Expeditions- should I play them?

[HermitKermit]

i have yet to do the first expedition mission. to my understanding, it is a daily op with time sink requirements to launch.

now that a second expedition is on the way, am curious if i should invest time into getting into them. just how beneficial are they versus time spent?

i know i could go about doing one or several to see for myself, but am hopeful someone more experienced can offer guidance. thanks in advance. :)

[EJR]

Expeditions actually has some cool rewards to give you by earning stamps ie new outfits, CAMP items, Auto-axe and the Union PA set (If you missed them on Season 10), etc. And it's not timed so you can take how long you want and explore if you really want to. I enjoy doing them when I'm bored. Really, the only downside is how much of a grind the stamps are.

[PotatoBasket]

It was an excellent idea that was poorly designed and executed. Hopefully the next will have some more depth to it or some other feeling of permanence other than a more annoying Daily Op. Daily ops are annoying on their own. We'll have to wait to see where they take expeditions.

Should you do them? I would recommend you do it twice, once for the raiders and once for the settlers; just to see why the player base is so disgusted. As a supporter of each of the Beth's new idea I always end up with egg on my face when they fail. Still got my pom poms on but I'm not gonna lie to you about the quality of content. No ones paying me to be their cheerleader and I'm not a whale.

Should you not do them? The numbers of players that do just to get the things you have to do them to grind for provide false feedback to the devs. "Numbers don't lie" because they are only representative information; what they refer to and how they apply to information is entirely subjective. Just because players who love the game are *willing* to do a thing does NOT MEAN IT IS FUN and it DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE WANT IT. It means that we're putting up with it until they fix it or break it for good. Giving players constant chores does NOT equate to enjoyable grinding, gaming, or recreation whatsoever. I should not have to explain the differences between positive and negative challenge/stress to college graduates. The first expedition to the Pitt is UGLY. It is poorly colored and looks like a multiplayer map from the 90s. It doesn't bug up or cause problems like much of the rest of the game and I state from personal observation it looks like the technical things were covered while whoever did color schemes was taking inspiration almost entirely from the city's sanitary department.

[BizarreMan]

They are an excellent source of ammo, xp, rewards. The “time sink” is only required to lead one, and I cannot speak for anyone else. But I can knock three quests out in between 5-10 minutes. Depending on FT speeds.

Seriously, 100% completion on an Expo will grant you up to 20xp, 5 legendary items, ammo, chems, stamps, and a free Pitt plan a week.

And there is only one segment that is timed on one of the two expeditions.

We took a friend through 2 expeditions over the weekend. He started the first at level 2. Finished at level 17. Second run through he finished at level 24. I screwed up and wasn’t sharing inspirational and while we had full lunchboxes, I didn’t give him some beef stew.

That’s 22 levels in approximately 30 minutes.

[Eriskumma]

Comparing expeditions to ops doesn't really work, they are completely different things.
In ops mutations, locations and enemy types change but there's just 2 "quests", Uplink and Decryption, in Pitt you have two different locations to start with, and several different random sub-quests in each location. Also Pitt maps are huge compared to ops maps, so they naturally will take more time even with full team.
Pitt gives more legendary drops than ops if successfully completed, also you get stamps that can be used to buy special plans from Refuge etc. Just for legendary drops neither is that great, rather do Radiation Rumble, Eviction Notice etc.
I personally like Pitt but rarely do them. The maps are awesome, I'd say they are the best and most "Fallout-y" areas game has to offer. IMHO expeditions are best when exploring them by yourself, but that takes even more time and end fights are really tough so it's easy to fail them, especially in Ashes.
With full team they are relatively easy and take way less time but you don't have time to enjoy the maps and atmosphere as much.
I'd say go have a look, either by yourself or hop in a team. Only team leader needs to do the Refuge pre-quests and those are getting changed soon and they won't be required anymore. If you go solo do Union Dues first, it's much easier and quicker to do than Ashes and if you don't like it you can be sure you will hate Ashes. :D

[BizarreMan]

Originally posted by Eriskumma:

