Arc Raiders is finally overhauling its competitive Trials, starting with making them more fun and less frustrating

Embark has announced in a dedicated blog post that it's finally addressing Arc Raiders' largely maligned (or ignored) Trials system. Trials are a rotating set of weekly challenges which task you with nabbing high scores to rank up, all in the pursuit of a unique outfit. But with bland objectives and strict schedules, it's long felt like a chore.

I've seen many players complaining that it's "ruining the game," though I wouldn't say it's quite that dire—mainly because you can ignore it.

As of Trials Season 4 on April 29 (one day after the big Riven Tides update), Embark is making a number of changes aimed at "giving all Raiders a fair chance to get stuck in and grind."

Notice anything about the starting date? Previously, Trials were unavailable during the Expedition window, but now they're kicking off earlier. It's a small change but it's nice nonetheless, giving you more time and fewer restrictions around when you can start climbing the leaderboard. This comes alongside previously announced changes to the Expedition to reward you for killing bots instead of hoarding loot.

Removing unnecessary restrictions seems to be the theme of this first wave of changes, as Embark is also making it so major map conditions no longer reward double the points. It sounds terrible at first glance, I know, but the idea is sound: you'll be able to complete Trials on any map and condition you like, and won't be forced to grind specific ones.

In line with this, Trial challenges that were tied to specific map conditions are being removed or reworked, such as 'disarm mines' or 'get hit by lightning'. Previously, if you couldn't play during the scheduled hours of these specific events, you were out of luck. The strict schedule of events is a separate issue the developers have been monitoring and improving for some time now—Close Scrutiny, for example, is permanently active.

Lastly, Embark is improving the challenges directly: "We hear you—Trials challenges need more variation, and Season 4 intends to deliver. Without revealing our hand early, expect to see some exciting new objectives throughout the upcoming season, like melee combat challenges, using specific gadgets/grenades to score points, and searching… unique containers."

Embark also took the time to reveal the Season 4 Trials reward, the Recon outfit. Like the previous one, you'll unlock the base outfit by reaching the Tryhard I rank, and upgrade it through the season. And you'll get additional colour variations for reaching Hotshot and Cantina Legend.

While the above changes are all that's planned for now, Embark has acknowledged the feedback and frustrations with the system since launch, specifically referencing "unfair advantages" for squads and the "competitive integrity of the leaderboards."

"In Season 4 we’re taking the first steps to allow all players to participate without any time scheduling constraints, and we’ll continue to listen to your comments as the season progresses." We could see more changes to Trials on the roadmap if they're necessary, so keep giving feedback.