If you have been no-lifing ARC Raiders since launch, you already know how tense a single raid can feel, and how much it hurts to lose a run right at the end with a bag full of loot and some rare ARC Raiders BluePrint rewards on the line. Coming from the team behind The Finals, players kind of expected some weird twist on progression, but the Expedition Project hits different. Instead of a scary forced wipe that nukes your account on a set date, this thing is voluntary. You decide when to pull the trigger, which instantly makes every late‑game stash check feel like a proper risk‑reward puzzle instead of a countdown timer hanging over your head.

Once your Raider hits Level 20, the Expedition Project unlocks and the game quietly asks: “So, are you done with this character yet.” Opting in feels a bit like signing a waiver. You are basically saying goodbye to that Raider’s life, gear and comfort. When the expedition leaves, everything in your stash goes into the pot. The game totals up the value of your stash plus your coin balance, then converts that into power for your next Raider. Every one million coins of value gives the new character one extra skill point, up to five points. So a five‑million stash is the sweet spot. Players who usually hoard junk now have a reason to either sell it off or min‑max their stash value just before the expedition deadline.

Hitting reset is not some light decision you make at 2am after a bad run. When you sign up, your entire skill tree goes. Workshop progress, crafting bonuses, all those blueprints you hunted down for days, gone too. It stings, especially if you finally got a build that feels smooth and you are farming comfortably. But it is not a true fresh account. Embark confirmed that you skip the early Speranza onboarding, so no hand‑holding missions or slow map unlocks. Every map and upgrade option is open from the start. You still need to grind the materials again, but at least you are not stuck doing baby steps while already knowing how the game works.

The reason people are actually tempted to wipe is the long‑term account value. Completing an expedition permanently unlocks the Patchwork Raider outfit and the Scrappy Janitor Cap, plus a little Expedition Indicator icon that quietly flexes that you have been through the grinder. The real prize is the +12 stash space that stays forever. In a game where most players spend half their time rearranging loot, that extra room feels massive. On top of that, you get temporary buffs for the next run: repairs are 10 percent faster, you earn 5 percent more XP, and Scrappy pays out 6 percent more materials. These bonuses stack across your next three expeditions, so people who keep diving back in get a noticeable edge, but if you skip an expedition the stack stops growing and eventually drops off.

The first Expedition Project window runs from December 17 to December 22, and once you opt in, your account auto‑wipes on the 22nd no matter what, which adds a bit of pressure. There is a real mind game here: do you squeeze a few more raids to push that stash value over another million, or cash out early so you do not lose everything in a bad extraction. Some players will wait, scared of throwing away a comfy build. Others will sign up early just to test how far those extra skill points and the new stash space can carry a fresh Raider with a clean slate and a couple more BluePrint in ARC Raiders style advantages built into the account.