ARC Raiders Last Resort Event Guide

The Last Resort is a ARC Raiders Live Event that launched alongside the Riven Tides update on April 28, 2026. It runs until May 25, 2026. You play the game. The game gives you XP. The XP becomes Merits. Merits buy cosmetics and Raider Tokens. The concept is so simple it almost feels insulting. Almost.

Unlike the Shared Watch event a few months back, you are not locked into any specific playstyle. No "damage ARC only" nonsense, no narrow mode, no praying to Embark for leniency. Every map counts. Every raid counts. Every XP point you squeeze out counts. Go touch the game however you normally do.

How to Earn Merits

The ARC Raiders merit system in Last Resort converts every 100 XP earned during a raid into 1 Merit, automatically, at the end of the session. There is no menu to click. It just happens. Survive the extraction, get paid in tiny digital currency. Die before extracting, and you lose the XP you would have earned. So, perhaps, try not to die.

MATH YOU WILL WANT TO KNOW:
 Full reward track = 3,150 Merits = 315,000 XP.
 If you average 5,000 XP per raid (realistic), that is 63 raids.
 27-day event = roughly 2.5 solid raids per day. Comfortably achievable. Just show up.

The Fast Lane: Ship Models

Finding miniature Ship Models is the second Merit source and the reason to actually engage with the new Riven Tides content. These are collectible trinkets scattered across maps with rarity-based Merit payouts. Think rubber ducks from Bird City, but less undignified. They are found primarily on chairs, tables, and inside containers throughout the Hotel Panorama Azzurro POI. Common and Uncommon ones show up there fairly reliably. Epic and Legendary variants, however, have a meaningfully higher chance to appear during the Beachcombing map condition, specifically in buried containers uncovered with the Dockmaster's Detector.

To get the Dockmaster's Detector, you need to progress through the Avian Alarm project in Riven Tides. Complete Stage 1, and it is yours. Which means there is a correct order of operations here: finish Avian Alarm Stage 1 first, then start hunting rare Ship Models. Every session where Beachcombing is active and you are holding that Detector is a session where Legendary Ship Model drops are genuinely possible.

Ship Model Rarity & Merit Values

There are five Ship Model rarities, each with its own Merit payout. Exact per-model XP figures are still being logged by the community on launch day, but the rarity-to-value hierarchy is confirmed. Higher rarity, more Merits. The structure mirrors every other rarity system in this game, so do not overthink it.

The rarer models are not a guarantee from Beachcombing: they are just more likely there than anywhere else. If you do not have the Detector yet, common and uncommon models still add up. Do not waste a Beachcombing session standing around empty-handed.

The Last Resort event rewards are split across three pages. You unlock them sequentially by hitting Merit thresholds. The track is stacked reasonably well: no massive gap between meaningful unlocks. The 250 total Raider Tokens are spread across three payouts: 50 at 900, 50 at 1,350, 50 at 1,950, and 100 at 2,850. The cosmetics are themed around the "Junior" outfit set, which reads coastal-industrial, fitting given the Riven Tides setting.

The Hydrologist Backpack at 2,400 and the Cyan Skull outfit variant at 2,550 are probably the most visually distinct rewards in the late track. If you only care about cosmetics and not Raider Tokens, these are your targets. The Crash Mat at 2,700 is an interesting inclusion: it is one of the two new fall mitigation items from Riven Tides, handed out free for grinding. Functional and cosmetically useful in one.

The core ARC Raiders grinding strategy for this event is not complicated. Longer raids, more XP, more Merits. The event rewards time-in-raid above everything else. That said, some structures work better than others.

Chain survival runs, not extraction dashes.

Every additional minute alive on the map is XP. Dying fast is the fastest way to zero progress.

Route through Hotel Panorama Azzurro on Riven Tides runs.

Common Ship Models spawn on chairs and tables across multiple floors: passive bonus Merits with zero detour.

Unlock the Avian Alarm Stage 1 as early as possible.

The Dockmaster's Detector is your ticket to Beachcombing containers and high-rarity Ship Models.

All maps count.

If Riven Tides is overcrowded with Raiders who have not accepted their mortality yet, rotate to Dam Battlegrounds or Buried City. Same Merit rate.

Beachcombing sessions with the Detector are high-value.

Dig buried containers aggressively: Epic and Legendary Ship Models have a meaningfully better spawn rate here.

Do not ignore high-yield mission areas. More ARC encounters in a single run means more XP, which means more Merits. Playing scared gets you nowhere except respawn.

The XP farming ARC Raiders loop for this event is genuinely forgiving. Embark did not demand specific playstyles or gate progress behind ARC kills the way Shared Watch did. Casual players will still complete most of the track with consistent sessions. Focused players who combine XP farming with Ship Model hunting will finish early and still have time to complain about something else.