Yes, I would head back Topside, because Embark have just announced the Fourth Expedition for Arc Raiders and there is already a proper event running to tide you over, and the Rust Belt has not been this busy in a while. What is live is Forgotten Relics, what changed is mostly update 1.33, and whether it is worth the queue depends on you wanting other players in the danger as well as the machines.
Forgotten Relics, and the job through 27 July
The big live content came with update 1.33.0, which kicked off the Forgotten Relics event, and the Nomadic Envoys have rolled into Speranza carrying intel gathered across the Rust Belt. The questline, The Project, runs from 16 June through to 27 July, and the job is simple to say and hard to do, which is to secure safe passage for the nomads, gather supplies, and recover forgotten relics from Topside. In other words, more reasons to make dangerous runs to the surface and try to come home with your bag intact, which is the entire appeal of this game and the reason I am even having the conversation.
The changes that actually matter
A couple of under-the-hood tweaks from 1.33 are worth knowing before you queue, because one of them changes what you loot and the other changes what you get back when the raid was never fair.
- The Rocketeer now drops Launcher Ammo instead of Heavy Ammo, so the ammo economy around that fight shifts, and you should plan the loadout before that fight starts teaching you the economy the hard way.
- If Embark identifies a cheater who knocked you out, your lost loot is automatically returned to your inbox, which for an extraction shooter, where a cheater can wipe a run you sweated over, is a genuinely respectful piece of design, and it will not stop the frustration in the moment, though getting your kit back afterwards takes the sting out.
On top of that, 1.33 cleaned up a stack of bugs, aim-down-sights accuracy, falling through the map on certain parts, Barricade deployment, audio announcements and a pile of UI and animation fixes, which is the sort of list you only notice when it stops happening to you. Then update 1.34.0 on 23 June added the Aeronaut set and a new hairstyle to the store and patched some duplication exploits, so the week was not only the event.
The Fourth Expedition
The headline beside the event is the Fourth Expedition, announced on 25 June, the next major content beat for the game, and Embark are rolling the details out rather than dumping them all at once. I am not going to pretend I know the full contents yet, because what it signals is the thing that matters, which is that the game is on a steady content cadence and the studio is still investing in it hard. The moment the full breakdown is public I will be back here with it, and until then I am not going to invent the contents to fill the gap.
Why I would still queue
Arc Raiders remains one of the most tense extraction shooters going, and the way Embark are running it, regular events, real anti-cheat follow-through, a clear content drumbeat, is exactly how you keep one of these games alive. Go in clear-eyed about what it is, because this is PvPvE, so the danger is other players as much as the machines, and that is the whole point rather than a footnote you discover on the extract. If you want the honest solo angle before you commit, I broke it down in can you play Arc Raiders solo, and if you are weighing it against the other big tactical extraction game I cover, Gray Zone Warfare vs Arc Raiders is the comparison I get asked for most.
FAQ
When does the Forgotten Relics event end in Arc Raiders?
The Forgotten Relics event came with update 1.33.0, and its questline, The Project, runs from 16 June through to 27 July, which is the window you are actually playing inside. The Nomadic Envoys have rolled into Speranza carrying intel gathered across the Rust Belt, and that intel is the reason the surface runs exist.
What is the Fourth Expedition in Arc Raiders?
The Fourth Expedition, announced on 25 June, is the next major content beat for the game, and Embark are rolling the details out rather than dumping them all at once, so the full contents are not known yet. What it does signal is that the game is on a steady content cadence, which is the part I am willing to stand on today.
What changed in Arc Raiders update 1.33.0?
The Rocketeer now drops Launcher Ammo instead of Heavy Ammo, which shifts the ammo economy around that fight, and if Embark identifies a cheater who knocked you out, your lost loot is automatically returned to your inbox. It also cleaned up a stack of bugs, including aim-down-sights accuracy, falling through the map, Barricade deployment and audio, which is the unglamorous half of a good patch.
What did Arc Raiders update 1.34.0 add?
Update 1.34.0, on 23 June, added the Aeronaut set and a new hairstyle to the store, and it patched some duplication exploits at the same time. That is a store drop and an exploit fix rather than the expedition itself, which is why I am not calling a hairstyle the content beat.
Is it a good time to play Arc Raiders right now?
Yes, with eyes open, because it remains one of the most tense extraction shooters going, and regular events, real anti-cheat follow-through and a clear content drumbeat are exactly how you keep one alive. Just remember it is PvPvE, so the danger is other players as much as the machines, and that is the whole point of dropping Topside.
Sources (3)
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