ARC Raiders is retiring Cred — one of its two currencies — and any Cred left on your account expires on October 8, 2026, the day the Frozen Trail update launches. There is no conversion and no compensation: whatever you don't spend is gone. Embark named only two places to spend it before the cutoff. This guide covers exactly what's disappearing, the two outlets that still take Cred, the highest-value things to buy first, and how much Cred you can realistically still earn in the days left.
Quick answer (TLDR): Cred is being retired and expires with the Frozen Trail update on October 8, 2026 — no refund. Spend it in only two places: Shani's stall (the one trader who accepts Cred) and the three Raider Decks. Your wallet is capped at 800 Cred, so prioritize consumables you'll actually use — Sterilized Bandages and Surge Shield Rechargers at Shani — plus any no-threshold Raider Deck tiles. Read on for the full spend-order breakdown.
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What is happening to Cred in ARC Raiders?
In the patch notes for Live Update 1.45.0 (published September 8, 2026), Embark stated it plainly:
"We are retiring Cred as a currency, as we'll be introducing a more expansive reward system launching with the Frozen Trail Update. It will remain usable until October 8, so be sure to use any remaining Cred before then."
The key points:
- Cred stays spendable until October 8, 2026. After that, any remaining balance expires with the Frozen Trail update.
- No conversion, no compensation has been announced. Unspent Cred is simply lost.
- A "more expansive reward system" replaces it. All existing Raider Deck rewards will also be available in the new system, and you keep any rewards you have already claimed at the time of the update.
- Only two outlets still accept Cred before the cutoff: Shani and the Raider Decks.
Cred has been capped at 800 since Update 1.7.0 (December 16, 2025) — Embark added the cap specifically "so that players won't be able to fully unlock new Raider Decks by accumulating Cred." That cap matters now: 800 is a little more than two Raider Deck pages, so you were never able to stockpile your way to everything anyway.
Is my other currency (coins) going away too?
No. ARC Raiders has two currencies, and only Cred is being retired. Your regular coins — the money you earn from selling loot, and what most traders accept — are untouched. Veteran players sitting on millions of coins keep every coin. If you're the type who's "so rich the money is meaningless," none of that is at risk. This retirement is Cred only.
Where can you still spend Cred before October 8?
Embark named exactly two outlets. Here they are, ranked by how much value you can extract.
Outlet 1 — Shani's stall (the only trader that takes Cred)
Shani is the one trader who accepts Cred as payment. Her stall carries 22 items priced between 10 and 100 Cred, and stock replenishes every 24 hours. Adding up her daily limits, the stall can absorb roughly 2,740 Cred in a single day — more than three times your 800 cap — so the shop will never be your bottleneck.
Best-value buys, based on what players actually burn Cred on:
| Item | Cred cost | Why it's worth it |
|---|---|---|
| Sterilized Bandage | ~40 | Highest purchasing-power ratio on the stall; a consumable you'll use every raid |
| Surge Shield Recharger | ~40 | Five per day; ~90 Coins of value per Cred — cheap survivability you'd otherwise buy in coins |
| Green/blue heals & stims | low | Stock up your daily healing supply |
| Raider Hatch Key | 100 | Handy extraction utility; only sold here in Cred |
| Firework Box / Firecracker / Shaker | 20–60 | Fun/utility items unique to the Cred stall |
| Acoustic Guitar | ~70 | Popular flavor item; some players resell for coins |
Several of Shani's items — Binoculars, Firecracker, Shaker, Firework Box, Acoustic Guitar, Raider Hatch Key, and a few tier-II attachments — have no coin equivalent elsewhere, making Cred the only way to buy them. If you want any of these, get them before October 8.
Outlet 2 — the three Raider Decks
The Raider Decks are free-to-access reward tracks where each tile is bought with Cred, and pages unlock based on how much you've spent in that Deck. There are three live Decks:
| Raider Deck | Pages | Total cost |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Deck (AR/RD 001: Ryder & Voyager) | 6 | ~2,190 Cred |
| Goalie Deck (AR/RD 002: Goalie) | 5 | ~1,240 Cred |
| Surgeon Deck (AR/RD 003: Surgeon) | 5 | ~1,070 Cred |
Finishing all three costs about 4,500 Cred — impossible under an 800 cap and a four-week window, so you have to choose. Two things make the decision easier:
- Cosmetics you don't claim aren't lost — Embark confirmed all existing Raider Deck rewards carry into the new system. So you don't need to panic-buy every outfit.
- Cred, on the other hand, is lost. So the smart move is to convert Cred into things that don't carry over.
