ARC Raiders Update 1.36.0 goes live on July 7, 2026, and it flips two of the game's biggest progression tracks over at once: Trials Season 5 "Prove Your Mettle" begins, and the Fourth Expedition window opens the same day. If you play on Xbox you may have already seen it — the roughly 15 GB update rolled out early there before its intended release. Here's everything confirmed, when it drops, and exactly what to grind first.
TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- Update 1.36.0 releases July 7, 2026 (community reports it went live early on Xbox as a ~15 GB download).
- Trials Season 5: "Prove Your Mettle" runs July 7 → September 30, 2026 with new and returning challenges; final placement earns variations of the Scorta outfit.
- The Fourth Expedition window is July 7 → July 21, 2026 — a 14-day departure window.
- The Expedition drops Skill Points for a new Mystery Reward system: temporary Blueprints + permanent Raider Tokens (150 per departure objective), +12 stash space, and the first tier of the new Zenith Outfit.
- Season 4 Trials end when Season 5 starts — this is your last window to lock in Cantina Legend or Hotshot placement.
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When does ARC Raiders Update 1.36.0 go live?
Update 1.36.0 is a July 7, 2026 live update. On Xbox the patch surfaced a day early — as one community post put it, the "1.36.0 Live Update went live early on Xbox. Not intended" — so if your console already pulled a large download, that's this update. Players on Xbox report the download weighing in at roughly 15 GB; exact size may vary by platform.
The reason 1.36.0 matters more than a normal weekly patch: it's the hinge between seasons. The moment it's live, Season 4 Trials close out, Season 5 Trials open, and the Fourth Expedition departure window becomes available. Full official patch notes for 1.36.0 land on release; this guide focuses on the confirmed, dated content Embark has already announced so you can plan the day it drops.
What's new in Trials Season 5?
Trials Season 5 is titled "Prove Your Mettle," and it runs from July 7 until September 30, 2026. It mixes a set of brand-new challenges with a rotation of returning ones.
Confirmed new challenge types include:
- Damaging specific ARC with certain weapons — Embark's own framing: "snitches get stitches."
- Absorbing Pop explosions to the face — leaning into risky, aggressive play.
- A selection of returning challenges from earlier seasons.
The reward chase is placement-based. Straight from the official Season 5 announcement:
"You'll have till September 30th to tackle the new Trials, and earn variations of the Scorta outfit based on your final placement!" — The ARC Raiders Team
In other words, the Scorta outfit is Season 5's marquee cosmetic, and which variant you unlock is gated by where you finish on the ladder. The higher your rank when the season closes, the better the Scorta variation you keep.
| Season 5 detail | Confirmed value |
|---|---|
| Season name | Prove Your Mettle |
| Start | July 7, 2026 |
| End | September 30, 2026 |
| Duration | ~12 weeks |
| Headline reward | Scorta outfit (variants by final placement) |
| Format | New challenges + returning challenges |
If you want to climb fast without burning your whole first week on trial-and-error, our ARC Raiders rank & trials services can push you up the placement tiers so you land a higher Scorta variant before September 30.
How does the Fourth Expedition work?
The Fourth Expedition departure window is open July 7 to July 21, 2026 — a 14-day window to sign up, depart Topside, and complete your objective before it closes.
The big change this time is the reward structure. Previous Expeditions handed out Skill Points; per the official Fourth Expedition announcement, it replaces that entirely with a Mystery Reward system. Nothing is awarded up front — your rewards are delivered after your departure, and the quantity scales with how much damage you deal during the departure window, using the same damage thresholds as the previous Expedition.
That means the Fourth Expedition rewards aggression. The harder you push and the more damage you rack up before the window closes, the more you take home.
| Fourth Expedition detail | Confirmed value |
|---|---|
| Window opens | July 7, 2026 |
| Window closes | July 21, 2026 |
| Duration | 14 days |
| Reward type | Mystery Rewards (replaces Skill Points) |
| Rewards scale with | Damage dealt during the departure window |
Fourth Expedition rewards: Blueprints, Raider Tokens & the Zenith Outfit
Here's what the Mystery Reward pool actually contains:
- Blueprints — these are temporary. They give you access to the weapon or gear recipe now, but they reset with the next Expedition, so treat them as a limited-time loan, not a permanent unlock.
- Raider Tokens — permanent, and they do not reset between Expeditions. Completing each departure objective rewards 150 Raider Tokens, which you can bank and spend at your own pace.
- +12 stash space — a permanent inventory upgrade for completing the Expedition, valuable in a game where stash management is a constant squeeze.
- The Zenith Outfit (first tier) — with the Patchwork Outfit line now complete, the Fourth Expedition unlocks the first step of the new Zenith Outfit. Like previous Expedition cosmetics, it builds across future Expeditions.
Because the temporary Blueprints vanish at the next reset, the smart play is to use them aggressively during the window — run the guns and gear you'd never normally craft, learn what you like, then decide what's worth chasing permanently. If a Blueprint you tested becomes a must-have, you can grab it for keeps through our ARC Raiders blueprint unlocks instead of gambling on RNG drops.
