ConnexionArc Raiders Dev Outlines Expedition Changes After Players Criticized Steep Reward Requirements
Embark Studios has opened up about how it will make the second Expedition in Arc Raiders more enticing after the first left its community wanting more.
The developer behind the popular sci-fi extraction shooter updated fans with a blog post on its website. Included are a February 25 sign-up date and a March 1 departure date for the account reset event, as players are told to look forward to more worthwhile rewards before sending their beloved Raiders into the unknown and starting from scratch.
Stash value requirements were the first thing Embark addressed, telling fans that they’ll now need just 3 million coins to reach the maximum bonus of five skill points. That means you’ll need only 600,000 per point, a significantly more achievable task than the previous Expedition’s ask of 1 million per skill point.
What’s more, Raiders who participated the first time around but didn’t amass enough coins can benefit from a new catch-up feature. Missed points can be claimed for 300,000 each, with coins first going toward Expedition 2 before being used for the makeup points for Expedition 1. In other words, you’ll need the 3 million for the five new skill points and an additional 300,000 per skill point missed. As Raiders jump into Expeditions for the first time, they’ll need to start by unlocking rewards from Expedition 1, leaving the catch-up feature only for returning players.
Other new permanent rewards for the second reset include a new Scrappy outfit, an evolved Patchwork outfit with more toggles and colors, and, thankfully, 12 more stash space slots. Returning expeditioners gain 5% more XP (10% total), a 6% boost to Scrappy materials (12% total), and a 10% increase to repair value (70% total).
All of the upcoming changes to Expeditions arrive after Embark noted a somewhat disappointing reception to its first crack at the account wipe feature. Design director Virgil Watkins told PCGamesN last month that "a little over a million players" successfully cleared their accounts and suggested the studio would keep its ear to the ground going forward.
"We completely acknowledge that it isn't the most engaging thing to just go for money," he said at the time, "[and it has] the potential outcome of disincentivizing using your gear, which is kind of what people look forward to towards the end of a reset cycle. So yeah, we're looking at revisions on that."
Arc Raiders launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S October 30, 2025. Its Escalation roadmap laid out Embark’s early 2026 plans late last month, with Expedition windows planned for February and April. Headwinds kicked things off with a solo vs. squads queue option and the Bird City map condition when it arrived January 27.
Following a coordinated Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack last week, the developers are still doing their best to combat ongoing reports of cheaters. For more, you can read about why we think some of the rarest Arc Raiders weapons need more tuning.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
