Outriders Expeditions Explained

Expeditions are the endgame activity in Outriders. This guide explains how Expeditions and thereby the Endgame work, how to unlock them, and what to do in them.

How to unlock Expeditions?

Expeditions are automatically unlocked after you finish the main storyline of Outriders. The game gives you a tutorial after the story is over. They are then found in a region called “Outrider’s Camp” where you can interact with the Expedition terminal. From there you can start all Expeditions and replay them as often as you want. You can also find these terminals at the camp of every other region.

What are Expeditions, how many are there?

Expeditions are similar to Raids or Strike Missions in other games. There are 14 different Expeditions and they work on a difficulty-based system called “Tiers”. You can play all missions solo or with up to 3 players in a party. It’s doable solo but it’s easier to play in a party so you can revive each other. There is matchmaking via the “Find a Party” terminal that’s standing next to the Expeditions terminal.

By default there are 3 Expeditions active at a time. Which ones are currently playable changes each time you complete or abandon an expedition. If the expedition you want to play isn’t selectable, simply load up another expedition and abandon it immediately from the pause menu. Then it let you choose other expeditions.

Furthermore, the final 14th Expedition “Eye of the Storm” is only unlocked after reaching Expedition Tier 15 and gathering 40,000 Drop Pod Resources. This is the ultimate Challenge in the game and the final big raid boss. Only the best of players will make it there.

It’s worth noting that the EXPEDITION TIERS are different from the WORLD TIERS that are used in the story & side quests. The World Tiers are not used in Expeditions anymore and become somewhat useless. The Expeditions have their own Tier System and start out with Tier 1 & 2 unlocked. The Expedition Tiers also have higher level enemies and loot. Expedition Tier 15 has Level 50 Enemies whereas World Tier 15 only goes up to Level 42.

What to do in Expeditions?

Your goal is to kill all enemies within a time limit. You can think of it as multiple rooms filled with enemies. These often feature Elite Enemies which are essentially minibosses.

There are 15 Tiers (difficulty settings). Based on how quickly you finish the expedition there are 4 reward tiers: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Nothing.
The fastest way to unlock the next Tier is to play the highest currently unlocked Tier and beat it within the time limit. At least a bronze time is needed to rank up one Tier. If you fail the bronze time you will still get loot as a reward but won’t rank up a Tier. The faster you finish, the better gear and the more Drop Pod Resources you will earn.

Drop Pod Resources are the endgame currency that can be used with a vendor and also for unlocking specific Expeditions. The final expedition “Eye of the Storm” costs 20,000 Drop Pod Resources. It’s worth noting that some of these Expeditions cost Resources each time you want to play them (so you can’t just pay once, you must pay each time to play them). You should always aim for a gold time to get the most Drop Pod Resources possible. With this time-based system the game tests if your gear / damage output is high enough that you even stand a chance on the next Tier. An aggressive high-damage playstyle is necessary to beat Expeditions in their time limit.

The higher the Tier you’re playing the better loot you will receive, but the stronger the enemies will be. With each Tier the enemies level up. At Expedition Tier 15 the enemies reach the level 50 cap. The endgame is based on your gear level, that’s what really matters. Because those higher-level enemies drop higher-level gear it eventually evens out after your gear has caught on.

The maximum level of wearable items is also determined by the EXPEDITION TIER during the endgame and no longer the WORLD TIER! During the story the maximum item level you can wear is limited by your WORLD TIER. After the story this becomes irrelevant. For example, if you are only World Tier 02 you should only be able to equip Level 32 Gear (Level 30 + 2 Tiers). But if your Expedition Tier is higher you can equip much higher level items, for example at Expedition Tier 09 you will get Level 41 gear.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to actually win an expedition to get loot from it. If you die, a chest will spawn in the expedition starting room. This contains all the loot from your last run. You still get an item from most Elites, they just don’t drop anything during the Expedition to keep things “clean”. If you die always choose to retry and open the chest in the starting room. Then you can still abandon the expedition from the pause menu afterward if it’s too difficult. Never forget to collect your loot from the chest. This is a great way to get higher-level gear quickly, even if you’re not yet strong enough to beat the full Expedition (just killing the first wave of enemies will give you a few items). Once your gear level is on par with the Expedition level you’ll stand a much better chance.

In summary: Expeditions are what you do after the story and your goal is to rank up to Tier 15 by beating them within a time limit.