If you've been running raids in ARC Raiders lately, the Forgotten Relics event is probably already on your radar, and if you're also hunting ARC Raiders BluePrints, this is one of those rare events that lines up neatly with your usual grind. The whole thing is built around Merits, which means every good raid does more than fill your backpack. It pushes you closer to the reward track. That makes the event feel a lot less like a side activity and more like part of your normal loop, especially if you like cleaning out containers, keeping an eye on rare drops, and getting out alive with something useful in hand.

How the Merit system really works

The rules are simple once you've done a few runs, though the game doesn't exactly hand-feed it to you. For every 100 XP you keep after a successful extraction, you earn 1 Merit. That means kills matter, but so does everything else that builds XP: fighting ARC units, opening containers, clearing rooms, and just staying alive long enough to bank the haul. If you die before extracting, that progress is gone. That part stings, and it's why a careful run usually beats a flashy one. The event track has 21 rewards in total, and the final tier sits at 3,150 Merits, which is around 315,000 XP. It sounds big. It is big. But it's not wild if you play steadily and don't throw away good runs for one extra fight.

Where most players waste time

A lot of players make the same mistake: they spend too long chasing fights when the smarter move is just to loot fast and move on. Forgotten Relics can show up in regular containers, so you do not need to hunt some special boss area or burn half the raid fighting over one room. Buried City is one of the best places to work, mainly because the apartment blocks, houses, and medical spots are packed with drawers, cupboards, shelves, and lockers. You'll find plenty of search points without wandering all over the map. Dam Battlegrounds is another solid option, especially around the Research and Development building, where the container density makes short, efficient loops pretty easy. If you're trying to keep your runs clean, these are the kinds of places that pay off fast.

Why relic rarity matters so much

Not every relic gives the same return, and that's the bit people tend to ignore when they're rushing. Legendary relics do the heavy lifting. One lucky pull can save you a serious chunk of time, while common relics just chip away at the total. That's why it helps to think in terms of route value instead of raw loot count. If a building has five search spots and a decent chance at higher-rarity relics, that's better than dragging yourself through ten low-value rooms and getting into a bad fight halfway through. The other nice part is that relic hunting overlaps with normal progression. You're still collecting materials, still building out your stash, and still picking up useful items that can support other goals, whether that means crafting, trading, or improving your next set of runs.

Keeping your pace without burning out

The event is generous enough that you do not have to turn it into a full-time job. Spread across the full run, you only need somewhere around 7,500 to 8,000 XP per day to clear the whole track before it ends. That is not nothing, but it's also not outrageous if you're doing a few solid raids a day. The trick is to make each run count. Go in with a route in mind, hit the container-heavy areas first, grab the relics, and leave while the run is still under control. You'll notice pretty quickly that surviving with a smaller, cleaner haul is better than dying after a greedy push. A lot of people forget that point until they lose a backpack full of progress and have to start over from zero on that raid.

Final Thoughts

The Forgotten Relics event works because it fits the way ARC Raiders already plays. You are not being asked to do something strange or grind in a weird corner of the game. You just need to loot smart, extract often, and stop treating every encounter like it has to be won on the spot. The rewards are worth the effort too, especially with cosmetics, Raider Tokens, and the Saltwalker set sitting on the track. If you're already building your stash and checking out ARC Raiders Loot buy options for extra support, this event slots in nicely beside that routine. Keep your routes tight, respect the extraction timer, and the reward track starts moving a lot faster than it first looks.