ARC Raiders doesn’t treat quests as a checklist you burn through in a menu. Every mission is hard-wired into the extraction loop, meaning progress only counts if you survive the run. That design is what turns even “simple” objectives into high-stakes decisions, because every quest completion competes with loot greed, PvPvE pressure, and the very real risk of losing everything on death.
Extraction-first progression, not traditional questing
Quests in ARC Raiders are active objectives you bring into a raid, not instanced story missions you queue for safely. You drop into a zone, manage aggro from ARC machines, read player behavior, and decide when to push objectives versus when to extract. If you die before exfil, the quest doesn’t progress, no matter how close you were to finishing it.
This creates a constant tension loop where optimal routing matters just as much as combat skill. Efficient players stack compatible objectives, path through high-value POIs, and extract the moment risk outweighs reward. Completionists who ignore this rhythm tend to stall hard.
How many quests are in ARC Raiders right now
As of the current release build, ARC Raiders features roughly 30 total quests that count toward permanent progression. These are split between a finite main progression chain and a set of structured side missions that unlock key systems, crafting options, and new raid opportunities.
On top of those, the game layers repeatable contracts and dynamic objectives that technically never run out. These do not increase the total quest count, but they are critical for XP, resources, and gearing between major quest milestones. When players ask how many quests ARC Raiders has, the real answer is that the handcrafted list is finite, but the grind around it is not.
Quest types and progression phases
The main progression quests act as ARC Raiders’ narrative spine. These missions introduce factions, escalate ARC enemy variants, and slowly expand what zones and mechanics you’re expected to handle under pressure. Completing them is mandatory for full system access and late-game efficiency.
Side quests are more mechanical in nature, often focusing on crafting unlocks, specific enemy kills, or item retrievals from dangerous areas. Repeatable contracts sit outside that count entirely, functioning as evergreen objectives designed to keep the extraction economy alive once the main list is exhausted.
How quests unlock and why order matters
Quests unlock sequentially, with several gated behind specific progression checkpoints rather than player level alone. You won’t see certain objectives until you’ve proven you can survive deeper raids, handle tougher ARC variants, or extract consistently under pressure.
This makes quest order extremely important for completionists. Pushing too aggressively can brick your progression if you lack gear or map knowledge, while over-farming contracts can waste time without advancing the quest pool. Smart players plan routes that advance multiple objectives at once while staying extract-safe.
Live-service updates and what to expect going forward
ARC Raiders is built as a live-service game, and the quest list is not locked forever. New seasons and major updates are expected to add additional progression quests, expand the main chain, and rotate side objectives to keep the loop fresh.
The roughly 30-quest structure reflects the current content baseline, not a final total. If you’re planning long-term completion, expect the list to grow over time and treat the extraction loop as an evolving system rather than a one-and-done campaign.
Total Number of Quests in ARC Raiders (Current Live-Service Snapshot)
As of the current live-service build, ARC Raiders features roughly 30 handcrafted quests that form the backbone of its progression system. This number reflects the full launch-era quest pool available to players right now, not counting repeatable contracts or endlessly cycling extraction objectives.
For completionists, this is a critical distinction. The quest list is finite and trackable, but the time investment around it scales exponentially depending on RNG, extraction success, and how efficiently you stack objectives per raid.
Main progression quests
The core campaign consists of approximately 12 to 15 main progression quests. These missions are tightly curated and unlock in a fixed order, acting as hard gates for new mechanics, zones, and ARC enemy tiers.
You cannot brute-force these through grinding alone. Each step assumes mastery of previous systems, from managing aggro during multi-ARC encounters to extracting under pressure with limited resources. Completing the full main chain is mandatory for accessing late-game crafting, high-tier loot loops, and endgame efficiency.
Side quests and system unlocks
Alongside the main chain are roughly 15 side quests, most of which unlock gradually as you advance. These focus on crafting blueprints, faction reputation, enemy-specific objectives, and high-risk item retrievals from contested areas.
While technically optional, skipping side quests slows long-term progression. Many of ARC Raiders’ most important quality-of-life upgrades, including improved gear paths and resource efficiency, are tied directly to these objectives rather than raw player skill or time played.
