Expeditions are the main, headlining feature of Pacific Drive's spring 2025 update: "Endless Expeditions". As the name implies, Expeditions are a rougelite mode for the game, upping the game's difficulty and also providing an actual, curated postgame. Story-wise, expeditions allow you to access previously inaccessible areas of the OEZ through a special technique, which will just barely let you access these areas with Francis' assistance.

Expeditions, as an actual gamemode, differ from the core gameplay experience in a few small, but meaningful ways.

• The Expedition's map is randomly generated, and features designated loot types for each junction. I'll get into this more later in the guide, but each junction is assigned a specific loot types that spawns more often, including anchor plugs. Hence, it's good to plan around loot types that will be present at any specific junction. A standard expedition map will look something like this.
  
  
• Every 4 junctions, an expedition condition will trigger. These are special, map-wide junction conditions that last until the end of the expedition. You can see which of these will be present for an expedition when you select a new one after beating an expedition or when first booting up the ZETI device. These cap at 12 for a total of 3 modifiers (atleast as I've seen so far), with later modifiers generally being more damaging, which forces you to act fast and plan well to avoid getting caught in the worst of the expedition modifiers. These are represented by this little bar, which will fill up as you keep exploring.
  
  
• There is only one junction you can summon the gateway into, represented by this icon next to a junction. Summoning the gateway requires a large amount of energy, upwards of 5 LIMs worth. Anchors each only give 1 LIM per, hence you're gonna have to be picking up a lot as you go. Especially with certain expedition conditions, this can become an issue quickly.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Every single expedition you complete also makes the next one harder, thanks to a system of unique difficulty modifiers that function like the Ascension system from Slay the Spire, which can be viewed while selecting a new expedition. Each expedition you complete, the next modifier activates, affecting the way you have to approach the trip. I've got a list of the one's I've encountered so far later in the guide. Do keep in mind as well that earlier modifiers continue to affect later expeditions, meaning that (unless stated otherwise) every new modifier stacks onto the old ones to continue making things harder.

Individually, none of these are all too difficult to deal with (except maybe expedition conditions). Together, these changes to the gameplay loop require a great deal of planning, improvisation, and strategy to make it back to the auto shop, which is perfect for the more rougelite approach this gamemode presents.

As previously stated, junctions in this mode are given a specific loot type they're more likely to generate, as designated by the "Junction Features" section of the Route Planner overview. These are generally pretty self-explanatory, but here's a list of the one's I've seen and what I know about them.

• Desolate Junctions mostly exist, as far as I am aware, to fill in spots you've been through before. It is never worth going back through these, since they will be unstable as well as empty.
  
• Anchor Junctions feature large amounts of anchor plugs (who would've thunk it?). More importantly, if battery-locked anchors are active, locks in these junctions cost half the energy to open, making Anchor Junctions a significantly safer option for gathering LIM energy for the gateway.
  
• Junkyard Junctions feature extra clusters of broken-down cars, and as such are good spots to get lots of basic scrap. It's a good idea to visit one of these early on if you can, since the types of scrap that wrecked cars drop are useful for crafting tools and basic car parts. It's also good to have a substantial quantity of metal scrap for Ida incase you happen to pop by her shop.
  
• ARDA Junctions feature extra ARDA loot structures, like Labs, Investigators(?), and Observation Towers. These are good for getting some more advanced loot types like plasma and thermosap, although you are unlikely to be able to craft with them while you are out, especially if crafting restrictions are active. Hence, it's probably better to send these back to the Auto shop so you can repair and re-arm with them once the Expedition is over.
  
• Residential Junctions, as the name implies, spawn civilian housing clusters more often, which are good for stocking up on things like fabric for medkits. It's probably smart to hit atleast one of these so you can make sure incremental damage isn't the death of you.
  
• Ida's Exchange Junctions feature, who would've guessed, Ida's Exchange, where you can trade specifically metal scrap for various equipment. Usually, this will be car parts or tools, including equipment you can't craft during the expedition (i found a Lazarus Device in her stock, which I haven't unlocked yet), and blueprints for equipment that's been restricted. She is especially useful if you find yourself without a rarer car part, since she sells all tiers of parts and blueprints for said parts.
  
• Pit Stop Junctions feature a converted Big Dan's gas station that gives you a completely safe spot to repair and replenish your vehicle, featuring a full-service station, fuel pump, workbench, medical station, deconstructor, and pneumatube connection to the Auto Shop. These spots are also perpetually stable, giving you time to plan for the rest of the run. Unfortunately, these junctions do not generate any loot.
  
