ARC Raiders Expedition Faces Criticism | Over High Requirements, Blueprint System Penalty And Deteriorating Game Experience
Posted: Dec 10, 2025 Views: 19
The detailed requirements and rewards for ARC Raiders Expedition Project have been announced, but feedback from the player community indicates that Expedition’s content is not entirely satisfactory. Many players are hesitant, unsure whether to participate.
The criticism of ARC Raiders Expedition is not unfounded, and it is indeed quite immature and is having some negative impacts on the game.

The Design Philosophy Of Expedition Project
To maintain the long-term viability of a game and avoid data bloat, games like Escape from Tarkov use mandatory, periodic server resets. This allows players to start over and prevents the game from losing its vitality. These resets typically do not offer rewards and are part of the core gameplay loop.
ARC Raiders Expedition Project does not adopt this classic design. Instead, it makes resets optional, allowing players to participate voluntarily rather than being forced into a reset.
Its design aims to serve hardcore and semi-hardcore players, allowing them to actively reset their progress after experiencing all content and maintain a sense of freshness, while allowing casual players to retain their progress without being forcibly reset.
Drawbacks Of Expedition Program
Reward Mechanism
Expedition Program’s reward mechanism was initially designed to attract players, especially with the attractive rewards of extra skill points and storage space. However, this backfired, influencing player choices.
This is because these rewards are long-term benefits, and this turned what was originally an optional reset for a select few into a goal that all players wanted to achieve. Some casual players, unable to complete the program due to time constraints, developed a fear of missing out, feeling left behind.
This resulted in Expedition Program becoming a periodic goal that all players had to prepare for, appearing approximately every 8 weeks, rather than just a tool for a select few to reset their progress. Besides the dissatisfaction of casual players, it also amplified the advantages of hardcore players.
Overly High Value Setting
To obtain 5 skill points, players needed to have a total stash and currency value of 5 million coins before resetting. This led players to avoid using high-level equipment for raids in the weeks leading up to the reset, instead repeatedly using free loadouts to play and immediately selling all acquired equipment to hoard money.
Even players with over 100 hours of playtime haven’t accumulated enough coins, and only very dedicated players have likely achieved this.
On the other hand, each expedition only rewards 12 extra Stash, which provides a very small boost. Temporary buffs like 10% repair speed, 5% experience bonus, and 6% more materials from Scrappy are considered too insignificant, especially since materials are already plentiful after Scrappy reaches level 5, and the extra 6% won’t provide a significant improvement after the reset.
Deteriorating Game Experience
Another issue is that expeditions discourage players from using high-level gear near the end of the season, forcing them to rely on low-tier gray gear to avoid losing assets and potentially falling short of the 5-million-coin requirement. This completely kills the fun of the traditional end-of-season.
Ideally, players should enter matches with gear, try to evacuate for profit, and then upgrade their gear. Before the reset, everyone would use their best gear to enjoy the game, but now everyone wanting to participate in expeditions must hoard ARC Raiders items, making the game experience conservative and dull.
Blueprint System Penalty
Blueprints are currently the most time-consuming collection element in ARC Raiders, with 74 different types. However, due to their extreme rarity and random acquisition, most players haven’t collected them all. Most blueprints players possess are common and duplicates.
An Expedition reset means players will lose all collected blueprints and must start the lengthy collection process from scratch. This penalty deters any long-term dedicated player.
However, it’s not impossible to save blueprints after a reset. You need to find a friend who isn’t participating in Expedition Project, give them your blueprints, and have them return them to you during the first raid after the reset. This might be a bit cumbersome, but it can allow you to quickly restart after Expedition Project.
Ambiguous Information
Due to this being the first reset, some information about Expedition Project is still somewhat unclear. It’s currently unknown whether the caravan progress of players who don’t participate in the reset will be retained for the next cycle. It’s unclear whether the rewarded skill points are immediately granted or unlocked later, and this will impact the player’s gaming experience.
Which Players Should Reset?
Players who have completed all quests and reached the maximum level can participate in Expedition, as they have already experienced the endgame content of their current phase. If you want something new, you can also choose to participate in Expedition, as each reset’s game progression, blueprint acquisition order, and quest completion order can offer new experiences.
If you are only level 20 to 40 and your crafting station is not fully upgraded, it’s best not to rush into participating in Expedition. At least wait until the later stages of the game before considering it.
Despite the flaws in Expedition, the developers are actively adjusting the game and are willing to listen to player feedback, so these issues should be resolved in the future.
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