The ARC Raiders skill tree is the backbone of your Raider's out-of-raid progression: 76 leveling-derived Skill Points, plus Expedition bonuses, split across three branches that decide how fast you sprint, how much loot you can haul out, and how long you survive when a Trio jumps you Topside. With points strictly limited and the deepest perks locked behind branch thresholds, spending them well is the difference between a mule that dies at the extract and a Raider who leaves with a full backpack. This guide covers every branch, the highest-value skills to grab first, exactly how you earn (and reset) Skill Points, and how the July 2026 Fourth Expedition changed skill-point payouts.
Quick answer (TLDR): In ARC Raiders you earn one Skill Point per level-up (76 from leveling), plus up to five bonus points from each of your early Expeditions (permanent Expedition bonuses cap at 15), spread over three branches: Conditioning (combat/durability), Mobility (movement/stamina) and Survival (looting/stealth/carry). You can't max everything, and deep perks require 15 or 36 points already spent in that branch. Prioritize the Mobility stamina cluster (Nimble Climber → Marathon Runner → Youthful Lungs) and carry skills (Broad Shoulders, Looter's Instincts) early. You can fully respec at 2,000 Coins per Skill Point from the Skill Tree menu. Read on for the full branch-by-branch breakdown.
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Why the skill tree matters in ARC Raiders
Unlike your gear, which you lose when you die Topside, your Skill Points stick across raids and deaths — dying in a raid never costs you a point. They only change when you deliberately respec, or when you voluntarily send a Raider off on an Expedition, which resets your level and allocated skills as part of the prestige (Expedition-earned bonus points are kept). Short of that, the tree quietly defines your baseline: your stamina pool, sprint economy, carry weight, looting speed, and how survivable you are when downed.
Because points are capped and gated, the tree forces real trade-offs. You physically cannot fill all three branches, and the strongest perks sit behind prerequisite walls, so a focused Raider who commits to a lane outperforms one who sprinkles points everywhere. Getting the early picks right means fewer wasted raids grinding stamina you don't have and more successful extracts with loot you can actually carry.
How the ARC Raiders skill tree works
The skill tree is opened from the Raider → Skill Tree menu and divides into three specializations, each with 15+ individual skills:
| Branch | Focus | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Conditioning | Combat & durability | Melee, breaching, downed survival, weapon-weight |
| Mobility | Movement & stamina | Sprint, dodge rolls, climbing, vaulting, fall damage |
| Survival | Looting & stealth | Loot speed, carry weight, field-crafting, noise, Security Lockers |
Skill point cap and branch gating
Leveling gives you one Skill Point per level-up, for 76 leveling-derived points in total, and Expeditions can add a handful of bonus points on top (see the next section). Either way your budget is tightly limited, so you cannot fill every branch. On top of that, the tree uses prerequisite gating: per the official wiki, "many Skills only become available after a prerequisite number of Skill Points are spent in a specific branch," with deeper skills requiring 15 points or 36 points already invested in that branch. Practically, that means committing to a branch to unlock its payoff perks rather than dabbling across all three.
Can you respec? How to reset the skill tree
Yes — ARC Raiders lets you fully reset your tree. From the Skill Tree menu, the Reset Skill Tree option refunds all points, and per the wiki, "Raiders can spend 2,000 Coins per Skill Point to reset their entire Skill Tree." There is a catch: "Currently, there is no option to reset individual branches or Skills" — it's all-or-nothing. Because the cost scales with every point you've spent, a fully invested tree runs well into six figures (150,000+ Coins), so most players plan their spend rather than reset casually. If you want a total do-over, the Expedition character reset — which runs on a roughly two-month cycle — wipes level, points, gear and workshop back to scratch.
How to earn Skill Points in ARC Raiders
There are two sources of Skill Points:
- Leveling up — 1 point per level-up, 76 in total. The wiki states: "Raiders are rewarded one Skill Point each time they gain enough experience to level up, for a total of 76." This is the bulk of your points and comes purely from raiding, completing quests, and Topside XP.
