The clock is already ticking. ARC Raiders has a new limited-time event called Forgotten Relics running right now, and it brings 21 free rewards alongside a six-stage side project called Converging Paths. Players have until July 28, 2026, to wrap both up before they disappear.
Two systems, one deadline
Forgotten Relics runs as a dual-track event. The first track is a Merit-based progression path where players unlock rewards by accumulating Merits. Merits come from standard XP, but extracting specific vintage trinkets from raids multiplies your earnings significantly. The second track is Converging Paths, a dedicated project accessible through the Projects tab in the Raider menu, split into six sequential stages.
Here's the thing: both systems reward different things, so players who want the full haul need to engage with both.
What earns Merits and where to farm them
The Merit multipliers are tied to trinket items, and the rarer the item, the bigger the boost. Pulling a Legendary Colorful Shoes or an Elephant Obelisk out of a raid nets 150 Merits on extraction. More common items like the Train Model give 10, while mid-tier finds like the Sextant or Vintage Steering Wheel land at 15 each.
To unlock all 21 rewards on the progression path, players need to reach 3,150 Merits total. The fastest route is farming Commercial and Residential zones, where trinkets appear most frequently. The Bird City map modifier and Buried City are the standout spots for consistent trinket volume.
Converging Paths: six stages broken down
The Converging Paths project escalates steadily across its six stages, starting with combat objectives and shifting into item collection before circling back to combat for the finale.
Stage 1 sends players to the Swamp area south of Dam Battlegrounds, specifically around the South Swamp Outpost. The objective is dealing 1,200 damage to Arc enemies in that zone. It can take multiple raids, but there's no trick to it beyond staying in the area and grinding.
Stage 2 transitions to item submission: 3x Train Model, 2x Vintage Steering Wheel, 2x Air Freshener, and 6x Arc Thermo Lining. Completing it pays out Smoke Grenade Traps, Explosive Mines, and 25 Raider Tokens.
Stage 3 raises the bar with rarer items: 4x Sextant, 3x Equatorial Sundial, 5x Metal Brackets, and 7x Arc Performance Steel. The reward here includes the Rascal II and 50 Raider Tokens, making it one of the more valuable mid-event payoffs.
Stage 4 demands legendary-tier items for the first time: 3x Tellurion, 1x Elephant Obelisk, 6x Light Bulb, and 9x Arc Coolant. Players get Surge Coils and more mines in return.
Stage 5 is the grind peak: 6x Rare Colorful Shoes, 3x Epic Colorful Shoes, and 2x Legendary Colorful Shoes alongside 10x Arc Synthetic Resin. The reward includes a Photoelectric Cloak and the Bobcat II, so it's worth the effort.
Stage 6 closes the project with a combat task: deal damage to Arc enemies using traps or mines. Blaze Grenade Traps, Pulse Mines, Jolt Mines, Explosive Mines, and Surge Coils all count. Bastions are the easiest targets since their movement is predictable enough to steer into placed traps.
Finishing Stage 6 unlocks the Saltwalker "Red Black" outfit color, a Surge Coil Blueprint, the Sextant Backpack Charm, and 100 Raider Tokens.
What the rewards actually look like
Here's a summary of what Converging Paths pays out across all six stages:
The Surge Coil Blueprint at the end is the headline prize. Blueprints are permanent unlocks, so Stage 6 is the one you don't want to leave incomplete.
The window is shorter than it looks
Forty-two days sounds generous until you factor in the item grind for Stages 4 and 5. Legendary Colorful Shoes and Elephant Obelisks are not common drops, and Stage 5 asks for two Legendary Colorful Shoes alongside six Rare and three Epic variants. Players who want to clear everything before July 28 should start the item collection pipeline now rather than saving it for the final week.
For a full stage-by-stage breakdown of every item requirement and reward, the Converging Paths project walkthrough has everything you need. If you also want to maximize your Merit earnings on the Forgotten Relics progression track, the Forgotten Relics event completion guide covers the full 3,150 Merit path and the best farming strategies to get there before the deadline.
