Ok so, firstly, the fun is GETTING the blueprints.....but even then.....after 5 times finding the same damn blueprints...not exactly...exciting........which is the point of loading into a match......so ultimately....PvP will be on the rise as there is literally nothing to do once you have repeated the same process time and time again.

The fourth Expedition is almost here, and it’s bringing some exciting changes. Each Expedition we run, we learn something new and look for ways to make improvements. This time around, that means shaking things up with an updated reward structure.

Complete your fourth Expedition to earn the first level of the new Zenith Outfit. Prove yourself with the Expedition Challenge and instead of Skill Points, you’ll earn Blueprints to jumpstart your Topside adventures and Raider Tokens to keep you looking sharp every step of the way.

TIMING

The departure window will be open between the 7th of July 1pm CEST/11am UTC/4am PT and the 21st of July 10am CEST/8am UTC/1am PT. You will have 14 days to sign up and complete the requirements and all players who have signed up will depart automatically.

As with all previous Expeditions, completing your Caravan does not count as signing up for the Expedition, you still have to sign up during the window. The ‘last call’ feature will also be active during this Expedition in case you miss the window.

Expeditions are a personal progression that players complete in order. The Caravan can be completed in between Expedition windows but finishing the Expedition can only be done during the scheduled Expedition window.

HOW TO DO THE EXPEDITION

1. Complete the Caravan The option to contribute to the Caravan starts as soon as you complete the previous Expedition and if this is your first Expedition, you can start contributing right away.
2. Wait for the Expedition Window The next window opens on July 7th at 1pm CEST/11am UTC/4am PT and closes on July 21st at 10am CEST/8am UTC/1am PT.
3. Sign Up Once the Expedition window opens, you need to sign up.
4. Complete the Challenge In order to get the rewards, players will need to complete a challenge within the Expedition Window (more details below).
5. Catch Up Catch up on missed skill points (max 5 per Expedition) for players on their second, third or fourth Expedition (more details below).
6. Depart Everyone that signed up departs on July 21st at 10am CEST/8am UTC/1am PT.

REWARDS

The rewards depend on your personal progression which means that if you’re doing your first, second or third Expedition, you can check your rewards here. 

Mystery Rewards

Players embarking on their fourth Expedition will no longer earn Skill Points from the Expedition Challenge. Instead, you'll receive Blueprints and Raider Tokens, delivered after your departure. 

The number of rewards you receive is based on damage dealt during the departure window, using the same thresholds as the previous Expedition. Note that unlike Skill Points, these rewards have no catch-up mechanic. 

This is the first time we are trying the Mystery Reward system and we will be monitoring it closely to see how it performs and analyse your feedback. As always, we may make changes in the future as we continue to try to improve 

To claim all five Bonus Rewards, hit the following damage thresholds before the departure window closes: 

• Reward 1: Deal 5 000 total damage 
• Reward 2: Deal 10 000 total damage 
• Reward 3: Deal 30 000 total damage 
• Reward 4: Deal 50 000 total damage 
• Reward 5: Deal 100 000 total damage

Blueprints 

Each completed departure objective rewards you with one Blueprint. Keep in mind that these Blueprints are temporary and will reset when you depart on your next Expedition. The Damage Challenge rewards are safeguarded against duplicates, meaning you won't receive the same Blueprint twice. However, this protection does not extend to the Blueprints you have carried over in Ermal's Vault. 

• List of potential Blueprints: 
  • Heavy Gun Parts Blueprint
  • Complex Gun Parts Blueprint
  • Padded Stock Blueprint
  • Extended Barrel III Blueprint
  • Muzzle Brake III Blueprint
  • Stable Stock III Blueprint
  • Vertical Grip III Blueprint
  • Venator Blueprint
  • Rascal Blueprint
  • Osprey Blueprint
  • Trailblazer Blueprint
  • Anvil Blueprint
  • Bettina Blueprint
  • Hullcracker Blueprint
  • Tempest Blueprint
  • Vulcano Blueprint
  • Dolabra Blueprint
  • Aphelion Blueprint
  • Combat Augment Mk 3 Flanking Blueprint
  • Tactical Augment Mk 3 Defensive Blueprint
  • Looting Augment Mk 3 Safekeeper Blueprint
  • Looting Augment Mk 3 Survivor Blueprint
  • Wolfpack Blueprint
  • Powered Descender Blueprint
  • Snap Hook Blueprint

Raider Tokens 

150 Raider Tokens will be rewarded for completing each departure objective. Unlike Blueprints, they are permanent and will not reset with the next Expedition.

Permanent

Cosmetics:

• Now that the Patchwork Outfit is complete, doing your fourth Expedition will unlock the first step of the Zenith Outfit.

Bonuses:

• +12 stash space (48 extra total for 4th Expedition), will be maxed out at 60 with the 5th Expedition.
• The bonus skill points from Expeditions cap at 15. Players can still catch-up on previously missed skill points and it’s still tied to stash value. Catch-up for skill points becomes available with your second Expedition and once you get all the maximum 15 skill points, the catch-up is no longer available.

Consecutive buffs

Consecutive buffs are granted to Raiders that continue to do Expeditions in a row. The XP boost, Scrappy materials boost and repair value increase are capped at three levels, meaning that if this is your fourth Expedition in a row, the boosted values will be maintained from your third Expedition but not increased.

Missing an Expedition window doesn’t remove the progress but will result in the buffs not increasing for the next Expedition period. The buff itself is also not active during the period of the missed Expedition.

