I Wiped My ARC Raiders Progress for a 0% Buff, and I Regret Nothing
I voluntarily nuked my entire ARC Raiders account to gain a tactical advantage, but it turns out I mostly just gained a lesson in rounding errors.
The "Expedition Project" is Embark's answer to the age-old extraction shooter question of how to handle wipes without pissing everyone off. The deal is simple. You sign up during a specific window, donate your entire stash to the cause, and in exchange, you get to restart the game with exclusive cosmetics, extra stash space, and some "powerful" temporary buffs.
I took the bait. I packed up my loot, said goodbye to my high-level gear, and boarded the caravan to start over from zero. My main motivation was the sweet +12 Stash Space and that jagged Patchwork Raider outfit. I wanted the street cred. I wanted the challenge of the early game grind again. I did not, however, do the math on the buffs until I saw a post on the subreddit that made me laugh until it hurt.
The 6% Scrappy Scam
One of the temporary perks you get for resetting is a "6% more materials from Scrappy" buff. For the uninitiated, Scrappy is your little rooster drone buddy that passively gathers junk while you are fighting for your life.
On paper, a 6% boost sounds like a decent little edge for the early game economy. In reality, it is a mathematical joke.
As pointed out by a user on the ARC Raiders subreddit, the base yield for Scrappy is usually around 8 scrap per round. If you apply a 6% buff to the number 8, you get 8.48. Since the game doesn't deal in fractions of a screw, it rounds down.
The result? You used to get 8 scrap. Now, with your hard-earned prestige buff, you get... 8 scrap.
I honestly didn't even think about this when I clicked the button. I just assumed "number go up" meant "loot go up." But looking at it now, it is objectively hilarious. I effectively deleted my wealth for a buff that, in many scenarios, does literally nothing. It is the kind of oversight that usually makes me rage, but in this grim world, it just feels like appropriate gallows humor.
Why I Would Do It Again (Even With 0% Gains)
Despite the fact that my rooster is just as inefficient as he was before, I don't regret the wipe.
The reality of extraction shooters is that the "endgame" often becomes a hoarding simulator. You have too many guns, too much money, and the fear of loss disappears. Resetting via the Expedition Project brought the fear back. I am scraping by with garbage weapons again, counting every bullet, and actually caring about loot runs.
Plus, let's be real about the actual rewards. The +12 Stash Space is a permanent unlock, and in a game where inventory management is the true final boss, that extra room is worth more than any 6% buff. The Skill Points injection (I got a few for donating a massive stash) let me jumpstart my build, skipping the most tedious part of the early leveling curve.
The Verdict on The Wipe
The Expedition Project is a smart system. It respects your time by making the wipe optional, letting the sweaty players (like me) restart for glory while letting the casuals keep their gear.
Sure, the math on the Scrappy buff is broken and needs a patch, but the core loop remains intact. I am poor, I am underpowered, and my rooster is bad at math. But I have a cool hat and a bigger stash, so I guess I win.