ARC Raiders is about to feel very different when Riven Tides lands on April 28, 2026. This isn't one of those updates where you log in, notice a few balance tweaks, and move on. The new map changes the rhythm of every run, and anyone farming ARC Raiders Items will need to adjust fast. Places like the Exodus Hotel, the Stacking Yard, and the Customs House already sound like hotspots, but the flooding is what really matters. In the harbour and along the sea wall, water can slow you to a crawl. That's bad news when you're exposed, loud, and easy to track. If you've got old routes burned into your brain, forget them. They won't save you now.

Watch the sky, not just the ground

The other big shift is the new flying ARC machine. Early descriptions call it slow and deliberate, which honestly makes it worse. Fast enemies feel chaotic. Slow ones feel like they've already picked you out. You can't spend the whole match staring at crates and lockers anymore. You'll have to scan rooftops, open sky, and long sightlines before you commit to a push. It also changes how squads move through open ground. In dry areas you can still sprint and gamble a bit, but near flooded sections you're much easier to spot. You'll notice pretty quickly that hesitation gets punished harder than before.

The new Expedition grind

The Expedition rework is much simpler, even if it's not exactly light work. Skill points now come from raw damage, not stash value or saved currency. The path is clear: 5,000 damage gets you the first point, then 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, and 100,000 for the full five. A lot of players will like that because there's no weird hidden economy to plan around. You fight, you deal damage, you progress. That said, it does push everyone toward more aggressive play. If you were the kind of player who liked sneaky loot runs and clean exits, you may feel the pressure. The new Last Call option helps if you miss registration, though you won't get any SP out of it.

Bastion Cell farming without throwing your run

Bastion Cells are still going to be one of the most talked-about resources, and for good reason. They matter for upgrades, so people are going to chase them hard. The trick is not just killing a Bastion, but looting it properly and surviving the noise you just made. Start with the chassis and the core. After that, check the armor plates and leg joints, because players often rush and miss value there. The problem is obvious: the second a Bastion goes down, everybody nearby hears it. That turns the area into a magnet for third parties. Sometimes it's worth holding the wreck. Sometimes it's smarter to let another team do the heavy lifting, then move in once the fight gets messy.

A Rising Tide quest path

If you're stuck on Celeste's A Rising Tide mission, the route is more awkward than hard. First, go to the Buried City and find the foreman's apartment south of Piazza Roma. You'll need to use the ziplines and cable car to reach the sealed building section, then pull the logbook data from the control panel. After that, head to the Dam battlefields and find the generator complex with the cable car leading into the dark flooded zone. Look for a fuel cell near the entrance, slot it into the power box, and bring the lights back. Once that's done, take a photo of the tablet in the next room. Mission complete, even if you don't extract. And if you're trying to stay stocked for the tougher runs ahead, plenty of players keep an eye on RSVSR for item and currency options that can save a bit of time between deployments.