• Exit Gateways are the only junctions that you can summon the gateway into, making them the final goal of every expedition. Triple-check the Arc device is charged and ready to summon the gateway before entering these junctions, or else you'll have to brave the instability on your way back to the auto shop.

Despite these specific designations, these junctions still generate all types of loot, just in lower quantities compared to their specialty. These junctions all still generate their own zone conditions, so make sure to check conditions while planning your route.

This section will be a simple list of all the expedition modifiers I've unlocked, as to help you plan around them. Because this does spoil some of the fun of improvising, I'm going to mark each section as a spoiler, and you can reveal them as you like.

There are 20 of these in total.

1. Ambient radiation is light, which creates a constant field of 2.5 rads throughout the Zone. This is constant chip damage, and as such it's worth finding or bringing medkits to combat it. The radiation suit upgrade in the Outfitting Station is also helpful here.
   
2. Anchors are locked with small battery locks, which require a small jumpstart from your car's battery to unlock, which is delivered through a cable that attaches to the battery under the hood. This is where battery jumpers and plasma chargers come in, as a good source of burst energy. Bring some, or craft some, to make sure you can get the LIMs needed to escape. (Unfortunately, I started the expedition system after postgame, so I don't know how much energy the small locks cost).
   
3. Storage restrictions to embark are light. Storage restrictions force you to only carry a certain amount of items with you into the zone. Whether or not this is a bug, you can carry very little at this stage, as denoted by the non-red squares in the trunk of your vehicle. Side/roof storage and your backpack both must be empty to leave, hence meaning you're gonna have to do a lot of improvising while out on the trip. You are required to bring a scrapper to avoid getting softlocked, but otherwise prioritize basic repair tools and battery jumpers.
   
4. Expeditions have more junctions and now include Mid Zone biomes, which is self-explanatory. Do keep in mind this also adds extra LIMs to the escape requirement, so plan for a longer trip and to potentially see more of those expedition conditions. Also, plan for acid, since you are hitting the midzone.
   
5. Instability slowly closes in on the entire expedition region, which causes the outer edge of the zone map to become unstable as the expedition goes on and you visit more junctions. I don't have an actual interval for how fast the instability sweeps through, but once you see it at one end of the map, it'll start spreading throughout the expedition zone..
   
6. Anchors are locked with medium battery locks. Battery locks are now 40 KW to unlock, and 20 KW in anchor junctions. You're gonna have to be even stingier than before with your battery, and at this point it's probably worth investing in passive generation so you can offset your headlights and potentially save resources.
   
7. Expeditions have more junctions and now include Deep Zone biomes. Again, self explanatory, plan to deal with the Deep Zone and for longer journeys. Again, the LIMs required to escape are also higher. The Deep Zone can be brutal, so plan accordingly.
   
8. Available crafting recipes are lightly limited while out, and Ida's Exchange has more stock. Specifically, you can no longer craft most car parts, advanced repair tools, etc. Instead, Ida's exchange now has blueprints up for sale that can net you the ability to craft these extra parts.
   
9. Storage and part restrictions to embark are moderate. Aside from further reducing your storage to the point that bringing almost any repair equipment is difficult and requiring further reliance on unrestricted equipment, you are now restricted to a certain number of parts of each tier. At this stage, you may bring 4 tier 3 parts, 7 tier 2 parts, and 10 tier 1 parts. Hence, you're gonna have to do a lot of improvising to get around this limitation, requiring further min-maxing. Ida's exchange is likely to become a lifeline here, since she sells rarer blueprints so you can craft these stronger parts on the go.
   
10. Instability closes in on the entire expedition region. The slow creeping instability is now faster, and is more likely to become an issue. Keep a close eye on the instability and have a backup plan ready if you get cut off. Either that, or be prepared to gun it for an exit if you don't have any choice but to go through it.
    
11. Anchors are locked with large battery locks. Battery locks now cost 50 KW in a regular junction, and 25 KW in an anchor junction. As before, be quite stingy with your battery usage, try to avoid passive use and bring some form of passive generation with you. At this stage, a battery jumper is a little more than enough for one anchor in an anchor junction. (Big thanks to Topaz for delivering this info in the comments!)
    
12. Fuel consumption rate increased and less fuel available in Junctions. Another fairly self-explanatory one, fuel will be consumed faster, and hence you're going to have to stay on top of that a bit more. At this point, (hopefully) you have an unrestricted fuel can on hand, so make sure to bring that out incase things get dicey. Otherwise, just make sure to stop at gas stations and potentially incorporate a larger fuel tank into your build.
    