What’s not included in the quest total
Repeatable contracts, dynamic extraction objectives, and rotating faction tasks are not part of the 30-quest count. These are designed as infinite progression layers, providing XP, materials, and economy stability once the handcrafted list is complete.
This separation is intentional. The quest count tells you how much structured content exists, while the contract system determines how long you’ll stay engaged after finishing it.
Why this number will change over time
Because ARC Raiders is a live-service game, the current quest total is a snapshot, not a ceiling. Future seasons are expected to extend the main quest chain, add new side objectives, and potentially rework older quests to account for new systems or enemy variants.
For players planning efficient routing, this means one thing: complete the existing list now, but expect to revisit the system later. ARC Raiders treats quests as evolving progression tools, not a static checklist to be finished once and forgotten.
Main Progression Quests: Campaign & Onboarding Mission Chain
At launch, ARC Raiders features a core chain of approximately 15 main progression quests. This is the mandatory campaign and onboarding spine that every player must complete to fully unlock the game’s systems, regions, and late-game crafting loops.
These quests are not filler. Each one is designed to introduce a new layer of mechanical complexity, forcing you to apply what you’ve learned under real extraction pressure rather than in safe tutorial spaces.
How the main quest chain is structured
The main progression quests are split into three functional phases: onboarding, system mastery, and escalation. Early missions focus on fundamentals like extraction timing, basic ARC enemy behavior, and managing limited inventory space without overcommitting to fights.
Mid-chain quests pivot hard into systems mastery. This is where the game starts testing your understanding of aggro control, multi-ARC encounters, and when to disengage rather than chase DPS. You’ll also begin interacting with higher-risk zones that punish sloppy routing and inefficient looting.
The final stretch of the chain escalates enemy density, ARC variants, and resource pressure. These quests exist to prepare you for the endgame loop, where survival efficiency matters more than raw kill count or gear score.
Quest unlock rules and progression gates
Main quests unlock strictly in sequence. You cannot skip steps, and no amount of grinding contracts or farming materials will bypass these gates. Each quest completion hard-unlocks the next, often alongside a new system like advanced crafting, expanded map access, or upgraded extraction options.
This linearity is intentional. ARC Raiders wants players to internalize mechanics in a specific order, ensuring that late-game content doesn’t collapse into RNG chaos or brute-force tactics.
How many quests this includes right now
As of the current build, the full handcrafted quest list sits at roughly 30 total quests. About half of these, around 15 missions, belong to the main progression chain covered here.
This count reflects the current live-service snapshot, not a permanent cap. Future seasons are expected to extend the campaign chain forward rather than replace it, meaning today’s main quests will likely become the foundation for additional progression layers later.
Why completion is non-negotiable for endgame players
Finishing the main progression chain is required to access high-tier crafting recipes, advanced gear paths, and the most efficient extraction routes. Without these unlocks, your endgame loop is slower, riskier, and significantly less rewarding.
For completionists and efficiency-focused players, this chain isn’t just content to clear. It’s the structural backbone that determines how smooth, flexible, and profitable your entire ARC Raiders experience becomes moving forward.
Faction & Vendor Questlines: Unlocks, Reputation, and Gear Progression
Once the main progression chain establishes core mechanics, ARC Raiders opens into faction and vendor-driven questlines. These missions are where long-term progression really starts to branch, letting players specialize their loadouts, crafting paths, and extraction strategies.
Unlike the main quests, faction and vendor quests are semi-parallel. You can work on multiple lines at once, but their rewards and unlock thresholds are tightly tied to reputation levels and prior completions.
Total faction and vendor quests currently available
In the current live build, ARC Raiders features roughly 15 additional quests split across factions and vendors. Combined with the main progression chain, that brings the total quest count to around 30 handcrafted missions.
These quests are not filler content. Each one exists to unlock a tangible system upgrade, vendor tier, or gear pathway that feeds directly into endgame efficiency.
How faction questlines function
Faction quests revolve around reputation gains rather than strict linear sequencing. Completing missions increases your standing, which in turn unlocks higher-tier quests, better rewards, and exclusive blueprints.
Most factions operate on a tiered structure, typically three to five quests deep per reputation tier. You cannot jump tiers early, but you can progress multiple factions simultaneously if your routing and resource management are efficient.