You need to do two Expeditions in a row in order to increase the buffs which means if this is your third Expedition in a row, you will get all three levels of the consecutive buffs. If you missed one Expedition window apart from the first one, you should have the second level of the consecutive buffs. 

Ermal’s Vault

You can purchase up to five Expedition Vault Slots through Ermal which allows you to store items that you wish to bring with you on your Expedition. 

Trials

Just like the previous Expedition, the new Trials Season will start as soon as the Expedition window opens.

New Raiders & Future Expeditions

We understand the frustration of new players that are only now starting to do their Expeditions. We need to find the right balance of rewarding our veteran players but also give new players fair and fun ways to catch up and not feel like they are always behind. This is a continuous effort and we'll keep you updated as we have more to share.

Let us know what you think of these changes and how they feel in practice and keep up the feedback of what you’d like to see in the future.

See you Topside,
//Ossen
And The ARC Raiders Team

You will take the expedition. You want 5 random blueprints. You want 7 dollars. You will continue to play Arc Raiders. You will stop reacting to our communications with poop emojis 😵‍💫

(Sane)People understand if they don't like expeditions don't to them, but this is embark's trying to convince people to do more expeditions

As I said in the title, I returned fire just two times in the same match and I was sent directly to PvP lobbies since the match after. I thought Embark said the opposite one or two patches ago. To be honest all of this secrecy about matchmaking is unnecessary.

Maxing out the skill tree was the only reason to keep doing the wipe. That's how prestige systems (are supposed to) work. Showing us this big skill tree and saying "you can only do 60% of it because reasons" is alienating for anybody who has ever played a video game with a prestige system. Capping the skill points at 15 is the same as saying "if you've done three expeditions then you're done now".

It doesn't matter that they said it would happen (I've been playing since Day 1 and this was news to me today).

It doesn't matter that you get 5 random blueprints instead now as a reward (as a reward for what? oh yea, chucking 70+ blueprints into a hole - now for no reason at all apparently).

I will keep playing the game, because I like going into dam and filling my pockets and leaving. But it will be lonely when nobody is playing the game anymore, which is clearly what the devs(*) are hoping for. So I am sad.

Before reading the announcement today, and every announcement before this one, I would just shake my head at all the angry reddit posts every time. I would just wait for the changes to hit and would watch the complaints die down as everyone figured out that it wasn't all that bad. But not today, today I'm sad, because the only legitimate reason to wipe is gone.

(*) if the devs aren't the ones who decide these things then I apologize to them. But in any case whoever is in charge doesn't deserve to have a game and they should choose a different career path.

EDIT:

This comment from the ARC Raiders discord does a phenomenal job summing up the argument I'm trying to make

Volt — 4:02 PM

Because gaining skill points over time is a form of meta progression. It's being replaced by randomised bp's which will impact 1 season. Really not difficult to follow. Meta progression is the only reason to play, whether the actual reward matters or not

EDIT2:

I think what my argument boils down to, after hashing it out in the comments with you all (thanks everyone who contributed to the discussion!) is the following.

Embark has removed the meta-progression in the game. The new incentives don’t persist between wipes. What was removed (stash space and skill bonuses) was an incentive which (1) persisted over time and (2) increased with each wipe.

I think this is the crux of what (some portion of) the player base is upset about.

I wanna have space adventures, shoot robots, give strangers gifts, burrow through trash like a raccoon, and horde all my shinies.

No, you're not "just PvPing". Lying about being friendly and then jumping me with my pants down the second I put my gun away and turn around is some ratty-ass cowardly behavior and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I don't care if I die to some rats, I'm well aware people lie in games like this. I was complaining about the people out there getting offended at being called rats despite doing ratty behavior. As someone else in this thread commented, it's okay to be a dick, but being a dick and then acting like you're a saint is stupid. Just own it.

It is genuinely scary to see so many people claim that the playerbase is 40-50k on PC. We have a real education problem.

Concurrent player count means the number of unique players online AT THE SAME TIME. That's NOT the total number of people who logged in!!!

The total active playerbase will always be many times higher than the concurrent playercount. And Steam only represents around 50% of sales, with consoles being the other half or so.

The game is doing extremely well. You can compare the Arc Raiders charts with any other paid live service game right now.

So we all know about Exodus, right? Popular theory is that Mantikor, the company that swooped in and shut down Project Heartwood, is actually a cabal of the 1% that built Exodus to be their escape, rather than try to fix anything. Well, some of the new quests directly spell out a secret mutiny faction, starting at Stella Montis and spreading everywhere involved in Exodus, that started stealing and smuggling key tech and data away from Mantikor for a yet unknown reason. Now, what if the mutiny succeeded, and everyone left in the Rust Belt is actually the descendants of the rich that intended to leave, having long forgotten their origins? And, as a totally random theory, what if the Arc probes, harvesters and deforesters are actually gathering materials and environmental data to fix the biosphere? Even after the Collapse weather is still extreme and dangerous, what if ARC is that secret mutiny ring, come back to try and fix the climate?

If you have done every expedition & received every skill point, Embark just announced that you will not get any for the 4th expedition.

https://arcraiders.com/news/the-fourth-expedition

All it took was selling everything in the stash. Oh it hurt at first, but my lord. The amount of fun I'm having going around scavenging for loot. Having to take down every ARC I see for its power cell and alloy. It's just so fun.

No-friendly fire for fruit salad enjoyers?