ARC Raiders Expedition 5: Dates, Rewards & the 2027 Pause

The fifth ARC Raiders Expedition opens September 8 and runs through September 29, and it is the last one Raiders will see for a while.

Embark Studios is pausing the entire Expedition system afterward to rework it, and at Gamescom the studio’s own executive producer admitted it might scrap the system altogether instead of bringing it back.

This guide covers exactly what changes in Expedition 5, what you get for finishing it, and what the pause actually means for your progress.

It launched alongside the Ascending the Mountain project, the Hornet Hunter Set, and the retirement of Cred, so it’s worth checking all four before the window closes.

Table of Contents

• When Does Expedition 5 Start and End?
• How to Do the Expedition
• Caravan Requirements for Expedition 5
• What’s New in Expedition 5
• Expedition 5 Rewards
• The Hullcracker Blueprint Problem
• Trials Are Pausing Too
• [Why Expeditions Are Pausing, and Might Not Come Back]> (#why-expeditions-are-pausing-and-might-not-come-back)
• What to Do Before September 29
• Key Takeaways
• FAQ

When Does Expedition 5 Start and End?

The Expedition window has fixed opening and closing times, and missing them means missing the Expedition entirely.

That is a three-week window, up from two weeks in previous Expeditions.

Completing your Caravan does not count as signing up, and this time there is no Last Call safety net if you forget to lock in your departure.

How to Do the Expedition

Embark laid out the process the same way it has for every Expedition so far.

Complete the Caravan. Contributions open the moment you finish your previous Expedition, or immediately if this is your first one.

Wait for the window. The Expedition window opens September 8 and closes September 29.

Sign up. You must manually sign up once the window is live, separately from finishing the Caravan.

Complete the challenge. Rewards are tied to completing an in-Expedition challenge before the window closes.

Catch up if eligible. Players on their second, third, or fourth personal Expedition can catch up on missed Skill Points, up to five per Expedition, based on stash value.

Depart. Everyone who signed up departs automatically when the window closes on September 29.

Expeditions are personal progression, so your first Expedition might be someone else’s fifth, and the rewards below depend on which number Expedition this is for you specifically.

Caravan Requirements for Expedition 5

Before you can sign up for departure, your Caravan needs to clear all five build stages.

Load Stage works differently from the other four.

It doesn’t ask for specific items, just Coin value in each category, so weapons, ammo, and grenades count toward Combat Items while shields and healing gear count toward Survival Items.

Items committed to any stage cannot be retrieved, so it’s worth crafting or banking anything you actually need before you start dumping rare materials in.

What’s New in Expedition 5

Three mechanical changes separate this Expedition from the four before it.

Opt-In Quest Reset

Previous Expeditions forced a full quest reset, and Embark says player feedback called that repetitive.

Expedition 5 lets you keep your quest progress instead of resetting it, so you can pick up where you left off rather than replaying the same questline again.

No Last Call

Every prior Expedition included a Last Call grace period for players who missed the sign-up window.

That feature is gone for Expedition 5, so signing up during the window is the only way in.

A Longer Window

The departure window is now three weeks instead of two, giving Raiders more time to prepare their Caravan and hit the sign-up button.

Expedition 5 Rewards

Rewards scale with how many personal Expeditions you have completed, but Expedition 5 carries the biggest milestone of the current cycle.

The complete Zenith Outfit. The Zenith Outfit’s first piece unlocked at Expedition 4, and finishing your fifth personal Expedition unlocks the full set.

There is no sixth piece and no further Expedition needed to complete it.

Mystery Rewards, delivered after departure, the same system introduced in Expedition 4.

+12 stash space, capping total stash capacity at 60 slots.

Skill Points capped at 15 total. Catch-up on missed Skill Points is available starting with your second Expedition and is tied to your stash value; once you reach the full 15, catch-up stops being offered.

Consecutive buffs capped at three levels. The XP boost, Scrappy materials boost, and repair value increase all max out at level three if you have departed on consecutive Expeditions without missing a window, which pairs well with an active XP farming route while the buff is live.

If this is your fifth personal Expedition, the Zenith Outfit and stash space are the headline gains, since Skill Points and buffs likely already sit at their caps.

The Hullcracker Blueprint Problem

The opt-in quest reset creates one obvious side effect worth flagging.

The Hullcracker Blueprint has always come from The Major’s Footlocker, a quest tied to the reset questline, so a player who opts out of resetting never triggers that quest.

Embark has acknowledged this directly, stating it will add alternative ways to obtain the Hullcracker Blueprint for players who keep their progress.

The studio has not detailed what those alternative methods are yet, so treat this as confirmed but not yet specified, and check back once Embark shares the details.

Once you do land the blueprint, crafting the Hullcracker itself requires a Gunsmith bench upgrade to Level 3.

Trials Are Pausing Too

Expeditions are not the only system going quiet.

The current Trials season ends September 22, roughly a week before the Expedition window closes.

Trials then pause for two weeks and return October 8, the same day the Frozen Trail update launches, which lines up the game’s next content drought with its biggest planned update of the year.

