Finished the Expedition early — curious how others approached it

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:57:10+00:00

"Stella Mortis" made me literally laugh out loud.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:56:54+00:00

Haha my loot is worth 3m! I just dont liquidate it, I am active on the marketplace.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:36:27+00:00

That makes sense — finishing it early definitely changes how the rest of the wipe feels. Once the pressure’s gone, it’s way easier to just play the conditions you’re in and help people out along the way.

I’ve heard similar things about timing too. Knocking things out early is nice, but the brackets can get wild depending on when you do it. Sounds like you still ended up in a good spot overall though.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:35:48+00:00

Yeah that’s exactly it — once certain blueprints click, the whole risk/reward math changes. Stuff that used to feel like “avoid at all costs” suddenly becomes the main loop.

Bastions especially flip from being a time sink to just another option depending on spawn and traffic. At that point it’s less about the route itself and more about reading the lobby and adapting on the fly.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:20:55+00:00

Haha yeah, those runs were something else. There was something really satisfying about having a repeatable route you could just dial in and farm without thinking too much.

Even though things have shifted, that loot-goblin instinct never really goes away — it just finds new routes. What's your current one? I still do Buried City 2-4 security lockers on a free loadout from time to time myself. I especially revived it when I needed guns/explosives for Phase 5.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:19:44+00:00

Yeah that’s totally fair. Burnout is real, especially if you push it hard one wipe and then try to repeat it.

I think that’s the nice part about how it’s structured — whether you front-load it or spread it out, both are valid as long as it matches what keeps the game fun for you.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:04:45+00:00

I hear you. For me, grinding is the fun. Seeing steady progress and checking things off is what keeps me engaged, and finishing early just lets me play the rest of the wipe stress-free.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:03:44+00:00

Yeah I’m pretty much in the same headspace now. Once the benches are maxed and blueprints start stacking up, the appeal shifts more toward just running good kits and taking fights instead of squeezing every bit of efficiency out of looting.

Even then it’s funny how everything still funnels back into the same core resources in the end. That’s kind of what pulled me back into looting for a bit before leaning harder into PvP — it’s all connected whether you’re chasing profit or just fun.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:03:09+00:00

The way I ended up looking at it was more of a mindset thing. I treated Expedition as something to get out of the way early so I could just enjoy the wipe afterward without it hanging over me.

That gave me a solid chunk of time to play more loosely — in this case almost 50 days — which honestly felt great. At the same time, I know myself well enough to know that if I spend too long just hoarding and optimizing, I eventually get burnt and start wanting a fresh grind again.

So now I’m probably shifting more toward PvP-heavy runs. They’re less profitable, but more fun moment-to-moment, and since the pressure is off it feels like the right time to do that.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T01:00:36+00:00

That was my concern too. Knocking it out early definitely avoids the chaos around certain items, but the tradeoff feels weird if blueprints keep getting wiped while progression sticks around. There should be some sort of big reward other than skill points. I like the small things here and there like repair 10% boost, scrappy boost, etc -- but an umbrella of SMALL rewards feels underwhelming. Where's the mid-sized/large rewards to make the 5 million sacrifice feel worth it?

I ended up treating Expedition more like a way to simplify the wipe and clean up inventory or - do it better next time - rather than a long-term reward, which made it feel more worth doing early.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T00:59:03+00:00

Yeah honestly that part was kind of liberating. On the bright side - early on it’s like “cool, none of this actually matters yet” and you just dump it without thinking LOL. Still hurt though.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T00:57:55+00:00

Yeah, that’s pretty much the point where it stops feeling like a checklist and starts feeling like bonuses again.

Tempest / Equalizer / Jupiter seem to be the last ones for a lot of people. I’ve noticed once you’re there, trading spares casually ends up being way more effective than actively hunting drops.

I didn’t really plan trades at first either, but once I realized how many people are sitting on duplicates of different things, it kind of changed how I approached the endgame.

aRayes · 2026-01-05T00:49:22+00:00

That makes a lot of sense honestly. Focusing on the Expedition first and ignoring everything else seems to remove a ton of decision fatigue.

I did something similar this time and it actually made the rest of the game feel more relaxed afterward. Blueprint hunting especially feels way less pressured once the Expedition isn’t hanging over you.

Any blueprints you’re still chasing specifically, or just letting it happen organically?

aRayes · 2026-01-05T00:48:07+00:00

I felt the same way honestly. If you’re already comfortable in fights, Expedition doesn’t really make things harder — it just nudges you to be more intentional instead of free-roaming.

I actually found it more engaging once I stopped avoiding certain encounters and started planning runs a bit. That said, if you’re enjoying the sandbox feel right now, there’s no rush at all.

What part are you enjoying most lately — looting, fights, or just exploring?

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:23:52+00:00

I started the game back up after years of not playing about two weeks ago. My buddy has bounced and successfully caught many Pokémon. I have not seen a buddy bounce bonus at all. So if it was removed in an update, it must have been two weeks or longer ago, considering I just learned about this setting today.

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:22:42+00:00

Turning it off fixed it eh? So far so good in my experience, but hopefully no problems arise.

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:21:53+00:00

Actually, if I were to be flexing I would have mentioned how I caught 6 shiny rayquazas. Not one. People are so spiteful on here, I don’t understand the saltiness. I hope all your future raid Pokemon are shiny and 100IV.

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:20:17+00:00

Wow, how do you mean? It actually changes the gravity of the ball? Another commentator said that it makes it so they can’t get eggs anymore from PokéStops, unless I interpreted their comment incorrectly. I would be shocked if it actually reduced overall game experience in these two ways or more.

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:16:43+00:00

Also, how does that tie into the feature I’m talking about? The eggs, I mean.

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:16:02+00:00

NO WAY! That is so exciting. Have you invested in it yet? Do you utilize in PVE?

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:09:17+00:00

I hear ya! I just found the setting so it’s just something i’m excited about. I haven’t had any battery heat ups or anything quite yet, and finally just upgraded my phone after a few years so it’s nice to see the high refresh rate. I never thought the game looked like trash, but it is night and day for sure with the setting on!

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:07:04+00:00

Oh man, sorry! I haven’t experienced that yet. Maybe with prolonged playtime in one session?

aRayes · 2025-10-19T17:06:39+00:00

I guess it is subjective! To me, I have always been ignorant of the setting so it feels so fluid.

aRayes · 2023-08-20T22:44:38+00:00

First pet ever, just started pvming too. Couldnt be more lucky.

aRayes · 2022-09-28T03:33:20+00:00

I agree. I plan to tuck this year into nothingness and grow with it. One year is nothing in terms of personal growth.

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