How the Expedition Works

An Expedition is ARC Raiders’ long-form prestige loop: you stockpile specific items, finish Load Stage coin donations, then depart during a scheduled window. Departing wipes most of what you built on that Raider but grants permanent account rewards and temporary streak buffs that can stack if you keep leaving on time.

Verification note

This page explains the system shape, not just one checklist snapshot. Item counts, challenge rules, reward text, and timing should always be confirmed in the live Projects tab before you commit.

The six stages

1. Foundation - bulk basic materials.
2. Core Systems - technical parts and wiring.
3. Framework - batteries, modules, and heavier ARC-linked pieces.
4. Outfitting - rare chase items and the hardest farming wall.
5. Load Stage - donate items by sell value across Combat, Survival, Provisions, and Materials.
6. Departure - sign up during the live window, finish the challenge rules, and depart at the cutoff.

The stage skeleton still holds. What changes from Expedition to Expedition is the item list, the reward method, and the window timing. For the live rows, use Expedition 3.

The big Expedition 3 change

Before the April 17 patch, players mostly thought about Expedition 3 as a stash-value race for the five main skill points. That is no longer the active rule. Expedition 3 now works like this:

• finish the Caravan,
• wait for the 13-day Expedition window,
• sign up manually,
• complete the damage challenge during that same window,
• then depart automatically at the hard cutoff.

Any weapon or gadget damage counts, against any target except the practice range. The current thresholds are 5,000 / 10,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 / 100,000 damage for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 skill points.

Signup and departure

Signup is still manual. Completing Stage 5 does not auto-register your Raider. You have to click the Projects-tab button during the open window.

After signing up, you keep playing until the cutoff. The game departs everyone who registered at the same moment. The new Last Call feature gives players one fallback login prompt if they completed the Caravan but missed sign-up, but that path does not grant the damage-based skill points.

What still uses stash value

Load Stage and stash value are now doing different jobs:

• Load Stage is still the permanent 750K donation wall for the Caravan.
• Catch-up is still stash-value based at 300,000 per skill point.
• The five main Expedition 3 skill points are now based on the damage challenge instead.

That separation matters because it changes how you plan the final week. You still need Stage 5 done, but you no longer need to hoard your entire stash just to unlock the primary five-point reward track.

What you keep vs. what resets

Permanent rewards such as Expedition skill points, stash slots, and cosmetics stay on your account. Character-side progress like gear, stash inventory, workshop progress, blueprints, level, quests, and coins resets on departure.

Read What resets before you commit. It is still the page to open right before you click sign up.

Catch-up skill points

Catch-up is still for players on their second or third Expedition who missed prior points. In the current model, players clear the damage challenge first, then use 300,000 stash value or coins per point for the retro block.

Use Catch-up system, the catch-up calculator, and the stash calculator for that part of the planning.

Next steps

• Expedition 3 requirements
• Departure guide
• Rewards
• What resets
• Countdown
• Checklist tool