Vendor quests and why they matter
Vendor questlines are more focused and mechanically specific. These missions usually introduce or deepen systems like advanced crafting, mod slots, ammo specialization, or utility gear upgrades.
Completing vendor quests unlocks new shop inventories and crafting recipes rather than raw reputation. Skipping these lines leaves massive gaps in your gear progression, especially for mid-to-late-game builds that rely on optimized DPS or survivability tuning.
Unlock rules and progression gates
Faction quests unlock once you reach specific milestones in the main quest chain. Vendor quests tend to appear slightly later, often gated behind both main progression and minimum reputation thresholds.
No amount of contract grinding bypasses these gates. ARC Raiders deliberately ties power growth to quest completion to prevent players from brute-forcing endgame with RNG drops alone.
Gear progression tied to faction completion
Higher-tier faction quests unlock gear that fundamentally changes how you approach raids. This includes armor with better damage mitigation curves, weapons with improved recoil control, and utilities that reduce extraction risk under pressure.
These upgrades don’t just increase numbers. They enable safer disengagements, more forgiving positioning errors, and faster recovery after bad pulls, all critical for surviving high-density ARC zones.
Live-service structure and future quest expansion
The current faction and vendor quest count reflects the present live-service snapshot, not a final ceiling. Future seasons are expected to add new factions, extend existing reputation tracks, and introduce deeper vendor specialization.
Importantly, existing quests are unlikely to be removed. Instead, today’s faction and vendor lines will form the baseline, meaning completing them now future-proofs your progression when new content layers roll out.
Side Quests & Optional Objectives: Exploration, Lore, and Resource Efficiency
Once the main, faction, and vendor quests are mapped out, ARC Raiders’ side quests and optional objectives are where completionist routing really comes alive. These aren’t filler tasks. They’re deliberately layered on top of the core progression to reward exploration, efficient scavenging, and players willing to take calculated risks off the critical path.
At the current launch snapshot, ARC Raiders features roughly 45 to 50 total quests across all categories. Of those, around 10 to 12 fall into the side quest and optional objective pool, depending on how you count multi-step exploration chains. This number reflects the full launch-era content, not future seasonal additions, and is expected to grow as the live-service cadence ramps up.
What actually counts as a side quest in ARC Raiders
Side quests in ARC Raiders are semi-structured objectives that sit outside the main narrative and faction reputation ladders. They’re often triggered by environmental interactions, unique loot pickups, or NPC discoveries in the field rather than a quest terminal.
Most side quests are one to three steps long and can usually be completed alongside other objectives in the same raid. That design is intentional. The game rewards players who stack objectives efficiently instead of hard-queueing for a single task and extracting early.
Optional objectives inside raids
In addition to formal side quests, ARC Raiders regularly spawns optional objectives directly into raid zones. These include high-risk containers, ARC signal investigations, or localized threat clearances that aren’t tracked in your quest log.
While these don’t always count toward a named quest, they feed directly into progression through crafting materials, rare mods, and lore items. Ignoring them leaves resources on the table, especially for players trying to minimize grind between reputation gates.
Lore-driven tasks and environmental storytelling
Several side quests exist purely to flesh out the world and its factions, but that doesn’t mean they’re low value. Lore tasks often reward unique schematics, one-off crafting components, or access to hidden vendors and dialogue branches.
These quests typically unlock after specific main story beats, not reputation thresholds. If you rush the mainline without revisiting earlier zones, it’s easy to miss them entirely and lock yourself out of small but meaningful progression advantages.
Why side quests are key to resource efficiency
From a systems perspective, side quests are ARC Raiders’ pressure valve against RNG. Instead of praying for perfect drops, these objectives guarantee targeted materials, utility unlocks, or currency injections that smooth out unlucky streaks.
Completionist players should treat side quests as efficiency multipliers. Knocking out even a couple per session dramatically reduces time spent farming low-density zones and lowers extraction risk by making every raid pull double or triple duty.
How side quests unlock and when to prioritize them
Side quests unlock dynamically based on main quest completion, zone discovery, and specific item interactions. There’s no single vendor or faction that hands them all out, which is why many players underestimate how many exist.
