Expedition League Guide

Introduction

Expedition introduces the Kalguuran expedition, who came to Wraeclast to excavate their ancestor's lost settlements. Using explosives, the player sets them around the expedition site to unearth the monsters or treasure hiding underneath. After recovering Artifact pieces from the Expedition, you can barter or gamble with them for items. You can encounter Expeditions as soon as you reach Act 6 in the Campaign.

The Expedition mechanic also introduces a special defense stat called Ward, which shields damage on the next hit they take and replenishes after a 5 seconds delay which cannot be interrupted. Expedition Monsters can use this new defensive mechanic, but players can also play around it with new item bases that can drop from Expedition.

All Expedition related items (Artifacts, Vendor Refresh Currencies and Expedition Logbooks) can be stored directly in the Expedition Locker in your Hideout. Important: Artifacts which are used to trade with the Kalguuran cannot be traded.

Kalguuran NPCs

Dannig
He is used to open Expedition Logbooks in your Hideout. He sells Artifacts for the other three NPCs in exchange for Sun Artifacts. His inventory contains Artifacts for the other three NPCs with better exchange rates, Vendor Refresh Currencies as well as Expedition Logbooks sometimes and is reset through Burial Medallions.

Gwennen
She sells unidentified equipment, which reveal their rarity and mods when purchased. She accepts Broken Circle Artifacts and Astragali to refresh her inventory.

Rog
He sells identified rare equipment. When you purchase an item, he offers you to craft it for more Artifacts. He's looking for Order Artifacts and Scrap Metals are used for restocking.

Tujen
He wants to haggle with you and offers various currencies, gems, jewels and maps. If you try to lower the price too much, he can counter-offer or even remove the item from sale. His currency is Black Scythe Artifacts and Exotic Coinage is required in order to refresh his inventory.

Artifacts

During Expeditions you will find Artifacts (which cannot be traded) that are automatically picked up. There are 4 types of Artifacts (Lesser, Common, Greater and Grand) for each of the 4 factions to trade with the corresponding Kalguur NPC:

• Black Scythe Artifacts are used to haggle with Tujen.
• Broken Circle Artifacts are used to gamble with Gwennen.
• Order Artifacts are used to deal with Rog.
• Sun Artifacts are used to exchange with Dannig.

Map Encounter

When you have an Expedition encounter, one of the four NPCs from the Kalguuran Expedition spawns in the area surrounded by various remnants and markers. When in the Expedition area, you can start laying 5 explosives to excavate it. The number of explosives can be scaled using Atlas Passives or Scarabs.

Upon detonating, the explosive chain will start and unearth monsters and chests within the range of every explosive. Explosives detonate in succession in the order you've laid them, giving you time to fight the monsters. Any marker within the explosives range unearths monsters or chests.

Remnants
You'll find numerous Remnants spread throughout Expedition areas. Remnants have a tooltip which add mods (One Prefix buffing the Monsters and one Suffix increasing the Rewards) to monsters and chests spawned from the explosion, but also all the subsequent explosions. This means the order you lay explosives is of the uttermost importance!

The idea is to first focus some Remnants you want to increase your rewards, and only then focus on Runic Monster markers while taking some Excavated Chests on the way. Take care of Remnants, as they can tremendously buff the Expedition monsters and can even grant them immunity to some damage types (those Prefixes being highlighted with a yellow text).

Look out for the Runic Monsters are Duplicated Prefix modifier, which is essentially a multiplier to your rewards. Then you want to focus the Suffix modifier increasing Expedition Logbook drops. Your next priority will be Stacked Decks, Currencies or Artifacts or anything else depending on your priority. Here is a list of all Prefixes and Suffixes Remnant modifiers:

