Expedition Dungeons

30:01 Expeditions are the core party dungeons of Aion 2, which NC's global team calls the "bread and butter" of its dungeon experience: a party goes in, kills the monsters and bosses, takes the loot and goes again. They opened in Korea and Taiwan in November 2025 for parties of four; the global version starts with five, and the Korean and Taiwanese servers have used five since Jul 1, 2026. Each Expedition has a guided Exploration mode and a Conquest mode, and the six launch dungeons run from Krao Cave to the Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den; later seasons added harder tiers such as Dying Dramata's Nest. The wider dungeon system is described on Dungeons.

Quick facts

Exploration and Conquest

0:41 Anders, surveying the global launch in September 2026, counts six Expeditions, each playable in two modes. Exploration is the tutorial version met while leveling: a Shugo walks the party through the mechanics and the boss patterns are more forgiving. Conquest is the real version, where the better gear drops and where most of a player's Odyle Energy goes early on.

21:43 In NC's Dungeon Live Gameplay Showcase of Sep 4, 2026 the global team gives the unlock levels: Krao Cave in Exploration at level 20, Urugugu Canyon at 28, the Fire Temple at 35 and the remaining three at 45. They recommend running Exploration first, since the Shugo helper teaches the fights and the modes have gear tied to them, and they describe Conquest, which opens at 45, as the "meat and bones" of play at maximum level; it was not in the level-37 Launch Scale Test.

Before the Korean launch, NC had promised "Easy Mode instance dungeons tailored for newcomers" (NC, Jun 4, 2025), and Hardcore Gamer's preview of June 2026 still described Expeditions as four-player dungeons in which the party goes through mobs and bosses (Hardcore Gamer, Jun 16, 2026).

Star tiers and item level

1:07 Conquest Expeditions are ranked by stars. Krao Cave and Draupnir are one-star, Urugugu Canyon and Bakron's Floating Island two-star, and the Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den three-star. Anders warns that item-level requirements are higher on the global version, so players cannot skip the one-star dungeons as some did in Korea, and that there is no Hard Conquest at the global launch, which he expects a few weeks in, once players' combat power catches up.

2:43 In Korea and Taiwan the ladder continues to four- and five-star dungeons, but Society Of Gaming said in May 2026 that the global launch would open with only the one- to three-star tiers. Each dungeon is gated by gear score, so a newly capped character works up one tier at a time, collecting its first PvE gear, Kina and crafting materials on the way (see Gear Progression).

0:00 Krao Cave is the first Conquest dungeon, and its boss is the same one players meet while leveling, with extra mechanics. Grobs's guide from the week after the Korean launch gives its gear-score requirement as 1,000 and points to the yellow enrage timer under the boss's health bar: when it runs out the boss enrages, so for low-geared four-player groups he recommends three damage dealers and a healer rather than a tank.

1:34 FRESHY's short guide of September 2026 shows the routine of the one-star pair. In both, the party runs past the monsters, kills two mini-bosses and activates the respawn point before the boss room. Draupnir's boss fades the screen to black and teleports everyone to the edge of the arena; players rush to the center, jumping the damaging waves it fires, and must break its stagger bar to avoid a wipe. On Hard, FRESHY adds, only one of the pillars in Krao Cave's boss fight is safe to hide behind.

The Korean patch notes of Dec 16, 2025, in the Fextralife wiki's fan translation, added Hard to Krao Cave, Draupnir, Urugugu Canyon and Bakron's Floating Island, and scheduled it for the Temple of Fire and the Savage Horn cave on Dec 24. Hard raises the chance of Unique and Hero equipment from each boss, adds a guaranteed reward choice and gives no ranking buffs; the same notes made Equipment Change Tickets a guaranteed Normal Conquest reward and added Tuning Stones to Expedition rewards (Patch Notes, Fextralife; Enhancement and Soul Imprint).

Three bosses and how groups farm them

1:50 Every Expedition has three bosses, two main bosses and a final boss, and each boss killed in Conquest has its own chance to drop gear. Groups therefore choose between a three-boss run, with the best odds but a longer clear, and a one-boss run that pushes past the mid-bosses to the final boss; in the Fire Temple a two-boss run was also common. Anders says the choice depends on whether a group is farming gear or simply clearing for Kina and materials.

The fan translation of the Korean notes of Nov 22, 2025 records why mid-bosses no longer drop everything: final boss equipment was removed from their drop lists to stop players repeatedly killing mid-bosses for it (Patch Notes, Fextralife).

Ferocious Horn Den

41:03 NC's global team played Ferocious Horn Den after the Fire Temple as the other three-star Expedition, one where team mechanics "really do shine". Its bright, open setting is a spot in the world rather than a lava fortress, and its small warrior monsters drop souls that unlock them as pets and mounts, so the hosts suggest farming it with friends (see Pets and Mounts).

45:10 One boss scatters orbs that players must collect before she lands in the middle of the arena, or they explode for heavy damage; since each orb slows the player carrying it, the party has to split up. A later mini-boss arena has players pick up bombs and throw them at its monsters.

56:05 The final boss shows the visible enrage timer, a circle with a timer under the boss, and the presenters note that many of its mechanics kill in one hit whatever a player's gear: stacking in small circles, spreading for large ones, blocking its leap and guiding a thrown comet into a planet it places in the arena.

Parties and matchmaking

40:23 Expeditions are formed in a dungeon lobby. A player can create a room and invite friends, set the roles it wants (tanks, damage dealers, healers or anyone), or use quick join to be placed in an open group. After a clear, a "challenge again" button sends the same party straight back into the dungeon without leaving it.

1:00:58 On the global version dungeon groups can include players from the opposite faction and from other servers, or be limited to the player's own faction with a checkbox. Cross-faction PvE parties arrived in Korea and Taiwan on Mar 11, 2026, with limited cross-faction chat (NC, Mar 11, 2026; Elyos; Asmodians). NC repeated on Sep 30, 2026 that "all instanced content including dungeons are available cross-server" (NC on Steam). Citing NC's FAQ, mein-mmo explains that the party matching spans every server in a region: during Advanced Access only the early access servers, and from Oct 5 Founder's Pack and free players together (mein-mmo; Servers).

Rewards and weekly limits

2:29 Rewards come from an Odyle Energy Cube at the end of each run, which costs Odyle Energy to open. Anders gives the regeneration as 10 energy every three hours, or 15 with Membership, so energy is wasted on dungeons a character has outgrown. On the global build, he reports, Exploration gives bound Kina and Conquest unbound Kina, which makes Conquest on alternative characters a way to fund a main. Dungeons also carry achievements for first clears and speed runs that reward enhancement stones, Kina and titles with stats (Kina and Quna; Membership).

Society Of Gaming described the Korean and Taiwanese limits in May 2026 as weekly rather than daily, with a boss loot counter of 35 a week, and in September 2026 reported a Kina penalty for heavy farming across an account: after 83 runs a week the Kina from dungeons falls to 80%, after 104 to 60% and after 125 to 40% (Complete Endgame Daily Routine; Complete Daily & Weekly Endgame Loop Guide).

NC raised the weekly Expedition reward limit from 14 to 21 on May 13, 2026, improved Kina rewards for tier 4 Expeditions such as Dying Dramata's Nest and tier 5 Expeditions such as Hall of Illusion, and expanded the dungeon invite list (NC, May 13, 2026). The Chapter 1 update of Jul 1, 2026 removed entry tickets, so that rewards are claimed through Odyle Energy, let players ride pets inside dungeons and introduced the Sprout Badge, which gives existing players half of the Odyle Energy a new or returning player spends in their group (NC, Jul 6, 2026).

Season 2 and Chapter 1 additions

NC's Season 2 roadmap added the Expedition Dying Dramata's Nest on Jan 21, 2026 and Cradle of Nihility on Jan 28, with Hard modes for both scheduled for Feb 18 (NC, Jan 7, 2026; Season 2).

0:00 Games On's first guide to Dying Dramata's Nest, three days after it opened, shows how different the newer Expeditions are: the run begins with a dive and a swim, where a gray bubble speeds the player up and a yellow one refills breath, and the first boss tethers two random players, who must break the link.

