ARC Raiders Expedition 3 Changed After Backlash - Damage Challenge & New Rules Explained

Last week, the official announcement revealed significant changes to ARC Raiders Expedition. Expedition system is an optional progress clearing mechanism, typically occurring every two to three months.

With the next Expedition approaching, the official announcement suddenly came that the rule linking the initial five skill points to Stash value would be removed. After the system update, the initial five skill points in Expedition mode will be linked to a new damage challenge.

Following strong opposition from the games community, Embark Studios has confirmed that they will extend the start time of the third ARC Raiders Expedition.

The latest ARC Raiders Expedition will still begin on April 28th, coinciding with Riven Tides, but the opening window will be extended from May 4th to May 11th. The extended opening time will give players more time to complete the new damage challenge and ensure all players have a fair chance to acquire all five skill points.

Originally, players were only planned to have five days to complete the challenge, but this unexpected change quickly sparked strong opposition from the games community, forcing the studio to extend the upcoming Expedition mode window. Here are the latest updates regarding ARC Raiders Expedition.

Extended Departure Window

Shortly after the official announcement last week, ARC community criticized Embark for making such a significant change so close to Expedition departure window. Many players felt that only having 5 days to complete the challenge was unfair. In response to these criticisms, the official blog post provided more information.

Now, the studio has responded by extending Expedition departure window. Players can complete Damage Challenge between 11:00 AM UTC on April 28th and 7:00 AM UTC on May 11th. They also stated publicly that they want to give all players enough time to log in and earn 5 skill points.

Damage Challenge Details

Players were not only dissatisfied with the short challenge time but also with Embark's last-minute rule change without providing specific details, such as how much damage players needed to accumulate. Fortunately, these details have now been released. Let's take a look.

Players need to deal 5,000 damage to earn 1 skill point, 10,000 damage for 2, 30,000 damage for 3, 50,000 damage for 4, and 100,000 damage for 5.

To give you a clearer picture of the challenge's difficulty, consider this example: to reach 100,000 damage, you need to destroy 20 Bastions. That sounds difficult. However, the official statement says, “We've internally tested these thresholds and found that with excellent performance in a single run, 8,000 to 10,000 damage is achievable.”

Catch Up Mechanism

For players planning to participate in this ARC Raiders Expedition, it's worth noting that Catch Up Mechanism will return and remain unchanged. This means players who participated in previous expeditions but didn't obtain all 5 skill points can catch up in the upcoming expedition.

The initial 5 skill points will be tied to the aforementioned damage challenge. However, for each additional skill point gained during previous expeditions that is missed, players will need to redeem it for 300,000 ARC Raiders Coins. Note that you must complete the damage challenge to unlock Catch Up mechanic.

Last Call Feature

Embark offers a safety net for players who completed Caravan but forgot to register during the window. After the window closes, a new window will pop up on the next login, offering one last chance to register.

However, it's important to note that missing the damage challenge means you won't gain skill points. You will only receive basic rewards (cosmetics, stash space, consecutive buffs) after the expedition; the 5 skill points will not be available again. Therefore, this is a last resort, not a shortcut.

Tips

Based on the official response, we have summarized the following 4 tips for Expedition 3:

• Stop hoarding loot – during expeditions, use your gear freely instead of being hesitant to protect the value of your stash.
• Play however you want – whether you're farming ARC, running dungeons, or focusing on PvP, all damage counts. There's no fixed playstyle.
• Manage your time wisely – Expedition window will launch simultaneously with the ARC Raiders Riven Tides update, so please plan your playtime accordingly.
• Last-Chance Safety Net – Reduces the anxiety of missing the registration window, but also brings some downsides.

Embark acknowledged community concerns about a complete reset of progress and insufficient rewards. They promised to continuously improve the reset and retention mechanisms in future expeditions. This is a step in the right direction.

In addition to Expedition window, April 28th also features the highly anticipated ARC Raiders Riven Tides update. While full details of the update haven't been released yet, it's confirmed that this update will include a brand-new coastal-themed map, a new large ARC enemy (possibly similar in size to the Queen and Chieftain), and more.

That concludes this article about ARC Raiders Expedition 3. A ton of new content will be released on April 28th, so please plan your gaming time accordingly. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.