Expeditions

Expeditions are the PvE runs of Ancients. You pick a map at the Expedition table, choose an area level, add modifiers if you want them, and go in alone to clear packs of monsters and kill the map's boss. They replace the Forgotten Polis and its private runs (the old /polis), and the open-world shades and wraiths.

Expeditions are open from day 1. There is no entry cost.

Getting there

/expedition (or /expeditions, /warp polis, or the Expeditions tile in /warp) takes you to the Lantern Harbour, the Expedition hub.

You can't travel to or from Expeditions while PvP tagged, in a duel, in the Tartarus Rift, in a boss arena or during the tutorial.

The Lantern Harbour

Who	What they do
Theron the Cartographer	Opens the Expedition table at his chart table.
The Ichor Broker	Sells Sacred Maps for Ichor. /sacredmaps opens his menu from anywhere.
The Jeweller	Keeps the Confluence, where jewels are crafted.

There is no fighting in the harbour.

The Expedition table

1. Pick a map. There are 15, each with its own biome, monsters and boss. Every map grows a new layout each run.
2. Pick an area level. From 1 up to your own level, limited by the server level cap. The highest is 103. If you have Ascended, you keep the level you Ascended at. Click the level to jump to your highest.
3. Add modifiers (optional). They cost Ancient Energy.
4. Add a Map Votive (optional). Click one in your bag with the table open.
5. Enter.

Modifiers

Modifiers make a map harder and raise its item quantity, luck and Hunter XP. A map holds up to 4. The full list is on Monsters & Map Modifiers.

Button	What it does
Inscribe	Rolls 1 to 4 random modifiers. On a map that already has modifiers it reads Reinscribe and replaces all of them.
Add a Modifier	Adds one random modifier. You have to Inscribe first.
Clear Modifiers	Removes every modifier. The energy you spent is lost. A votive on the map goes back to your bag.

Each button shows its price. Prices rise steeply with area level: Inscribe is about 2,200 energy at level 1, 99,000 at 45, 860,000 at 70, 12 million at 100 and 15 million at 103. Add a Modifier costs about half as much again as Inscribe.

Once a map has modifiers its area level is locked, because the modifiers were bought for that level. Clear them to change it. A votive on its own does not lock the level.

The maps

Expedition	Boss
Sunken Agora	The Drowned Magistrate
Ashen Vineyard	The Charred Vintner
Frozen Necropolis	The Gravekeeper
Petrified Gardens	The Head Gardener
Gearwork Temple	The Gearwright
Sundial Plateau	The Hour Warden
Drowned Harbour	The Drowned Harbourmaster
Kelp Basilica	The Drowned Abbess
Salt Marsh Shrines	The Tidecaller
Cinder Foundry	The Ironmaster
Charred Olive Grove	The Oil Presser
Ember Baths	The Stoker
Glacier Aqueduct	The Sluicekeeper
Rime Library	The Rime Librarian
Frostfall Orchard	The Orchard Keeper

Inside a run

• You are alone. Nobody else can enter your run, and there is no PvP.
• Kill the boss to clear the map. The boss is there from the start, so you choose how many packs to fight on the way.
• Monsters never respawn.
• One death ends the run. You keep your inventory and respawn at the Lantern Harbour.
• There is no time limit.
• The bar at the top shows the map, its area level, your kills and whether the boss is ahead or awake.

When the boss dies, leave through the portal by its arena. /expedition leave leaves at any time.

A run you walk out of stays open for a short while. Continue your Expedition at the table takes you back in. Entering a new Expedition closes the old one.

What you get

• Every monster can drop Enchant Dust, Trim Removers, the Wraithheart offhand, Reforging Stones and Truing Stones. Rare monsters roll their loot more times than Normal and Magic ones.
• Expedition trims. There are 37: 18 Common, 13 Rare and 6 Mythic. Any Expedition monster can drop one. A Mythic find is announced to the whole server. See Trims.
• The boss pays base boss keys, each a random one of Echidna, Lamia, Thanatos and Hephaestus. Higher area levels pay more. It can also drop an Armour or Weapon Expander Box, the Maelstrom orb, an Overload IV or Enlighten IV orb, or Primordial Ichor.
• Map Votives can drop when you complete a run. Higher area levels drop more.
• Hunter XP from every kill, for the Hunter Tree. See Hunter XP.
• Tribute, if you have a base. See Drachma & Tribute.

More item quantity means more loot rolls per kill. Luck improves what a roll gives.

Pit Breaches, fissures and Sacred Maps

• From area level 60 a run can hold a Pit Breach: a timed wave fight against Erebus monsters.
• From area level 100 a run can hold a fissure, which pays Ichor.
• Ichor buys Sacred Maps, the road to the Avatars and the Uber bosses.

Dailies, boards and gang upgrades

• Your first 500 Expedition monster kills each day pay boosted Hunter XP and a bonus drop. See Daily Bonuses.
• /expeditiontop ranks players by Expedition monsters killed and shows the server's Magic and Rare totals.
• Expeditions Completed is one of the weekly boards.
• The gang upgrades Expedition Item Quantity, Boss Keys Found and Hunter XP Gained give up to 20% increased each.
• Challenges, boards and clue tasks that used to ask for shade or wraith kills count Expedition monsters.