The optimal approach is opportunistic. Prioritize side quests when they overlap with faction or vendor objectives, but don’t delay main progression solely to chase them. ARC Raiders is built so that side content enhances your path forward, not replaces it.
Repeatable, Dynamic, and Endgame Missions: Contracts, Dailies, and High-Risk Runs
Once you’ve exhausted the finite pool of story missions and handcrafted side quests, ARC Raiders pivots hard into repeatable content. This is where the game’s extraction DNA fully takes over, replacing checklist completion with risk-driven decision making and long-term efficiency planning.
It’s also where confusion sets in for completionists, because these activities do not increase the total quest count in a traditional sense. They’re infinite by design, dynamically refreshed, and deliberately excluded from the named quest totals you see during the main progression arc.
Contracts: the backbone of repeatable progression
Contracts are ARC Raiders’ primary repeatable mission type, unlocked once you establish yourself with the core vendors and complete the early mainline arc. At any given time, players can carry multiple contracts that target specific zones, enemy types, or item recoveries.
These refresh on a rotating schedule rather than being permanently tracked. From a completion standpoint, contracts are not counted toward the total number of quests in ARC Raiders, because they’re procedurally reissued with variable parameters.
What matters is efficiency. Smart players stack contracts that overlap with faction reputation goals or crafting bottlenecks, letting a single successful extraction complete three or four objectives at once.
Daily and weekly objectives: soft caps, not content gates
Daily and weekly missions unlock shortly after contracts become available, acting as pacing tools rather than progression walls. They typically reward currency, reputation boosts, or upgrade materials instead of unique unlocks.
These missions also do not increase the total quest count. Instead, they function as renewable progression accelerators designed to stabilize RNG and give returning players meaningful short-session goals.
For planning purposes, completionists should treat dailies and weeklies as optional optimization layers. Skipping them won’t lock you out of content, but consistently ignoring them slows down vendor unlocks and late-game crafting dramatically.
High-risk runs and endgame challenge loops
At the top end of ARC Raiders’ progression are high-risk runs, which blur the line between missions and player-driven challenges. These unlock after completing the majority of the main quest chain and reaching specific power and reputation thresholds.
High-risk runs aren’t tracked as quests at all. There’s no quest log entry, no completion checkbox, and no finite endpoint. Instead, the reward structure scales with danger, enemy density, and extraction difficulty.
This is intentional. From a systems perspective, ARC Raiders’ endgame is about mastery, not completion, pushing players to optimize builds, manage aggro intelligently, and extract under pressure rather than chase a final quest marker.
How these missions affect the total quest count
To be explicit: repeatable content does not change the total number of quests currently available in ARC Raiders. The game’s finite quest count is defined by its main missions and side quests, which are fixed at launch and expanded only through live-service updates.
Contracts, dailies, weeklies, and high-risk runs are infinite systems layered on top of that foundation. They exist to extend progression, not to inflate completion numbers.
For completionist players planning efficient routing, the takeaway is simple. Finish every named quest to truly clear ARC Raiders’ content, then treat repeatable missions as your long-term progression engine while waiting for future seasonal or narrative expansions.
Quest Unlock Conditions: How New Missions Appear and What Gates Progress
With repeatable content out of the way, the real question for completionists becomes how ARC Raiders actually drip-feeds its finite quest pool. New missions don’t appear randomly, and they’re not tied to simple level-ups alone. Progression is gated through a layered system that blends story completion, reputation thresholds, and gear readiness checks.
At launch, ARC Raiders features 33 total fixed quests. These are split cleanly between main story missions and optional side quests, with no hidden or missable quests baked into the core progression path.
Main story missions: The spine of progression
There are 18 main story quests in ARC Raiders, and they unlock in a strictly linear order. Completing one story mission is the primary trigger for the next, with occasional soft gates that require you to reach a minimum power score or complete a specific combat objective in the field.
These gates exist to ensure players understand core systems before moving forward. The game checks for combat readiness, not raw grind, meaning smart loadouts and efficient extraction matter more than brute-force farming.
If you’re planning an efficient route, prioritize story missions above everything else. They unlock new regions, enemy variants, vendors, and the majority of side quest chains.