Should you rush Cantina Legend before Season 4 ends?
Yes — if you're close. When Update 1.36.0 flips Season 4 into Season 5, your Season 4 Trials placement locks in permanently. Any rank you were chasing — Cantina Legend, Hotshot, or a lower tier — is your final Season 4 standing the moment the season ends.
The r/ArcRaiders feed on launch eve is full of players asking the same thing: is this the last week to hit Cantina Legend? The answer is yes. If you're one or two ranks away, the final days before July 7 are your last shot to bank that placement and its reward variant before the board resets.
If you don't have the hours to grind it out solo in the final window, a trials rank carry can lock in the placement before the Season 4 cutoff.
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How to approach the new Season 5 challenges
The two confirmed new challenge types reward a specific, aggressive playstyle, so plan your loadout around them from day one rather than reacting mid-season:
- "Damage specific ARC with certain weapons" — this is a targeted objective, not a blanket kill count. Keep a couple of different weapon archetypes in rotation (a light stick / SMG-style option alongside a heavier hitter) so you can satisfy the weapon requirement without re-kitting every run. Note which ARC type each challenge asks for and bring the matching gun to zones where that enemy spawns.
- "Absorb Pop explosions to the face" — a deliberately risky objective. Bring extra healing and a shield, bait the Pop into detonating on you, and survive it. It's the kind of challenge that eats durability and meds, so stock up before you go for it rather than improvising.
Because returning challenges are folded into Season 5 as well, some of the muscle memory from Season 4 carries straight over — you're not relearning the whole board, just layering the new objectives on top.
Season 4 vs Season 5: what resets and what you keep
The single biggest point of confusion at every season flip is what survives the reset. Here's the clean breakdown:
| Item | Resets at Season 5? |
|---|---|
| Trials rank / placement | Yes — locks in as final Season 4 standing |
| Season 4 reward (Scorta predecessor / Blindspot set variant) | Kept if earned before cutoff |
| Trials challenge progress | Yes — Season 5 starts a fresh board |
| Raider Tokens | No — permanent |
| Stash space upgrades (incl. +12 from Expedition) | No — permanent |
| Expedition Blueprints | Yes — temporary, reset next Expedition |
The takeaway: anything tied to your Season 4 placement is finalized the instant 1.36.0 goes live, so the pre-patch hours carry real weight if you're chasing a rank. Permanent progression — Tokens, stash space, account level — rolls forward untouched.
What carries over — and the Expedition Vault
A common source of confusion at every Expedition: what actually carries between them? The key tool here is Ermal, the trader who runs the Expedition Vault.
- The Expedition Vault has five slots you can use to carry your most valued items across the Expedition — most importantly, the Blueprints you rely on.
- The slots aren't cheap, so prioritize what's genuinely worth preserving.
- Ermal's stall unlocks once you hit level 25 — after that, swing by each week to catch up on missed cosmetics, secure a Blueprint, or cash in Raider Tokens.
Because temporary Expedition Blueprints reset, the Vault is how you protect the ones you can't live without. Plan your five slots before you depart, not after.
What to do first when 1.36.0 drops
A clean priority order for July 7:
- Lock Season 4 placement — if you're near Cantina Legend or Hotshot, finish the grind before the season flips.
- Sign up for the Fourth Expedition — the window is only 14 days (closes July 21). Don't let it lapse.
- Load Vault slots — bank the Blueprints and items you want to keep before departing.
- Push damage during the departure window — Mystery Rewards scale with damage dealt, so play aggressive.
- Start Season 5 Trials early — the Scorta variant you keep depends on final placement, and September 30 arrives faster than you'd think.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When does ARC Raiders Update 1.36.0 come out? Update 1.36.0 goes live on July 7, 2026. It rolled out early on Xbox ahead of the intended release, appearing as a roughly 15 GB download. The update starts Trials Season 5 and opens the Fourth Expedition window.
When does Trials Season 5 start and end? Season 5, "Prove Your Mettle," runs from July 7, 2026 to September 30, 2026 — about 12 weeks. Your final placement at the end of the season determines which variation of the Scorta outfit you earn.
How long is the Fourth Expedition window open? The Fourth Expedition departure window is open from July 7 to July 21, 2026 — 14 days. You need to sign up and complete your departure objective before it closes, since rewards are delivered after departure.
Do Expedition Blueprints stay permanently? No. The Blueprints from the Fourth Expedition's Mystery Rewards are temporary and reset with the next Expedition. Raider Tokens (150 per departure objective) and the +12 stash space are permanent. Use the Expedition Vault's five slots — unlocked via the trader Ermal at level 25 — to carry over the Blueprints you want to keep.
Is this my last chance to hit Cantina Legend? Yes, for Season 4. When 1.36.0 starts Season 5, your Season 4 Trials placement locks in for good. If you're close to Cantina Legend or Hotshot, the days before July 7 are your final window to secure that rank and its reward.
How do I get more Fourth Expedition rewards? Reward quantity scales with the damage you deal during the departure window, using the same thresholds as the previous Expedition. The more damage you rack up before the window closes on July 21, the more Blueprints and Raider Tokens you receive.
