Forum:Expedition

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"Brave the dark-tainted wastes of Pluto and plunder secrets from the fortified Pyramid."

— Activity Description

Expedition is a new, free rogue-lite mode introduced following the release of The Final Shape. Following a mysterious signal to a hostile, fortified pyramid buried in the world's surface, players must fight through wave after wave of procedurally and increasingly difficult opposition to discover the intent behind the dark ship's call.

Description

After interacting with the Overview Table in the center of the H.E.L.M. or by heading to the tab in the director, players are given a map overlooking the terrain of Pluto, showing rough terrain and the goal of the activity, the Pyramid itself. If an Expedition is refreshed or failed, players will also see different paths on the trail to the Pyramid, with one - the starting expedition of the activity - at the other end. Simply put, the objective of this mode is to reach the pyramid and defeat the raider inside or, perhaps, a mysterious observer.

Each mission on the path to the Pyramid is radically different from one another, each weaving pathway and seemingly connected trail completely different from another. One expedition might find players first traversing a dust-choked wasteland and then finding a BrayTech facility while another start might find them in the ruins of a colony ship then the bowels of a Vex-constructed temple. Also completely different is the enemy composition, modifiers, objectives within and Hexes that boost enemy performance in combat. Each Expedition is unique, so players might have to change loadouts to better suit the new path.

Gameplay

As a rogue-lite mode, each Expedition is different and each path offers something new. Despite that, some mechanics don't change. For a start, each Expedition allows players to restart a checkpoint after wiping thrice or never depending on difficulty. Revive tokens are present and provide players few seconds to pick each other up before their fate is shared. Additionally, each expedition is Legendary, so enemies will always be a few power levels above the player and more players increases the difficulty drastically. Another common feature is extracting desired loot; each path offers meager rewards, ranging from enhancement cores or shards even to common loot with additional benefits to their name. All can be pulled with a successful Expedition plus a lot more, but a failure will cause the players to lose all they have collected on that expedition. So, players can approach a Ziggurat at the end of a path to safely extract it without losing it (however, only one item can be extracted and extraction comes at the cost of receiving Boons so choose wisely). Finally, some mechanics are shared between factions such as Incursions, Alliances or Hunting Parties, but those will be covered soon. Despite that, most of an Expedition will be completely random, so players are not to get comfortable with certain enemy placement or tactics.

Each path has four objectives, each still completely different or, perhaps shares a similar goal with a twist. Objectives can be completed without a timer, but some may have wipe mechanics, so players must be prepared for anything. After three of these objectives, the final one will always involve killing a boss of some sort with different means of bringing them down. Usually, there is no change at the first path, save for harder difficulties, but bosses may come with an immune mechanic that requires effort to dispose of. Few will have a wipe mechanic and the few that do usually involves indirect neutralization, such as disabling a splinter mine or destroying a Hive crystal and most, if not all wipe mechanic attacks WILL have a one-time redemption factor that can remedy any possible mistake.

Common Traits

As previously mentioned, there are similar objectives some factions may use on a path. Some examples include:

• Elimination:

• Ambush!:

• High Value Target:

Disregarding objectives, sometimes, other factions might get involved, either in opposition to another faction or working with them. These are these said new objectives:

• Incursion:

• Alliance:

In a different matter, however, during transitions, players will have to deal with scant opposition within, oftentimes, sizable gorges or narrow passageways. For any faction, players have a chance to encounter a Hunting Party. Hunting Parties are extremely dangerous groups consisting mostly of Elite and Major enemies that follow a certain path on the field. Players are advised to avoid these groups as much as possible UNLESS they have received a considerable stack of boons from Ziggurats or are extremely confident in their builds. Players can detect Hunting Parties by distant chants that get closer as the Hunting Party does too and players can use terrain and Concealment places to avoid them or catch them completely unaware in an ambush. Be warned that Hunting Parties are noticeably more aggressive than their standard counterparts. Additionally, players might also get caught in an Elite Ambush, which features some of the toughest enemies each faction has to offer, from Stasis Fallen, Hive Guardians, Wyvern squads, Red Legion elites, unique Taken models and Baron-like Scorn. Noticeably more aggressive than normal and just as devastating, especially on Legendary difficulty, Elite Ambushes can yield more rewards upon the elimination of these units or can be avoided and, with time, can disappear.

Fallen

Hexes

• Hex of the Wolf:
• Hex of the Shipstealer:
• Hex of the Houseless:

Hive

Hexes

• Hex of the Navigator:
• Hex of the Deceiver:
• Hex of the Warlord:

Vex

Hexes

• Hex of the Conflux:
• Hex of the Simulator:
• Hex of the Blade's Edge:

Cabal

Hexes

• Hex of the Ghost:
• Hex of the Bitter Mind:
• Hex of the Emperor:

Taken

Hexes

• Hex of the Overseers:
• Hex of the Krill:
• Hex of the Black Fleet:

Scorn

Hexes

• Hex of the Devoted:
• Hex of the Redeemed:
• Hex of the Pyramids:

Dark Fleet Curses

Hexes

• Hex of the Dominator:
• Hex of the Dream-walker:
• Hex of the Cacophony: