After a long development period (including a point where the team delayed it to find the fun), Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders launches on October 30th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. There’s a lot of positive buzz around the extraction shooter, but how will it handle progression resets, a mechanic used to level the playing field in similar titles?
The answer is the Expedition Project, which puts the choice in the player’s hands. Upon reaching level 20 in-game, Projects become available, which involve collecting and contributing materials over an eight-week cycle. If the Expedition Project is complete in the final week, you can reset character progress.
If you miss the window, Project status remains the same, but you’ll only get the chance to initiate a reset when the next cycle ends. Upon reset, all unlocked skills, items, levels, and crafting options are gone. Cosmetics, achievements, rankings, and so on are maintained.
So what’s the point of effectively knee-capping yourself, besides skipping the tutorial and onboarding process (with later maps available immediately)? Embark is still working on the specifics, but there will be “permanent account unlocks” and “unique cosmetic rewards” for each Expedition. Your account also gains “buffs” for as long as the Expedition lasts, with further completions increasing their “magnitude.”
Of course, it’s cautious regarding the impact of said buffs on balance. “One point to drive home is that we are being very careful about the nature of these benefits. Completing a reset should never give a player a power or combat advantage over anyone who has not completed a reset.
“Initially, these benefits will center around cosmetics & bragging rights, quality-of-life, and smoothing out some aspects of progression for those who have gone through a reset.”
Everything is subject to change, of course, not including potential post-launch alterations, so stay tuned for updates. Those who want to try out the shooter can participate in the server slam from October 17th to 19th on all platforms.
