If you’ve been playing Arc Raiders and wondering whether to hit that reset button — you’re not alone. The Expedition Project is one of the more unusual mechanics in the extraction shooter genre: it’s a wipe that you actually choose. No forced resets, no server-wide countdowns. Just you deciding when it’s time to start over — and what you get for doing it.
This guide covers everything you need to know about how the system works, what changes between Expeditions, and whether wiping is actually worth your time. All information is based on the live game as of March 2026, including Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 outcomes.
Arc Raiders is still in early access, and Embark Studios is actively adjusting the Expedition system based on player feedback. That means the mechanics covered here will likely evolve — but the fundamentals have already proven stable across the first two cycles.
What Is the Arc Raiders Wipe System and How Is It Different from Other Games?
Most extraction games handle wipes the same way: the developers pick a date, everyone loses everything, and the cycle starts fresh. Arc Raiders doesn’t do that. Embark Studios built a system called the Expedition Project, which gives players the option to reset their character voluntarily in exchange for permanent and temporary rewards.
The reset wipes your level, stash, crafting progress, and blueprints. But it happens only when you choose to send your Raider on an Expedition — and only during a specific departure window. If you don’t want to reset, nothing forces you to. Your existing progress stays intact.
The reasoning behind this design is straightforward: not all players have the same amount of time to invest. A mandatory wipe punishes anyone who can’t keep up with a fresh grind. The voluntary system respects that reality.
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How the Expedition Project Works: Unlock, Stages, and Departure Windows
You unlock the Expedition Project at level 20. From that point, you can start contributing to a communal structure — the Caravan — by donating materials across six stages. Once all stages are complete, a finalization window opens, followed by a departure window.
The departure window is short. Typically it runs for about 8 days, and if you don’t send your Raider during that period, you wait until the next cycle — roughly 45 to 60 days later.
The six stages require different types of materials, and progression through them is tied to the overall player base, not just your individual contributions. That said, active participants generally complete the stages well before the departure date.
One important detail: temporary buffs from departures stack. Each time you reset consecutively, the bonuses carry over and compound. Miss a window, though, and you lose the stacked progress on those buffs — a real incentive to stay consistent.
Arc Raiders Wipe: What You Lose and What You Keep
This is the part most players want to know before committing to a reset. The split is fairly clean between permanent progression and cosmetic or achievement-based items.
What gets wiped:
| Category | Gets Reset? |
|---|---|
| Level & XP | Yes |
| Stash contents | Yes |
| Workshop progress | Yes |
| Crafting abilities | Yes |
| Skill Tree | Yes |
| Cosmetics (earned or purchased) | No |
| Achievements & rankings | No |
| Raider Deck progress | No |
| Codex entries | No |
| Unlocked map regions | No |
| Leaderboard position | No |
| Raider Tokens | No |
| Trophy Display Project | No |
There’s also one quality-of-life benefit that returning players get on a fresh run: you skip the majority of the early onboarding and tutorial. Maps and initial unlocks are available from the start, which makes the second run feel noticeably faster to get into.
Expedition 1: The First Arc Raiders Wipe — December 2025
The first Expedition departure window ran from December 17 to December 22, 2025. Players who completed the Expedition Project and participated received a mix of permanent and temporary rewards.
Permanent rewards from Expedition 1:
- Patchwork Raider outfit
- Scrappy Janitor Cap
- Expeditions Indicator cosmetic icon
- Bonus Stash spaces (+12 permanent slots)
- Skill points based on Stash value at departure (up to 5)
The Skill Point scaling worked like this: one million Coins in Stash value equalled one Skill Point for the new Raider, up to a maximum of five. Reaching that cap required a 5 million Coin stash — a threshold that drew significant criticism from the community.
Temporary buffs included a 10% repair cost reduction, a 5% XP bonus, and 6% more materials from Scrappy. These were time-limited and tied to the ongoing session after reset.