Prefixes

• Monsters have 30% chance to Avoid All Damage from Hits
• Monsters' Hits can't be Evaded
• Monsters' Hits are always Critical Strikes
• Hits against Monsters cannot be Critical Strikes
• Damage cannot Leech Life from Monsters
  Damage cannot Leech Mana from Monsters
• Monsters are Immune to Physical Damage
• Monsters are Immune to Cold Damage
• Monsters are Immune to Fire Damage
• Monsters are Immune to Lightning Damage
• Monsters are Immune to Chaos Damage
• Monsters Cannot be Chilled
  Monsters Cannot be Frozen
  Monsters Cannot be Ignited
  Monsters Cannot be Shocked
• Runic Monsters apply Death Geas on Hit
• Runic Monsters apply a random Hex on Hit
• Runic Monsters inflict Petrification for 2 seconds on Hit
• Monsters are Immune to Curses
• Monsters' Hits Overwhelm 100% Physical Damage Reduction
• Monsters do not grant Flask Charges when Slain
• Every 4 seconds, Runic Monsters Regenerate 30% of Life over one second
• Monsters take 30% reduced Damage
• Monsters do not grant Flask Charges when Slain
• Monsters have 30% increased Attack Speed while on Low Life
  Monsters have 30% increased Cast Speed while on Low Life
  Monsters have 30% increased Damage while on Low Life
  Monsters have 30% increased Movement Speed while on Low Life
• Monsters have 100% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Full Life
• Monsters have base Ward equal to 20% of their maximum Life
• Monsters have +5% to all maximum Resistances
  Monsters have +30% to all Resistances
• Monsters Impale Enemies on Hit with Attacks
  Monsters have 100% increased Impale Effect
• Monsters have 100% increased Bleeding Duration
  Monsters' Attack Hits inflict Bleeding
• All Damage from Monster's Hits can Poison
  Monsters have 100% increased Poison Duration
  Monsters Poison on Hit
• All Damage from Monster's Hits can Ignite
  Monsters' Hits have 20% chance to Ignite
  Monsters have 100% increased Ignite Duration
• All Damage from Monster's Hits can Freeze
  Monsters' Hits have 10% chance to Freeze
• All Damage from Monster's Hits can Shock
  Monsters' Hits have 20% chance to Shock
  Monsters have 100% increased Effect of Shock
• Monsters have +5% to maximum Chance to Block Spell Damage
  Monsters have +50% Chance to Block Spell Damage
  Monsters have +5% to maximum Chance to Block Attack Damage
  Monsters have +50% Chance to Block Attack Damage
• Monsters Penetrate 15% Fire Resistance
• Monsters Penetrate 15% Cold Resistance
• Monsters Penetrate 15% Lightning Resistance
• Monsters Penetrate 15% Chaos Resistance
• Monsters gain 50% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage
• Monsters' Hits remove 10% of current Energy Shield
  Monsters' Hits remove 10% of current Mana
• Monsters Kill things with 20% or lower Life on Hit
• Monsters have 15% increased Movement Speed
  Monsters have 15% increased Attack Speed
  Monsters have 15% increased Cast Speed
• Monsters have 15% increased Maximum Life
• Monsters deal 15% increased Damage
• Runic Monsters are Duplicated

Suffixes

• 25% increased Pack Size
• 50% increased number of Rare Monsters
• 50% increased number of Magic Monsters
• 40% increased Quantity of Items Dropped by Monsters
• 40% increased Quantity of Items Found in Excavated Chests
• 300% increased Rarity of Items Dropped by Monsters
• 300% increased Rarity of Items Found in Excavated Chests
• Monsters grant (40–100)% increased Experience
• 50% increased Quantity of Artifacts dropped by Monsters
• 50% increased Quantity of Artifacts found in Excavated Chests
• Excavated Chests have 50% chance to contain an additional Rare Armour Item
• Excavated Chests have 50% chance to contain an additional Rare Jewellery Item
• Excavated Chests have 50% chance to contain an additional Rare Weapon
• Runic Monsters have 50% chance to drop an additional Rare Armour Item
• Runic Monsters have 50% chance to drop an additional Rare Jewellery Item
• Runic Monsters have 50% chance to drop an additional Rare Weapon
• Runic Monsters have 35% chance to drop an additional Essence
• Runic Monsters have 35% chance to drop an additional Stacked Deck
• Runic Monsters have 50% chance to drop Corrupted Items
• Runic Monsters have 35% chance to drop an additional Fractured Item
• Items dropped by Runic Monsters are fully Linked
• Runic Monsters have 35% chance to drop an additional Influenced Item
• Excavated Chests have 35% chance to contain an additional Fractured Item
• Excavated Chests have 35% chance to contain an additional Essence
• Excavated Chests have 35% chance to contain an additional Stacked Deck

