concentrate damage while the gadget animation, travel, landing, or reposition prevents an immediate normal-gun response. The exact vulnerable window is not published, so use the visible commitment in your match rather than assuming a fixed number of frames.
- Rebuild your formation after the exchange. Do not rush to the old position just because the gadget missed. A second player may be using the created gap, and the first user may still have another mobility or displacement option.
How to play against the Grappling Hook
The Grappling Hook is the clearest mobility-focused addition in the update. Embark says it was added so mobility items have more differentiated roles. That confirms its design purpose, not a complete list of PvP interactions. The notes do not say whether it can target Raiders, only terrain, or both; they also omit anchor rules, travel speed, cooldown, interruption behavior, and landing recovery.
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Take away the safe approach
When a player has a mobility tool, open ground becomes an invitation to choose the engagement distance. Move between hard-cover positions so the opponent must commit to a visible route instead of crossing a long, unobstructed lane. Do not stand directly below an obvious ledge, on the lip of a roof, or in the center of a doorway if those positions give a grappling player a high-value arrival point.
You are not trying to predict the exact anchor point. You are limiting the number of useful destinations. A room with two solid exits is easier to defend than a courtyard with several elevated surfaces, because you can hold the likely arrival lanes without exposing your entire squad.
Do not chase the first movement
A grapple can be used to leave a losing angle as well as to start a push. If the user disappears behind cover, follow only when your team has a confirmed advantage and a safe route. Chasing around the same corner may place you in the angle the player selected before using the hook. Instead, hold the exit, listen for the next commitment, and force the user to re-enter through your sightline.
Punish the landing or reposition
The strongest general counter to a mobility commitment is an angle that was ready before the movement began. One player can watch the landing lane while another keeps the original angle covered. If the user lands outside both fields of fire, do not invent a recovery duration; simply reset to cover and avoid giving a second free target.
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Frozen Trail 2.0 also changes the Snap Hook. The official notes reduce its range from 20 m to 18 m, increase durability consumption from 2% to 4% per use, and raise power cost from 50 to 60. These are published Snap Hook values, not a complete Grappling Hook PvP profile.
| Snap Hook property | Before Frozen Trail 2.0 | Frozen Trail 2.0 | How it affects a defender |
|---|---|---|---|
| Range | 20 m | 18 m | A route that was reachable at the former maximum may no longer be; keep cover just outside the stated 18 m when the situation allows. |
| Durability consumed per use | 2% | 4% | Repeated escapes consume the item’s durability faster, so forcing low-value uses can reduce future mobility. |
| Power cost | 50 | 60 | Frequent use carries a higher resource cost; make the user spend it to cross an unproductive angle rather than donating a free approach. |
The range, durability, and power changes support a resource-denial strategy, but they do not prove that the newly added Grappling Hook shares every Snap Hook property. Keep the two names separate when making callouts.
How to play against the Tether Launcher
The Tether Launcher is the item most likely to make spacing and line-of-sight discipline visible. Its name indicates a tether, but the official update does not specify whether it pulls a Raider, restricts movement, links objects, or performs another function. Do not promise a particular escape input or claim that shooting the tether always breaks it without verified in-game evidence.
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Separate targets without losing crossfire
Use a staggered formation: one player takes the forward cover, a second holds the crossfire, and a third—if present—keeps a retreat or flank route. Avoid lining up shoulder-to-shoulder behind one waist-high object. If the launcher affects one target, the rest of the squad should still have an independent angle on the user.
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Peek from cover in a way that does not force your entire team to appear at once. The first player can draw the commitment while the second watches the launcher’s firing position. Once the tool is used, the launcher user has revealed both location and intent; that is the moment to apply focused fire, not while your whole team is still walking into the same lane.
Break the connection with geometry first
If a tether reaches a teammate, move behind solid cover before attempting an aggressive rescue. The notes do not publish duration, break distance, or immunity rules, so a universal “run exactly this far” instruction would be unreliable. Use the environment to deny the user a clear follow-up, then test the game’s visible break behavior in a low-risk encounter before relying on it in a ranked or high-value fight.
Account for the repair issue
The Frozen Trail 2.0 notes list a known issue in which the Tether Launcher’s repair option is unavailable, with a fix scheduled for a future update. That is an equipment-management issue, not a PvP counter. It may affect whether a player can restore the launcher between encounters, but the notes do not state how often the bug occurs or what replacement behavior applies. Do not build a strategy around an opponent being unable to repair; treat the launcher as fully usable during the fight.
How to play against the Yank Grenade
The Yank Grenade is also newly listed in Frozen Trail 2.0, but the official notes provide no blast radius, fuse, displacement strength, damage, cover interaction, or immunity rules. The word “Yank” makes displacement a reasonable tactical concern, not a verified specification. Counter it by denying clustered targets and valuable follow-up positions.
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Stop giving the grenade a multi-player target
Do not stack in a narrow doorway, on one stair landing, or around a single loot point when an enemy can throw from safety. Keep enough lateral and forward separation that one displacement cannot pull or move several Raiders into the same exposed lane. Maintain visual support so the separated player is not isolated, but avoid occupying the same patch of floor.
Move to hard cover before the throw pays off
If the grenade is in flight or the throw is obvious, prioritize a wall or large obstruction over a stylish open-ground dodge. The official notes do not say whether the effect travels through cover. A solid object is therefore the conservative choice; do not assume a low railing, bush, or thin visual prop will block it.
