Expedition Projects
Expedition Projects are the voluntary wipe system in ARC Raiders, so no reset is ever forced on you. Each cycle runs roughly eight to ten weeks, and finalizing it resets your level, skill tree, den upgrades, blueprints, stash, and coins in exchange for exclusive cosmetics, bonus skill points, permanent stash space, and next-cycle boosts. Cosmetics, real-money purchases, achievements, and up to five Expedition Vault items survive the reset.
ARC Raiders does not use mandatory server wipes. Instead, it offers a voluntary reset system called Expedition Projects. You choose when (and if) to wipe your character. Nobody forces it on you.
This system confuses a lot of players. The forums are full of questions about what survives, what gets destroyed, and whether the rewards are worth the pain. This guide breaks down every piece of it.
What Is an Expedition Project?
An Expedition Project is a structured progression cycle of roughly two months. At the end of the cycle, you can choose to "finalize" your Expedition, which resets your character back to level one. In exchange, you receive exclusive rewards that are only available through the Expedition system.
If you do not finalize, nothing happens. You keep everything and continue playing normally. The wipe is entirely opt-in.
What Resets
When you finalize an Expedition, the following are permanently wiped:
- Character level. Back to level one.
- Skill tree. Every skill point is removed. You rebuild from scratch.
- Raider Den progress. All station upgrades reset to their starting level.
- Learned blueprints. Gone. You must find and extract them again.
- Inventory and stash. Every item, material, and component is deleted.
- Coins. Your wallet goes to zero.
- Active quest progress. Any in-progress quests reset.
This is a hard reset. Your character becomes a brand new Raider in every functional sense.
Do not finalize an Expedition impulsively. You lose hundreds of hours of progression, blueprints, and gear. Read the rewards section below and decide if they are worth the cost before you commit.
What Survives
Account-level progression is permanent and cannot be wiped by any Expedition:
- Cosmetics. Every outfit, emote, weapon skin, and visual customization you own carries over.
- Real-money purchases. Anything bought with premium currency stays on your account.
- Account achievements. Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox achievements are permanent.
- Expedition history. Your completed Expedition count is tracked on your profile as a prestige indicator.
- Permanent departure rewards. Stash-space bonuses earned from past departures stay with your account.
- Expedition Vault items. Up to five items stored in the Vault carry across the wipe (see below).
The Expedition Cycle
Expedition Projects follow a steady cadence of roughly eight to ten weeks:
| Phase | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Most of the cycle | Active progression. Play normally, level up, farm, and build toward the departure objectives. |
| Announcement | The game notifies you that the current Expedition's departure window is approaching. |
| Departure window (5 days to 2 weeks) | You choose to finalize (wipe) or skip (keep everything). |
After the window closes, a new Expedition cycle begins. If you skipped the previous one, you simply continue with your existing character into the next cycle.
The first Expedition's departure window ran December 17 to 22, 2025, opening alongside the Cold Snap update (Patch 1.7.0). Expedition 3's window closed on May 11, 2026, and the fourth Expedition departed on July 21, 2026. The rhythm lands at roughly two-month cycles.
Expedition Rewards
Finalizing an Expedition grants exclusive rewards that cannot be obtained any other way:
- Exclusive cosmetic sets. Each Expedition has a unique outfit, weapon skin, and banner tied to it. Miss the window, and those cosmetics are gone permanently.
- Permanent stash space. Each completed departure adds 12 stash slots that stay with your account forever.
- Bonus skill points. Up to five per completed Expedition, and they are the only way to reach the 76-point skill cap beyond leveling.
- Raider Tokens. 150 per completed departure objective, spendable on cosmetics.
- Next-cycle boosts. Finalizing grants buffs for the following cycle, such as an XP boost, increased Scrappy material output, and better repair value.
- Prestige. Your profile tracks your completed Expedition count.
Embark's stated design principle is that Expedition rewards never buy combat power. They are not purely cosmetic, though: the stash space, skill points, and cycle boosts are real quality-of-life gains that reward players who enjoy the fresh-start loop.
The Expedition Vault
The Expedition Vault is the single most important piece of Expedition planning. It lets you carry specific items across a wipe.
How It Works
- The Vault provides up to five secure slots.
- You purchase Vault slots from Ermal (the Nomadic Envoys vendor) using premium ARC components. See the Crafting and Gear guide for details on Ermal.
- Before finalizing your Expedition, place your five most valuable items in the Vault.
- When the wipe hits, everything else is deleted. The Vault items survive and appear in your stash on your fresh level-one character.
