Crack the Vault: Season Reset & Carryover
Every Crack the Vault season is its own run. When a vault is cracked (or its season timer runs out), the season ends and the vault resets with a fresh difficulty and a new loot pool. Because each season is meant to reward that season's activity, you don't carry your whole stockpile into the next one — but you don't lose everything either. This article explains exactly what happens to your Gems, crates, and items at a reset, and how the carryover picker works.
The short version
- You keep up to 4,000 Gems (about one crate's worth). Anything above that is cleared.
- Unopened crates convert back into Gems first — then the 4,000 cap is applied.
- Multipliers, specials and other consumables are cleared.
- Your unused weapons and drills become a pool you pick from: keep 1 signature item (any power) plus up to 10 more within a power budget. Everything you don't pick is left behind.
- Your season progress resets — rank, leaderboards, objectives, Forge/Deploy slot expansions, buffs and event progress all start fresh. Item Trades listings and unused trade quota don't carry. Vault Schematics starts a new 8-plate hunt on the new vault.
Tip: Gems and crates don't stockpile across seasons, so there's no advantage to hoarding them. Spend your Gems and open your crates before a season ends to get the most out of them.
Gems
At the end of a season your Gem balance is capped at 4,000. If you're under the cap, nothing changes. If you're over it, your balance is trimmed down to 4,000 so the new season starts everyone from a similar footing — 4,000 Gems is roughly enough for one crate, so you always begin with a little something to work with.
Crates (loot boxes)
Any unopened crates in your arsenal are automatically converted back into Gems at the crate's Gem value when the season ends. Those Gems are added to your balance before the 4,000 cap is applied.
Because the conversion happens before the cap, hoarding a pile of unopened crates doesn't beat the cap — you'll simply end up at 4,000 either way. Opening crates during the season (and using what drops) is always more valuable than saving them for the reset.
Items: the carryover picker
Your unused damage items (weapons) and drills don't just vanish — they go into a carryover pool. The first time you open Crack the Vault in the new season, a picker appears and lets you choose what to bring with you:
- 1 signature item — any power, no limit. Pick your single best piece of gear to carry forward, even if it's a huge crafted or chase item. This is your reward for chasing a great item during the season.
- Up to 10 more items — within a power budget. On top of your signature pick, keep up to ten additional weapons/drills as long as their combined power fits inside your carryover power budget.
The picker shows a live power meter (how much of your budget you've used) and an items remaining counter. Items that would push you over the remaining budget are shown but can't be selected — nothing is "trimmed" to fit; you simply choose a different loadout. Anything you don't keep is left behind when you confirm.
Why a power budget?
The budget scales with the new season's difficulty, so what you carry stays meaningful as the game ramps up instead of shrinking into irrelevance. It's deliberately a fraction of what it takes to crack the vault — enough to give active players a head start on their loadout, but not enough to trivialize the new season.
What gets cleared
These are not eligible for carryover and are cleared at the reset:
- Multipliers and special / consumable items
- Crates (already converted to Gems above)
- Items you already used during the season
- Active/deployed timed gear (a running drill or an active multiplier)
The deadline & auto-pick
The picker waits for the new season — it won't interrupt the season-ending recap and credits of the vault you just finished. It appears once your view is the new season (during the intermission countdown, or the first time you load in after it goes live) and it stays until you choose, so a refresh or closing the tab won't skip it.
If you don't make a pick before the deadline (a grace window after the new season starts), the game makes a best-fit pick for you automatically: your highest-power item becomes the signature pick, then it fills your remaining slots with the largest items that fit the budget. So even if you're away, you won't silently lose your best gear.
Archive items (carry even more)
Some rare archive items grant bonuses to your carryover caps — extra signature slots, extra item slots, or a bigger power budget. If you own eligible archive items when a season ends, their bonuses are added to your caps automatically, and the picker will show your boosted limits. Chasing these is a long-term way to bring more of your arsenal from season to season.