If you have been grinding ARC Raiders since launch, you already know that extraction shooters live and die on tension, loot and the fear of losing everything, especially when you are chasing that perfect ARC Raiders BluePrint. Embark Studios, the team behind the chaos of The Finals, is trying something a bit different just a month in. Instead of a routine balance patch, they are rolling out the first Expedition Project, a sort of prestige ladder with extra risk baked in for players on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S who want more than just another slow level climb.



What Makes This Wipe Different
In a lot of games like this, a wipe hits everyone at once and that is it, your whole account gets reset whether you like it or not. Here it works another way. Once you hit Level 20, you get the option to join the Expedition Project, and it is completely voluntary. If you opt in, your level, skill tree, stash and blueprints all get wiped, which sounds brutal at first. The upside is you do not have to slog through the early game again in Speranza, because all the maps and workshop upgrades are open from the moment your new Raider drops in, so you can jump straight back into proper runs instead of replaying the tutorial loop.



Min-Maxing The Carry-Over Bonus
The big hook is how the game turns your old stash into power on your next life. When you sign up for the expedition, the system looks at the total value of everything you own, plus your coins balance, and adds it up. For every one million coins worth of value, your fresh character starts with one extra skill point, up to a hard cap of five points. So players who like to min-max will start hoarding and selling until they are sitting on around five million in value before they commit. Starting a new run with five bonus skill points feels huge, and you will feel that power bump right away in your early fights and build choices.



Permanent Rewards And Rolling Buffs
There is more to it than raw stats. Some rewards stay with your account for good, making that first leap a lot easier to swallow. You unlock the Patchwork Raider outfit and the Scrappy Janitor Cap, which are mostly about style, but the permanent extra 12 stash slots matter a lot in an extraction game where you are always juggling what to keep. On top of that you get temporary boosts: a 10% repair bonus, a small XP boost and a bump to material drops from Scrappy. Those buffs only stick around if you keep joining new expeditions, and if you chain them across up to three runs, they ramp up, which nudges you to keep taking the risk instead of sitting safely on one strong account forever.



A Short Window To Decide
The catch is timing. The sign up window opens on December 17 and closes on December 22, and everyone who opted in launches together on the 22, so you do not have weeks to think it over. You are basically weighing up whether your current stash, build and comfort are worth more than permanent storage, a stronger future character and the rolling buffs that come with staying on the expedition track, especially if you are eyeing some BluePrint for sale. For players who enjoy that early scramble and do not mind risking their favourite gear, it is a pretty tempting trade.Save time farming by purchasing strong ARC Raiders items directly from u4gm.com, ideal for efficient progression.