- Expeditions — up to 5 bonus points each. "Additionally, up to five Skill Points can be earned for each completed Expedition." For your first three personal Expeditions, the departure challenge could award up to five bonus points, and a separate catch-up mechanic lets you reclaim points you missed on Expeditions you'd already taken. Note the important caveat below: once you're past those early Expeditions, completing one no longer hands out fresh Skill Points as its main reward.
What the Fourth Expedition changed (and the Fifth continues)
The Fourth Expedition (sign-up window July 7–21, 2026, launched with Update 1.36.0) is where this shifted. Embark dropped Skill Points as the main completion reward and replaced them with the new Mystery Reward system — 150 Raider Tokens per departure objective (permanent) plus one blueprint per objective from a published reward pool (temporary, resets next Expedition). Clearing all five cumulative damage tiers (5,000 / 10,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 / 100,000 Topside damage) nets 750 Raider Tokens + 5 blueprints.
Why the swap? Embark officially framed Mystery Rewards as a first-time experiment it will monitor and may adjust. As PCGamesN put it, covering the change, the community had largely outgrown the tree: "Extra skill points were the main drive... but as players touch the ceiling on the current skill tree, this becomes less appealing." In short, so many players had already sunk their points that another handful was no longer a compelling payout — blueprints and premium currency were.
The Fourth Expedition departed on July 21, 2026, and the Fifth Expedition caravan is now live (full breakdown in our ARC Raiders Fifth Expedition guide); Embark described Mystery Rewards as a first-time trial that it may revisit, so treat the exact reward mix each cycle as subject to change. Catch-up Skill Points still exist for players who missed earlier Expeditions, but for veterans past their first few Expeditions, leveling is the primary skill-point path. If you're chasing points, the fastest route is efficient XP — see our ARC Raiders how to make money and level fast guide — not the Expedition track.
The three branches — best skills in each
Below are the standout skills per branch, with the highest-value early picks flagged. Effects are per the official wiki; many stack per point (e.g. 5/5).
Conditioning — best combat & survival skills
Conditioning keeps you alive in fights and in the downed state, and speeds up breaching.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Loaded Arms | 50% weapon weight reduction — frees carry weight for loot |
| Turtle Crawl | Up to 33% damage reduction while downed (6.6%/point) |
| Back On Your Feet | Regenerates to ~30% health when critically hurt |
| Downed But Determined | Extends collapse (bleed-out) time by ~6s per level |
| Used To The Weight | Wearing a shield slows you far less (up to half the penalty) |
| A Little Extra | Breaching a door/container yields 1–2 crafting materials |
| Proficient Pryer | ~5% faster door/container breaching per point |
Grab first: Loaded Arms is one of the best value picks in the whole tree — cutting weapon weight in half is effectively free carry capacity every raid.
Mobility — best movement & stamina skills
Mobility is where most experienced Raiders sink their early points, because stamina governs everything Topside.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Youthful Lungs | ~24% max stamina increase |
| Marathon Runner | Reduced sprint stamina cost (extra ~3s sprint at 5/5) |
| Calming Stroll | Stamina regenerates while walking as if standing still |
| Effortless Roll | Reduced dodge-roll stamina cost |
| Sturdy Ankles | Reduced fall damage |
| Vaults on Vaults on Vaults | Vaulting costs no stamina |
| Carry The Momentum | 3s of stamina-free sprint after a sprint dodge roll |
Grab first: Marathon Runner and Youthful Lungs sit on the same chain (you'll pick up Nimble Climber on the way), and together they roughly transform your sprint economy — the single biggest early-game quality-of-life jump. Calming Stroll is a sleeper pick for repositioning without ever stopping to catch your breath.
