Expedition Departure - Step-by-Step Guide

Departing is still the last interactive stage of an Expedition, but Expedition 3 now has a cleaner sequence:

1. finish the Caravan,
2. wait for the live 13-day window,
3. sign up manually,
4. finish the damage challenge during that same window,
5. then depart automatically at the cutoff.

Before the window opens

Make sure the boring prep is truly done:

1. Stages 1-4 - cross-check the Expedition 3 checklist and your interactive checklist.
2. Load Stage - every category still needs to hit the current target. Use the budget planner for 200K / 100K / 150K / 300K.
3. Window timing - open the countdown and write the cutoff down somewhere you will actually see it.

Unlike older guides, you do not need to spend the final days protecting a magic stash total for the main five skill points. That part is now a damage challenge, not a stash-value threshold.

The live Expedition 3 window

For the updated official Expedition 3 timing:

• Window opens: April 28, 2026 at 11:00 UTC / 4:00 AM PT
• Window closes and automatic departure happens: May 11, 2026 at 07:00 UTC / 12:00 AM PT

Everyone who is registered departs together at that hard cutoff.

During the window - exact flow

The normal path is:

Main menu -> Raider -> Projects -> Expedition Project -> Sign up / Register Raider -> confirm

Important reminders:

• finishing the Caravan does not sign you up automatically,
• signing up does not reset you immediately,
• and the 13-day damage challenge runs during this same live window.

That means your real final-week loop is “sign up, then keep playing.” You are no longer done the moment you click the button.

The damage challenge

To earn the five main Expedition 3 skill points, you now need to complete the official damage challenge during the window.

The current rule set from the April 17 notes:

• any weapon damage counts,
• any gadget damage counts,
• any target counts,
• the practice range does not.

Skill point thresholds:

Skill points earned	Damage required
1 SP	5,000
2 SP	10,000
3 SP	30,000
4 SP	50,000
5 SP	100,000

All players who complete the Caravan can see the challenge before sign-up, so use that panel to sanity-check the live text before you plan your final sessions.

Final-hours checklist

1. Confirm the sign-up click happened. This is still the easiest way to throw a whole cycle away.
2. Keep playing after sign-up. The damage challenge lives in the window, not before it.
3. Do not leave Load Stage half done just because the skill-point rule changed.
4. If catch-up applies to you, check your stash value after the damage challenge is complete.
5. Set a reminder for the exact UTC or PT cutoff. Time-zone mistakes still happen every cycle.

Common mistakes

The old failure case was “I never reached 3 million stash value.” The new failure cases are different:

• forgetting to sign up manually,
• assuming the damage challenge is already done because the Caravan is done,
• stopping play after sign-up even though the challenge is still active,
• missing the window and hoping support will fix it,
• or assuming Last Call still grants the normal damage-based skill points.

It does not. Last Call is useful, but it is a fallback, not a replacement.

After the cutoff

Once the window closes, every signed-up Raider departs automatically. Your old Raider leaves, the reset applies, and your new Raider starts with the permanent rewards already attached.

What should show up on the new side:

• Expedition skill points you earned through the challenge,
• any catch-up points you qualified for,
• stash slots,
• cosmetics,
• and your current consecutive buffs.

What still resets:

• stash inventory,
• wallet coins,
• workshop progress,
• blueprints,
• level,
• quests,
• and the rest of the usual character-side progression.

Last Call

If you completed the Caravan but missed sign-up, the new Last Call pop-up can still let you depart on the next login. That is better than losing the whole reset opportunity, but remember the trade:

• no damage challenge requirement
• no damage-based skill points

Use it as a recovery path, not as the plan.

If you are unsure

Read departure FAQ, rewards, and what resets before you commit. This is a fan-made guide, so the live Projects tab wins if any timing or challenge text changes.