If you have dropped into ARC Raiders during Cold Snap lately, you have probably felt the shift straight away. The whole map looks different, sure, but the real change is how the Flickering Flames Reward Track hooks into everything you do, right down to how you pick up ARC Raiders Items. Instead of just hoovering up loot with no plan, every small chunk of XP now feeds into Merit, and that Merit quietly runs the season. It is still a grind, but it feels more like you are building a record of your runs than just watching another bar fill up.

How Merit Really Works

Merit itself is pretty simple once you notice the pattern. Roughly every 100 XP you earn turns into 1 point of Merit, and the game does not care that much how you got it. You do not have to go full PvP sweat and chase every red dot on the radar. In fact, playing smart beats playing aggressive most of the time. Clearing ARC machines over and over ends up being the safest, most reliable farm. They are scattered all over, their behaviour is predictable, and you are not constantly worrying about some guy prone in a bush 200 metres away.

Risk, Extraction And XP Spikes

You still get credit for taking out other Raiders, and those fights can be a rush, but the risk is no joke. Everyone has had that run where you stay in for one more fight, get greedy for a kill, and then watch your whole backpack vanish. The biggest XP spikes still come from clean extractions. If you loot like a goblin, open every container you can reach, grab even the junk resources, and then actually get on the chopper, your Merit climbs fast. Do the same loot route and die in the last minute, and it hurts twice: you lose the gear and the Merit you could have had.

Why The Reward Track Feels Worth It

The reason people keep talking about this track is the actual stuff on it. It runs up to level 25, and a lot of the rewards feel like things you will keep using, not just filler. Early on, hitting around 600 Merit gets you the Hi-Tech Hiker Outfit, which just fits the snow and fog vibe. Push a bit further and you start unlocking more personality: the Check Compass emote at 3,000 Merit, the Field Phone decoration at 6,000, little touches that make your character feel like they live in this world. Sitting at the very end is the Space Wrench skin at 15,000 Merit, and that one is pure flex; if you see someone swinging it, you know they have put the hours in.

Cold Snap Farming And Candleberries

The last thing to keep in mind is how Cold Snap folds in the seasonal grind. Candleberries only show up in natural areas while the storm is active, so you can easily waste runs just walking through empty trees if you are unlucky. They are needed for seasonal projects though, so you cannot ignore them. The nice twist is that parts of the reward track drop bundles of Candleberries for free, which saves you a lot of wandering around. The sweet spot is playing like this: hit ARC machines, scoop up every resource you see, stay out of dumb fights, grab Candleberries when they pop, and then get out alive. Do that consistently and you will finish the track, gear up, and still have time left to mess around or buy ARC Raiders Items before Cold Snap disappears.