The community reaction was mixed. The cosmetics were well-received, but the stash requirement for maximum Skill Points felt steep, especially for players who hadn’t been grinding since early access launch. Embark took note.
Expedition 2 Updates: What Embark Changed Based on Player Feedback (March 2026)
Embark publicly acknowledged the criticism around Expedition 1 and made targeted adjustments for the second cycle. Sign-ups opened February 25, 2026, with the departure window running March 1-2, 2026.
The most significant change was to the Skill Point threshold. The requirement dropped from 5 million Coins to 3 million Coins for maximum rewards — a 40% reduction — while still offering the same 5 Skill Points. That single change made the top reward tier accessible to a much wider portion of the player base.
Other changes for Expedition 2:
- Skill Point catch-up system introduced: players who missed the Expedition 1 maximum can reclaim points at a discounted rate
- Patchwork outfit received 4 additional toggles and 2 new color options for returning participants
- New Scrappy-themed outfit added as a reward
- Confirmed: temporary buffs stack across consecutive departures, but are lost if a window is skipped
The catch-up system in particular addressed a frustration that many players had voiced — feeling permanently behind if they didn’t max out in the first cycle. Embark’s willingness to iterate quickly on the system in just one cycle is a decent sign for where the mechanic goes long-term.
Arc Raiders Expedition 3: Release Date and What to Expect
Based on the pattern from the first two cycles, Expedition 3 is expected around mid-April 2026. The gap between Expedition 1 and 2 was roughly 10 weeks, and Embark hasn’t announced any changes to the cadence.
Some data mining has surfaced quest names associated with the next cycle — titles like A Rising Tide, Bastion, and Sentinel Firing Core — but stage requirements and reward specifics haven’t been officially confirmed yet. Take early leaks with the usual skepticism until Embark makes an official announcement.
What’s likely to stay consistent: the six-stage structure, the departure window format, and the Skill Point reward scaling (which Embark already adjusted once and has indicated they’re monitoring). Whether the stash threshold drops further for Expedition 3 depends on community feedback over the coming weeks.
Is Wiping in Arc Raiders Actually Worth It? Honest Breakdown
The short answer depends on how you play. For dedicated players who reach the stash threshold comfortably, the reset is a clear net positive — permanent Stash slots and Skill Points have direct, ongoing value. More inventory space removes one of the game’s biggest friction points, and starting a new Raider with 5 bonus Skill Points changes how the early game feels.
For casual players, the calculus is different. If you’re unlikely to hit the 3 million Coin threshold before the departure window, you’re still leaving with the cosmetics and some minor buffs — which may not justify losing your workshop and crafting progress, especially if you’re still building it out.
One thing Embark has committed to: the Expedition reset will never grant a direct combat or power advantage over players who didn’t wipe. The rewards stay in the lane of cosmetics, quality-of-life, and starting bonuses — not gear or unlocks that affect PvP balance. That promise is worth holding them to, but it’s also what keeps the system from becoming pay-to-win or grind-mandatory.
The stacking temporary buffs add another layer. If you plan to participate in every Expedition, the bonuses compound. Miss one cycle, and you’re back to baseline on those buffs. For players who want to fully optimize, showing up consistently matters.
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Arc Raiders Expedition Wipe Schedule: Key Dates at a Glance
Here’s a quick reference for both completed Expeditions and what’s expected next:
| Expedition | Sign-Up Opens | Departure Window | Key Change vs Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expedition 1 | Before Dec 17, 2025 | Dec 17–22, 2025 | First cycle — no baseline to compare |
| Expedition 2 | Feb 25, 2026 | Mar 1–2, 2026 | Skill Point threshold cut to 3M Coins; catch-up system added |
| Expedition 3 | ~Early April 2026 (est.) | ~Mid-April 2026 (est.) | Not yet announced |
If you miss a departure window, your only option is to wait for the next one. Your progress stays intact, but you lose the temporary buff stack if you were building it across consecutive resets. Embark has confirmed there’s no shortcut to re-enter a window once it closes.
