ARC Raiders should stop tying permanent upgrades to Expeditions

Embark Studios has already paused ARC Raiders Expeditions after September while it reworks the progression system for 2027. Now executive producer Aleksander Grøndal says the studio is also considering removing Expeditions altogether.

September's departure window is still open until September 29. Anyone taking part has to complete and supply a Caravan before resetting their level, learned skills and most of their inventory in exchange for permanent bonuses.

Starting over with an empty stash can make basic loot valuable again after months of accumulating weapons and resources. Once your workshop and storage are full, rebuilding can make familiar scavenging routes useful again.

Extra skill points pull the decision in another direction. They carry over to future characters, so anyone chasing every permanent upgrade has a reason to reset even if they would rather keep their current Raider, equipment and progress.

Permanent skill progression would fit better elsewhere, leaving Expeditions for players who actually want to rebuild.

The first Expedition in December 2025 offered up to five additional skill points, with each point requiring another million coins in combined cash and stash value. The full reward therefore demanded five million. Completing the Caravan was enough to take part, but the best permanent return depended on how much wealth remained when the character left.

A valuable weapon could help bring home better loot, but keeping it safely in storage protected its contribution toward the next skill point. Spending resources on a difficult encounter could set back the reward calculation.

For someone chasing the maximum bonus, cheap loadouts and cautious scavenging became sensible choices even when their stash contained equipment they would otherwise enjoy using. Preparing to abandon an inventory created an incentive to hoard it.

Embark directly addressed that problem in April. The third Expedition window replaced wealth targets for new skill points with damage challenges, encouraging players to use their weapons against machines or other Raiders.

The change connected the reward to combat and removed the immediate reason to preserve every valuable item. It still required players who had already finished their Caravan to complete another objective during the departure window, before giving up the character that had done the work.

Embark has since capped Expedition skill points at 15. A fourth departure awards blueprints and Raider Tokens instead, while players who missed earlier points can still earn them through a catch-up system.

That stops repeated Expeditions from creating an ever-growing advantage, but the first 15 points are still tied to resetting a character. Anyone who wants every permanent skill point eventually has to decide whether those upgrades are worth giving up levels, equipment and the progress already built on that Raider.

The departure windows make that choice more restrictive. A Caravan can be completed beforehand, but registration and the reward challenge still have to happen during the designated period. September's window was extended from two weeks to three, which helps, but anyone who misses it still has to wait.

Those skill points would fit better into ordinary long-term progression. Embark could keep blueprints, Raider Tokens, cosmetics or other recognition attached to Expeditions, while letting players earn permanent character upgrades without resetting.

Once your workshop is full and storage is packed with replacement weapons, an Expedition changes what you are looking for in a raid. Empty the stash and basic crafting materials are useful again, a decent weapon is worth bringing home, and familiar scavenging routes have supplies you actually need.

Removing Expeditions would also remove a useful option for Raiders who have exhausted their immediate goals. An empty inventory makes ordinary supplies useful again. Rebuilding a workshop gives familiar scavenging routes a purpose, and losing a weapon carries more weight when there are fewer replacements waiting at home.

Those are credible reasons to choose a reset even without an exceptional reward. Keeping that choice voluntary also allows someone progressing more slowly to continue building their existing character.

That individual choice limits what Expeditions can accomplish for the game's economy. Equipment held by anyone who skips a departure remains in circulation. Resetting one character restores scarcity for its owner, without creating a shared starting point for everyone else. The game still has to accommodate Raiders at very different stages of development.

Repetition becomes harder to justify when it restores work the player already understands without creating a different decision. A wipe cannot make familiar locations unfamiliar again, and repeating completed quests does not necessarily improve the process of rebuilding. The fifth Expedition acknowledges this by allowing players to retain their quest progress. 

Someone can want to replenish an empty stash without wanting to repeat the same assignments. That flexibility is worth keeping through any redesign.

Embark could extend the same reasoning to permanent upgrades. A reset would be easier to judge on its own appeal if additional skill points had another route through ordinary progression. A project accepting resources gathered across raids, for example, could retain the work required to earn those points without demanding a character reset.

Cosmetic recognition could still mark the achievement of rebuilding. Embark would then be able to assess whether restarting is enjoyable enough to choose once the permanent upgrades are available elsewhere.

Once a Raider has a finished workshop, a packed stash and few upgrades left to chase, even successful runs can start producing loot with nowhere useful to go. Expeditions currently relieve that by clearing much of the progress away. If Embark removes them, established characters need something else to keep building toward.

Frozen Trail arrives on October 8 with a new ARC Operation aimed at experienced Raiders and the Outpost, where research and further progression will continue. Both could give stocked characters somewhere to spend resources instead of periodically throwing them away.

How long that lasts will depend on how much there is to do. If players work through the Operation quickly or exhaust the Outpost upgrades, the same endgame lull simply returns.

Embark will get a useful test during the Expedition pause. Consecutive buffs already earned through previous departures will remain active, while players spend the following months with Frozen Trail and no new reset window.

If experienced Raiders keep finding reasons to use their gear, upgrade the Outpost and prepare for new Operations, Expeditions no longer need to carry permanent progression with them. Players who enjoy rebuilding can still start over, while everyone else can keep developing the Raider they already have.