Comparing expeditions to ops doesn't really work, they are completely different things.
In ops mutations, locations and enemy types change but there's just 2 "quests", Uplink and Decryption, in Pitt you have two different locations to start with, and several different random sub-quests in each location. Also Pitt maps are huge compared to ops maps, so they naturally will take more time even with full team.
Pitt gives more legendary drops than ops if successfully completed, also you get stamps that can be used to buy special plans from Refuge etc. Just for legendary drops neither is that great, rather do Radiation Rumble, Eviction Notice etc.
I personally like Pitt but rarely do them. The maps are awesome, I'd say they are the best and most "Fallout-y" areas game has to offer. IMHO expeditions are best when exploring them by yourself, but that takes even more time and end fights are really tough so it's easy to fail them, especially in Ashes.
With full team they are relatively easy and take way less time but you don't have time to enjoy the maps and atmosphere as much.
I'd say go have a look, either by yourself or hop in a team. Only team leader needs to do the Refuge pre-quests and those are getting changed soon and they won't be required anymore. If you go solo do Union Dues first, it's much easier and quicker to do than Ashes and if you don't like it you can be sure you will hate Ashes. :D

UD I can solo up till the final battle. Then I just cannot keep the three alive while killing the boss.
AtF I can solo everything. I just hate finding the collars.

[Eriskumma]

Originally posted by BizarreMan:

UD I can solo up till the final battle. Then I just cannot keep the three alive while killing the boss.
AtF I can solo everything. I just hate finding the collars.

I rarely fail UD end fight and can solo it quite effortlessly on most of my toons, but have never successfully soloed Ashes. Low health, low rad resist and too many toys in inventory for PA or stealth suit so I'm almost always encumbered and can't save the survivors. :P
The collars are pretty easy, but you need to learn the spawn spots. Just like with ingots in UD.

[BizarreMan]

Originally posted by Eriskumma:

Originally posted by BizarreMan:

UD I can solo up till the final battle. Then I just cannot keep the three alive while killing the boss.
AtF I can solo everything. I just hate finding the collars.

I rarely fail UD end fight and can solo it quite effortlessly on most of my toons, but have never successfully soloed Ashes. Low health, low rad resist and too many toys in inventory for PA or stealth suit so I'm almost always encumbered and can't save the survivors. :P
The collars are pretty easy, but you need to learn the spawn spots. Just like with ingots in UD.

Ingots I have all the external spots memorized, and quite a few of the inside ones. As well as many of the other interior item spawns.

The problem I have with AtF is I the map is so similar that I keep getting turned around on the outside, and the inside before the Cathedral is tough as well.

I actually have to take off my PA before finding the survivors so I can see their locations better. PA screws up the range etc. But I’m a non-mutated full health build so I can get going. I also do my best to keep my AP up.

Friend did give me a trick for finding the survivors. When you come out of the tunnel and see the circles, the one on the “left” will be the one to die first, so just focus on that one . Then go for the rest.

[HermitKermit]

if i could mark more than one post as an answer, i would. lots of information and context here. thanks!

[Traveler]

Good for exactly one run.

[Chupi]

They are like Daily Ops but without a timer and you can do them as often as you want and still get a reward (as long as you find players to play with).

[Mephisto]

Originally posted by PotatoBasket:

It was an excellent idea that was poorly designed and executed. Hopefully the next will have some more depth to it or some other feeling of permanence other than a more annoying Daily Op. Daily ops are annoying on their own. We'll have to wait to see where they take expeditions.

well it was rigged from the start as it is the excuse to never give us a real map expansion ever

[lucg]

Ashes to fire : At the end, you have to interact with 3 survivors. Don't stop running until you find them. Then, you can take care of the mobs.

Union Dues : At the end, as soon as you see the trog "Devourer", take him down the fastest way possible. You have to manage the healt of the 3 NPCs but, once he is down, the expedition is a success.

[BizarreMan]

Originally posted by lucg:

Ashes to fire : At the end, you have to interact with 3 survivors. Don't stop running until you find them. Then, you can take care of the mobs.

Union Dues : At the end, as soon as you see the trog "Devourer", take him down the fastest way possible. Once he is down, the expedition is a success.

There are several places in the game, AtF, and Uplink where the only way you are going to succeed is run past mobs ignoring them. Too many people get stuck in the mindset that “there are mobs here I must kill them”. And that leads to less than perfect performance.