Side quests: Reputation, vendors, and optional depth
ARC Raiders includes 15 side quests at launch, most of which are tied directly to vendors and factions. These do not unlock all at once and are instead gated by reputation tiers, previous side quest completions, or story milestones.
In practice, this means side quests often appear in clusters. You’ll finish a main mission, return to base, and suddenly have two or three new optional objectives waiting, each tied to different progression vectors like crafting, mods, or economy efficiency.
Importantly, side quests never block story progression. You can technically finish the main campaign without completing all of them, but doing so leaves powerful systems underdeveloped and slows late-game optimization.
Power score, gear checks, and soft progression gates
While ARC Raiders avoids hard level requirements, it uses power score and encounter difficulty as natural progression gates. Certain quests won’t appear until your average gear score crosses an internal threshold, even if the game doesn’t explicitly tell you.
This design prevents under-geared players from walking into DPS checks or enemy density spikes they can’t realistically survive. From a systems standpoint, it’s a soft nudge to upgrade weapons, armor, and perks rather than rush objectives with suboptimal kits.
For completionists, the takeaway is simple. If a quest isn’t appearing, it’s usually because you’re skipping upgrades or ignoring a vendor progression track.
Does this list represent full launch content?
Yes, the 33-quest count reflects ARC Raiders’ launch-state fixed content. This includes every main mission and side quest available before live-service updates, seasonal events, or narrative expansions.
Future updates are expected to add new quest chains rather than modify existing ones. When that happens, the total quest count will increase, but previously completed quests will remain completed, preserving completionist progress.
For players planning long-term routing, this matters. Clearing all 33 launch quests means you’ve fully completed ARC Raiders’ foundational content, and anything added later will slot cleanly on top rather than forcing a reset.
Is This the Full Quest List? Launch Content vs. Future Updates Explained
At this point in the progression breakdown, the big question becomes unavoidable. Is this actually everything ARC Raiders has at launch, or are there hidden objectives waiting to surface later?
The short answer is yes, this is the full quest list for launch. The longer answer matters a lot if you’re planning clean completion, efficient routing, or future-proofing your save.
ARC Raiders’ total quest count at launch
ARC Raiders launches with 33 total quests. That number includes all main story missions and every side quest available before any seasonal content, limited-time events, or narrative expansions roll out.
Broadly, those 33 quests break down into three progression phases. Early-game onboarding missions that introduce extraction flow and vendors, mid-game system expansion quests that unlock crafting depth and combat modifiers, and late-game optimization quests tied to high-risk zones and enemy density spikes.
If you’ve completed all 33, you’ve exhausted every fixed objective currently in the game.
How quests unlock and why some feel “missing”
ARC Raiders never dumps its full quest list on you upfront. Quests unlock based on a mix of story completion, power score thresholds, and vendor progression, not simple level gating.
That’s why completionists often feel like content is missing when it’s actually dormant. If a quest isn’t appearing, it usually means your average gear score is too low, a vendor track is under-leveled, or you’ve skipped an optional system the game expects you to engage with.
Once those conditions are met, quests surface naturally during base returns, often in small clusters rather than single unlocks.
Launch content vs. live-service updates
The 33-quest list represents ARC Raiders’ complete launch-state content. Nothing beyond that is currently hidden, time-locked, or secretly unreleased.
Future updates are expected to add new quest chains rather than retroactively change existing ones. That means new story arcs, seasonal objectives, or zone-specific missions will stack on top of your completed list, not overwrite it.
From a progression standpoint, this is ideal. Completing all launch quests now permanently checks off ARC Raiders’ foundational content and keeps your save clean for future drops.
What this means for completionists and planners
If your goal is 100 percent completion, the roadmap is refreshingly clear. Finish all main missions, clear every side quest, and you’re done until new content arrives.
There’s no need to hoard unfinished quests or delay progression out of fear of missing something. ARC Raiders respects player time by letting future content bolt on cleanly, preserving completed objectives and progression systems.
Final tip before you drop back into the field: if your quest log is empty and your power score is strong, you’re not stuck. You’re finished, at least for now. That’s the perfect moment to optimize builds, farm high-risk zones, and be ready when the next wave of Raiders content lands.