ARC Raiders 1.36.0: Matchmaking, Expedition 4 and Loot Changes

Live Update 1.36.0 landed on July 7, 2026, and on paper it reads like a routine weekly patch — no new map, no big content expansion, none of the fanfare being saved for the October drop. Look at what it actually touches, though, and it hits almost everything you interact with in a normal session: how you get matched, what the highest-risk loot is worth, which cosmetics are on the clock, and how cheaters get caught. That combination makes this a smaller update with an unusually broad footprint.

A mid-size patch with outsized practical impact

There is nothing here that changes the shape of the map or adds a headline feature, and that is exactly why it is easy to underrate. The October update — Embark’s twice-a-year “big” release — is still the one carrying the new content. What 1.36.0 does instead is rewire several back-end systems at once, and back-end changes are the kind you feel every raid without ever seeing a patch banner for them.

The update rolled out globally for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (console build 1.000.047). It briefly went live early on Xbox and broke cross-platform matchmaking until the other platforms caught up, so if you saw odd lobbies right at launch, that was why. Once everything synced, the real story is the pile of quieter changes underneath.

The 1.36.0 additions and key dates at a glance

Here is the fast version before the deeper breakdowns. Most of these run on their own timers, so the dates matter as much as the features.

Separate Solo, Duo and Trio matchmaking

The single most important change in this patch is one you never see on screen. Matchmaking now tracks your playstyle separately for Solo, Duo and Trio rounds instead of blending everything into one profile. Before, your behavior in one squad size bled into the others, so the game needed time to re-read you every time you switched — and it never quite matched the way you actually played in each mode.

The example Embark gave lands the point cleanly. Say you are a friendly Solo player who avoids fights, but your two squadmates always want to dominate PvP in Trios. Under the old system, your calm Solo history could push the whole trio into softer, more cooperative lobbies, and playing aggressive PvP in Trios could push your later Solo runs into sweatier PvP matches. Now there is no overlap. You can go from friendly questing and plant-picking in Solo to adrenaline-fueled Trio PvP just by changing squad size, and the same holds for Duos — all three are tracked on their own.

Practically, this is the change PvE-leaning solo players and PvP-focused groups have wanted since launch. If you like to run Solo to relax and chat but occasionally squad up with friends who play for kills, you no longer have to worry that one style will contaminate the other. It also means it is worth re-evaluating a mode you gave up on months ago, because the matchmaking that soured it may now behave completely differently.

One caveat worth flagging once: the intended behavior is that getting shot first and shooting back should not count against your aggression matchmaking, but some players report it does not always seem to work that way for them yet. Treat that particular corner as still settling in rather than a fixed guarantee.

Expedition 4 and the new reward chase

The Fourth Expedition is the most visible new content, and its departure window runs July 7–21, 2026 (closing a few hours shy of the full two weeks). You have to finish your caravan before you can do anything with it, so that is step one. With the Patchwork Outfit wrapped up across the first three Expeditions, this fourth run starts the first step toward the Zenith Outfit.

One thing to set expectations on: if this is your fourth Expedition, you no longer earn Skill Points from the Expedition Challenge. Instead the rewards lean on Blueprints and Raider Tokens, with each completed departure objective handing back one Blueprint. On top of that, there is a Mystery Reward track built on cumulative damage — you unlock up to five bonus tiers by hitting these damage totals in order before the window closes.

Because the thresholds are cumulative and the window is tight, it is worth chipping away at damage every run rather than saving it — that 100,000 total sneaks up on you if you leave it to the last few days.

Trials Season 5 and the store redesign

Trials Season 5 is now live and runs through September 30, 2026 — roughly right up to the start of the next Expedition window and the October content update. When you logged in, you should have received your placement rewards from the previous season, with higher divisions getting a bit more. This new season awards Scorta outfit variants based on where you finish, and the Hotshot and Cantina Legend Legendary Raiders unlock exclusive Red and Blue color variants. Other listed rewards include the Green Bruiser backpack, the Pressure Gauge backpack charm, the Hydraulic Pump attachment, and the Come at me emote. If you do not care about Trials, none of this is mandatory — but the ladder is fresh for the next couple of months.

The Store also got a structural redesign. Instead of a wall of a dozen identical square icons, bundles are now grouped into categories, with a preview on the right showing what is actually inside each option. It is a clarity upgrade more than anything, and the Triumph Set has been added alongside it. As for this week’s rotating trinkets, the shop is offering the Think About It emote, Patina 4s, a Trailblazer blueprint, the colorful shoes, light bulbs, 50 Merits and 25 Raider Tokens — a lot of smaller trinkets rather than big ARC cores this time, so cheaper than usual if any of it catches your eye.

The Finals crossover reward path

There is a crossover with The Finals attached to a separate window running July 9–30, and the reward is the Azimuth Outfit and Archaeologist Backpack Bundle. The direction matters: first, you complete a set of contracts in The Finals to unlock the reward for ARC Raiders. Then, on July 30, it flips for a couple of weeks — you complete challenges in ARC Raiders to earn the matching item over in The Finals. Take part in both halves and you can end up with it in both games. The exact contract requirements beyond participating are not fully spelled out, so go in expecting to play the crossover rather than to check off a precise list.

ARC Turbine loot changes and contested farming

Embark significantly increased the loot dropped by ARC Turbines, straight up acknowledging that the old reward did not match the effort and risk of taking one down. They also fixed a bug where a turbine could sometimes despawn right after spawning in. On its own, that is a clean win: turbines are finally worth the fight. The exact size of the loot bump has not been disclosed, so treat the numbers as “much better” rather than a known multiplier for now.

Here is the asterisk, though. In the same patch, ARC Turbine parts no longer drop from couriers. Turbines are already scarce, with only one to two spawning per match, and turbine cores are exactly what the current Expedition asks for. Couriers used to be the calmer secondary route — while a group was busy tearing down the turbine itself, you could quietly pick up a core from a courier you happened to pass. Removing that means the parts route now funnels almost entirely through the turbine fight.

So the practical result is a bit counterintuitive. Turbines pay out more, but the parts tied to them are about to get more contested: expect turbines to be picked clean fast, and expect more ratting around them from players who need cores for the Expedition. More reward, fewer calm ways to get there — plan your turbine runs knowing the safe backup is gone.

Anti-cheat, duplication and no-free-loadout updates

On the enforcement side, the rollout of Denuvo anti-cheat is now complete and enforced for all players, and Embark describes the early results as promising. The team credits ongoing refinements to its detection stack — hardware and software detection plus ML-driven input telemetry analysis — for getting steadily better at identifying and acting against cheaters.

Duplication is the other front. Embark says it constantly catalogs and counteracts duplication exploits and recently fixed several, and shared a chart showing unusually high profit spiking from mid-May into early June before dropping sharply from mid-June to now. It is a good trend, though the honest expectation is that anything touching the economy will keep drawing new attempts.

Finally, the experimental no free loadouts requirement is set to grow. Introduced in 1.33.0 for the Night Raid and Close Scrutiny map conditions, the idea is that running into raiders with free kits in high-value conditions feels unfair. Embark is looking at expanding the rule to more map conditions based on survey feedback — which conditions get it, and when, has not been specified yet.

Smaller fixes worth noticing

A few quieter fixes round things out. Weapons dropped on the ground now display their installed mods, so you can tell at a glance whether a gun you are eyeing is worth grabbing. Knockback from a Queen and Matriarch stomp will no longer pass through walls, closing a long-standing annoyance. And higher-value items now show up on the radar den shelf even when you are holding large stacks of lower-value items that add up to a bigger total — a small display tweak, but a handy one.

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