Expedition encounters are one of four Activities you’ll encounter during the endgame of Path of Exile 2. In them, you’ll unearth ancient artifacts of the Kalguurans. This guide will tell you where to find Expedition encounters and how to overcome them when you do.

Note: For tips on refining your character to have the best experience in Path of Exile 2’s endgame, check out these guides:

Where to find Expedition encounters

You’ll find Expedition encounters in maps marked with the Expedition symbol on the Atlas of Worlds. They’re spread out randomly across the Atlas. There’s no indication that some biomes have it more often than others. However, you can cause more Expedition encounters to appear by using an Expedition Precursor Tablet in a Lost Tower.

Once inside the map, you’ll need to find the Kalguuran camp where one of the Kalguuran treasure hunters awaits you. They’ll have an explosive detonator in front of them surrounded by Remnants.

How to complete Expedition encounters

Expedition encounters are fast and overwhelming. Depending on which Remnants you blow up, the monsters that appear can be incredibly powerful. It’s in your best interest to balance risks and rewards to ensure you can complete the encounter while still also enjoying some great loot.

To begin the encounter, you’ll select the Place Explosives button at the bottom-right of your screen and then place five explosive charges on the ground. The affected area will be marked in green, and anything it touches will get caught in the explosion.

You have a limited range to place your explosives in, starting from the detonator. Each one you place will extend that range further, so you’re creating one long chain that links them all together. After you place them, you can activate the plunger near the Kalguuran to set them all off in sequence.

There are two types of features you want to catch in the explosions: remnants and flags.

Remnants augment the monsters and treasures that appear in the explosion that triggers them and all subsequent explosions.
Flags unearth monsters and treasures. The flags with Expedition symbols on them mark where Excavation Chests are buried. Red flags indicate where monsters are buried. The larger a flag is, the higher the likelihood that it will spawn a Runic monster or a treasure chest with rare treasures.

Runic Monsters are specific to Expedition encounters. They have an increased chance to drop the Artifacts and Logbooks that the Kalguurans want. You can tell Runic monsters apart by the “Runic” modifier under their name.

Expedition rewards

As you complete Expeditions, you’ll earn Artifacts that you can trade with the Kalguurans for gear. To maximize the number of Artifacts you find, target Remnants with modifiers like “X% Increased quantity of Artifacts dropped by monsters.”

In high-tier maps (10+), you can also find Expedition Logbooks, which you can bring to Dannig. He’ll reveal them for you, giving you an opportunity to explore new maps with new Expedition-style encounters.

Expedition Logbooks

If you bring an Expedition Logbook to Dannig, he'll reveal the locations in it. You can only select one to enter. After you do, select Open Portals and Dannig will open six portals around the map device.

When you enter the map zone, you'll notice you now have access to at least 18 explosives. There are flags and remnants across the entire map. The flags indicate what type of treasure you can expect from the chest beneath, such as armor, weapons, or even orbs.

You'll need to set up your explosives just as you do in a regular Expedition encounter, except at a much grander scale. There are also some features you can blow up like wooden fences and nests that'll release their own treasures or give you access to an underground cache. Look out for them and plan your explosives accordingly.

If you ever need to check all the remnant effects you're set up to activate, you can hover over the symbol at the bottom-right of your screen to review them.

Expedition passive skills

Every time you complete an Expedition Logbook encounter, you’ll earn passive skill points to spend in the Expedition part of the Atlas passive skill tree. Then, you’ll gain additional passive skill points for completing it at higher difficulties. Hence, the passive skills alternate between useful notables and raising the difficulty.

Here are all the notable passive skills in the Expedition passive skill tree, organized by how many points it takes to get to them:

Expedition notable passives
Two points
Extreme Archaeology	Number of Explosives is one 150% increased Explosive Radius in your maps Expedition monsters in your maps spawn with an additional 20% of Life missing 100% increased Explosive Placement Range in your maps
Disturbed Rest	Your maps contain 50% increased number of Runic monster markers.
Timed Detonations	50% increased quantity of Artifacts dropped by monster in your maps. Expedition detonation chains in you rmaps travel 50% faster.
Frail Treasures	Expedition encounters in your maps contain 3 additional chest markers Expedition chests in your maps despawn after 5 seconds
Weight of History	35% increased effect of Temnants in your maps
Four points
Detailed Records	50% increased quantity of Expedition Logbooks dropped by Runic monsters in your maps Expedition Logbooks found in your maps always have 3 implicity modifiers
Legendary Battles	50% increased number of Rare Expedition monsters in your maps 50% increased quantity of Exotic Coiunage dropped by monstsers in your maps
Unearthed Anomalies	Remnants in your maps have an additional prefix modifier Remnants in your maps have an additional suffix modifier