Leaving on an Expedition changes the way progression works in ARC Raiders. Your current Raider does not simply continue into the next season with everything intact. Instead, the departure creates a new starting point, which can be exciting for players who enjoy rebuilding but stressful for anyone carrying rare ARC Raiders BluePrints and valuable equipment.
The Fourth Expedition Departure was available from July 7 through July 21, 2026. Before leaving, players needed to understand how ARC Raiders BluePrints, physical items, Mystery Rewards, and permanent account progression were handled. A few minutes of preparation could make a major difference to the quality of the next run.
The Main Rule: Your Raider Gets Reset
The Expedition departure resets several parts of your character progression. Your Raider's level and skills are reset, standard stash items are wiped, and learned blueprints do not remain unlocked after the departure.
That last point is easy to overlook. Finding and learning a rare blueprint can take considerable time, so losing access to it after a reset can be frustrating. Fortunately, the game provides a way to preserve physical copies.
The important distinction is between a learned blueprint and a physical blueprint item. The learned version is part of your Raider's progression, while a physical duplicate can be protected using the Expedition Vault.
Protect Important Blueprints With Ermal's Vault
Ermal's Vault should be the first place you look when preparing for an Expedition departure. The system provides up to five special slots for physical items that you want to carry through the reset.
If you want to protect a rare blueprint, you must obtain a physical duplicate and place it in one of these slots before departing. Simply having the blueprint unlocked in your current progression is not enough.
This makes Vault management an important part of Expedition preparation. You have limited space, so you should focus on the items that would be hardest to replace.
Vault Slots Are a Valuable Investment
Unlocking additional Vault slots requires high-tier boss drops. Queen Reactors, Matriarch Cores, Bastion Cells, and Bombardier Cells can be used to obtain more space.
Since these resources are not easy to collect, it is worth deciding what you want to protect before spending them. A rare blueprint may be your top priority, while another player may prefer to save a powerful weapon or piece of equipment.
The best strategy is to consider how difficult each item will be to replace. Common materials and basic weapons are usually not worth sacrificing valuable Vault space for because you can collect them again after starting your new Raider.
Store Extra Items With Someone You Trust
Five Vault slots may not be enough for every valuable item in a well-established stash. Players with trusted friends have another option.
The friend mule strategy involves transferring physical items to a friend who plans to remain on their current Raider during the departure period. After you complete your reset, finish the tutorial, and create your new character, you can join that friend's lobby and have your items traded back.
This method can help you protect additional equipment and materials, but it comes with an obvious warning. Only use it with someone you trust completely. Your friend is effectively responsible for holding your items until you are ready to reclaim them.
It is also important to make sure your friend understands the timing. If they are planning their own Expedition departure at the same time, the strategy may not work as intended.
Finish Your Damage Milestones
The Fourth Expedition also gave players a reason to keep playing before departure through its damage-focused challenge. The event tracked total damage and provided five reward tiers.
The thresholds were 5,000, 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, and 100,000 total damage. Both player and ARC damage could contribute.
These rewards were particularly useful because they could include rare blueprints and Raider Tokens delivered after the reset. Completing the challenge before departing therefore gave players a way to turn their final days on the old Raider into progress for the next one.
There was also duplicate protection for the relevant blueprint rewards. However, the system did not treat items inside Ermal's Vault as already obtained for this purpose, so players needed to understand that distinction when managing their blueprint collection.
Some Progress Is Already Safe
Not everything disappears when you leave. Cosmetics are permanent, so earned or purchased skins remain available. The exclusive Zenith Outfit from the Fourth Expedition is also not lost.
Permanent account achievements and stash expansions survive as well. The +12 permanent stash space unlock remains connected to your account rather than your individual Raider.
Caravan construction progress is also preserved. If you have already contributed materials to the five-stage Caravan project, those contributions remain even if you fail to complete the project before the departure window ends.
Make the Reset Work in Your Favor
The most important thing is to avoid treating an Expedition departure like an ordinary gameplay session. Before leaving, check your Vault, review your rare physical items, and make sure you have completed as many damage milestones as possible.
If you eventually need to replace missing resources after starting your new Raider, you may look for ARC Raiders Materials through legitimate in-game farming or other available options, but the better approach is to protect your hardest-to-replace possessions before the reset.
An Expedition departure removes a large amount of short-term progression, but it also gives you a chance to rebuild with a clearer goal. Protect the items that matter most, use the Vault intelligently, rely only on trusted friends for extra storage, and take advantage of permanent rewards. With that preparation, starting a new Raider can feel less like losing everything and more like beginning the next stage of your ARC Raiders journey.
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