Expeditions DevBlog: Descend into the Unknown

Adventurers, start honing your blades, preparing your spells and, if you plan on trying out Ballistics… loading your guns, too! The Treasures Below Expansion is just around the corner and with it comes a new challenge: Expeditions, a roguelike-inspired dungeon system where every run is a test of courage, strategy and adaptability. Procedurally generated layouts, dynamic enemy scaling, and high-stakes choices ensure that no two journeys below will ever be the same!

Expeditions are a new type of content to be introduced in the Treasures Below Expansion. Designed to provide a dungeon-exploring experience that is fun, replayable and rewards bold decision-making, Expeditions offer:

◈ Procedurally generated paths through randomized rooms and encounters.

◈ Risk vs. Reward choices through the Keys & Afflictions mechanics.

◈ Game-changing power-ups via Munk Songs that define how you play each run.

◈ Puzzles, profession-based challenges, and boss fights that change based on your decisions.

Whether you are after a quick adventure or seeking a high stakes thrill, Expeditions have you covered. The system’s flexibility lets you decide how far you want to take it: choose a modest challenge, or risk everything for a chance at Legendary rewards.
 

The Munk Expedition Co. has established several Expedition Sites across the World Map, with one becoming available each day. Head to the active site and speak with the Munk Seeker to begin your journey!

Expeditions are open to Adventurers with Effective Level 60 or higher, while Legendary Expeditions unlock at Effective Level 75. Both Expeditions require at least 2,000 Renown to participate.

Your first Expedition of the day requires a silver entry fee, and any additional runs will require Munk Snacks, which can be acquired on-site or from a Munk Intendant in Ravencrest.

Set the Tone for the Run

Upon descending into an Expedition, you will choose two Keys each linked to a unique Affliction that empowers enemies and raises the overall difficulty of the run. These choices not only shape your challenge but also influence the rarity of the rewards you will earn.

Then, you will also select one of three Munk Songs powerful, run-defining buffs that grant a mix of combat enhancements and utility effects, introducing fresh mechanics for you to master and experiment with.

Both of these features are explained in more detail right below.

Explore, Fight, Solve

Each Expedition map is a dynamic network of interconnected rooms, with a unique path laid out for you to follow. Your journey begins on the main route toward the final boss, but daring Adventurers may also uncover rewarding side paths along the way, both packed with peril and opportunity. Along your route, you will encounter:

◈ Intense enemy battles that scale with the Keys you’ve chosen.

◈ Brain-teasing puzzle rooms that must be solved to advance.

◈ Profession-based challenges offering extra Munk Songs as rewards.

◈ Dangerous environmental traps, pressure plates, and other deadly hazards.

After clearing the first four rooms on the main path, you will unlock a fresh set of Key choices, allowing you to stack up to six per run, escalating both the challenge and the potential rewards!

Face the Boss

Each Expedition culminates in an epic Boss Battle. Like all enemies throughout the run, bosses are empowered by the Afflictions you've chosen, transforming formidable foes into brutal, tactical encounters that test your mastery.

Defeat them, and the path to the Treasure Room will open, where well-earned rewards await!

Claim Your Rewards!

Use your collected Keys to unlock Treasure Chests matching their rarity. The bolder your choices during the run, the greater the spoils that await.

Inside, you might uncover valuable upgrade materials and key progression items, rare crafting resources, exclusive new recipes, Fame and Jewels to climb the Expeditions Leaderboards and powerful new Gemstones to enhance your gear.

And if Luck is on your side, you might discover a Shiny Key, a rare find that supercharges your rewards, making each chest even more lucrative!

Keep reading to know everything about the Expedition Rewards!
 

Keys & Afflictions

Each Key you choose increases enemy health and damage while applying a unique Affliction: a powerful modifier that buffs all enemies throughout your run.

Keys come in five rarities: Common, Grand, Arcane, Exalted, and Legendary. The higher the rarity, the more dangerous the Affliction, each of which has six escalating Tiers that determine its impact. In return, higher rarity Keys also promise significantly better loot at the end of your Expedition.

From time to time, you may encounter a Ghost Key, an unpredictable wildcard that rolls both the Key's rarity and its Affliction at random, introducing an element of chaos and opportunity.

If you're not satisfied with your options, you can reroll your Key selection using $QUEST. Alternatively, you may choose to skip selecting a Key entirely. While this makes your journey a bit easier, it also means forfeiting the potential for greater rewards.

Munk Songs

Munk Songs are temporary buffs earned during your run, each with the potential to dramatically reshape your playstyle. These buffs come in various Tiers, with higher-tier Songs offering the most impactful and transformative effects. You will encounter them by opening wooden chests or completing profession-based challenges scattered throughout the Expedition!

Each time you discover a Munk Song, you will choose one out of three options, allowing you to tailor your build based on your strategy, class, or moment-to-moment needs. Their effects range from potent combat and utility boosts to powerful, game-changing melodies that can define your entire run.

However, as mentioned, Munk Songs are temporary: once the Expedition ends, so do their effects. Every new run is a fresh start!

