Are ARC Raiders' Bonus Expedition Skill Points Even Worth the Cost?

Embark finally provided concrete numbers for the various bonuses players will get from sending their Raider on an Expedition in ARC Raiders, and while I’m glad to now have a better idea of what I’ll be getting, the news wasn’t all good. In a recent blog post, as shared on the official ARC Raiders X account, the developer announced that the game’s first Expedition would be delayed by a couple of days. That part was already hard enough for me to hear, since I’ve been waiting for the wipe to arrive so I can see what it’s like to start a new Raider with the buffs and bonuses I’ll get for participating in the Expedition. However, it was when I read just how much my stash would need to be worth in order to get the maximum number of bonus skill points for my next character that I felt a bit demoralized.

When players send their Raider on an Expedition in ARC Raiders, the total value of items in their stash plus the Coins that they have in their wallet determines how many bonus skill points they can get for their next character—up to 5. Well, until now, that value has been a mystery, and I almost wish it had remained so until the Expedition happened because, as they say, ignorance is bliss. When I read that my net worth in ARC Raiders would need to be 5,000,000 Coins if I wanted the maximum number of bonus skill points, for a moment, I thought I’d just get back into the game and grind it out until I had enough. But now I’m wondering if it’s even worth the cost.

Every Bonus Offered by ARC Raiders’ Expedition Wipe

The Expedition alone is already something some players have considered isn’t at all worth the effort, simply due to the massive amount of resources it requires. For some, the benefits of going on an Expedition in ARC Raiders don’t outweigh the effort, and it seems like that may be especially true of the bonus skill points. Even so, there are clear bonuses that should appeal to players who plan to stick with the game long-term.

Here are the official permanent bonuses players acquire upon completing their first Expedition in ARC Raiders:

Permanent Unlocks:

The Patchwork Raider outfit
Scrappy Janitor Cap
Expeditions Indicator icon
Skill points (depending on Stash value)
+12 Stash space

Temporary Buffs:

10% repair buff
5% xp boost
6% more materials from Scrappy

The permanent unlocks are, of course, going to be applied to each player’s account for good. The temporary buffs, on the other hand, will expire if players choose not to depart with the subsequent Expedition. If they do depart with the Expedition following this one, though, those buffs will seemingly stack for the next three Expeditions and presumably cap out until players choose not to depart. Like I said, I’m glad all of this information is out in the open now, but I think I could have done without the specifics regarding the bonus skill points. It just makes me sad.

Here’s a Breakdown of What Players Will Need if They Want All Five Bonus Expedition Points in ARC Raiders

According to the blog post, each bonus skill point offered by an ARC Raiders Expedition costs 1,000,000 Coins, and whether that total comes from your stash or your wallet is up to you and what you have. 1,000,000 Coins already seems like a steep price, but at the same time, it almost feels doable. Some of the more dedicated players are likely swimming in cash at the moment, so to them, that might be mere pocket change. However, when you look at just how much work and time it takes to acquire 1,000,000 Coins’ worth of value, let alone 5,000,000, I don’t feel like you can walk away from that without weighing the cost.

There are plenty of valuable items in ARC Raiders, but even the most valuable items don’t come close to putting a dent in the 5,000,000 Coin total that is required for the maximum number of bonus skill points from the Expedition. When considering current stash space, as well as the number of rounds you’d have to play in order to achieve such a massive net worth, the ratio of item value to the value required to obtain bonus skill points from an Expedition is disheartening, to say the least.

Here are the most valuable items in ARC Raiders:

Snap Hook — 14,000
Queen Reactor — 13,000
Matriarch Reactor — 13,000
Lance’s Mixtape (5th Edition) — 10,000
Kinetic Converter — 7,000
Anvil Splitter — 7,000
Breathtaking Snow Globe — 7,000
Horizontal Grip — 7,000
Silencer III — 7,000

Even if the only item players went after was ARC Raiders‘ most valuable item, the Snap Hook, to net them the 5,000,000 required for all 5 bonus skill points, they would need a whopping 357 of them to get there. But getting your hands on one of those isn’t something that happens every day, or every week, for that matter. So, say players attempt to start a collection of Breathtaking Snow Globes to cover the cost instead. While there is a chance you can find those by looting Residential areas in ARC Raiders, it’s not only a rare loot item, but you’d need 714 of them for a total of 5,000,000. Just seeing those numbers pop up on my calculator makes me reconsider logging in just a while ago to try and scrounge up some cash before the first Expedition departs on December 22.

ARC Raiders’ Bonus Expedition Skill Points Might Not Be Worth It (For Now)

If it isn’t clear by now, I feel confident in saying that ARC Raiders‘ bonus Expedition skill points aren’t worth it. I may go after one of them, but attempting to increase the value of my stash to the next milestone of 2,000,000 sounds exhausting. However, I’ll go ahead and add a “for now” to the end of that opinion that the bonus skill points aren’t worth it, because I can’t imagine Embark will stick with this for too long. It just seems like such a high cost for something so minuscule, especially when stash space is as limited as it is and the most valuable items aren’t even that valuable by comparison.

It’s also worth mentioning that the 5% XP boost provided by the Expedition should help alleviate the absence of those bonus skill points, though not by much. At the very least, it’s encouraging knowing that I’ll get even more XP per round with my next Raider since it’s already fairly easy to do so anyway. As long as I’m looting everything and destroying as many machines as I can find in ARC Raiders, I think I’ll be fine without those extra skill points.