Are you waiting for ARC Raiders Expedition Wipe? Here's what you should do until then

As ARC Raiders is a live service game, it has certain systems in place aimed at keeping it alive for the long term. One of these systems is its Expedition wipe – a voluntary reset that occurs every 8 weeks, should players find themselves interested in the benefits it provides. Similar Call of Dutys Prestige system, when players complete an expedition i ARC Raiders and the date of said expedition arrives, their current Raider is erased, forcing them to start a new character. However, bonus points, increased XP gain, more scrap materials, better weapon repair efficiency, extra storage space, and unique cosmetic rewards await players when they restart, making it worth it for some players even if the loss-to-reward ratio may not appeal to others.

ARC Raiders has only been out for about a month now, but many players have already passed the demanding requirements to send their Raider on the game's first expedition. The only caveat for these players, however, is that the purge won't happen until December 21, 2025, meaning they might be sitting around twiddling their thumbs until that day comes. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing left to do ARC Raiders Once an expedition is prepared, simply because almost everything the player currently owns or would acquire in future raids will be lost. However, there are still several things players can focus on until December 21 that make the game worth playing.

What ARC Raiders players can do until the first expedition cleanup

Focus on ranking up in Trials
Complete the Raider Deck
Make sure storage and wallet have a lot of value
Stay tuned for live events
Complete all remaining missions

Focus on ranking up in attempts

One of the most important things players can focus on doing before their first expedition dries up ARC Raiders focuses on ranking up in Trials. Tests give players five challenges each week that they can complete during a raid, and these challenges reset every Monday. Only a single run that ends in a successful extraction counts towards a challenge, meaning players must complete the objective and escape safely or progress is lost. During that run, the player's score is counted for each challenge. Only their best score per challenge matters for the weekly rewards, but the main draw of doing ARC Raiders' Trials are for the permanent rewards players can earn.

Each trial challenge in ARC Raiders comes with milestone reward slots that give players different levels of loot, but anything won there will be lost on the day of the purge. However, when the weekly scoring period ends, the sum of the player's best score for all challenges places them on the weekly test board. Their position on the leaderboard at the end of the week then determines what additional permanent rewards – such as cosmetics, emotes, backpack charms, etc. – they can earn. In light of all this, Trials remains something that players can focus on tackling before the expedition purge happens on December 21st.

Complete the Raider Deck

Something else that is worth investing in before ARC RaidersThe first expedition deck is the Raider Deck, which works in the same way as a battle pass and is completely free for all players. Each day players receive a set of unique achievements for completing which, when completed, reward Cred which can be spent on various rewards in the Raider Deck. These feats can be anything from delivering Field Crates to damaging a specific type of ARC, and players can often complete these unknowingly by simply playing the game.

Some loot-based items in the Raider Deck will be lost when the expedition napkin arrives, but there are plenty of permanent rewards that players should look into before it's too late. First, each level of the Raider Deck contains different cosmetics that players can spend their hard-earned Cred on. Second, players can also spend their Cred to acquire Raider Tokens, which can be used in the official ARC Raiders shop to buy full outfits for their characters. Needless to say, those who really want to go Topside in style shouldn't write off the Raider Deck as something to spend a little more time on before the expedition dries up.

It's worth noting that the Raider Deck will occasionally reset and offer new items, with the first new deck coming with ARC Raiders' upcoming Cold Snap update.

Make sure your Stash and Wallet have plenty of value

Before ARC RaidersThe first expedition wipes players' belongings on December 21st, they want to make sure their inventory is filled with plenty of valuable items. When conducting an expedition you can give players up to 5 bonus points, the exact amount they receive ultimately depends on the total value of the items in their inventory and their coins. Because some players probably do ARC Raiders in such a way that keeps their pantries fairly empty, they might instead consider keeping their pantries full of the most valuable items they can find.

There is currently no way of knowing how much the player's inventory and wallet must be worth in order to receive the maximum number of bonus points after an expedition, but since everything will be lost anyway, players might as well keep them filled with ARC Raiders' high value resources, materials and crafting components. Also, since the player's wallet counts towards the total bonus points they can get after an expedition, valuables can simply be sold – there's no need to hoard them in the inventory.

Keep your eyes and ears open for live events

Live events in ARC Raiders is another thing that players waiting for their first expedition should look out for, as they are yet another opportunity to earn permanent rewards. These events trigger a temporary battle pass that, like the Raider Deck, rewards players with various rewards such as Raider cosmetics, backpack accessories, emotes, and Raider tokens. ARC RaidersThe first live event, “Staking Our Claim,” arrived alongside the Stella Montis map, and more are expected to follow. In other words, if players haven't completed their battle pass for “Staking Our Claim”, they should, and if they have, another reason to keep playing the game is expected to arrive soon.

ARC RaidersThe “Staking Our Claim” live event will end on December 8, 2025, and it's possible that the expected Cold Snap update will arrive then as well.

Complete all remaining missions

Finally gamers looking for something to do in ARC Raiders until the first expedition cleanup on December 21st should ensure they have completed all remaining missions and keep an eye out for missions that can and likely will be added in the near future. While assignment in ARC Raiders often reward players with items that will yield to the game's first wipe, there are many that offer permanent cosmetic rewards as well upon completion. There are countless missions in the game, and even those that have already spent dozens of hours on ARC Raiders may still have more to finish. Players should check the Traders tab in the game and look for traders who have a yellow icon next to their name to find out if they still have missions available.