Path of Exile 2: Expedition Guide – Passives, Artifacts, & Rewards

Mastering Path of Exile 2's Expedition Endgame: A Comprehensive Guide

Path of Exile 2 introduces four major endgame events: Delirium, Breaches, Rituals, and Expeditions. This guide focuses on Expeditions, a returning mechanic from the original PoE, detailing its mechanics, rewards, and the crucial Expedition Passive Skill Tree.

Unveiling the Expedition: Mechanics and Gameplay

Expeditions are identified on the Atlas map by a light blue, spiral-shaped icon. An Expedition Precursor Tablet placed in a completed Lost Tower slot guarantees an Expedition encounter on a chosen map node.

Entering an Expedition reveals an area with Markers and a tent housing four NPCs. While they offer basic explanations, mastering the mechanics requires further understanding. The core gameplay revolves around strategically placing Explosives near Markers to trigger events:

• Runic Monsters: Detonating Explosives near Red Markers spawns monster packs. Larger Markers yield larger packs, enhanced by Unearthed Remnants.
• Unearthed Remnants: These relics provide beneficial or detrimental modifiers (e.g., increased elemental damage but higher item rarity from chests).
• Excavated Chests: Located near Black Markers with the spiral symbol, these chests contain Artifacts, Logbooks, currency, Waystones, and high-end gear.

The Explosives UI shows the area of effect (AoE). Optimal farming involves strategically placing Explosives to avoid overlapping AoE circles, maximizing the number of triggered Markers. After placement, activate the Detonator to initiate the event.

Death resets the map, but players can strategically retreat and return later. Detonating Explosives, escaping, and then re-engaging allows for controlled combat using powerful AoE abilities.

Ascending to the Pinnacle: Expedition Pinnacle Maps

Runic Monsters and Excavated Chests have a chance to drop Expedition Logbooks. These are used in the Expedition Map, accessed through Dannig in your Hideout. Slot the Logbook, click "Open Portals," and enter a significantly larger Expedition with increased Explosives.

These Pinnacle Maps introduce Olroth, a challenging boss with a higher spawn chance on higher-level maps. Olroth's location is indicated by a skull on the minimap. Defeating Olroth is vital for obtaining Expedition Passive Skill Tree points (2x points per victory).

Forging Your Path: The Expedition Passive Skill Tree

Located within the Atlas Passive Skill Tree, the Expedition Passive Skill Tree enhances the Expedition experience. It's accessed via the Atlas Map's Atlas Passive Skill Tree menu (top-left).

The tree features eight Notable nodes and eight nodes increasing Logbook difficulty (and Olroth's challenge). Each Notable node requires defeating Olroth at an increased difficulty.

Prioritize "Disturbed Rest," "Detailed Records," and "Timed Detonations" for significant reward boosts. Then consider "Weight of History," "Unearthed Anomalies," and "Legendary Battles" for further, albeit more challenging, rewards. Avoid "Extreme Archaeology" due to its drastic reduction in Explosives.

Reaping the Rewards: Artifacts, Coinage, and Logbooks

Expeditions yield Artifacts and Exotic Coinage.

Artifacts are traded with specific vendors for gear. Exotic Coinage refreshes vendor inventories. Expedition Logbooks, obtained from chests and monsters, unlock Pinnacle Maps for increased rewards and the chance to fight Olroth for exceptional loot and passive skill points.