- Expedition of the Guild progression guide: Build a balanced roster before chasing rare heroes.
- Early formation: Keep melee heroes forward and ranged damage dealers behind them.
- Resource control: Save mana, healing potions, crystals, and prayer points for key encounters.
- Dungeon safety: Defeat the boss before exiting if you want to secure the dungeon reward.
- Roster growth: Upgrade inn capacity so strong recruits do not force difficult dismissals.
Expedition of the Guild progression guide: Start Strong
Start your Expedition of the Guild progression guide by treating the opening hours as a roster-building tutorial rather than a race to the deepest dungeon. The early route introduces Riverwood, the inn, the blacksmith, recruitment shrines, party positioning, and the first major dungeon, Windfield Canyon.
The game uses autonomous combat, but formation and resource decisions still matter. Melee heroes should normally occupy the front line while mages, healers, rogues, and other ranged damage dealers operate from safer positions. Use the movement command to correct the formation before enemies surround your back line.
Video Highlights:
- The opening party includes paladin, warrior, druid, mage, warlock, and other class options.
- Mana is shared through a central resource pool before heroes spend their own reserves.
- Prayer points support recruitment, while hero rarity affects available skills and passives.
- Windfield Canyon teaches dungeon exploration, loot collection, recruitment, and boss combat.
Your first priorities
Riverwood is the first important base of operations. Speak with the scout and bishop, accept the available quests, and recruit enough heroes to create a functional party. Do not fill every slot with damage dealers. A stable opening group should include front-line durability, consistent damage, and at least one reliable healing or revival option when available.
| Early objective | Why it matters | Recommended approach |
|---|---|---|
| Visit Riverwood NPCs | Unlocks the first progression tasks | Speak with the scout and bishop before exploring |
| Recruit a core party | Enables dungeon progression | Combine tanks, damage dealers, and support |
| Organize formation | Protects fragile heroes | Keep melee units forward and back-line units behind |
| Learn mana controls | Prevents resource waste | Disable automatic mana skills when conserving supplies |
| Check the inn | Controls roster availability | Store useful reserves instead of dismissing them immediately |
Build around roles, not appearances
Hero titles can suggest a style, but class and abilities should guide your choices. A paladin can provide durability and healing, while a mage may bring area damage. Rogues offer agile damage, and priests or revival-focused heroes can reduce the consequences of a defeat.
Before entering a difficult fight, move durable melee heroes to the front and keep healers and ranged damage dealers behind them. A strong formation often saves more resources than additional equipment.
Front Line
- Paladins and warriors
- Absorb pressure
- Protect support heroes
Back Line
- Mages, priests, and hunters
- Deliver ranged damage
- Maintain healing coverage
Flexible Slots
- Rogues, druids, and warlocks
- Add damage or utility
- Adjust for each dungeon
Recruitment, Rarity, and Party Growth
Recruitment is one of the central progression systems. Heroes appear through shrines, prayer points, dungeon encounters, and town-based roster management. Early on, your party capacity is limited, so every addition creates a decision: replace a weaker unit, store the recruit at the inn, or continue with the current team.
Higher-rarity heroes appear to offer more passive abilities, while Epic heroes can provide active skills that give you more direct control during combat. Treat rarity as an important signal, but do not ignore level, equipment, role coverage, or party balance.
| Hero quality | Observed progression value | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Basic role coverage | Useful while building the first party |
| Elite | More developed passives | Keep strong role replacements |
| Legendary | Broad passive package | Prioritize when the role fits your team |
| Epic | Active skills and stronger control | Consider for difficult fights and specialized builds |
| Artifact equipment | High-value gear tier | Equip when the hero can use the item effectively |
Manage the inn before it becomes a problem
The inn is not just storage. It lets you preserve useful heroes while testing different compositions. This is especially important when a new legendary or Epic recruit appears but your active party is already full.
Use the following replacement order:
- Keep heroes that fill a missing role.
- Replace duplicate low-impact units before removing support.
- Store promising heroes instead of dismissing them immediately.
- Compare equipment compatibility before making the final decision.
- Expand inn capacity when your roster begins to outgrow its storage.
Do not dismiss a hero only because another unit has a higher rarity. A lower-rarity healer, reviver, or front-line defender may be more valuable than a duplicate damage dealer during early dungeons.
Prayer points and recruitment choices
Prayer points accumulate during progression and can be used to recruit heroes. Duplicate or unsuitable recruits may provide additional progression value, but the most important early goal is a complete team rather than a collection of identical classes.
A practical opening roster can include:
- Two front-line heroes.
- One or two consistent damage dealers.
- At least one healer.
- One revival-capable hero when available.
- One flexible slot for a rogue, druid, hunter, or warlock.
Dungeon Route and Resource Management
Windfield Canyon is the first major dungeon route and teaches the core expedition loop: enter an area, clear enemies, collect equipment, recruit new heroes, locate the boss, and exit safely. The dungeon contains loot, recruitment opportunities, and enemies that can punish poor positioning.
Scorching Desert follows as a more demanding area. It requires crystals to enter, and the observed entry cost is 200 crystals. Because the area is large and contains multiple dangerous encounters, prepare your roster before committing resources.
| Resource | Main use | Conservation advice |
|---|---|---|
| Mana potions | Supports automatic hero skills | Disable automatic mana use when enemies are manageable |
| Healing potions | Restores heroes below a health threshold | Save them for elite packs and bosses |
| Prayer points | Recruits or converts heroes | Spend them on missing roles first |
| Crystals | Opens certain dungeon routes | Avoid entering expensive areas with an unstable party |
| Equipment | Improves hero performance | Equip upgrades before selling extras |
A safe dungeon loop
Scout the entrance
Check the map, identify nearby enemy groups, and confirm that your party formation is correct. Put melee heroes ahead of fragile units before the first engagement.