13. (Huge thanks to Bozdan for 13-20) 13: Available crafting recipes are moderately limited while out. You can no longer craft even basic repair equipment while out until you can get the blueprint from Ida's Exchange. At this point, it doesn't really matter what you are doing, find a shop ASAP. Blueprints are cheap and being able to do basic repairs is a necessity. You can still craft crude parts though.
    
14. Part and Storage restrictions to embark are heavy. Storage is now even more heavily limited, to just a 3x3 and 2x3 space in the trunk, and you can now only bring 2 tier 3 parts, 4 tier 2 parts, and 7 tier 1 parts. Choose your tier 3 parts very wisely. Bozdan, the commenter who left me this information, recommended an Anchor Energy Converter and a higher-tier engine. Similarly, plan your storage use wisely.
    
15. Some player equipment disables upon embarking. I, unfortunately, don't quite know what this one does. Most likely, this disables certain upgrades purchased at the Outfitting Station. You probably can't rely on the Hazmat Suit anymore because of this, and hence you are going to need more medkits.
    
16. Harsher status effects and off-road conditions. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure what this one does (again), but presumably it causes status effects to occur more frequently (IE: a tire pops, a battery springs a leak) and makes it significantly slipperyier. Probably prioritize nicer tires and repair equipment when buying from Ida or using the Liberator.
    
17. All damage to the player and car is increased. Self-explanatory. Keep repair equipment and medkits either on-hand or close by to handle the increased damage to your vehicle and yourself.

Unfortunately, I've run out of space here. See below for the rest!

18: Instability rapidly closes in on the entire expedition region. At this point, it's likely worth trying to stay away from the edges of the map, and planning a quick route. No 10-junction trips unless you want to get the instability on your rear. It is worth noting, though that Pit Stops and the exit will not be affected by the instability storm, and that perpetual stability will stop the storm from approaching in a Junction.
19: Available crafting recipes are heavily limited while out. You are now limited to crafting only the crude parts set, the scrapper, and the hand-vac. Hit up Ida's Exchange ASAP for important recipes like Medkits and the Prybar, not to mention repair kits.
20 (THE BIG ONE): All conditions are harsher, and some conditions worsen with every successful return. At this point, the game is intended to keep increasing in difficulty without any real curation. I can't say for sure what this means, but it does mean things are going to get harder. Stay frosty, and be prepared for anything.

I've reached condition 13 as of the last time I updated this section (4/8/25).

Alongside this, here's a quote with some useful info from Bozdan in the comments:

Originally posted by Bozdan:

Apart from that, anomalies start getting crazy in later half, they are way more common, sometimes crowded even. It's advised to avoid the zone that spawns anvils, as they will be literally at every corner, ready to screw you over. Next worst is Water zone, since the acid volcano's are common.

In higher difficulties the storm spawns way earlier, and Weather Anomalies are also way more common.
Try to avoid shopping in windy storm anomaly, cos everything will just get swept away by wind.

As for me, personally, anything after condition 10 is an absolute fight for survival. Not to sound like an informational poster, but try not to drive tired, it's worse than driving drunk and you will need every ounce of resilience for these runs.

Before going on an expedition, it's important to make sure you've done everything you can to make sure you don't get caught out and die to something avoidable. Here's a little checklist I've made that I try to run through before heading out:

1: Find a source of battery power. If anchor locks are active, you are going to need that battery power, so either make sure you bring battery jumpers/plasma chargers, or have some form of passive power generation on hand. Extra batteries will also help tremendously in this department. If part limitations are an issue, prioritize passive power generation.

2: Check your parts for wear. Expeditions are long, often longer than a trip to the edge of the map in the main game. Hence, check your parts for wear, measured in miles, to make sure nothing goes fragile while you are out. I already have a guide on this, but the gist of it is that for most parts, the fragile series of status effects can be applied to a part after it's been in use for 50 miles. In this case, be liberal in the parts you scrap early, as a fragile part while on something as long and tough as an expedition can be significantly worse than on a normal run, since you can't bail early and likely can't bring a replacement. Some longer Expeditions can even last 15 miles, so plan accordingly.

3: Choose your expedition based on your strengths. If you have a lot of extra fuel tanks, an expedition with Fuel Evaporation is probably easier to handle than one with Battery Sapping. Play to your strengths, and avoid particularly dangerous conditions like Virulent Acid and Overcharged Electricity if possible, since flat buffs to damage sources tend to be dangerous.

