Trials Season 4 ends July 7, 2026, and Season 5 goes live the same day. If you want the full Blindspot Set from Season 4 and a head start on the new Scorta rewards, the next five days decide it — your final Season 4 placement is locked forever, and your starting rank in Season 5 is set from it. This guide gives you the exact dates, every confirmed reward, the new objectives, and a rank-up plan that actually works before the deadline hits.
Quick answer: ARC Raiders Trials Season 5
- Season 4 ends: July 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC — your final placement unlocks Blindspot Set colors and toggles.
- Season 5 runs: July 7, 2026 (12:00 UTC) → September 30, 2026 (07:00 UTC).
- Season 5 reward outfit: The Scorta — variants based on final placement; Hotshot and Cantina Legend unlock exclusive Red and Blue colors.
- Extra Season 5 cosmetics: Green Bruiser backpack, Pressure Gauge charm, Hydraulic Pump attachment, and the 'Come at me' emote.
- New objectives: damaging specific ARC with certain weapons, absorbing Pop explosions, plus a selection of returning challenges.
- Rank ladder: 14 ranks, Rookie I → Cantina Legend; how far you climb each week depends on where you finish in your division.
Everything below is verified against the official arcraiders.com Trials Season 5 announcement and the ARC Raiders Wiki Trials page.
Season 5 at a glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Season 4 ends | July 7, 2026 · 12:00 UTC |
| Season 5 starts | July 7, 2026 · 12:00 UTC |
| Season 5 ends | September 30, 2026 · 07:00 UTC |
| Season length | ~12 weeks |
| Reward outfit | The Scorta (placement-based variants) |
| Prestige colors | Red & Blue (Hotshot / Cantina Legend only) |
| Trials unlock at | Level 15 |
| Weekly reset | Monday (5 objectives per week) |
| Max climb per week | Varies by rank (up to a 3× promotion) |
When does Trials Season 5 start and end?
Season 5 starts July 7, 2026 at 12:00 UTC — the exact moment Season 4 closes — and ends September 30, 2026 at 07:00 UTC. That is roughly a 12-week season.
In the announcement, Embark previews the theme directly: "ARC activity rises and tentative alliances with the Nomads begin to form." That ties Season 5 into the ongoing Nomad storyline that started with the Nomadic Envoys and the Converging Paths project, so expect the seasonal grind to lean into heavier armor and higher ARC density.
One thing to plan around: because Season 4 ends and Season 5 begins on the same day, there is no gap. The instant the clock flips, your Season 4 rank is finalized, Blindspot rewards are granted based on where you landed, and the Season 5 ladder resets. If you are chasing a Season 4 title, you are effectively racing a July 7 deadline.
What happens when Season 4 ends? (Blindspot Set rewards)
Straight from the patch note: "Season 4 ends July 07, your final placement will unlock a variety of colors and toggles for the Blindspot Set." The Blindspot Set is Season 4's placement reward, and the higher you finish, the more you unlock. Here is the full breakdown.
| Final Season 4 rank | Blindspot reward |
|---|---|
| Tryhard II | Blindspot Outfit — Navy Blue color |
| Tryhard III | Hat Outfit Variant |
| Wildcard I | Padding Outfit Variant |
| Wildcard II | Jacket Outfit Variant |
| Wildcard III | Mask Outfit Variant |
| Hotshot | Blindspot Outfit — Green color |
| Cantina Legend | Blindspot Outfit — Beige Black color |
Rewards stack as you climb — reaching Wildcard III means you also keep everything below it. The takeaway before July 7: every sub-rank you push now is a permanent cosmetic you either keep or lose forever. If you are sitting one division place away from a promotion, this weekend is worth the grind.
What are the Trials Season 5 rewards? (The Scorta)
Season 5's headline reward is a brand-new outfit, The Scorta — a heavy, juggernaut-styled kit that fits the "rock some heavy armor" theme. As with Season 4, you earn Scorta variations based on your final placement at the end of the season on September 30.
The prestige payoff is color-gated to the top of the ladder. In Embark's words: "Legendary Raiders who reach the rank of Hotshot or Cantina Legend will unlock exclusive Red and Blue colors variants." In other words, the Red and Blue Scorta colors are only obtainable at Hotshot or Cantina Legend — the top rungs of the ladder that only a small fraction of players ever reach. Everyone else earns lower-tier Scorta variants scaled to where they finish.
On top of the outfit, Season 5 adds a matched set of cosmetics granted at season end:
| Reward type | Season 5 item |
|---|---|
| Backpack | Green Bruiser |
| Backpack charm | Pressure Gauge |
| Backpack attachment | Hydraulic Pump |
| Emote | 'Come at me' |
None of these carry stat bonuses — Trials rewards in ARC Raiders are cosmetic prestige only. The value is the flex: a Red or Blue Scorta in Speranza signals a top-tier season finish that the vast majority of players never reach.
What are the new Season 5 objectives?
Embark is rotating in fresh challenge types for Season 5. From the announcement: "From damaging specific ARC with certain weapons (snitches get stitches), to absorbing Pop explosions to the face, the next season will bring fresh new ways to test your loadout, alongside a selection of returning challenges."
Two things to read into that:
- Weapon-specific damage trials ("damage X ARC with Y weapon") reward flexible loadouts. If you run a single meta gun for everything, these will slow you down — bring the right tool for the objective.
- Pop-absorption trials turn a normally-avoided hazard into a scoring mechanic. Pops are the small self-detonating ARC; a challenge that wants you to take the blast rewards controlled, deliberate engagement instead of kiting.
