If you are reading this to plan your next Expedition in ARC Raiders: there is nothing to plan right now. Embark Studios called the 5th Expedition the last one until early 2027, when the system is supposed to return with major changes. Embark has not given an exact return date, and the details it promised for September 2026 could not be found in the official news archive when we checked on 18 October 2026. The rest of this guide explains how Expeditions worked, so you know what you are dealing with when they come back.
The basics
The Expedition Project is the optional reset in ARC Raiders. Instead of a forced wipe, each player decided whether and when to leave the Rust Belt and start over with certain advantages, some of them permanent. The project unlocked at level 20, according to Embark's help center. That page dates from October 2025, so the threshold may change with the 2027 redesign.
Between departures your job was building a Caravan, the vehicle you departed with. You could keep working on it whether or not you left, so skipping a window did not cost you build progress.
What you lose and what stays
Departing reset everything tied to progression: skill tree, level, stash, workshop, crafting abilities and blueprints. The help center also lists experience, inventory and crafting progress. After the restart you skipped the tutorial phase, so all maps were open and workshop upgrades could be built right away.
Quests are a special case. With update 1.45.0 (8 September 2026), an Expedition stopped resetting them automatically; you chose at departure.
What stays: cosmetics and purchased items, Raider Tokens and Cred, Raider Deck progress, Codex entries, unlocked maps, and the Expedition bonuses from your last run. Embark's posts also name the Trophy Display Project, your leaderboard placement and Trials as unaffected.
How a run worked
By the 4th and 5th Expeditions the sequence looked like this:
- Finish your Caravan. That was possible between windows too: once the previous Expedition was done you could build again, and first-timers could start straight away.
- Register during the window. A finished Caravan did not register you automatically.
- Complete the Expedition challenge inside the window.
- Catch up on missed skill points, if the Expedition still allowed it.
- Depart together with everyone who registered when the window closes. You could depart only once per window.
Windows kept changing. The 1st ran 17 to 22 December 2025, the 4th ran 14 days from 7 July 2026, and the 5th ran three weeks, 8 to 29 September 2026. The help center page from October 2025 describes an eight-week cycle; the real gaps and windows differed from that, with about ten weeks between one departure and the next. The 3rd Expedition added a "Last Call": players with a finished Caravan who had missed registration could still join when logging in, but without skill points. The 5th dropped it.
What it paid
Rewards changed from one Expedition to the next. In short:
| Expedition | Main rewards |
|---|---|
| 1st | Patchwork outfit, Scrappy cap, Expedition emblem, 12 extra stash slots; up to five skill points based on stash and coin value |
| 2nd | Stash bonus grew to 24 slots; the threshold for all five points dropped to 3 million |
| 3rd | Skill points came from damage dealt instead (5,000 damage for one point, 100,000 for five); shooting range excluded |
| 4th | Blueprints and Raider Tokens by damage tier instead of skill points; first stage of the Zenith outfit; option to buy up to five Expedition vault slots from Ermal |
| 5th | Full Zenith outfit (if all five were completed), more surprise rewards, 12 more stash slots |
Details worth knowing: the 4th Expedition's blueprints lasted only until your next departure, while its Raider Tokens (150 per goal reached) were permanent. Across Expeditions you also earned timed buffs for repair, experience and Scrappy materials. They grew with each consecutive run and lapsed if you skipped one. At the third tier they stood at 15 percent experience and 18 percent Scrappy materials. Bonus skill points were capped at 15 in total, and extra stash slots at 60.
Is it worth it?
Embark itself named the tight departure windows, the reward structure and access for new players as problems big enough to pause the system. Gameswelt reports that many players doubted the rewards made up for the lost progress.
Our view: the system favored regulars. Only players who joined repeatedly could build up the buffs, the stash bonus and the cosmetics. If you played occasionally, you gave up more progress than you gained in permanent perks. Below level 20 the project was locked, so there was nothing to give up. That is an assessment, not an Embark statement, and the redesign may change it.
What you can do now
- Your buffs stay. Embark says acquired buffs carry over the pause and no progress is lost.
- About your Caravan: Caravans are reset. Embark said half-built ones would become Ermal Vouchers of equal value, to spend at Ermal or sell for coins. Since Frozen Trail 2.0, Ermal has been replaced as a merchant by Cassio. Embark has not said where, or whether, the vouchers can be redeemed now.
- Do not rely on the Expedition screen. The Frozen Trail 2.0 patch (8 October 2026) lists a known issue: the screen can still be opened through the Nomadic Envoys but does nothing.
- Do not chase rumors. Insider Gaming speculated the new system could arrive with the next big update, but that is a guess, not an announcement.
If you finished all five Expeditions, the Zenith outfit is yours. For everyone else, we suggest waiting for Embark's next post.