The Chapter 1 update of Jul 1, 2026, "Lands of Sand and Snow", added Citadel of the Fallen Daeva, which needs level 50 and item level 3,500, with higher item levels for its higher difficulties (NC, Jul 6, 2026). NC's June roadmap also lists Consumed Deus Research Base and Expedition: Ordeal, a mode in which players customize and challenge their own difficulty levels (NC, Jun 17, 2026; Chapter 1: Lands of Sand and Snow).

Expeditions on the global version

The global version, open in Advanced Access from Sep 30, 2026 and to everyone since Oct 5, starts with the six launch Expeditions in their one- to three-star tiers, for parties of five, with Conquest from level 45 and no Hard Conquest at first, according to NC's stream and Anders. NC's global team has also removed Heroic gear from season 1, so the dungeons' Unique drops are the best available, and NC told Hardcore Gamer that the global version will run close to a year behind Korea, releasing later Expeditions as players progress (Hardcore Gamer, Jun 16, 2026; Global Release). The three-star Fire Temple, with Kromede as its final boss, has its own page.

6:11 The test build also changed the numbers. EUTOPIA, comparing it with the Korean client after day one of the Launch Scale Test, read lower entry requirements, Krao Cave at 700 instead of 1,000, Urugugu Canyon at 1,400 instead of 1,600 and the Fire Temple at 2,100 instead of 2,200, a Unique drop rate that looked lower at 7.5% against 10%, and gear vouchers and whole items in place of fragments. 4:29 Anders adds that Conquest Expeditions no longer drop artwork scraps or wing feather down: paintings and wings now have a chance to drop directly, so a lucky player can get wings on a first clear while an unlucky one has, in his words, "no end to the grind" (Flight and Wings).

3:26 While leveling, Anders's global route treats the Exploration runs as story steps: all of them can be soloed, and he advises leaving the reward cube unopened, since it costs Odyle Energy better spent on Conquest at 45. 5:10 The first real wall, he warns, is Draupnir's Exploration mode, whose gear-score requirement is slightly higher on the global version; the Clash Rune, a PvE damage item for the rune slot, helps (Leveling). 15:54 Grobs's week-one plan sets Bakron's Floating Island as the first farming target, which he says needs 1,400 item level on the global version, for its armor, while alternate characters run Draupnir or Krao Cave.

The first global players found the opening dungeon quick. In the Launch Scale Test S4G's Kevin Link cleared Krao Cave with an uncoordinated random group in five minutes, which made it feel "more like a quick stop along the way" (S4G).

Hard Conquest reached the global version with the patch of Oct 20, 2026 (PDT; Oct 21 in Europe), for the two one-star dungeons, Krao Cave and Draupnir. Entry needs item level 2,600, the boss's Frenzy timer is set to 4 minutes, and each player may revive only 3 times. Hard pays more Kina than Normal, gives a chance at Philosopher's Stone: Revelation (Bound), which can also be taken as the guaranteed reward, drops every Unique crafting material (Wrathful Mind, Wrathful Will and Wrathful Ego among them), adds a chance at an Expedition Hero Artwork, and rewards Ariel Fragments, which differ by dungeon and feed the new Ariel board on Daevanion Boards: Substance Morph turns 100 into a Daevanion Crystal: Ariel (Bound), up to 30 times per character, or 1 into 5 Enhance Stones. New achievements for Expedition (Hard) unlock Unique skins (NC on Steam).

The two-star pair followed a week later. The patch of Oct 27, 2026 (PDT; Oct 28 in Europe) added Hard to Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island at item level 2,700, with the same 4-minute Frenzy timer, 3 revives and rewards, each paying its own Ariel Fragment (Urugugu Canyon Guide, Vakron Sky Island Guide). It also made bosses easier: Attack down 15% in Normal Expeditions, Attack and Damage Boost down 10% each on Hard, and every class's base HP at level 45 raised by 1,000 or, for the Gladiator and Templar, 1,500. Tier 3 and Tier 2 Expedition gear can now be transferred into Tier 2 and Tier 1 crafted gear, whose Amplify cap was raised to match (NC on Steam).

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Exploration and Conquest? Exploration is a guided tutorial mode with a Shugo helper and more forgiving bosses, unlocked while leveling. Conquest is the full version from level 45, with better drops and no helpers.

