Strategy
Expedition in the 0.5 Runes of Aldur league has been reworked from the ground up. The mechanic’s totem pillars have been replaced by Saurun remnants that hand out league-specific rewards, making Expedition feel like a native league mechanic this season. The core loop is straightforward: run maps, blow up Runic remnants with detonation charges, collect currency drops, and push through the Expedition quest line to unlock boss Oroch — then farm Oroch repeatedly for Timeless Jewels worth 10+ Divines each.
The real secret is low overhead. You do not need Tablets. You do not need expensive scarabs. Just roll maps to 4–5 mods (enough Pack Size / Monster Effectiveness to make drops worthwhile, but not so deadly that you die and lose progress), clear Expedition encounters whenever you see them, and let the consistent drip of currency add up over sessions.
Atlas Tree & Setup
Era Passives: The Era Passive nodes cover other mechanics (Shrine, Strongbox, Essence) and have no direct effect on Expedition rewards. Do not stress about specific Era Passive choices. What matters is picking up the small generic nodes that increase Rare Monster quantity, Rare Monster rarity, and Monster Effectiveness — these buffs carry over to Runic Monsters inside Expedition encounters and improve Logbook drop rates.
Mastery choices:
- Grand Expedition maps: Use the Jardo mastery. Jardo gives Veresium Remnants a 10% chance to re-roll on resolution, effectively giving you a second draw at the reward pool. If the re-roll lands on a lucky high-value result — Elder Saga at 15 Divine, or a 2-Divine currency orb — it pays off far more than a flat buff.
- Normal maps with standard Expedition: Switch to Hilda. Hilda increases the number of Lair Monsters (the large Runic Monster pillars you chain detonations through) and gives those monsters more mods, which raises their Effectiveness and improves your odds of dropping Expedition Logbooks.
Tablet usage: None required. Save your tablet budget for other mechanics.
Investment & Returns
Investment: Very low. Map rolling to 4–5 mods with Alchemy + Chaos is the main cost. No Tablets or special scarabs needed. Expedition Logbooks can drop in-map from Runic Monsters (free), but if you need to buy them they currently cost 100+ Exalts each, so it is worth farming for them rather than purchasing.
Returns (per map):
- Standard Expedition encounters yield a steady trickle: 1–3 Divine, Perfect Chaos, Perfect Exalted, Perfect Jeweler Orbs, Greater Exhausted Orbs (~10 Exalts each), Greater Ions (~4 Exalts each — commonly overlooked but easy to find), and various mid-tier Runes (4–5 Exalts).
- Grand Expedition maps push larger Runic encounter sizes (8–9 slots), making Elder Saga (~15 Divine) and other premium rewards more accessible. Rush Isle is a notably strong Grand Expedition map — its edge objectives drop Divine Orbs with higher-than-usual frequency.
- Boss Oroch on Obscure Island drops Timeless Jewels, currently trading for 10–14+ Divines. This is the highest single-item payoff in the strategy.
- Abyss Tablets are also valuable as an opportunistic bonus: a plain 10-charge tablet is worth roughly 40–50 Exalts (~0.5 Divine), a nice side pickup while clearing.
Step-by-step
- Start the quest line. From Atlas — Segura Refuse, navigate to Runes of King’s March (bottom-right). Enter and Traverse to find the Expedition NPCs. The zone will appear empty on your first visit.
- Open sea sectors with Logbooks. Press the node button (it consumes an Expedition Logbook) to light up a sea sector. The quest requires defeating 5 bosses: Medved → Voarana → Uthed → Avugn → Oroch. Each Logbook run progresses you further.
- Farm Logbooks in normal maps. Expedition Logbooks drop from Runic Monsters (the large pillars) in normal map Expedition encounters. Grand Expedition maps do not drop Logbooks. Run normal maps and chain detonations specifically through large Runic Monster pillars to trigger Runic Monster spawns. Max Pack Size / Effectiveness map mods help here. Current Logbook market price is very high (100+ Exalts), so farming your own is strongly recommended.
- Prioritise Runic remnants with many reward slots. In any Expedition encounter, count the reward slots on each remnant — 8-slot remnants are prime targets for Perfect Flux and other high-value drops.
- Target Oroch Saga for guaranteed boss access. Buy an Oroch Saga, right-click it to apply it, then run the Expedition detonation chain. The Saga guarantees boss Oroch will spawn. Alternatively, look for the Expedition Logbook subtitled “Origin of the Fall” — that is the Oroch suffix, which also routes to the same boss. (Using both Oroch Saga and Origin of the Fall simultaneously is unconfirmed to spawn two copies of Oroch; likely still one boss.)
- Target Moor of the Fallen Sky. This is the key unique map for Expedition. The encounter fills almost the entire map with 8–9 slot Runic remnants — any reward from the Expedition reward pool is obtainable here. Prioritise Elder Saga as the target reward (~15 Divine). Read your Logbook modifiers carefully before running.
- Rush Isle for bonus Divines. If you encounter the Grand Expedition map Rush Isle, clear the edge objectives (totem-chest structures) — they drop Divine Orbs with notable frequency.
- Collect Abyss Tablets as a bonus. Whenever Abyss content appears in a map, complete it. Abyss Tablets pile up and sell for solid passive income.
Risks
- Logbook scarcity. Expedition Logbooks are the main bottleneck. At 100+ Exalts each on the Currency Exchange, buying them to keep pace is expensive. Farm them yourself from Runic Monsters in normal maps.
- Map mod overreaching. Stacking 6 mods for maximum Pack Size sounds efficient but risks dying before you can clear the Expedition, losing the Logbook investment. SoNice recommends capping at 4–5 mods to keep resurrection windows open.
- Yield variance. Most individual Runic encounters produce modest rewards. High-value drops (10 Divine orb rewards, Elder Sagas, Timeless Jewels) are RNG — the strategy works over volume, not per-run. Play fast, run many maps.
- Currency Exchange price volatility. Rune prices fluctuate early in a league. Always check current market rates before deciding which reward targets to prioritise.
Credits & Source
Guide based on content by SoNice. Original video walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQy98y_W9Ps