What You’ll Learn

This guide explains how to prepare for the next ARC Raiders expedition departure, what materials and valuables matter before the reset, how the damage-based skill point track works, and which systems do or do not carry over. If you want smoother progression, better extraction planning, and fewer wasted resources, this is the checklist to follow before the wipe hits.

Why the Expedition Departure Matters

An expedition departure is more than a calendar event. It is the point where a raider cashes in expedition progress, claims account-level benefits, and then starts over with a fresh gameplay economy. That means your rank, stash, coins, blueprints, upgrade stations, and active gear are all on the line. If you do not prepare correctly, you can lose value that could have been converted into skill points, expedition rewards, or a stronger opening path after the reset.

The immediate goal is simple: finish the expedition project, opt into departure before the deadline, and maximize the rewards that still matter once the wipe happens. For many players, that means balancing short-term spending with long-term account progression.

Expedition Project Checklist

The first priority is completing the expedition project itself. If this is unfinished, nothing else matters until it is done. The project is split into multiple phases, and each one asks for a different mix of resources, crafted components, and rare valuables.

Phase 1 Materials

• 150 metal
• 100 chemicals
• 80 arc alloy
• 15 springs

Phase 2 Components

• 30 durable cloth
• 25 wires
• 20 electrical components
• 3 industrial chargers

Phase 3 Special Items

• 1 coffee pot
• 25 batteries
• 5 firefly burners
• 1 Exodus module

Phase 4 High-Value Turn-Ins

• 1 broken guidance system
• 5 advanced electrical components
• 3 breathtaking snow globes
• 2 bombader cells

• 200,000 worth of combat items
• 100,000 worth of survival items
• 150,000 worth of provisions
• 300,000 worth of materials

If you are still behind on these requirements, focus on direct completion instead of trying to optimize everything else. This is where efficient stash management matters most. Any extra ARC Raiders Materials or stored valuables that help finish the project are worth using now, because unfinished project progress can block the more important expedition rewards.

Departure Window and Final Confirmation

After the project is complete, the next step is opting into the expedition departure window. Missing that confirmation is one of the easiest ways to throw away progress. There is a final last-chance prompt near the end of the window, but relying on it is risky. Treat the day before the cutoff as your real deadline, especially if your local timezone pushes the reset into the early morning.

In practical terms, the safest plan is to finish all project work, opt in immediately, and then spend the remaining time farming damage or sorting catch-up value. Waiting until the final hours creates unnecessary risk if you still need one more run, one more craft, or one more stash decision.

What You Get for Departing

The visible rewards are cosmetics, but the real value comes from skill points and expedition streak bonuses. Cosmetic progression appears to be linear, so players who miss a full outfit variant are not permanently locked out forever. Instead, repeated expedition participation eventually completes the set over time.

The gameplay rewards are more important:

• Base expedition skill points
• Potential catch-up skill points
• Consecutive expedition bonuses
• XP boost
• Scrappy material boost
• Improved repair value

Those streak bonuses are easy to underestimate. A better repair return and extra scrappy income can make the next cycle much more forgiving, especially in the early rebuild when every piece of gear and every station upgrade matters.

How the Damage Challenge Works

This expedition uses a damage requirement instead of a stash-value target for the main skill point track. To earn the full five standard skill points, you need to deal 100,000 damage to valid targets outside the firing range. Both ARC enemies and opposing raiders count, but progress is tracked individually, not across your squad.

There are three details that matter most:

• Damage is personal, not shared by teammates
• You do not need to extract for the damage to count
• The reward scaling is front-loaded enough that partial progress still pays well

That last point is huge. The final skill point is weighted heavily toward the end of the track, while the earlier rewards arrive faster. So even if you cannot reach the full 100,000 before departure, getting to the midpoint still delivers most of the value. This makes the challenge much less punishing than it first appears.

Take a look at: Riven Tides guide

Best Way to Farm Damage Before Reset

If your goal is pure efficiency, PvE-focused runs are the best answer. PvP can produce bursts of damage, but ARC enemies are far more reliable because there are simply more targets available in every match. The fastest route to expedition progress is usually a loadout that can sustain pressure against dense enemy packs rather than a build designed only for player duels.

Why PvE Is Better for This Objective

ARC density creates a higher ceiling for total damage in a single run. Even if a match ends in death, all valid damage is still banked. That means high-risk aggression against enemy groups is more acceptable than usual. Normally, failed extraction wastes a run. Here, a failed extraction can still be productive if it generated enough progress.

Best Map Choice

Riven Tides is the standout option because it offers some of the highest enemy density currently available. If you are chasing quick damage totals, this is the map to prioritize. Areas with concentrated ARC presence, especially where repeated engagements can chain together, are ideal. For players who already know the map flow, this also doubles as a strong ARC Raiders loot runs environment when the route is clean enough to support both damage and value pickup.

• Heavy ARC concentrations around hot zones
• Night conditions with increased hostile pressure
• Events or patrol patterns that pull multiple enemy groups together
• Locations where you can reset cover and keep shooting instead of rotating constantly

If you want a more detailed route breakdown, check out our Riven Tides guide for map-specific positioning and ARC engagement advice.

Weapons and Utility to Spend Freely

This is not the time to hoard. Once your catch-up budget is secure, convert excess stash value into performance. Use the ammunition, explosives, and high-tier weapons you have been saving. If a gun helps you deal more damage quickly, it is worth more now than it will ever be after the wipe.

Strong options include heavy weapons, launchers, and recently improved rifles that can handle both armored ARC and emergency PvP. This is one of the few moments when burning through premium ammo is fully justified. Better damage per run means faster skill points, and faster skill points mean more account value after reset.

