If you have been stomping around in ARC Raiders' Cold Snap event for a while, you have probably already run into the Flickering Flames Reward Track and started eyeing up some of the rarer ARC Raiders Items. The whole thing runs on Merit, which is basically a progress bar that fills up as you earn XP. Almost everything you do in a match feeds into it: clearing enemies, looting, even small actions you might normally ignore. The rough rule players keep quoting is about one Merit for every 100 XP, so once you get a feel for how much XP a run gives you, you can sort of predict how fast you will climb the track.

How Merit Really Builds Up

To push that meter properly, you do not want to spam the same activity over and over, because runs start to feel slow and boring if you only do one thing. The most reliable chunk of XP usually comes from tearing through ARC machines. They are predictable, they respawn in similar spots, and once you know a machine-heavy zone, you can just loop it and rake in steady XP without worrying too much about other squads. PvP fights do count, and they can spike your gains, but they are messy. One bad peek, you get dropped, and then you miss out on the extraction bonus that really juices your XP. That is why a lot of players dial back the ego fights, pick smarter engagements, and only push when they are confident they can still make it out at the end.

Why Safe Extractions Beat Hero Plays

The extraction bonus is where runs go from "ok" to "worth it". Getting off the map alive with a backpack full of loot brings in a big block of XP in one go, so it often makes more sense to pull out early than to chase one more squad. Even basic stuff like rummaging through containers or stripping random junk from the ground adds up, so people will grab items they do not even plan to keep, just to trigger those small XP ticks. You can always drop or scrap things later. Over time you start building a rhythm: hit some machines, sweep a few loot spots, avoid pointless shootouts, then extract before the lobby gets too sweaty. Do that a few times in a row and your Merit climbs way faster than if you gamble on one huge high-risk fight that usually goes wrong.

Key Rewards On The Track

The Flickering Flames Reward Track has 25 levels, and there are a few milestones that are worth planning around. Early on, at about 600 Merit, you pick up the Hi-Tech Hiker Outfit, which fits the snowstorm vibe pretty well and gives your character a more seasoned look. Between 1,200 and 2,400 Merit you start getting Candleberries, and this is where people who ignore the crafting side of the game often regret it. Those berries feed into seasonal projects, so they are more valuable than they first look. Hit 3,000 Merit and you unlock the "Check Compass" emote, which is fun if you enjoy a bit of roleplay or just want something to spam in the extraction zone. Deeper into the grind, there is a Yellow Camo colour at 10,800 Merit that really stands out in the snow, and at 15,000 Merit you get the Space Wrench skin, which basically screams that you have been living in this event for a while.

Practical Tips For Candleberries And Routing

If you care about getting the most out of the season, Candleberries deserve more attention than most people give them. They only show up in natural spots like bushes during Cold Snap weather, so you cannot just run industrial zones and expect to walk away with stacks of them. The reward track does hand you some, but lots of players still need to hunt them down manually for their projects. A solid run usually mixes machine farming with short detours into greener areas so you can scan for berries on the way to extraction. Try plotting routes that sweep through a couple of dense bot clusters, hit a few likely berry spawns, then head for a relatively quiet extraction point. Staying alive and banking your progress will earn you more Merit over time than trying to wipe every player you see, and once your stash of loot and buy ARC Raiders Items starts to grow, the whole event feels a lot less like a grind and more like you are actually carving out your own little corner of the frontier.