Why Expeditions Are Pausing, and Might Not Come Back

Embark’s official explanation is that Expeditions need more than small tweaks.

The studio said the issues players raised, including tight departure windows, the reward structure, and accessibility for new players, “need more than incremental fixes” and “call for bigger changes,” according to Embark’s official announcement.

Embark confirmed the fifth Expedition will be the last one until early 2027, when Expeditions are meant to return “with major improvements, tackling some of the biggest player pain points,” with further details promised in September.

That was the plan as of the August announcement, but the studio has since gone further.

At Gamescom, ARC Raiders executive producer Aleksander Grøndal spoke with PCGamesN about the Expedition system’s future, and his comments moved past “rework” into genuinely open-ended territory.

Grøndal told PCGamesN the studio wants to make significant changes to Expeditions.

“Maybe we’ll scrap the whole system altogether. That is on the table, too. Right now, the team is trying to figure out what the next steps for Expeditions are,” Grøndal said, according to PC Gamer’s report on the interview.

That is a meaningfully different statement than the original pause announcement, which promised Expeditions would return, not that they might disappear for good.

Nothing will be decided before the Frozen Trail update ships on October 8, so treat any specific prediction about the 2027 rework as a guess until Embark says otherwise.

What to Do Before September 29

A few practical decisions matter more than usual this cycle.

If this would be your fifth personal Expedition, prioritize it. It is the run that fully unlocks the Zenith Outfit and locks in your consecutive buffs before the pause.

If you are new or behind, don’t panic about missing this window. Expeditions are personal and complete in order, so departing now simply counts as your first, second, third, or fourth Expedition depending on your history, and you keep building toward the Zenith Outfit whenever Expeditions return; a fresh look at our beginner survival tips helps if you are rebuilding from a reset.

Finish or accept the Caravan conversion. An incomplete Caravan on September 29 becomes Ermal Vouchers rather than vanishing outright, so there is no need to rush a Caravan you cannot realistically finish; running a few extra high-value loot routes in the final days can still close the gap.

Decide on the quest reset carefully if you want the Hullcracker Blueprint soon. Until Embark details the alternative acquisition method, resetting is still the only confirmed path to that blueprint.

Key Takeaways

• Expedition 5 runs September 8-29, 2026, a three-week window with no Last Call grace period.
• Quest progress reset is optional for the first time, but that also removes the only confirmed route to the Hullcracker Blueprint until Embark adds an alternative.
• Finishing your fifth personal Expedition fully unlocks the Zenith Outfit, adds stash space up to 60 slots, and caps Skill Points and consecutive buffs.
• Trials pause September 22 through October 8, syncing back up with the Frozen Trail update.
• Expeditions pause after September 29 until early 2027, and Embark’s executive producer has said scrapping the system entirely is still on the table.

FAQ

When does ARC Raiders Expedition 5 start and end?

Expedition 5 opens September 8 at 1pm CEST, 11am UTC, 4am PT, and closes September 29 at 10am CEST, 8am UTC, 1am PT.

Anyone signed up departs automatically the moment the window closes.

Is Expedition 5 really the last Expedition?

It is the last one under the current system.

Embark has confirmed Expeditions are paused until early 2027, and executive producer Aleksander Grøndal has since said the studio is even weighing whether to scrap the system outright rather than bring it back.

What happens to my quest progress in Expedition 5?

For the first time, resetting your quest progress is optional.

You can keep everything you have already unlocked and continue from where you left off instead of starting the questline over.

Do I still need to sign up if I already finished my Caravan?

Yes.

Completing the Caravan does not count as signing up, so you have to open the game during the Expedition window and sign up separately, and there is no Last Call grace period this time if you forget.

What rewards do you get from Expedition 5?

Completing your fifth personal Expedition fully unlocks the Zenith Outfit, adds 12 stash slots for a maximum of 60, grants Mystery Rewards, and lets your consecutive buffs reach their capped levels.

Will I lose my consecutive buffs during the pause?

No.

Embark has confirmed that any XP, Scrappy materials, or repair value buffs you have earned will persist through the entire pause period.

What happens to unfinished Caravans when Expeditions pause?

Any Caravan that is not fully completed by September 29 gets reset, and its contents are converted into Ermal Vouchers of equal value that you can spend on Ermal offers or sell for Coin.

How do I get the Hullcracker Blueprint if I skip the quest reset?

The Hullcracker Blueprint was previously locked behind The Major’s Footlocker quest.

Since that quest only triggers on a reset questline, Embark has said it will add other ways to obtain the blueprint for players who opt out of resetting, though the studio has not detailed exactly what those methods are yet.

Are ARC Raiders Trials pausing too?

Yes.

The current Trials season ends September 22, and Trials go on hold for two weeks before returning October 8 alongside the Frozen Trail update.

Could Expeditions be removed from ARC Raiders permanently?

It is on the table.

At Gamescom, executive producer Aleksander Grøndal told PCGamesN the team is still deciding the system’s future and that scrapping it altogether is a real option, not just a rework.

When will Expeditions return?

Embark has only said “early 2027,” with more detail promised after the Frozen Trail update ships.

No firm date or format has been confirmed.