Arc Raiders' Third Expedition progression system has changed, introducing a completely new way to acquire skill points. However, there are only ten days left until Expedition window opens.

Now we'll quickly understand all the changes brought about by the new damage-based progression system, including how skill points are acquired and how the catch-up mechanic works.

If you're preparing for an Expedition, you need to understand these things before the data wipe.

The Third Expedition System

Expedition is one of the most important systems in Arc Raiders. It completely wipes your character data, skill points, all hard-earned blueprints, and all your music collection. Basically, everything will be deleted. While it sounds brutal, Expedition isn't just a punishment.

It brings proper rewards that can't be obtained through other means. To start an Expedition, players must deliver specific items and valuables to an Expedition progression project called Caravan. Once enough items have been delivered, Expedition window will open, and then you just need to wait for Expedition day to arrive.

On that day, your character will be reset. The third expedition window will open on April 28th at 13:00 CEST, giving you five days to register and fulfill the requirements. All registered players will automatically depart on May 4th. It's important to note that completing Caravan quest is not equivalent to registration. You will still need to register manually within the five-day registration period.

Arc Raiders has also introduced a new Last Call feature for players who completed Caravan quest but missed the registration window. You will receive a pop-up on your next login offering one last chance to register, but this option will not grant any skill points.

Expedition Rewards

Permanent rewards include a Patchwork outfit, new toggles for the helmet, ammo belt, and leg trinkets, two new color schemes: white, red, and black/green, a tattered bandana, and an Expedition Indicator Icon that upgrades with each expedition completed. Additionally, you will receive 12 extra storage spaces per expedition, which stack with each server reset.

Therefore, if your maximum storage capacity is currently 280 without any expeditions, it will increase to 292 after the first expedition, 304 after the second, and 316 after the third. Next are the consecutive bonuses, which are crucial to understand. Consecutive bonuses mean that if you miss an expedition window, these bonuses will be completely reset.

Currently, these bonuses increase over three expeditions as follows: experience bonus increases from 5% to 10% to 15%, scrap bonus increases from 6% to 12% to 18%, and repair value increase increases from 60% to 70% to 80%. These are significant numbers, and missing an expedition window can result in substantial losses.

The brilliance of ARC Raiders lies in providing players who don't want to participate with the option to skip entirely. Other games, such as Tarkov, force a reset for all players every four to six months. I believe this optional mechanism is one reason why ARC Raiders has a higher player retention rate than most games in its genre. If you've already completed your caravan quests, you can register when the registration window opens on April 28th. During the 5-day window, you need to focus on dealing damage; remember, damage dealt to any target counts. If you're currently on your second or third expedition and missed out on skill points, complete the damage challenge first to unlock the catch-up mechanic, which is still tied to your stash value, with each skill point worth 300,000 coins.

Expedition Changes

In the first two expeditions, skill points were tied to gold value. If your stash reached a certain threshold, approximately 3 to 5 million coins, you would gain all five skill points. This was a passive, wealth-based system. You would accumulate resources and ARC Raiders Items in the game, and the higher your stash value, the more it reflected your efforts.

In the third expedition, ARC Raiders obliterated this mechanic. Now, skill points are gained by dealing damage. Damage dealt to any target, whether ARC or other raiders, will count towards skill points. The damage threshold must be reached within the 5-day expedition window.

Impact on Players

Official information doesn't explicitly state whether this change applies to all players on all expeditions, or only to those on their third expedition. How these changes will affect players currently on their first or second expedition remains unknown.

Based on current information, Damage Challenge is now a universal system for all players, regardless of whether it's your first, second, or third expedition. Damage Challenge replaces Warehouse Value system as the universal method for all players to obtain five skill points.

Catchup system is where the real complexity lies. Catchup system allows players who didn't obtain all skill points in previous expeditions to make up for the missed points in subsequent expeditions at a very low gold cost.

Catchup skill points only apply to players on their second or third expedition who missed skill points in the previous expedition, and are still tied to Warehouse Value, with each skill point costing 300,000 gold. If you want to catch up, you need to complete Damage Challenge to unlock Catchup system, and then meet the additional Warehouse Value requirement.

The simultaneous operation of two different systems within the same expedition window can be very confusing for players, especially newcomers. A clearer explanation of which players these mechanics apply to and how the two systems interact would be greatly helpful.

Players shouldn't be piecing together this information from forum posts and content creators' sharing. Official announcements should prominently feature this information. We still don't know exactly how these changes will affect different players. From a game design perspective, I understand the reasons behind these changes.

Reasons for Changes

The wealth-based expedition system encourages players to hoard resources. Players passively accumulate resources and then leave them aside instead of actively participating in the game. With the player base declining, the goal is to encourage more active gameplay, increase engagement, and truly immerse more players in the Rust Belt world, experiencing events rather than simply managing the game.

Player Reactions

This announcement was released 10 days before the expedition window opened. The expedition cycle is nearly 60 days. Players have been working according to the previous set of rules for almost two months, and these rules have changed less than two weeks before the expedition begins. If a player spends fifty days meticulously accumulating inventory value to reach a skill point threshold, only to find that threshold is now meaningless, they have every reason to be frustrated. This isn't a minor adjustment. It's a fundamental redesign of the core progression mechanics, delivered to players at the last minute. The reactions on forums and social media confirm this. Players are very dissatisfied.

Therefore, the problem isn't the change itself. The problem is the entire handling of it. Such a significant change should have been announced after the second expedition, allowing players time to adjust, change strategies, and feel like informed participants, not victims of a last-minute decision. Even a simple announcement at the end of the last expedition would have greatly alleviated this situation.

Arc Raiders' update cadence, roadmap, and proactive response to community feedback are all real and commendable. Adjustments to the free gear matchmaking system, improvements to the user interface, and a complete overhaul of the crafting system all demonstrate that the development team is seriously listening to player feedback.

The changes to the expedition system are not a sign of Arc Raiders' indifference. It shows that the team sometimes acts too quickly and communication fails to keep up. Misunderstanding between decision-making and communication are the root cause of declining player trust. Now you need to prepare for the new expedition and try to adapt to the new expedition mechanics.