That's why the highest-value Deck tiles are the ones containing Raider Tokens (the game's premium currency, which persists). The best deals sit on the first page of the Goalie and Surgeon Decks with no unlock threshold at all: about 150 Raider Tokens for 60 Cred total. Grab those before spending anywhere else. (Note: preferring Raider Tokens over cosmetics is a value calculation, not an Embark recommendation — buy the cosmetics you'll genuinely wear.)
How much Cred can you still earn before the deadline?
You earn Cred passively — roughly 1 Cred per 2,000 XP earned Topside — plus Feats (daily challenges) that award 10 Cred for one, 30 for three, and 40 for five completed, i.e. up to 80 Cred per day. Across the roughly four weeks left before October 8, Feats alone are worth up to ~2,160 Cred. That's enough to comfortably finish the Goalie and Surgeon Decks — but not to seriously tackle the Starter Deck's 2,000+ Cred sixth page. (These earning figures are community-calculated from the wiki's scale; Embark hasn't published an official rate.)
Two other deadlines land before the Cred cutoff, so plan around them:
- The current Trials season ends September 22, 2026 (followed by a two-week break).
- The Fifth Expedition window closes September 29, 2026. Expeditions don't reset Cred — but if you're departing on the 29th and stepping away, empty your wallet first.
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In what order should you spend your Cred?
Here's the efficient spend priority:
- No-threshold Raider Token tiles first. Page 1 of the Goalie (two 20-Cred tiles) and page 1 of the Surgeon (one 20-Cred tile): ~60 Cred for ~150 Raider Tokens, no prerequisite.
- Claim everything you've already unlocked. Embark's guarantee covers claimed rewards — an opened page with tiles still waiting is not guaranteed to carry over.
- Buy only the cosmetics you'll actually wear. The rest return in the new system.
- Spend the remainder at Shani's, starting with Sterilized Bandages (best value) and Surge Shield Rechargers.
- Don't hold Cred "just in case." At the 800 cap you already stop earning more, and on October 8 the entire balance vanishes.
A word on stockpiling for the Boonie outfit
Don't lock up your Cred waiting on the Boonie outfit (available from September 15). Store outfits in ARC Raiders have historically been priced in Raider Tokens, not Cred, so hoarding Cred for it risks wasting your whole balance.
Prep once your Cred is spent
Once your wallet's empty, the smart pivot is to stack up on the things that do carry across an update. When you depart on an Expedition, ARC Raiders wipes your inventory, stash upgrades, level, skill points, Raider Deck progress, workshop, Trials and quests — but Raider Tokens, coins, Cred (until it's gone), Merits, blueprints, unlocked maps and cosmetics stay account-level. Frozen Trail itself is a bigger reset: a brand-new frozen map, several new ARC enemies, a fresh ARC Operation, an Outpost you build out, and Skill Tree changes. Two moves put you ahead of it:
- Bank your account-level currency now. Raider Tokens you pulled from Deck tiles survive; convert dying Cred into them while you still can.
- Stockpile crafting inputs and blueprints. Materials and blueprint unlocks carry over, so the raiders who walk into the new map already able to craft top gear start days ahead of everyone grinding it from scratch.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When exactly does Cred expire in ARC Raiders? Cred remains usable until October 8, 2026, and any remaining balance expires when the Frozen Trail update launches that day. Embark hasn't published an exact cutoff time, so treat October 8 as a hard deadline and spend earlier to be safe.
Do I get a refund or conversion for unspent Cred? No. Embark has announced no conversion and no compensation for unspent Cred. Whatever you don't spend before October 8 is simply lost — which is why emptying your wallet ahead of time matters.
Where can I spend Cred before it's gone? Only two places accept Cred: Shani's stall (the one trader who takes it, with 22 items from 10–100 Cred) and the three Raider Decks. Coins-based traders don't accept Cred, so those two are your only outlets.
What's the best thing to buy with my leftover Cred? The highest value is the no-threshold Raider Token tiles on page 1 of the Goalie and Surgeon Decks (~150 Raider Tokens for ~60 Cred), since Raider Tokens are permanent. After that, buy consumables you'll use — Sterilized Bandages and Surge Shield Rechargers at Shani — and any cosmetics you genuinely want to wear.
Will the Raider Deck cosmetics I skip be lost forever? No. Embark confirmed all existing Raider Deck rewards will also be available in the new system. You keep anything you've already claimed, and unclaimed cosmetics return later — so don't panic-buy outfits with your last Cred.
Is all currency being removed, or just Cred? Only Cred is being retired. Your regular coins — the main money you earn from loot — and Raider Tokens are unaffected and carry into Frozen Trail as normal.