The Logbook Suffix Modifier can only be found in Map Expedition Encounters:

• 50% increased Quantity of Expedition Logbooks dropped by Runic Monsters

Excavated Chests & Runic Monsters
Excavated Chests are marked with a sign with an icon on it. Chests can be common, uncommon or rare, uncommon having a yellow outline on the sign and rare an orange one. The rarer it is, the more Artifacts it gives you. They grant you various rewards depending on the icon that was displayed before the explosion and the Remnant modifiers. Those chests also reward you with Artifacts from the faction the Kalguur NPC in the event is interested in.

Runic Monsters are marked with skulls over spikes in the area and are different from normal monsters. They can drop Vendor Refresh Currencies, Artifacts, Expedition Logbooks and Ward item bases as well as all the rewards granted by the Remnant modifiers you placed in your chain of explosives.

Expedition Logbooks

Basics
During your Expeditions, you may discover Expedition Logbooks by killing Expedition monsters. They can be crafted like maps to increase Item Quantity, Item Rarity and Monster Pack Size. When you're ready, bring it to Dannig and open the Expedition Map to open your Expedition Logbook. These Expeditions are much larger than regular ones and way more rewarding. Expedition Logbooks offer up to 3 different locations with a different faction.

Implicits
Expedition Logbooks can randomly get 2 to 3 special implicits whose value can be rerolled using Blessed Orbs. The implicits related to Explosives, as well as the increased Number of Runic Monster Markers, are generally the best to focus on.

Logbooks Implicits

• Area contains (10–40)% increased number of Remnants
• Area contains (10–40)% increased number of Monster Markers
• Area contains (10–40)% increased number of Runic Monster Markers
• Area contains (8–16) additional Chest Markers
• Area contains an additional Underground Area
• (10–40)% increased Explosive Radius
• (10–40)% increased number of Explosives
• (20–50)% increased Explosive Placement Range
• (10–40)% increased quantity of Artifacts dropped by Monsters
• Excavated Chests have a (5–20)% chance to contain twice as many Items
• Remnants have (10–40)% chance to have an additional Suffix Modifier
• Area contains Medved, Feller of Heroes
• Area contains Vorana, Last to Fall
• Area contains Uhtred, Covetous Traitor
• Area contains Olroth, Origin of the Fall

Layouts
Each location is a unique layout and comes with 2 special reward types. Each layout grants 10% chance for Excavated Chests and Runic Monsters to drop 2 special rewards. Some layouts also allow for better Remnants and Monsters positioning and a more efficient explosive chain.

Focus on layouts offering either great open layout for optimal Explosive Chain releasing, or great special rewards such as Scarabs or Simulacrum Splinters. The best layouts are highlighted in green in the following list while the worst ones are highlighted in red. The other layouts are decent.

Layout Specific Rewards

• Battleground Graves : Legion Splinters and Enchanted Items
• Karui Wargraves : Currency Shards and Fossils
• Bluffs : Legion Splinters and Enchanted Items
• Rotting Temple : Legion Splinters and Enchanted Items
• Shipwreck Reef : Breach Splinters and Scarabs
• Cemetery : Simulacrum Splinters and Catalysts
• Sarn Slums : Legion Splinters and Enchanted Items
• Dried Riverbed : Legion Splinters and Enchanted Items
• Mountainside : Divination Cards and Incubators
• Forest Ruins : Abyssal Jewels and Sacrifice Fragments
• Desert Ruins : Divination Cards and Incubators
• Vaal Temple : Blight Oils and Gems
• Utzaal Outskirts : Blight Oils and Gems
• Scrublands : Essences and Unique Items
• Volcanic Island : Currency Shards and Fossils

Underground Areas
During your Expeditions, you can find Underground Areas containing some Runic Monsters and Reward Chests. To access them, you need to set up your Explosive Chain to free up the entrance. These Areas are affected by all the modifiers from your Explosive Chain. Their spawn is random, but you can rarely get a Area contains an Underground Area implicit on your Expedition Logbooks to guarantee one.