Survival — best looting & carry skills
Survival is the loot-and-extract branch — the one that most directly turns raids into profit.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Broad Shoulders | +2 max carry weight per level (up to +10) |
| Looter's Instincts | +5% loot-reveal speed per point (up to +25%) |
| Looter's Luck | Chance to reveal two items at once instead of one (5 points) |
| In-round Crafting | Unlocks field-crafting items while Topside |
| Security Breach | Enables breaching Security Lockers (high-value loot) |
| Silent Scavenger | Reduced looting noise — fewer ambushes |
| Minesweeper | Defuse mines/deployables while slow-crouching |
Grab first: Broad Shoulders (+10 carry weight) and Looter's Instincts (faster reveals) pay for themselves in extra loot per run. Security Breach unlocks a whole tier of containers most Raiders can't open — strong for anyone farming augment and weapon blueprints.
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Recommended skill build — where to spend your first points
For a solo or duo Raider focused on surviving and extracting with loot, a proven early priority order:
- Mobility stamina cluster — Nimble Climber → Marathon Runner → Youthful Lungs — work up this chain (each unlocks the next) to fix your stamina first; everything else Topside depends on it.
- Broad Shoulders (Survival) — +10 carry weight so a good run isn't capped by weight.
- Looter's Instincts (Survival) — loot faster, spend less time exposed.
- Loaded Arms (Conditioning) — halve weapon weight for even more loot room.
- Turtle Crawl + Downed But Determined (Conditioning) — buy survival time when you go down so a teammate can revive you.
- Then commit to one branch's 15/36-point gate to unlock its deeper perks (e.g. Security Breach in Survival, or Vaults on Vaults on Vaults in Mobility).
Because you've only got 76 points, treat the tree as a specialization, not a checklist. A fully leveled, well-geared Raider clears content far faster — if you'd rather skip the grind to the level cap, our ARC Raiders services cover leveling and carries.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many Skill Points are there in ARC Raiders? You earn one Skill Point per level-up, for 76 from leveling, plus up to five bonus points per completed Expedition (early Expeditions only, with a catch-up mechanic for ones you missed). Even at the ceiling you cannot fill all three branches, so specialization matters.
How do you earn Skill Points in ARC Raiders? Primarily by leveling up — you get one Skill Point every level-up, 76 in total from leveling. Early personal Expeditions granted up to five bonus points each, but from a player's fourth Expedition (introduced July 2026) completing it awards the new Mystery Rewards (Raider Tokens + blueprints) instead of Skill Points, making leveling the main path.
Can you respec or reset the skill tree in ARC Raiders? Yes. Open the Skill Tree menu and use Reset Skill Tree, which costs 2,000 Coins per Skill Point spent — so a heavily invested tree runs into six figures (a veteran holding the full 76 leveling points plus up to 15 permanent Expedition bonuses could spend 180,000+ Coins). You can only reset the entire tree at once; there's no per-branch or per-skill refund.
What are the best skills to unlock first? Stamina and carry skills give the biggest early return: the Mobility chain of Nimble Climber → Marathon Runner → Youthful Lungs fixes your sprint economy, Broad Shoulders and Looter's Instincts (Survival) increase loot per run, and Loaded Arms (Conditioning) halves weapon weight.
What are the three ARC Raiders skill tree branches? Conditioning (combat and downed-state durability), Mobility (movement, sprint and stamina), and Survival (looting speed, carry weight, stealth and Security Locker breaching). Deep skills in each branch require 15 or 36 points already invested in that branch.
Why did the Fourth Expedition stop giving Skill Points? Embark introduced Mystery Rewards as a first-time experiment for the Fourth Expedition, replacing the old Skill Point payout. As PCGamesN noted, covering the change, most players had already sunk their points into the tree, so more skill points were a weak reward — "as players touch the ceiling on the current skill tree, this becomes less appealing." The Expedition now pays out Mystery Rewards — 150 Raider Tokens per objective plus blueprints — instead, though catch-up Skill Points remain for players who missed earlier Expeditions.
Facts verified against the official ARC Raiders wiki (arcraiders.wiki/wiki/Skills) and arcraiders.com patch notes (Update 1.36.0, The Fourth Expedition), July 2026. Skill effects are per-point and may adjust with balance patches — check in-game for current values.