Profession Challenges

Not every challenge can be overcome with steel and spell alone: your profession skills matter just as much! Successfully completing profession interactions like Herbalism, Blacksmithing, Cooking, and more can earn you powerful Munk Songs, provided you meet the required Profession Level. You are always free to give them a try, but be warned: the lower your skill, the greater the chance of failure.

If you’ve focused too much on Alchemy and your Mining isn’t quite up to par, don’t worry! With a bit of planning, you can bring along Expedition Toolboxes to help clear the profession challenges you are not yet skilled enough to handle. But use them wisely, there’s a limited number allowed per run.

Expedition Toolboxes are fully integrated into the Crafting System and overall economy. A new set of exclusive crafting recipes, found only inside the Expedition Treasure Chests, lets each crafting profession create the components needed to assemble these Toolboxes. These items require materials gathered through various professions, encouraging teamwork and resourcefulness.

To get your Expedition Toolboxes ready for adventure, simply bring these newly craftable items to the Munk Intendant near the Expedition entrances or in Ravencrest, and he will bundle them into a neatly packed Expedition Toolbox, primed for use on your journey!

Replayability

Replayability is at the heart of every Expedition. Each run is procedurally generated, offering a fresh and unpredictable experience every time you descend. The dungeon layout shifts with randomized room configurations, leading to unique pathing and ever-changing combinations of puzzles, profession challenges, hazards, and enemy encounters.

Every step demands strategic decision-making: Which Key will you take? Which Munk Song best suits your build? Will you follow the main path or risk a detour for greater rewards? With difficulty scaling based entirely on your choices, each Expedition becomes a personalized challenge, and no two are ever alike.

In future updates, we will keep expanding the experience with new rooms, puzzles, challenges, enemy types, and exciting mechanics to keep every Expedition fresh and thrilling!
 

This is just a glimpse of the countless treasures waiting for you at the end of every Expedition run. Remember: fortune favors the bold, and with greater risk comes even greater reward!

Progression and Crafting Materials

Inside the treasure chests of both basic and legendary Expeditions, you will discover a variety of valuable progression items and crafting materials.

These include: Infusions (Bonded, only for basic Expeditions), Augmenting Stones, Glory Shards, Warforging Shards, Glimmery Ingot, Cloth, Leather, Plank and Thread.
 

Legendary Ring Materials

Fragments of all 10 Legendary Rings can be found as very rare rewards from Expedition treasure room chests from both basic and legendary Expeditions. Individual Legendary Rings are great boons for any Adventurer, but when two matching rings are paired together they offer powerful set bonuses. While either Expedition difficulty can result in such a prize, it’s by conquering legendary Expeditions that you give yourself  the best chance at forging your own ring.
 

New Exclusive Recipes

Each crafting profession now has recipes to create the components involved in obtaining Expedition Toolboxes, since Toolboxes have five Tiers, there will be five recipes for each profession. The base recipe will be unlocked by default, but recipes for higher tier components can only be obtained as a rare reward from Expedition treasure room chests, with varying chances depending on tier and Expedition difficulty.

Jewels, Fame and Leaderboard

Expeditions introduce thrilling new opportunities for competition with the addition of Jewels: a unique type of reward found in both Basic and Legendary Expedition Treasure Room chests. The number of Jewels you collect during a run directly influences the Fame you earn at the end, fueling your reputation and standing.

But the stakes don’t stop there: every Jewel you gather also contributes to your score on the Expedition Leaderboard, where top performers will receive exclusive $QUEST rewards at the end of the season (we will share more about it soon!).

On top of that, Jewels earned throughout the week feed into the Merchant Influence Pool, boosting your total Merchant Influence and strengthening your position in the wider game economy. Every Jewel counts, so push your limits to claim as many as possible!

New Gear-Enhancing Gemstones

We are thrilled to introduce Gemstones as a new method of progressing your gear, further increasing your character’s strength to be on par for the challenge a high-stakes, full Key Legendary Expedition could present.

Gemstones are rare, powerful rewards found exclusively in both basic and legendary Expeditions, with drop chances increasing alongside difficulty. These versatile gear-upgrading items can be slotted into up to seven equipment pieces  rings, amulets, and armor  each glowing with unique shapes and colors that boost specific stats.

As a core new progression mechanic, Gemstones provide valuable power boosts in all gameplay scenarios, but their true potential shines brightest within Expeditions. There, their stat bonuses are amplified by 50%, and they unlock a special effect unique to Expeditions: Luck.

By embedding Gemstones into your gear, you increase your Luck, which raises the chance of your Keys becoming rare Shiny Keys during selection. Opening a Treasure Chest with a Shiny Key doubles the Jewels you receive, significantly boosting your Fame and climbing your Leaderboard rank!

For a deep dive into Gemstones and how they will transform your adventures, keep an eye out for the upcoming Treasures Below Expansion Update Notes, where we will reveal all the gleaming details of this exciting new progression system.

Your Next Adventure Starts with Treasures Below!

Whether you’re delving in for fun, strategically planning your perfect run or just seeking the thrill of pushing your luck for the ultimate reward, Expeditions let you chart your own path into danger, and back out with riches to prove it.

Speak with the Munk Seeker. Choose your Keys. Pick your Munk Song. And step into uncharted depths.

Join the discussion in our Tavern on Discord and share your thoughts about Expeditions!