Strategy
This method drops every other atlas mechanic and runs Expedition exclusively inside city maps. In the 0.5.5 state of the game, Expedition remnants buff the monsters they spawn far harder than Breach, Abyss or Ritual do — both in pack effectiveness and in item rarity — so each detonation turns into a pile of raw currency. The creator reports that city Expeditions out-earned anything else they tried this league, typically landing anywhere from around 5 divines on a weak map up to 20–25 on a strong one.
City maps stack on top of that because they carry their own biome bonuses, allow a fourth tablet, and can roll extra faction invasions and Citadel bosses whose fragments sell for divines. The map loop itself is deliberately simple: blow up every remnant, kill the rares and the boss, move fast, don’t die. It suits a strong endgame character that can clear dense, heavily buffed packs quickly — the creator frames it as a “use it while it lasts” strategy that may be tuned later.
Atlas Tree & Setup
- Expedition passives: the 25% chance to add an extra rune modifier, the passive giving remnants a 25% chance to count as rune-influenced, the speed/safety node, and — narrowly preferred over an extra remnant — the node for an additional explosive charge (a sixth charge makes it much easier to reach every remnant on random layouts).
- City biomes: Azmerian cities on swamp (Exalted Orbs sometimes drop as Chaos Orbs), Vaal bridge cities on forest (more rare monsters), and the remaining Vaal cities on desert (monster effectiveness).
- City notables: the extra-invasion and extra-Citadel-boss notables (20% each), plus points into summoning circles, which can roll a random Citadel boss instead.
- Map device: four tablets, with the device option that strengthens tablet modifiers, a free random modifier, and a better chance of remnants spawning pre-activated. The last point is flexible.
- Map boosts: Sacred Blossoms (roughly a Chaos each) spread across a map and its neighbours; the creator prefers them to Delirium fog, which they find slower and competitive at best.
- Exact node names and positions are best confirmed against the source video.
Investment & Returns
- Investment: mid — six-modifier waystones (Alchemy, then chaos-based rerolls to strip Pack Size), plus four Expedition tablets per map that each need monster effectiveness and a roughly 30% chance for an extra remnant.
- Returns: high — about 5 divines on the worst maps and 20–25 on good ones, with occasional Citadel boss fragment spikes worth up to ~20 divines.
- Scaling: stacking the extra-remnant chance across all four tablets (30% × 4) nearly guarantees an extra remnant per Expedition; overloaded tablets sell for triple-digit divines to group players.
Step-by-step
- Allocate the Expedition and city passives, set each city type’s biome, and pick the four-tablet map device setup.
- Roll waystones to six modifiers, prioritising monster effectiveness and item rarity; drop Pack Size where you can.
- Craft four Expedition tablets with monster effectiveness plus the extra-remnant chance; blast radius or extra logbooks are fine bonus suffixes.
- Place Sacred Blossoms on clusters of city maps before running them.
- In each map, focus on collecting every remnant; carry a stack of Liquid Verisium to reroll any remnant worth under a Chaos — unless it’s part of a chain started by a rich rune, which is worth keeping.
- Kill rares, invasion and Citadel bosses, and the map boss, then move on quickly.
Risks
- Avoid tablets that add extra Expedition bosses, buried chests, or Vaal relics — they crowd out remnants, carry dangerous immunities, and can end a map.
- Heavily buffed packs demand a strong endgame build; deaths waste the whole juiced setup.
- Tablet and waystone crafting costs add up, and Ancient infusers are a gamble that can brick good tablets.
- The creator treats the city + Expedition combo as overtuned; it may be adjusted in a later patch.
Credits & Source
Method credited to Path of Evening. See the source video: City Expeditions are Incredible! - PoE 2 0.5.5.