Arc Raiders Expedition 3: Start Date, Requirements, Rewards, and Damage Challenge Guide

Embark Studios is shaking up the Arc Raiders Expedition formula with its third outing, and it comes packed with significant changes — a longer departure window, a brand-new damage-based skill point system, and the debut of the quality-of-life “Last Call” feature. Whether you’re a fresh raider gearing up for your first Expedition or a veteran chasing consecutive buffs, here’s everything you need to know before April 28 arrives.

Arc Raiders Expedition 3 Release Date and Window

Arc Raiders Expedition 3 kicks off on April 28, 2026, at 4:00 AM PT and runs until May 11, 2026, at 12:00 AM PT — a full 13-day window. That’s a massive improvement over the original five-day plan, which Embark revised after significant community pushback over the tight timeframe.

Completing your Caravan does not automatically register you for the Expedition. You must manually sign up through the Projects tab once the window opens.

New Feature — Last Call: Players who finish the Caravan but miss the sign-up window will see a pop-up prompt on their next login offering one final chance to depart. Note that the damage challenge and its associated Skill Points are not available through this fallback path.

The Biggest Change: Damage Challenge Replaces Stash Value for Skill Points

Expedition 3 ditches the old Coin/Stash value grind for Skill Points. Instead, players now earn all five Skill Points by dealing damage during the Expedition window — any weapon, any gadget, any target (excluding the practice range).

Here are the exact damage thresholds:

To put those numbers in perspective: one Bastion kill nets exactly 5,000 damage, meaning the full 5 SP requires taking down the equivalent of 20 Bastions. Embark confirmed internally that players can achieve 8,000–10,000 damage in a single strong raid, making the 100,000 total very realistic across 13 days.

Catch-Up Skill Points (Second and Third Expedition Players Only)

The catch-up mechanic returns unchanged for veterans who missed Skill Points in prior Expeditions. Players must complete the damage challenge first to unlock catch-up eligibility, after which the system awards one catch-up Skill Point per 300,000 Coins/Stash value. Maximum catch-up is 5 Skill Points per Expedition, with a cap of 91 total Skill Points for players on their third Expedition.

All Expedition 3 Requirements: Full 6-Stage Caravan Checklist

Reach Raider Level 20 to unlock the Expedition menu under Projects. From there, work through all six phases before the window closes.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Phase 2 — Core Systems

Industrial Chargers remain the biggest bottleneck in Phase 2 — don’t expect to buy or craft your way through this one.

Phase 3 — Framework

The Coffee Pot spawns specifically in apartment areas across the Dam Battlegrounds and Buried City — keep that in mind before you spend a raid session looking in the wrong zone.

Phase 4 — Outfitting

Phase 4 is the highest-friction stage. The Bombardier Cells require you to target a specific ARC enemy type, and the Snow Globes and Broken Guidance System are scavenge-only — plan multiple raids around these.

Phase 5 — Load Stage

The Load Stage requires players to contribute 750,000 Coins total across four donation buckets:

These donations are permanent once submitted, so commit deliberately. The Load Stage no longer determines Skill Points — that responsibility now falls entirely on the damage challenge.

Phase 6 — Departure

Once your Caravan is complete, the final steps are:

1. Wait for the April 28 window to open
2. Sign up manually in the Projects tab
3. Complete the damage challenge before May 11
4. Use the catch-up panel if you missed prior Skill Points (second/third Expedition players only)
5. Depart automatically on May 11 at 7:00 AM UTC

All Arc Raiders Expedition 3 Rewards

Permanent Cosmetics

Completing Expedition 3 permanently adds the following to your account:

• The Patchwork Outfit (Evolved) — includes new toggles for Helmet, Bandolier, and Leg Accessories, plus two color variations: White Red and Black Green
• Scrappy Turban
• Expedition Indicator Icon — upgrades with each completed Expedition

Permanent Bonuses

• +12 Stash Spaces per Expedition (stacks: base 280 → 292 → 304 → 316)
• Up to 5 Skill Points from the damage challenge
• Catch-up Skill Points for eligible veterans

Consecutive Buffs

Miss one Expedition and these reset entirely — they track streaks, not cumulative completions:

What You Lose and Keep After Departing

Items and Progress You Lose

• Stash Upgrade Progress
• Inventory Items
• Blueprints
• Coins
• Player Level
• Skill Points
• Raider Den
• Workshop
• Quests

Items and Progress You Keep

• Unlocked Maps
• Codex Entries
• Raider Tokens
• Cred
• Raider Deck Progress
• Cosmetics
• Trials
• Active Leaderboards
• Personal Event Progress
• Merits
• Bonus Skill Points (from Expeditions)
• Bonus Stash Slots (from Expeditions)

Why Arc Raiders Expedition 3 Switched to a Damage-Based System

Embark was transparent about the reasoning: grinding Stash value isn’t fun. The studio wants Expeditions to reward active play — using loot rather than hoarding it and the damage challenge directly incentivizes that. Trials also run simultaneously with the Expedition window for the first time, giving players more ways to stay engaged during those 13 days.

The 13-day window itself exists because the community pushed back hard on the original five-day plan. Embark listened, extended the timeline, and added the Last Call feature as an extra safety net for players with unpredictable schedules.

Expedition 3 arrives hand-in-hand with the Riven Tides update on April 28. The update brings a new coastal-themed map and a new large ARC enemy — one that Embark suggests will be comparable in scale to the Queen and Matriarch. Full patch notes are still pending, but Riven Tides looks to be one of the bigger content drops Arc Raiders has seen since launch. Play Now!

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