Hold the thrower’s recovery angle
Grenades generally create value by forcing movement that a weapon user can exploit. Once you have denied the displacement with cover, keep an angle on the thrower’s position. Do not swing wide merely because the grenade missed. If the thrower has no immediate follow-up, your team can reclaim space under controlled crossfire.
Do not confuse displacement with damage
Nothing in the official notes establishes the Yank Grenade’s damage or stun behavior. Call it a displacement threat unless the live item description states otherwise. If your match shows a different effect, adapt your callout to what actually happened rather than relying on the item’s name.
Team formations that reduce gadget value
Solo players
A solo Raider cannot create crossfire, so survival depends on reducing the opponent’s number of useful approaches. Fight from hard cover with a retreat route, avoid open areas where a mobility item can choose the engagement, and leave a line only after the enemy has committed. If a gadget forces you out, prioritize the next solid position rather than returning to the original angle.
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Duos
Use a near-far setup. One player occupies the contact cover while the partner holds an offset angle far enough away that a single displacement cannot affect both. The offset player should be able to see the gadget user’s firing position, not merely the teammate’s back. After the commitment, both players collapse only if the user’s route is known.
Trios and larger groups
Assign roles before contact: an anchor who stays on the safest cover, a crossfire player who watches the gadget user, and a flex player who can rotate without dragging everyone into the same choke. When one teammate is displaced or forced to move, the others should not all follow immediately. Preserve at least one independent angle until the gadget’s effect and follow-up are clear.
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The following comparison uses only what is established by the Frozen Trail 2.0 notes. “Not stated” means the official material does not publish a value, not that the item lacks one in the game.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Primary role | Mobility role confirmed; exact target behavior not stated. | Tether-based function indicated by the item name; exact effect not stated. | Displacement implied by the name; exact effect not stated. |
| Line-of-sight requirement | Not stated. | Not stated. | Not stated; cover interaction is not published. |
| Commitment exposure | Expect a visible movement commitment, but timing is not stated. | Expect the firing position to be revealed when used; recovery timing is not stated. | Expect a throw commitment; fuse and recovery timing are not stated. |
| Effective engagement distance | Not stated for the new item. | Not stated. | Not stated. |
| Team-disruption potential | Can alter a user’s route; whether it affects Raiders is not stated. | Potentially high if it affects movement or positioning; exact rules are not stated. | Potentially high if displacement affects multiple Raiders; radius and immunity are not stated. |
| Best first response | Hard cover and a pre-held landing or exit angle. | Spacing, cover, then focus fire on the firing position. | Spread out and move behind solid cover before the throw creates a follow-up. |
Common mistakes that make every gadget stronger
- Repeating the same strafe. Predictable movement lets an opponent time a gadget around your next step. Change cover and rhythm instead of oscillating in one lane.
- Stacking for comfort. Standing together feels safe until one displacement turns several players into one target. Use overlapping sightlines with physical separation.
- Chasing through an unseen route. A mobility user may be trying to pull you away from your team. Hold the exit and make the opponent re-enter your angle.
- Peeking before the tool is accounted for. If you have not seen the gadget miss, hit another target, or become unavailable, assume it can still shape the next exchange.
- Inventing exact numbers. Frozen Trail 2.0 does not publish ranges, cooldowns, damage, stun duration, or immunity rules for these three items. Do not base a plan on an unverified distance or timer.
- Treating ARC explosive balance as a Raider-gadget counter. The update changes explosive damage against ARC enemies, not the rules for countering Raider equipment.
What the explosive-balance note does—and does not—tell you
Frozen Trail 2.0 revises the ARC explosive formula. Explosive weapons such as Hullcracker deal over 50% more damage against armor plates and around 30% less against fragile parts. That is an ARC-enemy balance change. It does not establish bonus damage against Raiders, disable a Grappling Hook, break a Tether Launcher, or prevent a Yank Grenade from affecting a player. Use the change when fighting ARC enemies, but do not present it as a direct PvP gadget counter.
How to adapt as patches change
The official ARC Raiders news index lists Frozen Trail 2.0 on October 8, 2026, Store Update 2.1.0 on October 13, and a PvE matchmaking-toggle beta running October 13–20, 2026. Gadget behavior is therefore subject to change around the period covered here. Recheck the live patch notes before relying on a range, repair rule, cooldown, or interaction.
- Read the current item description and patch notes after each update.
- Record what the item visibly does in a low-risk encounter: target type, cover interaction, displacement direction, and whether the user can immediately fire a normal weapon.
- Test one variable at a time with a teammate rather than assuming a behavior from the name.
- Update your squad callout to the observed effect, such as “mobility,” “tether,” or “displacement,” and avoid claiming an exact duration until it is verified.
- Keep the universal response—hard cover, spacing, and a held exit angle—even when a patch changes the item’s numbers.
Fast callouts for live matches
Use short, behavior-based communication:
- “Hook committed—hold landing.” Tells teammates not to chase and to watch the destination.
- “Tether angle—spread.” Warns the squad to avoid giving one line a multi-player target.
- “Yank threat—cover.” Prioritizes a solid obstruction over an open-ground dodge.
- “User exposed—focus.” Signals that the gadget player has committed and should receive concentrated fire.
- “Reset formation.” Prevents the team from re-stacking after the first exchange.
The practical answer is therefore conditional: identify whether the opponent has the Grappling Hook, Tether Launcher, or Yank Grenade; deny line of sight; keep your squad separated but mutually supportive; and punish the user’s commitment instead of chasing the movement. Frozen Trail 2.0 confirms the items and the Snap Hook changes, but it does not yet provide the precise PvP data needed for a guaranteed, gadget-specific counter.
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