Which Expeditions are in the global launch? Six: Krao Cave and Draupnir (one star), Urugugu Canyon and Bakron's Floating Island (two star), and the Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den (three star).

How many players are in an Expedition party? Five on the global version, and in Korea and Taiwan since Jul 1, 2026. Parties were four at the Korean and Taiwanese launch.

Is there a Hard mode? Yes. Korea and Taiwan have had it since December 2025; the global version launched without it, added Hard for Krao Cave and Draupnir with the patch of Oct 20, 2026 (PDT), at item level 2,600, and for Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island with the patch of Oct 27, at item level 2,700, each with 3 revives per player and a 4-minute Frenzy timer.

Can Elyos and Asmodians run Expeditions together? Yes. Cross-faction parties arrived in Korea and Taiwan on Mar 11, 2026, and global matching can mix factions and servers unless a player limits it to their own faction.

How many Expedition rewards can you claim per week? In Korea and Taiwan, 21 since May 13, 2026, up from 14. NC had not published the global limit as of Sep 30, 2026.

Are Expeditions cross-server on the global version? Yes. NC says all instanced content is cross-server; matching covers the early access servers during Advanced Access and every server in a region from Oct 5, 2026.

Sources

• Aion2's Core Content Unveiled: The Complete Evolution of Aion, NC, Jun 4, 2025
• Aion 2 Unveils Season 2 Roadmap for 2026, NC, Jan 7, 2026
• Aion 2 Introduces New Sanctuary Dungeon, 'Corroded Decontamination Facility', NC, Mar 11, 2026
• Aion 2 Launches New Transcendence Dungeon 'Mirror of Scarlet Desire' and Announces June Showcase, NC, May 13, 2026
• Aion 2 Hosts SUMMER FESTA and Reveals Membership Changes, NC, Jun 17, 2026
• Aion 2 Rolls Out 'Chapter 1. Lands of Sand and Snow' Update, NC, Jul 6, 2026
• Aion 2 Preview: The Future of MMORPGs and Aion 2: NC Talks Content Rollout, Global Adjustments, and Player Feedback, Hardcore Gamer, Jun 16, 2026
• Patch Notes, Aion 2 Wiki (Fextralife), fan translations of the Korean notes, updated Jan 8, 2026
• Krao Cave Guide (Conquest) - Aion 2 Level 45 Dungeon, Grobs, Nov 24, 2025 (video)
• New dungeon Dying Dramata's Nest in Aion 2, Games On, Jan 24, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2: Complete Endgame Daily Routine - Things You MUST Do Every Day (Global Release), Society Of Gaming, May 27, 2026 (video)
• [Aion 2] Beyond the Abyss: Global Release Preview, Aion 2 Official, Aug 7, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2 Global Release: Complete Daily & Weekly Endgame Loop Guide (What to Expect), Society Of Gaming, Sep 1, 2026 (video)
• [Aion 2] Dungeon Live Gameplay Showcase, Aion 2 Official, Sep 4, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2 Krao Cave & Draupnir Expeditions Explained in Under 3 Minutes, FRESHY, Sep 12, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2 Global PVE - Every Dungeon, Raid, and Daily at Launch, Anders, Sep 15, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2 Hands-On: Great Combat, but the World Feels Strangely Solitary, S4G, Sep 24, 2026
• Aion 2 Global Guide - What's DIFFERENT From Korea? and Aion 2 Global Build - Gear Stats Changed Completely, Genus Nerfed, EUTOPIA and Anders, Sep 18, 2026 (videos)
• Aion 2 Global Leveling Guide: What to Do, What to Skip, What to Save, Anders, Sep 25, 2026 (video)
• Aion 2: Daily & Weekly Checklist + Perfect Week 1 Plan, Grobs, Sep 28, 2026 (video)
• "Information on server transfer", NC on Steam, Sep 30, 2026
• Aion 2 Server für Europa - Auf welcher Welt sind die großen Streamer?, mein-mmo, Sep 30, 2026
• "Patch Notes | Oct. 20 (PDT) / Oct. 21 (CEST)", NC on Steam, Oct 21, 2026
• "[Notice] Patch Notes | Oct. 27 (PDT) / Oct. 28 (CET)", NC on Steam, Oct 28, 2026