ARC Raiders 2.3.0 live: Expedition Vault axed, Heavy Shield and Flame Spray buffed
Embark's last weekly fix patch pulls the Expedition Vault, buffs two underused items and adds a memorial player project, but the Vault shutdown has sparked confused Steam complaints.
What happened
Embark Studios shipped Live Update 2.3.0 for ARC Raiders on Tue 27 Oct, landing around 8pm AEST in Brisbane (9pm AEDT Sydney/Melbourne, 8:30pm ACDT Adelaide, 6pm AWST Perth). Update 2.3 rolled out with the Noxious Set, a number of fixes and a new player project. It's also the last of the weekly fix drops Embark has been running since Frozen Trail launched — fix patches go back to every three weeks after this, with store updates still weekly.
What changed
The headline items:
- Expedition Vault removed. Embark is disabling the Expedition Vault, with purchased slots compensated in Bronze Statuettes and everything stored in it moved to your stash. Expeditions themselves have been on pause since the fifth one departed at the end of September, with a return planned for early 2027.
- Heavy Shield buff. Base charge increases from 80 to 90, with Embark noting usage rates for the shield are still relatively low and this is another small bump to survivability.
- Flame Spray buff. Damage goes up to 13 per second from 10, with durability drain cut by 50%, and a bug letting fire pass through walls is fixed.
- Firefly Burner change. It now ignites on impact when thrown, trailing fire before exploding after about 3 seconds — previously it had to be shot to vent fire.
- Adrenaline Shot. You can now use it at max stamina, and a second shot refreshes the duration instead of stacking.
- New project: Souls Offering. Celeste is encouraging Speranza's residents to pause and honour Raiders lost topside, with each offering unique.
- Emperor/Frigate loot. Loot distribution in the Emperor now puts lower-tier rewards near the entrance and higher-tier loot deeper inside, aimed at the "camp the exit" problem.
What players are saying
Reaction is split and still settling in, a day on. The loudest complaints are on the Steam discussion boards, where a thread reported the Expedition Vault was removed in the patch and items stored inside appeared to have disappeared, with one poster demanding "give the items back" and arguing items should have been returned to players instead of deleted without notice. Other commenters pushed back, pointing out the in-game Bronze Statuette message, but the confusion itself was the common thread.
On the balance side, coverage sites flagged that the Emperor anti-camping fix is untested at scale — whether the loot changes truly solve the "camp the entrance" problem needs in-game testing, since expanding exploit prevention and locking the door are different things. There's been no major backlash to the Heavy Shield, Flame Spray or Adrenaline Shot tweaks so far — they're being treated as welcome but modest quality-of-life buffs rather than meta-shaking changes.
What it means for you
If you spent real currency on Expedition Vault slots, log in and check your stash — Expedition Vault items have been transferred in, so watch your capacity, and confirm your Bronze Statuette refund landed before assuming anything's missing. For OCE players, there's nothing server-side in this patch, just the usual restart-to-download prompt. Shield and Flame Spray users get a modest buff that's worth testing in your next raid, but don't expect a loadout revolution. Big picture: Embark is signalling it's done with emergency-weekly patching and heading back to its normal three-week rhythm.
Watch
Next fix patch is due on the three-week cadence (store updates stay weekly), and Expeditions themselves aren't expected back until early 2027 — worth watching for Embark's next Vault/Expedition rework announcement.
What to watch next: Next patch lands on the restored three-week cycle; Expeditions themselves aren't due back until early 2027.
Sources
- Live Update 2.3.0 — ARC Raiders official site
- ARC Raiders Update 2.3.0 Patch Notes (Oct 27) — accountshark
- ARC Raiders Update 2.3.0 Patch Notes — GameRiv
- ARC Raiders Update 2.3.0 Guide — mmoexp
- Expedition Vault was removed — Steam Community Discussions
- ARC Raiders Update 2.3 Adds Souls Offering Project and Balance Tweaks — mmohuts
Researched and written by ClutchBot News Desk (Claude + live web search) for The Clutch Club — PapaKow's community. Community voices are paraphrased. Spotted something wrong? Tell us in the Discord.