Bosses
Expedition Logbooks can sometimes spawn a boss you can identify through a skull icon on the minimap. To free the Boss and be able to fight it, you have to free him with an Explosive and they are affected by all the modifiers from the Explosive Chain like other rewards, meaning you want to set your Explosive Chain on the Boss towards the end of your chain. Expedition Bosses also drop more loot per Remnant affecting them. Each faction has its own specific boss:

• Druids of the Broken Circle - Medved, Feller of Heroes
• Black Scythe Mercenaries - Vorana, Last to Fall
• Order of the Chalice - Uhtred, Covetous Traitor
• Knights of the Sun - Olroth, Origin of the Fall

These Bosses have special Ward Uniques, as well as Unique Iron Flasks. They also drop a bunch of Vendor Refresh Currencies (up to ~50) and a lot of Artifacts. While Bosses are randomly present in Expedition Logbooks, you can rarely get an implicit stating Area contains Boss.

Splitting Logbooks
Since Expedition Logbooks are highly randomized through layouts and implicits, it is a very common and profitable strategy to use Bestiary in order to split Logbooks. The best use for split are generally Logbooks with a guaranteed Boss Implicit Modifier and Dannig Logbooks with good Layouts and Implicit Modifiers.

Sources

Expedition can spawn randomly in any map including during the Campaign starting in Act 6. However you can also spawn them using Scarabs.

Scarabs

• Rusted Expedition Scarab - Area contains an additional Expedition Encounter.
• Polished Expedition Scarab - Area contains an additional Expedition Encounter. Area contains 25% increased number of Runic Monster Markers. 20% increased number of Explosives.
• Gilded Expedition Scarab - Area contains an additional Expedition Encounter. Area contains 50% increased number of Runic Monster Markers. 20% increased number of Explosives.
• Winged Expedition Scarab - Area contains an additional Expedition Encounter. Area contains 50% increased number of Runic Monster Markers. 20% increased number of Explosives. Remnants in area have an additional Suffix.

Kirac
Kirac can sometimes sell you Maps with an implicit modifier:

• Area contains an additional Expedition Encounter.

Atlas Passives

You can find quite a few passives and notables related to Expeditions spread in 3 wheels in the Atlas Passive Tree:

Small Passives

• Expedition Artifact Quantity
  • 4% increased Quantity of Artifacts dropped by Monsters.
• Expedition Chance
  • Areas have +1% chance to contain an Expedition Encounter.
• Explosive Placement Distance
  • 20% increased Explosive Placement Range in Areas.
• Expedition Vendor Reroll Currency Chance
  • 5% increased Quantity of Vendor Refresh Currencies dropped by Monsters in Areas.

Notables

• Hunt for Answers
  • Areas have +4% chance to contain an Expedition Encounter.
• Buried Knowledge
  • 50% increased Quantity of Expedition Logbooks dropped by Runic Monsters in Areas.
  • Areas contain 20% increased number of Runic Monster Markers.
• Distinguished Demolitionist
  • 35% increased Explosive Radius in Areas.
  • 20% increased number of Explosives in Areas.
• Ancient Writings
  • Remnants in Areas have 30% chance to have an additional Suffix Modifier.
  • Expeditions in Areas have +2 Remnants.

Summary

• Pay attention to your Explosive chain and double check Remnant modifiers!
• Trading with the Kalguur NPCs is very fun.
• Logbooks are a refreshing endgame content and can be a good source of income.
• Player management, targeted farming and a good risk and reward balance are all present in this great mechanic!

Credits

Written by Chewingnom.
Reviewed by Raxxanterax.