Returning challenges will still make up a chunk of each week — expect familiar staples like Search ARC Probes/Couriers/Assessors, Damage Turbines, and Search Supply Drops to reappear in the rotation. The full weekly card refreshes every Monday.
How does the Trials rank ladder work?
The ladder is 14 ranks. In order:
Rookie I / II / III → Tryhard I / II / III → Wildcard I / II / III → Daredevil I / II / III → Hotshot → Cantina Legend.
New players start at Rookie I, and each rank name splits into three sub-ranks — except Hotshot and Cantina Legend, which are single brackets at the very top. You don't fully reset each season: per the ARC Raiders Wiki, "in a new season, Raiders start at 2 ranks below their last placement" (finish Daredevil II, open the next season at Wildcard III).
Promotion is weekly and division-based. Once you've scored at least one point in the week, you're placed in a division of up to 100 Raiders at your rank, and your cumulative score sets where you finish. Your placement decides your movement:
- Finish near the top: you jump up — depending on your rank, a strong week can trigger a double or even triple promotion, skipping sub-ranks.
- Finish mid-pack: you move up a single sub-rank or hold your position.
- Finish low, or skip trials: you can be demoted to a lower sub-rank.
The exact placement thresholds vary by rank, and the bands tighten as you climb — the higher you sit, the harder each promotion gets. Consistency is everything: the players who reach the top place near the top of their division week after week.
Hotshot and Cantina Legend sit above the normal divisions on a global leaderboard. Cantina Legend is the single most exclusive rank — widely reported as roughly the top 1,000 Hotshot players worldwide, recalculated weekly, with no fixed point threshold. Because it's a live weekly leaderboard, holding it means staying in that top band every week, not clearing a one-time score.
How to rank up fast in Season 5
You have limited raids per week, so score efficiency matters more than raw playtime. A practical plan:
- Do all 5 objectives every week. Skipping trials isn't just lost points — it triggers demotion (see below). Even a partial score on all five beats maxing three and ignoring two.
- Prioritize the easy, high-floor trials first. Search-type objectives (Probes, Couriers, Assessors, Supply Drops) can be three-starred with cheap or free loadouts — bank those points before touching the risky combat trials.
- Remember only your best score per challenge counts, and you must extract to bank it. Per the wiki: "Upon extraction, the Raider's points for each challenge are tallied. Only a Raider's best score in each challenge is kept." Dying with a huge run banks nothing. Extract, then push for a better score.
- Duo or trio the hard weeks. On r/ArcRaiders, players chasing promotion regularly report that heavy combat rotations are far tougher solo and that running a duo or trio makes hitting the promotion cutoff much more reliable. If you're stuck near a division cutoff, a coordinated squad is usually the fastest fix.
- Watch your division standing, not just your total. Promotion is relative — a 30,000-point week can still be 24th place in a stacked division. Check your position mid-week and keep pushing if you're outside the promotion zone for your rank.
If the grind outpaces your time, this is exactly where a Trials rank boost or carry closes the gap before September 30 — the placement rewards only exist for players who finish high enough.
Do you lose your rank between seasons?
Yes — partly. At season end, your final rank sets your seasonal rewards and does not immediately drop. The reduction happens at the start of the next season: per the wiki, you begin 2 ranks below your last placement. Finish Season 4 at Daredevil II and you'll open Season 5 at Wildcard III.
Separately, demotion is a live weekly mechanic during the season. Finishing low in your division or skipping trials can push you down a sub-rank on the Monday reshuffle, and letting weeks lapse costs you ground fast. The lesson: consistency beats binging. Log a full week of trials every week, even a light one, to hold your rank.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When does ARC Raiders Trials Season 5 start? Season 5 starts July 7, 2026 at 12:00 UTC — the same moment Season 4 ends — and runs until September 30, 2026 at 07:00 UTC, a roughly 12-week season.
What is the Season 5 reward outfit? The Season 5 reward is The Scorta, a heavy juggernaut-style outfit. You earn Scorta variants based on your final placement, and reaching Hotshot or Cantina Legend unlocks the exclusive Red and Blue color variants. Season end also grants the Green Bruiser backpack, Pressure Gauge charm, Hydraulic Pump attachment, and the 'Come at me' emote.
What do I get for my Season 4 final placement? Your Season 4 finish unlocks Blindspot Set colors and toggles: Navy Blue at Tryhard II, hat/padding/jacket/mask variants through the Wildcard tiers, the Green color at Hotshot, and the Beige Black color at Cantina Legend. These lock in permanently when Season 4 ends on July 7.
How do promotions work in ARC Raiders Trials? Each week you're placed in a division of up to 100 Raiders at your rank, and your cumulative score sets your finish. The higher you place, the bigger the jump — a strong week can be a double or even triple promotion, a mid finish moves you a single sub-rank or holds you, and a low finish can demote you. The exact thresholds vary by rank.
Can I be demoted in Trials? Yes. Finishing low in your weekly division or skipping trials can drop you a sub-rank on the Monday reshuffle, and long inactivity costs you ground fast. On top of that, every new season starts you 2 ranks below your last placement.
Is Cantina Legend hard to reach? Very. It's a live global leaderboard — widely reported as roughly the top 1,000 Hotshot players worldwide, recalculated weekly — so you have to place near the very top every single week to reach and hold it. Hotshot is the more realistic elite target for most dedicated players.
Do Trials rewards give stat boosts? No. All Trials rewards — including The Scorta and the Blindspot Set — are cosmetic. The value is prestige, especially the Red/Blue Scorta colors that only Hotshot and Cantina Legend players can earn.
