PvE guide: weapons, Expeditions and the Hunter tree

The short version of monster hunting. Expeditions are solo maps with a boss at the end. Balance is new this map, so treat the builds as a starting point.

Pick a weapon

All four are tuned to end up close in damage. Pick the one you like.

• New to PvE: start with a wand or a bow. One death ends a run, and range keeps you safe.
• Buy at the spawn market (/shop). Wand or bow: $300 wood, $3,000 gold, $30,000 iron, $300,000 diamond. Sword or axe: $100, $1,000, $10,000, $100,000.
• Charge it. A shop wand or bow comes empty. Drag Ancient Energy onto it.
• Tier sets base damage. Buy the next tier at its level: gold 30, iron 60, diamond 100. Netherite needs 102 and Ascension II and comes from Surtr.
• Melee: hold right click to keep swinging. Attack speed makes it hit faster.

Enchants to take first

Roll these at the Wormhole. They are picked from the enchant text, not from test runs.

If a wand or bow runs dry too often, take Reduced Cost: 10% less energy per shot a level.

Wear a full set of armour

One missing piece costs a quarter of your Armour. Wear a full set of your best tier before you raise the area level. See Armour.

Running a map

• One death ends the run. You keep your inventory and XP. Entry is free.
• Area level: anything from 1 to your own level, up to 103, capped by the day's level cap.
• Run the highest level you clear without dying. Higher levels pay more Hunter XP and more boss keys. Rare monsters start at 45, Pit Breaches at 60, Fissures and Ichor at 100.
• For a first run, pick a level well under your own.
• Weak? Check weapon tier, armour, unspent Hunter points (/hunter) and enchants, then drop the level.

Modifiers and votives

Inscribe rolls 1 to 4 modifiers that make a map harder and pay more, for about 99,000 energy at level 45, 860,000 at 70 and 12 million at 100.

• Don't Inscribe until you clear that level comfortably. The energy is spent on the roll, Clear Modifiers gives none back, and the level locks while the map has modifiers.
• Read what you rolled. "You do not regenerate life" and more monster damage are the ones that end runs.

Map Votives cost no energy and no modifier slot. One goes on a map and it is spent when the run opens.

Every day

• Do your first 500 kills. 3x Hunter XP for the first 250, 2x for the next 250, and a bonus drop on each. Resets at 11 AM Pacific.
• Activate a Hunter booster right before you run maps. It only counts down in Expeditions.
• Own a Siege base before you grind (level 30). Kills pay Tribute only to base owners.

Hunter tree

One point per Hunter Level, to 100. The tree has 457 nodes, so a build is a choice. It works against monsters and bosses only.

• Experiment before Hunter Level 10. Respecs are free until then, then about $82,500 at level 11, $158,000 at 20 and $5.06M at 50.
• There is no auto-spend. Place your points yourself.
• Start with Predation for damage, then enough Ward (Armour) and Bloodthirst (life leech, to a cap of 6%) to survive a mistake.
• Sword or axe: add Alacrity (attack speed). Bow or wand: Flight and the Marksman notables.
• A second preset opens at Hunter Level 25. Keep one for maps and one for bosses.
• Read a keystone before you take it. Each trades something away.

What to do with the loot

• Boss keys from the end boss summon the four bosses.
• 100 Ichor buys a Sacred Map: always area level 103, and die to its Avatar and the map is gone. Wait until level 103 maps are easy.

Next

• Boss guide
• The Hunter Tree
• Making money