ARC Raiders: update 1.42.0 reworks footstep audio — you hear further indoors, tarps give you away and Tier 3 magazines sound different

On 20 August we covered what update 1.42.0 for ARC Raiders changes in combat: the Wasps behind the phantom targets, the Snitch that now calls in a Rocketeer, and Map Conditions moved onto regional peak-hour schedules. One four-line block in those notes — relayed on the game's Steam feed on 21 August 2026 — has gone entirely uncommented, and it carries more weight than it looks in an extraction shooter: Embark has reworked footstep audio.

In a game where you most often die because you did not hear someone coming, four lines of audio are worth a weapon rebalance.

A note on vocabulary, carried over from our previous guide: Embark does not publish its patch notes in every language. The game client is localised and does translate ARC machines — Bondisseur for Leaper, Déchiqueteuse for Shredder in the French build — but weapon, outfit, event and project names stay in English at Embark. For labels we could not verify against a localised client, we keep Embark's English rather than invent a translation.

Indoors: scuff sounds are gone, listening range goes up

This is the densest of the four lines, and it actually contains four separate changes:

"Refined footstep and movement sounds indoors: removed scuff sounds, improved audibility at distance, and updated occlusion and concrete surface cues."

The point to internalise first is the second one. Better audibility at distance is not an advantage: it is a symmetry. You hear further, you are heard further. In practice, crouch-walking and pausing become worthwhile inside buildings again, where the shorter listening range used to forgive a rushed approach.

Two new surfaces that give you away: plastic and tarps

"Added unique footstep sounds when moving over plastic cloth and tarp surfaces."

Until now, those surfaces presumably borrowed another material's sound. They now have their own signature. The consequence is very concrete for anyone playing the flank: a tarp is now identifiable by ear, which hands an attentive opponent a far more precise position read than a generic sound.

The reverse is also true, and it gives you the same tool. Hearing plastic means knowing someone is walking on a makeshift shelter, a tarped stack or a temporary structure — which narrows the search area far more than a vague "somewhere at ground level".

Foliage becomes readable

"Improved footstep audio when moving through foliage for clearer, more natural sound."

Embark does not say whether the sound is louder or quieter: it says it is clearer and more natural. That is an important nuance and you should draw no volume conclusion from it. What changes is the ability to tell movement through vegetation apart from other ambient noise. Cutting through a bush expecting to vanish acoustically is a riskier bet than it was.

Tier 3 magazines now have their own firing sound

"Added different audio for all Tier 3 magazine upgrades firing sounds."

This is the most underrated addition of the batch, and the only one that gives tactical rather than positional information. Every Tier 3 magazine upgrade now produces a different firing sound.

In other words: the sound of a firefight tells you something about the other player's kit. A Tier 3 shot means someone who has invested in their weapon — so, more often than not, someone carrying something worth taking. Draw whichever conclusion fits your style: engage, or disengage.

A methodological caveat, though: Embark does not say at what range the difference stays perceptible, nor whether it applies to every weapon the same way. The note says "all Tier 3 magazine upgrades", nothing more. Treat it as new information available to you, not as a reliable detector.

Two quality-of-life additions to set up right away

• Quick Wheel slots can now be rebound. Embark announces it in a single line of the Gameplay section. If you never touched that wheel because the imposed order did not suit you, the obstacle is gone.
• A Region label has been added to the Map selection screen, showing your current matchmaking region. It is the indispensable companion to Map Conditions moving onto a regional schedule: you finally know which time zone you are actually on.

Known issues to check before starting a session

Embark lists several outstanding faults. Three of them can cost you a whole session, and two have an immediate workaround:

The rest of the list is visual or situational inconvenience, but worth knowing so you do not mistake it for something you did:

• The throw animation may fail to play if you detonate a Trigger 'Nade immediately after throwing it.
• The weapon swap animation may look broken if you swap right after vaulting.
• Player animations break if you interrupt a search of the Baron Husk.
• Shredders (Déchiqueteuses in the French client) float to the ceiling in some rooms of the Hidden Bunker.
• Leapers (Bondisseurs) can jump through the ARC Turbine.
• Shots taken while riding an ARC machine may not register correctly.
• Some doors let flashlight beams pass through instead of blocking them.
• Items that grant Merits wrongly display a Merits icon once brought into a Raid.
• Clipping issues affect the Triumph, Reaver and Azimuth outfits.
• Old Ermal offers may appear available in "Acquire and Craft" — Embark notes this is visual only.
• A sticky notification dot remains on the Projects tab.

What to change in your game

1. Recalibrate your indoor occlusion instincts: what you used to hear "through a wall" no longer sounds the same.
2. Slow down inside buildings: listening range has increased, for you and for everyone else.
3. Learn the sound of plastic and tarps: two new signatures that pinpoint an opponent.
4. Listen to enemy gunfire: a Tier 3 sound flags a kitted-out player.
5. Reconfigure the Quick Wheel, now rebindable.
6. On PC: check whether Windows update KB5121003 is installed before blaming the game.