4: Plan a route. While you can't select a route while you are in the planner anymore, you can mark one out in your head or even (if you want to feel particularly immersed or old-fashioned) on paper. Choose your route so you get as much as possible out of the Expedition without potentially getting slammed with any particularly dangerous or resource-intensive junctions. Plan alternate routes as well, the instability, especially near the edge of the map, is likely going to try and cut you off.

5: Pack equipment that will be useful. You are required to bring a scrapper so you don't softlock yourself, so make it a plasma scrapper if you can help it. Otherwise, bring battery jumpers, and a Liberator. Stuff the extra space with whatever is useful and fits. Min-max as much as you can, you don't get much space to work with, especially later on.

6: Prepare your build for the journey. Especially if part limitations are in the picture, you're gonna have to start min-maxing. Based on your route and and the Expedition's conditions, pick higher-tier parts to minimize damage from common sources, provide useful tech, and make sure you have extra resources (I HIGHLY recommend bringing extra batteries). Unrestricted parts will prove quite useful here, just make very sure they don't break.

7: Be sure you are fully charged, fueled, and repaired before you leave. It's easy to forget to recharge your battery or refuel your tank if you've just been testing for quirks, so triple-check everything's topped off before you go. Make sure to check your quirks before you go as well, since a long Expedition with a detrimental quirk is likely to be very unfun.

Here, I'll assemble some simpler tips and tricks, things you can either learn or do that make life easier while you are out in the zone. If you've got one or two of these of your own, leave 'em down below, and I'll quote you here. Otherwise, here's some of my own:

• If you have a choice, don't bother grabbing anchors from junctions without the Anchor Junction modifier. The halved energy cost on the anchor lock is a game changer, and they tend to have enough anchors that you can charge up for the exit without much fuss. It is worth going out of your way for a more out-of-the-way anchor on these junctions, since less battery means saving resources.
  
  
• If possible, put off repairs for a rest stop junction. The full service station that is guaranteed to spawn here will do a good job without costing you anything, versus using precious chemicals (or worse, marsh eggs) and time on unnecessary repairs out in the field. These spawn commonly enough to be worth your time.
  
  
• Every single expedition junction spawns with a fuel pump right at the start. Try not to forget to use it, it saves time siphoning fuel from the zone so that you can spend that time looting.
  
  
• Do your best to avoid Deep Zone biomes. Deep Zone biomes are consistently the most dangerous areas in the entire game, due to an abundance of explosive anomalies and extremely dangerous weather conditions. Weather conditions seem more common in expeditions, so avoid these if you can or don't spend long in them.
  
  
• Use the pneumatubes. At every rest stop, there's a direct pneumatube connection to the auto shop that can let you offload resources you can't use or can't open, which will be delivered alongside your reward at the end of the expedition. Use it, especially for things like audio logs, database entries, cosmetics, and other things you don't expect to need. These items will be deposited alongside your expedition rewards once you get back to the shop.
  
  
• Get a radiation suit. Upgrades crafted at the outfitting station are not wiped when you leave for an expedition, atleast until that specific modifier triggers, and as such the passive resistance to low-level radiation that the radiation suit provides is more than worth it's steep price tag in this mode, since the first condition automatically seeds the entire zone with this low-level radiation.
  
  
• As Bozdan confirmed (and Garamoth asked about) in the comments, Goldshells opened on expeditions feature a different loot pool. Since Goldshells found on expeditions are generally unrestricted, it's probably worth bringing the ones you find along if they do make it back to the auto-shop (although some of 'em take a while to open, meaning you might waste precious time opening them).
  
  
• Something else Garamoth pointed out in the comments: If you can't approach a locked anchor with the car for some reason, you can directly charge an anchor using items. Do note you'll see reduced charge from atleast the plasma charger compared to if you charged the car's battery while it drains into the anchor. This is something I've yet to test, but will absolutely do so at my earliest convenience.
  
  And most of all: PLAN. If you know where you are going, what you are going to do, and are prepared for potential problems, you'll be prepared for the expedition better than if you just go in blind with no plan.

Here's some more advanced strategies I've assembled. These are probably more like build choices than anything, but keep these in mind while you are out:

• Battery Jumpers are better than Plasma Chargers. Battery jumpers deliver a flat 30 KW of energy to your battery, where Plasma chargers can deliver a total of anywhere between 48-120 KW (my calculations aren't super precise because I can't tell how much durability the charger drains per second. If someone can get me that number, this'd be easier to tell). However, Plasma Chargers require Plasma, which is relatively rare and out of the way as far as materials go, hence the cheaper jumpers are the better choice. Battery Jumpers are also smaller, and stack up to 3, letting you fit 90 KW into 4 slots of space, which is more efficient than the Plasma Charger.
  
