What Is The Expedition Project In Arc Raiders?
The Expedition Project in Arc Raiders is one of the biggest and most controversial systems in the game so far. Choosing to embark on an Expedition effectively wipes your account and resets your progress, which makes it a huge decision for any player who has spent serious time building up their caravan, stash and resources.
Since launch, players have been pouring hundreds of thousands of coins worth of gear and supplies into their caravans without really knowing what is on the other side of that reset. You prepare, you hoard and you invest, then you retire your Raider and hope that the long term rewards are worth the short term pain.
Right now, what we actually know about Expeditions is surprisingly limited. The developer Embark Studios has stayed vague in game and even in community channels, which has only added to the tension as the first Expedition window approaches.
What Rewards Do Expeditions Actually Give?
So why would anyone choose to wipe their account? The main reason is the promise of permanent account wide buffs that carry over into your next run.
Based on what has been confirmed so far, completing an Expedition will give you:
- An experience boost for leveling
- An enhanced Scrappy bonus
- Additional stash space
- Bonus skill points based on the value of your stash and wallet when you depart
These bonuses are not just temporary buffs. Community manager Lily confirmed on the official Arc Raiders Discord that the extra skill points and stash space from Expeditions are permanent. That means they stick with your account even after the reset and into future runs, giving you a long term progression advantage.
The size of these rewards depends on the value of your stash and how much money you are holding when the Expedition departs. The more valuable your stored gear and your wallet, the better your payout in permanent bonuses. That has turned the run up to the departure date into a kind of meta min max challenge where players are trying to squeeze as much value as possible into their stash before the cutoff.
To put it in perspective, a normal stash upgrade currently gives you 24 extra slots for gear. While it has not been confirmed, a reasonable guess is that an Expedition could grant something in that ballpark or more for players who max out the rewards. For anyone who loves hoarding loot and optimizing builds, extra stash space alone is a huge incentive.
The Big Unknowns And Why Players Are Nervous
While the core idea of Expeditions sounds exciting, the system is wrapped in mystery. Embark has confirmed that more details will not be revealed until the departure window opens, which leaves players with very little time to react and plan.
Here are some of the biggest unanswered questions that are still worrying the community:
- Do the permanent bonus skill points and stash space stack each time you complete an Expedition and if they do, is there a cap on how many times you can benefit?
- What are the exact stash value and wallet value milestones needed to hit the maximum possible rewards from an Expedition?
- When Embark talks about account buffs that get stronger with each Expedition, are they referring specifically to the XP boost and Scrappy bonus or is there more to it?
- Will Scrappy be reset at a higher level than the current cap of 5 after an Expedition, giving players a stronger starting point for the next run?
- What cosmetics or visual rewards will players earn for completing an Expedition and will those cosmetics be exclusive to this first run?
- Will future Expeditions work the same way or will the required resources and rewards change with each new Expedition cycle?
These are not small details. They are exactly the kind of information players need to decide whether resetting now is worth it. If the rewards stack and future Expeditions are even stronger, early adopters could end up with a major advantage. But if the rewards are limited or underwhelming, wiping a well geared account could feel like a huge loss.
Adding to the frustration, the game itself is already vague about important systems like the skill tree and progression numbers. Many players have been asking for clearer figures and better in game explanations, but so far much of the crucial info still lives in Discord snippets, guides and community testing.
How To Prepare If You Are Thinking About Resetting
If you are tempted by the Expedition Project, especially now that we know the key buffs are permanent, the safe move is to treat the time before departure as a preparation phase.
Some common prep strategies include:
- Maxing out the value of your stash with high quality items instead of spreading resources thin on upgrades you may lose
- Stockpiling currency in your wallet instead of spending it frivolously, since wallet size directly affects your Expedition rewards
- Planning builds and skill setups in advance using guides on best skills and best weapons so your next run starts strong
- Clearing Trials, quests and Field Depots that reward valuable loot to push your stash value higher
The catch is timing. Because key details will only be revealed when the Expedition window opens, players who have not already been preparing will have a very short window to optimize their stash and wallet. That is pushing some players to aggressively hoard now in the hope that it pays off later, even without hard numbers.
In the end, the Expedition Project is a gamble. On one side you have the immediate comfort of your current progress and gear. On the other, the promise of long term account power and more efficient future runs. With permanent stash space and skill points already confirmed, Expeditions look very tempting for anyone planning to stick with Arc Raiders for the long haul. The only real question is whether you are willing to hit reset without seeing all the cards on the table.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/embark-has-confirmed-that-expedition-bonuses-in-arc-raiders-are-permanent-but-that-does-little-to-clear-up-the-confusion/
