ARC RAIDERS
Plan the raid. Loot the Rust Belt. Get topside and back alive.
New Raider Guide
Everything you need before your first raid: the loop, extraction, the machines, etiquette, and how to spend your first coins and points.
ARC Raiders
Humanity lives underground in Speranza after ARC machines took the surface; Raiders go topside to scavenge.
Long before the game, Earth was collapsing. During the Exodus the wealthy elite abandoned the planet, leaving the rest to a century of darkness known as the Lost Century (the 'deep darkness') in which most of humanity died. Generations later came the Age of Sunrise: ecology regenerated, old technologies were rediscovered and organized societies rebuilt. That hope ended with the First Wave, when the ARC machines - named for the arc-shaped signatures on radar as they fell from orbit - rained down like meteor showers. After a decade of hard fighting the people of the Rust Belt held the First Wave back, but within years ARC returned in force and survivors were driven underground into the makeshift city of Speranza. Raiders are the ones who go Topside to scavenge the vital materials the city needs, risking both ARC and rival Raiders. Whispers spread that ARC was not alien at all - it may have been built by humans, possibly by those who left.
ERA 1
The Collapse / Exodus
Earth dies; the wealthy escape off-world
ERA 2
The Lost Century (Deep Darkness)
A century of societal collapse and extinction-level loss
ERA 3
Sunrise
Recovery, rediscovery of technology, organized settlements
ERA 4
The First Wave
ARC descends from orbit; a decade of war in the Rust Belt
ERA 5
The Return / Present
ARC comes back stronger; humanity goes underground; the era of Raiders
Fact sheet
Deploy topside from Speranza (solo/duo/trio) onto one of the maps (Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, Blue Gate, Stella Montis, plus the 5th map added in Riven Tides), loot containers and ARC wrecks, complete trader quests, avoid or fight ARC machines and other Raiders, then reach an extraction point before the raid timer ends. Back in Speranza: sell, craft, upgrade the workshop, spend skill points, repeat.
Speranza
The underground city that serves as the Raiders' home base. Built in the oldest neighborhood of the city of Toledo, beneath the Rust Belt, it is a vibrant society of thousands of survivors that is relatively safe from the ARC machines occupying the surface. Raiders reach the Topside maps through a network of repurposed tunnels, metros and elevators.
Topside / Map Table
Select a map, squad up and deploy on a raid
Traders' Market
Five trader stalls for buying, selling and quests
Workshop
Crafting hub; build and upgrade crafting stations for advanced weapons, mods, gadgets and consumables; expandable to hold more stations
Stash
Persistent storage for everything crafted or extracted; upgradeable from 64 to 280 slots
Raider Den
Personal room above the streets; starts as a mattress and grows with Raider level; houses crafting stations and Scrappy
Scrappy the Rooster
Pet rooster who passively gathers Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, Rubber Parts and Assorted Seeds while you are Topside; upgradeable
Expedition Center
Expeditions (prestige-style resets): complete the Expedition Project to depart with lasting bonuses - more XP, extra Scrappy materials, weapon repairs, stash space
Player Projects / Community Projects
Server-wide contribution goals that unlock new content (e.g., Breaking New Ground unlocked Stella Montis); new Player Project added in 1.42.0
Trials
Ranked leaderboard challenges with weekly and seasonal rewards
Skill Tree
Three branches: Survival, Mobility, Conditioning
Raider Decks
Progression tracks unlocking equipment and cosmetics
Store
Cosmetics shop with Twitch drops
Outposts (upcoming, Frozen Trail)
Announced housing/outpost system arriving 2026-10-08
Update Timeline
- Launch1.02025-10-30
- Launch on PC/PS5/Xbox Series
- Four maps: Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, Blue Gate
- 45-node skill tree, Workshop, five traders
- North Line1.x2025-11-13
- Stella Montis map unlocked via 'Breaking New Ground' community event
- New ARC: Matriarch (map-condition boss) and Shredder
- Energy Burst Battle Rifle, multiple mine types
- Nexon's biggest global launch (4M units by Nov 10)
- Cold Snap1.7.02025-12 (mid-December)unverified
- Flickering Flames event
- Snowfall map condition
- Expedition Project (prestige) introduced
- Skill tree respec (2,000 coins/point)
- Skill Point catch-up announced for 2nd Expedition
- First patch of 2026 / Escalation roadmap1.x2026-01 (mid-Jan)unverified
- 'Escalation' roadmap: monthly updates Jan-Apr 2026 (new enemies, maps, weather, player projects)
- Rework of a controversial throwable item
- 1st Expedition departure
- February update1.x2026-02unverified
- 2nd Expedition: lowered stash-value requirement, skill point catch-up system
- New map condition / ARC (details not captured)
- March update1.x2026-03unverified
- Combat-focused Escalation changes
- Workshop/balance updates
- Riven Tides1.x2026-04unverified
- Fifth map
- New large ARC enemy
- New map condition
- 3rd Expedition window
- Cadence change announcementdev update2026-05-13
- Embark moves from monthly to two major updates per year
- Frozen Trail announced for October 2026 with reworked skill tree and new progression
- Nomadic Envoys1.29.02026-05/06unverified
- New trader Ermal (weekly barters, stash expansion, Vault)
- Tian Wen's new Launcher weapon
- June updates1.3x2026-06unverified
- Volare color variants
- Phantom Targets event + Player Project
- Embark Summer Celebration crossover with THE FINALS
- Tick Hunter DLC bundle
- 4th Expedition with Mystery Rewards (150 Raider Tokens + blueprint per objective)
- Night Raid / Close Scrutiny1.33.02026-06/07unverified
- Night Raid and Close Scrutiny map conditions without Free Loadout
- Season 5 start1.3x2026-07-07unverified
- Weapon-specific ARC damage challenges
- Scorta heavy armor outfit
- Solo/Duo/Trio matchmaking1.36.02026-07/08unverified
- Separate Solo, Duo and Trio queues with per-mode playstyle tracking
- 5th Expedition update1.4x2026-09-08unverified
- 5th Expedition window Sept 8-29 2026 (3 weeks, opt-in quest reset, no last call)
- New Raider Project
- Hornet Hunter set
- Cred currency changes (Cred usable until Oct 8 2026)
- Live Update 1.42.01.42.02026-09 (early)
- Phantom Targets Part 2 with Anomalia Outfit
- New Player Project
- Improved map-condition scheduling
- New Twitch drops
- Bug fixes
- Frozen Trail (upcoming)2.0?2026-10-08unverified
- New snowbound region on the edge of the Rust Belt (villages, factories, research facilities, observatory; vertical exploration)
- New ARC threats that 'challenge the ways you've learned to move'
- Improved/reworked skill tree
- New progression systems and Outpost system
- New reward system replacing Cred