  
• The Anchor Energy Converter is net-positive on anchor locks. At 100 KW per KLIM, and each anchor providing 1 KLIM, this is a good way to prevent potential energy struggles and make sure you have access to enough energy at all times. Do keep in mind, though, that this is one of the higher tier slots taken, meaning you'll have to bring lower-tier parts to compensate.
  
  
• Invest in passive energy generation. Passive energy generation generally takes up 1 or 2 tier-2 slots, but offsetting other energy needs early will give you a major edge in staying alive. Wind Turbines are generally better for this, since they generate energy when driving at high speeds as well as during storms.
  
  
• Avoid passive battery use. While things like Powered Bumpers and Power-Grip Tires can be incredibly powerful, passive battery use makes it very easy to become softlocked without enough energy or resources to open enough anchor locks. The AMP engine probably isn't the play here either, since fuel is relatively plentiful in this mode.
  
  
• Here's an interesting strategy: Bring a Liberator. This is something Bozdan in the comments mentioned they like to do, and something I recently saw the utility of when Ida dropped a cheap one on me. The Liberator lets you take parts from your environment, which is incredibly useful if you find a vehicle with, say, offroad tires, or armored doors, or any other part you might want to grab for yourself that you can't craft. When the Zone gives you something, you use it. If you do this strat, start searching for Squires especially, since they have good tires and panels.
  
  
• Another interesting strat: Bring the Resource Radar. While not particularly vital in the main-game (although in the past, it was a necessity for hunting Olympium), Garamoth from the comments pointed out that finding Squires or Investigators to use the Liberator on will be much easier with one. Especially once you start getting extra tier 2 slots open when the game starts giving you Unrestricted parts, the resource radar is probably a good choice to fill in the extra space.
  
  
• (UPDATE: I don't actually know if the devs are reading this, but they did just patch it, so if so, hello devs! This bug was patched as of version 1.9.3, and as such no longer applies. Here's what it used to say): Scouthunter667 discovered something interesting: ARDA Junctions can spawn Zone Stabilizers, which can be activated to summon the gateway early. As far as I can tell, it's entirely up to chance whether a Junction spawns with these (and there's a non-zero chance it's a bug), so don't bet on this for your exit, but if you do find yourself in a tough spot with no chance of escape, try a few ARDA junctions and see if you can do that one thing they made a Daft Punk song about.
  
  
• Bozdan from the comments (they've been the definition of helpful for this guide) discovered what is likely a bug in the way the game works that could make things easier. Be warned, this is both very cheaty and likely to be patched, hence it's marked as a spoiler. It's possible to reroll a junction on the Expedition planner, which will place a 2-KLIM exit wherever you reroll. It does apparently work as an exit, although you need to have enough KLIMs for the main exit... I think. This is weird and a little buggy.

That's a good question! To answer that, let's look at general reward prize pools, which are generally split into 3 distinct loot types:

• A rare garage cosmetic item unobtainable by other means. These include a lot of neon signs of various types, scientific-looking posters, and other rarer cosmetic items to really soup up your garage.
  
  
• A basic tool of some sort, such as a scrapper or fuel can, which can have the Unrestricted status effect. Unrestricted means that this tool will bypass storage limitations, allowing you to bring more than is normally allowed on the trip. This is very, very useful, and factors back into the rougelite gameplay loop.
  
  
  
• A car part of some sort, which can have the Unrestricted status effect. Similarly to how it functions on tools, Unrestricted parts are not affected by part restrictions, hence meaning you can take them with you into the zone at no equipment cost.

This isn't an incredible loot reward, as it's more designed to facilitate a constant rougelite gameplay loop, but these rewards are an incentive (or at worst, an excuse) to go back out into the zone again and again. As well as these special rewards, anything else you might find in the zone, such as logs, resources, cosmetics, etc, may still be brought back to the shop either normally or through the pneumatubes.

With all this information, you should hopefully be a little more prepared to experience an Expedition without the associated risk of death and permanent part loss that usually accompanies such a journey.

I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read through my little guide, and remind ya that if anything here is inaccurate, you have something you'd like to add, or you just wanna provide some critique, you can put it down in the comments below. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say.

Alright, that's all from me. Thanks for reading through, and I wish you the best of luck on your next Expedition!