Arc Raiders' expedition exclusive 'patchwork' cosmetic rumors divides players

Patchwork, or maybe it doesn't

It took a little while, but we finally know more about what the rewards for completing an expedition in Arc Raiders will be. Permanent extra stash slots and bonus skill points, temporary XP buffs, and a couple of cosmetics, including a whole outfit, known as "Patchwork".

Problem is, we don't actually know exactly what the Patchwork outfit looks like. User Jiggy-Spice posted to the Arc Raiders subreddit showing a fan mockup of what it could look like based on the name, and while it got a lot of stick in the replies, I actually quite like it. It's something different, fits the theme of the game well, and isn't too bold or bright to put you at a disadvantage in-game.

However, there are two stronger theories as to what the Patchwork outfit will look like, and one of them has players in uproar if it turns out to be true. Completing an expedition is a hell of a grind, requiring thousands upon thousands of coins' worth of resources and countless hours of gameplay to collect it all, so you'd hope the reward, even if it is cosmetic only, would be worth it.

First up is this suggestion from Reddit user KnightRavedraw7, who explains it was an outfit seen during the server slam, which was a pre-launch Arc Raiders public stress test for the multiplayer servers. It has some patchwork elements on the denim shorts, and sports a light blue hoodie with pink writing to accompany it.

Replies include quotes such as "I wouldn't even wear this skin if they paid me to," "Y'all wasted all that time and materials for jorts?!," and "I'm fucking begging you Embark, please for the love of all that is holy, god baby jesus please don't do this to me please I'm begging, don't do this to me, I will die, I will crawl up into a ball and roll off a hill into a lake of lava and even then the screaming will never cease." So I think some players like it?

However, the other theory is that the Patchwork outfit will be the one you play through the tutorial with, because that skin is never seen again. User Turtleomertle made the suggestion, and it checks out. Your raider is leaving Speranza, canonically never to be seen again, so you're being given a brand-new raider who, in theory, would just come from the tutorial. One possible hurdle here, though, is that it doesn't quite fit the name, as there doesn't appear to be much akin to patchwork on the outfit.

Fans are much keener on this idea: "Damn, you could be onto something with this," reads one reply, while two others say, "I would love this skin!" and "I'd do the expedition once just for this skin." There is a reply that makes a lot of sense: "No way, everyone would use this skin if that's the case. It blends in too much with almost any terrain, there's no color on it at all."

Of course, this is all theory, and we still don't know exactly what the Patchwork outfit will look like. We'll find out on Dec. 23 though, when the expedition window closes and players who opted in receive their rewards. In the meantime, read up on how Embark Studios implemented the funniest possible solution to combat cheaters.