What to Vault
Choosing your five items is the hardest decision in the Expedition system. Here are the priorities:
| Priority | What to Vault | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your best weapon (Tier III or IV) | Starting over with a powerful weapon cuts hours off early progression. |
| 2 | A high-tier shield | Survivability is more important than damage in the early levels. |
| 3 | A rare blueprint you do not want to re-farm | Some blueprints have extremely low drop rates. Losing them means dozens of farming runs. |
| 4 | A stack of expensive refined materials | Jumpstarts your station upgrades on the fresh character. |
| 5 | A premium Ermal trade item | Ermal items are hard to farm. Carrying one across saves a week of grinding. |
Vault slots are purchased per-Expedition. Buying five slots in Expedition 3 does not give you five free slots in Expedition 4. You must repurchase them each cycle from Ermal.
Who Should Wipe?
Not everyone should finalize an Expedition. Here is a rough guide:
| Player Type | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| New player (under Level 15) | Skip. You have not built enough to benefit from wiping. Focus on learning the game. |
| Mid-game player (Levels 15 to 30) | Skip unless you want the exclusive cosmetics badly enough to start over. |
| Endgame player (Level 30+, all stations maxed) | Consider it. If you have done everything and want a fresh challenge, the wipe gives you a reason to re-engage with early maps and progression systems. |
| Cosmetic collector | Wipe. Each Expedition's cosmetics are time-limited. If you want the full collection, you must finalize every cycle. |
| Hardcore prestige player | Wipe every cycle. The Expedition count on your profile is your badge of honor. |
Player Projects and Phantom Targets
Store Update 1.40.0 launched the first part of a Player Project called Phantom Targets on August 4, 2026, and the patch notes name it separately from the Expedition Projects covered above.
Shani has noticed discrepant surveillance data and has not pinned down the source. You go out and investigate the strange readings, fix up faulty Antennas to triangulate the signals, and take on the ARC with unconventional strategies. Part two arrives with the 1.42 update on August 18, alongside the Phantom Targets Event.
Embark has not said how Player Project progress interacts with an Expedition wipe, so plan your departure window without assuming either way.
Common Misconceptions
These come up constantly on Reddit and the Steam forums:
"Do my Stash Expansions survive the wipe?" No. Stash Expansions purchased from Ermal reset with the Expedition. You must buy them again each cycle.
"Do my quest completions carry over?" No. All quest progress resets. You replay the story from the beginning.
"Can I wipe mid-cycle?" No. You can only finalize during the departure window at the end of a cycle, which has run from five days to two weeks. Outside that window, the option is unavailable.
"Is there a gameplay advantage to wiping?" No combat-power advantage. You do not get stronger weapons or hidden content. You do earn permanent stash space, bonus skill points toward the 76-point cap, Raider Tokens, and boosts for the next cycle, on top of the exclusive cosmetics.
"What happens if I never wipe?" Nothing is taken from you. You keep your character, your gear, your blueprints, and your progress indefinitely. The only cost is missing out on that cycle's departure rewards and any consecutive-departure streak buffs. The system is entirely opt-in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ARC Raiders have forced wipes?
No. ARC Raiders does not use mandatory server wipes. Expedition Projects are entirely opt-in, and if you never finalize one you keep your character, gear, blueprints, and progress indefinitely.
What survives an Expedition wipe in ARC Raiders?
Cosmetics, real-money purchases, account achievements, your Expedition history, permanent stash-space rewards from past departures, and up to five items stored in the Expedition Vault. Everything else is deleted.
How does the Expedition Vault work?
It gives you up to five secure slots, purchased from Ermal using premium ARC components. Place your most valuable items in the Vault before finalizing and they appear in the stash of your fresh level-one character.
Do Stash Expansions survive an Expedition wipe?
No. Stash Expansions bought from Ermal reset with the Expedition, so you have to buy them again each cycle. Vault slots work the same way and must be repurchased every cycle.
Is there a gameplay advantage to wiping in ARC Raiders?
No combat-power advantage, by design. You do earn permanent stash space, up to five bonus skill points per completed Expedition, Raider Tokens, and next-cycle boosts like an XP bonus, on top of the time-limited cosmetics.
Are Player Projects the same as Expedition Projects?
The patch notes name them separately. Store Update 1.40.0 launched part one of a Player Project called Phantom Targets, which sends you to fix faulty Antennas and take on the ARC with unconventional strategies, and part two arrives with the 1.42 update on August 18. Embark has not said how Player Project progress interacts with an Expedition wipe.
What to Read Next
- Crafting and Gear. Stashing blueprints before a reset.
- Skill Tree and Progression. Progression that persists.
- Achievements. Unlocks tied to expedition participation.
- Tips and Tricks. What a wipe actually costs, and which purchases you repeat each cycle.