That also makes this a natural time to use stored ARC Raiders Weapons, test expensive utility, and attach quality ARC Raiders Mods that you might otherwise save for a future build. There is no reason to protect gear that will disappear anyway.

How Catch-Up Skill Points Work

The catch-up system returns for players who missed skill points in previous expeditions. You can recover up to five additional points, but only after finishing the current damage challenge. This is the most important rule to remember: catch-up value does not apply first.

To earn catch-up skill points, you need 300,000 in combined stash and coin value per point. That means:

• 1 point = 300,000 total value
• 3 points = 900,000 total value
• 5 points = 1,500,000 total value

This value is shared across inventory and coins. If you know you need catch-up progress, do not overspend blindly. Set aside the required amount first, then spend the rest on damage-farming kits. This is where smart handling of ARC Raiders Coins and inventory valuation becomes more important than raw combat efficiency.

Players who are short on progression resources often struggle here because they either hoard too much and slow down damage farming, or overspend and miss catch-up thresholds. The best solution is to calculate your target before your final sessions. Once you know the exact number you need, every stash decision becomes easier.

When a Fire Sale Makes Sense

If you do not need catch-up points, or once your catch-up value is secured, a full stash fire sale becomes the correct move. This is the moment to use dead-end items, odd ammo stockpiles, niche grenades, and top-tier guns that were being saved for a perfect run. Perfect runs do not matter after a wipe.

Spending surplus gear helps in three ways:

• It improves your damage output before departure
• It turns idle stash value into real expedition progress
• It lets you experiment with equipment you may want to prioritize next cycle

For players rebuilding after reset, this kind of testing is valuable. You learn which ammo types feel efficient, which utility clears ARC fastest, and which weapon families deserve early crafting support when you start earning ARC Raiders Blueprints again.

What Carries Over After the Reset

Not everything is wiped. Account-level or longer-term progression systems remain, and knowing that can save you from bad decisions in the final days.

Progress That Carries Over

• Project progress
• Event progress
• Merit contributions tied to those systems
• Raider deck progress
• Map unlocks
• Account currencies such as tokens and cred

This means you do not need to panic-complete every active project before departure. If a project has useful future rewards, it may be smarter to leave it positioned near a valuable blueprint or component threshold and claim that later.

Take a look at: Betina builds after the buff

Progress That Gets Wiped

• Rank
• Inventory and stash
• Quests
• Items
• Coins used in run-based progression
• Blueprint inventory
• Workshop and station progress
• Upgrades tied to the current cycle

That reset list is why late-cycle resource planning matters so much. Any unused ARC Raiders crafting Materials, spare gear upgrades, or station components that are not converted into expedition value are effectively lost.

One of the more advanced reset strategies is intentionally managing project completion. Because project progress carries over, you can sometimes leave a project just short of completion if the next reward is more useful after the reset. This is especially relevant when a project can guarantee a desirable blueprint or a weapon part that would accelerate your rebuild.

In other words, not every nearly finished project should be turned in immediately. If the reward has more value in the next cycle than it does right now, holding that progress can be the smarter play. This is a subtle but meaningful optimization for players who care about ARC Raiders Workbench progression and early station unlock speed.

The Last Call Feature Explained

The last call feature exists for players who completed the caravan and project but forgot to sign up during the normal departure window. On first login after the departure update, eligible players can still choose to depart.

However, there is a tradeoff. Players using last call do not get the same damage-based skill point opportunity from the missed window. The feature is mainly there to preserve expedition continuity and consecutive bonuses, not to fully replace active participation.

That makes last call a safety net, not a strategy. It is useful if something unexpected happens, but it should never be the plan if you still have time to opt in normally.

Best Final-Day Checklist

If departure is close, use this order of operations:

• Finish the expedition project
• Confirm your departure participation
• Calculate catch-up skill point value needed
• Set aside the required stash and coin total
• Spend leftover gear on high-damage PvE runs
• Prioritize Riven Tides or other dense ARC maps
• Use premium ammo, explosives, and heavy weapons freely
• Review unfinished projects and decide whether to hold them strategically
• Make sure no valuable progression opportunity is being left unused

This checklist is the easiest way to avoid the most common mistakes: missing the confirmation window, wasting high-end gear, and misunderstanding what does or does not survive the wipe.

How to Approach the Next Cycle

Once the reset happens, the early game becomes a race to restore crafting options, stabilize your economy, and rebuild combat consistency. That is why expedition rewards matter so much. Extra skill points, streak bonuses, and smart project carryover can shave hours off the opening grind.

If you are planning ahead, think in terms of next-cycle efficiency. Which weapons felt best for farming? Which resources were bottlenecks? Which project rewards would help you reach stable crafting sooner? Those answers will shape how you prioritize your first few sessions after the wipe.

Players who want a smoother restart often focus on a practical survival kit first, then branch into stronger PvE clear tools, then invest into station growth. That approach usually creates the best balance between extraction consistency and long-term progress.

FAQ

Do I need to extract for damage progress to count?

No. Damage dealt to valid targets is banked even if the run ends in death.

What is the fastest way to earn expedition skill points?

Dense PvE farming is the most reliable method, especially on Riven Tides where ARC spawns are frequent.

No. If the gear will be wiped, use it now unless you still need stash value for catch-up points.

Do projects reset when the expedition departs?

No. Project and event progress carry over, so you can plan around future rewards.

What gets wiped when the expedition ends?

Your active gameplay economy resets, including stash, rank, items, blueprints, and upgrade progress tied to the current cycle.