ARC Raiders Expedition Explained
What an Expedition actually is in ARC Raiders, the Caravan build stages, what departure resets versus keeps, the Expedition Vault, and whether you should trigger one.
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An Expedition is ARC Raiders' voluntary prestige reset: you build a Caravan out of materials pulled from raids, send it, and your Raider, "beyond the Rust Belt" for good during a departure window, and start over on a fresh Raider who carries permanent bonuses the old one earned. Nothing about it happens by accident. You unlock the Projects tab at level 20, and a reset never fires unless you commit the Caravan through its final stage yourself.
The Caravan build, in order
The Caravan is built across six sequential stages, each asking for a different kind of material. Foundation comes first: the base frame, mostly common scrap, in volume. Core Systems follows: wiring, ventilation, power. Then Framework: walls, roof, interior layout. Outfitting adds storage, workbenches, and utility fittings. Load Stage calls for combat items, survival gear, and provisions. Departure is the point of no return: the Caravan leaves and your reset triggers.
Materials committed to a stage aren't retrievable. Contributing is a one-way decision per item, even before you hit the final Departure stage.
What departure actually resets
This is the part worth checking before you commit, because it's a real loss, not a cosmetic wipe. Departing resets your Skill Tree, character level, stash, Workshop unlocks, crafting progress, and blueprints. Cosmetics, codex entries, and Expedition-earned permanent bonuses (skill points and stash space tied to how much your Caravan was worth) carry over untouched.
The Expedition Vault is the one way around the wipe
Ermal sells Expedition Vault slots. Buy one, and it protects a single selected item or blueprint from the reset, letting you walk into your next Raider's run with a head start instead of nothing. Vault slots are worth planning around before departure, not an afterthought you remember mid-Load Stage: decide what you're protecting early, and build toward affording those slots the same way you build toward the Caravan itself.
Common misconception
An Expedition isn't a punishment for playing too long or a forced wipe the game does to you. It's opt-in, and nothing about normal play triggers it. The actual mistake is committing your final Load Stage materials without deciding what you're protecting in the Expedition Vault first, since that decision gets much more expensive to reverse once departure happens.
Why the reward is worth the reset
Each completed Expedition raises the ceiling for the next Raider: permanent skill points and stash space that scale with how much value your Caravan carried at departure, plus temporary buffs (repair cost, XP, material yield) that persist and can stack across consecutive Expeditions. The system is built so each reset leaves you starting slightly stronger than the last one did, not flat back at zero.
Related reading
For where the currency and materials an Expedition asks for actually come from, see Traders: Full Reference and Workshop Upgrades: Priority Order and Materials. For what's actually worth hoarding versus selling before you ever reach Departure, see What to Sell, Keep, or Recycle.
Sources
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