Trials Season 4: Changes, Rewards & What's New

Season 3 Closing Rewards

Before looking ahead, let's close the book on Season 3. When the season ends on April 28, your final rank determines which Torque Set unlocks you walk away with:

What's Changing in Season 4

Embark is making three notable structural changes to Trials this season, all aimed at levelling the playing field and removing friction around how challenges are completed.

Trials Start Earlier — April 29

Previously, Trials were unavailable during the Expedition window. That's no longer the case. Season 4 kicks off on April 29, the day after the Riven Tides Expedition launches, meaning you can start grinding your Trials rank immediately while exploring the new map.

Major Map Conditions No Longer Award 2x Points

Playing on a major Map Condition used to reward double progress, which effectively pushed players toward specific conditions to maximise efficiency. That's gone in Season 4 — all progress is equal regardless of weather. Play on whatever map you feel like.

Challenges Are No Longer Tied to Map Conditions

This was a significant pain point. Challenges like Disarm Mines or Get Hit By Lightning required specific Map Conditions to spawn, locking some players out entirely if they missed the window or simply couldn't queue into it. Going forward, no Season 4 challenge will require a specific Map Condition to make progress.

New Challenge Types

One of the most common pieces of feedback Embark received about Trials was that the challenges lacked variety. Season 4 is addressing that directly. While Embark isn't revealing specifics ahead of launch, they've confirmed entirely new objective categories coming to the rotation:

• Melee combat challenges — get up close and personal with ARC
• Gadget and grenade challenges — score points using specific equipment
• Unique container searches — hunt down new container types not seen in previous seasons

The exact weekly rotation won't be known until Season 4 launches, but the direction is clear: fewer "grind the same thing repeatedly" objectives and more variety across playstyles.

The Road Ahead for Trials

Embark has been candid about the ongoing issues with Trials — squad size advantages, leaderboard integrity concerns, and the overall competitive feel of the system. Season 4 isn't the final answer to these problems, but it's framed explicitly as a first step:

The emphasis on participation over meta-optimisation is a theme running through all three changes. Removing the 2x condition bonus, unlocking challenges from map condition gates, and starting earlier all point to Trials becoming something you can engage with on your own terms rather than around specific schedules.

Season 4 Reward: The Recon Outfit

The Season 4 reward is the Recon Outfit — beach-ready gear fitting for Riven Tides' coastal resort setting. The outfit unlocks progressively as you climb the ranks:

The Recon Outfit fits the Riven Tides theme well — that life vest isn't just decorative if you're exploring a forgotten shoreline. Raiders pushing to Hotshot and Cantina Legend will have distinct colorways to show off in Speranza.

Season 4 of Trials begins April 29. See you on the coast, Raiders.

— Arc Raiders Hub