Arc Raiders Just Put A Price Tag On Your Soul (And It Is 1 Million Coins)
We knew the "Expedition Project" was coming. We knew it was essentially a fancy way to prestige your character. But now we know the exact exchange rate, and it is steep.
Back in October, we talked about how Arc Raiders was solving the "extraction shooter stagnation" problem by letting players voluntarily wipe their progress for buffs. It sounded like a cool idea.
Today, Embark dropped the specific numbers, and the reality is a lot harsher than the concept. The Expedition window has been slightly delayed. It now opens on December 17th and slams shut on December 22nd.
If you want to board that caravan, you have six days to decide if your loot is worth sacrificing for a janitor's cap.
The Million Coin Math
The biggest reveal is how your current wealth translates to your new character.
When you wipe, everything in your stash is liquidated. The total value determines how many Bonus Skill Points your next Raider starts with.
The rate? One million coins of value equals one skill point.
You can earn a maximum of five starting skill points. That means you need a stash value of five million coins to get the full benefit. That is a massive amount of grinding. If you were hoping to just casually prestige with a half-empty stash, you are going to start the next cycle feeling very weak.
What You Get (And What You Lose)
The trade-off is terrifying. You lose your Level, your Skills, your Workshop upgrades, and crucially, your Blueprints.
That last one is the dealbreaker for a lot of people. Grinding for rare weapon blueprints is the hardest part of the game. Giving them up for a 5% XP boost feels like a bad trade.
However, the permanent unlocks might just be worth it for the long-term players.
The "Skip" Button
There is one nice quality-of-life feature here. If you choose to wipe, you skip the "initial onboarding."
This means all maps are unlocked instantly, and all potential workshop upgrades are visible from the start. You are essentially doing a "New Game+" run.
Is It Worth It?
This system is designed to solve the problem that kills games like Tarkov. Usually, when a wipe happens, everyone loses everything whether they like it or not. This creates a "playing field leveler," but it also disrespects your time.
Embark is trying to have it both ways. You can keep your stuff and be a king in the old world, or you can wipe and be a slightly-buffed peasant in the new one.
Personally? I am doing it for the +12 Stash Space. In an extraction shooter, inventory space is the only currency that actually matters. But losing those Blueprints is going to hurt. I hope you really like that Janitor Cap.
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