ARC Raiders Extends Expedition 3 Window and Reveals Damage Challenge Requirements Following Player Backlash

Developer Embark Studios has confirmed it will be extending the Departure Window for the third ARC Raiders Expedition following backlash from the game’s community. The next ARC Raiders Expedition is still set to begin on Tuesday, April 28, alongside the release of Riven Tides, but will now be open until Monday, May 11, as opposed to the previous date of May 4. The additional time will allow players to complete the new damage challenge and provide a fair chance for everyone to receive all five Skill Points.

Last week, Embark announced a major change to the ARC Raiders Expedition system, which is an optional progression wipe that comes around every 60 days. With the third Expedition fast approaching, the studio revealed it would be getting rid of the Coin/Stash value requirement for extra Skill Points. Instead, the system is being updated to now associate Expedition’s five extra Skill Points with a new damage challenge. The original plan was to give players just five days to complete the challenge, but the unexpected change promptly sparked backlash from the game’s community, which has now led the studio to extend the upcoming Expedition Window.

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ARC Raiders Extends Expedition 3 Departure Window

Shortly after last week’s announcement, the ARC Raiders community criticized Embark for making such a vital change to the game’s Expedition so close to the Departure Window. Many fans believed it was unfair to assume everyone would be able to play within the five-day window to complete the challenge. In response to this backlash, Embark has updated its blog post with further information. The studio has now opted to extend the Expedition Departure Window, which will allow players to complete the damage challenge between Tuesday, April 28, at 11 AM UTC and Monday, May 11, at 7 AM UTC. “We hope this gives all players enough time to log in and get those 5 extra Skill Points,” Embark said in a new statement.

Not only were fans annoyed by the short timeframe they were given to complete the challenge, but Embark also offered no details on the specifics of the challenge, such as how much damage players would need to accumulate. Thankfully, those details have now been revealed. During the now extended window, players will need to deal 5,000 damage for 1 Skill Point, 10,000 damage for 2 Skill Points, 30,000 damage for 3 Skill Points, 50,000 damage for 4 Skill Points, and 100,000 damage for 5 Skill Points. To put this challenge into perspective, it would require players to destroy 20 Bastions to achieve 100,000 damage. “We have tested these thresholds internally and found that in a single, very good round, 8,000 – 10,000 damage was an achievable number,” Embark said.

For those who are planning on embarking on ARC Raiders‘ third Expedition, it should be noted that the Catch Up mechanic is once again returning and will remain unchanged. For the unaware, this means those who took part in a previous Expedition but failed to meet the requirements for all 5 Skill Points will be able to catch up in the upcoming Expedition. The initial 5 Skill Points will be tied to the aforementioned damage challenge, but any additional Skill Points from a previous Expedition will require players to have 300,000 in Stash/Coin value for each Skill Point.

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Alongside the Expedition Window on April 28, Embark will also be releasing the highly anticipated Riven Tides update for ARC Raiders. Full details on the free content update have yet to be shared, but it has been confirmed that Riven Tides will include a brand-new coastal-themed map, a new large ARC enemy, which will presumably be similar to the Queen and Matriarch in terms of size, and much more.