Clear manageable packs
Fight smaller groups first to gain levels, collect loot, and evaluate how much damage your formation receives. Avoid pulling several elite groups at once.
Recruit selectively
Use shrines and recruitment opportunities to fill missing roles. If the party is full, store a promising hero at the inn before dismissing anyone.
Upgrade equipment
Equip class-appropriate weapons, armor, staffs, rings, and other items as they appear. Prioritize direct upgrades for your front line and main damage dealers.
Defeat the boss before exiting
Locate the dungeon boss and secure the victory before leaving. Exiting early can prevent you from keeping the dungeon rewards, while defeated heroes remain at risk if the recovery timer expires.
Why boss control matters
Boss encounters can include interrupt opportunities. When a control skill is available, use it during dangerous attack patterns instead of spending it immediately. Epic heroes with active abilities can provide more manual influence than a purely automatic party.
Revival support is also extremely valuable. If a hero falls, a revival-capable unit may bring them back. Without timely recovery, the game can expose that hero to permanent loss after the relevant timer expires.
Treat the boss as the completion point. Collect nearby loot only after your team is stable, and leave before downed heroes become unrecoverable.
Equipment, Combat Control, and Party Scaling
Equipment is class-specific, so a valuable item is not automatically useful for the hero who finds it. A lance may be ideal for a warrior or paladin, while a staff, mana flask, or robe should usually be reserved for a mage, priest, druid, or warlock who can benefit from its attributes.
As your party grows, the best improvements come from combining upgraded gear with a clear role assignment. Do not spread every item evenly if your main tank lacks health or your primary damage dealer has weak offensive equipment.
| Equipment type | Typical priority | Best early recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | High | Main damage dealer or front-line attacker |
| Armor | High | Hero receiving the most enemy pressure |
| Shield | High | Front-line defender |
| Staff | Medium to high | Mage, priest, druid, or warlock |
| Ring or cloak | Medium | Hero benefiting from dodge, critical rate, or intelligence |
| Mana flask | Situational | Skill-heavy caster or support hero |
Automatic combat still needs supervision
The combat system handles attacks and skills automatically, but you retain meaningful control through positioning and skill toggles. Turn off automatic mana skills when the current enemies are weak or when you are saving resources for a boss.
Keep an eye on:
- Back-line heroes moving too close to enemies.
- Melee units losing formation during pursuit.
- Healers becoming the focus of an elite enemy.
- Mana draining before the next major encounter.
- Healing potions being consumed too early.
- Recruitment shrines appearing while the party is already full.
Automatic combat does not remove tactical decisions. Formation, mana toggles, target movement, and active Epic skills determine whether your party reaches the boss in fighting condition.
Scaling the party
The observed progression expands party capacity beyond the starting group, reaching larger limits as the adventure develops. A larger party increases damage and role coverage, but it also makes formation management more important. More heroes can create clutter, split focus, and expose the back line if the group moves carelessly.
Use a simple scaling plan:
- Add a second front-line hero before increasing damage specialization.
- Add revival or healing coverage before attempting long dungeons.
- Use ranged damage to reduce pressure on the front line.
- Keep at least one flexible slot for newly discovered hero types.
- Upgrade storage before collecting more heroes than the inn can support.
Progression Milestones and Completion Checklist
Early progression is most efficient when each dungeon trip has a clear purpose. Instead of entering only to defeat enemies, aim to complete several objectives at once: unlock the next route, improve equipment, recruit a useful hero, and return with enough resources to prepare for the next expedition.
| Milestone | What to accomplish | Progress signal |
|---|---|---|
| Riverwood setup | Complete initial NPC objectives | Core town functions become available |
| First roster | Recruit a balanced party | Front line, damage, and support are covered |
| Windfield Canyon | Clear the first major dungeon | Boss reward and equipment secured |
| Party talents | Reach the relevant progression point | The system becomes available around level 7 |
| Black market | Reach the relevant progression point | Access becomes available around level 10 |
| Scorching Desert | Prepare crystals and sustain | Enter with healing, revival, and upgrades ready |
Essential Progression Checklist:
- Complete the first Riverwood quests
- Recruit front-line, damage, and support heroes
- Set a safe formation before entering Windfield Canyon
- Secure a revival-capable hero when available
- Equip class-appropriate upgrades after each dungeon
- Save crystals and supplies before entering Scorching Desert
- Upgrade inn capacity before dismissing promising recruits
Recommended preparation before Scorching Desert
Scorching Desert is a useful test of roster depth because it contains extended exploration, repeated combat, recruitment opportunities, and dangerous boss encounters. Enter only after your party can sustain several fights without exhausting healing supplies.
Before spending the entry cost, confirm:
- Your strongest front-line heroes are equipped.
- Your primary healer has suitable gear.
- A revival option is active if one is available.
- Your back line is not overloaded with fragile units.
- You have enough mana and healing resources.
- The inn has room for at least one promising recruit.
- You understand how to exit safely after victory.
The strongest long-term improvement is usually a stable roster rather than one isolated high-rarity hero. Build coverage first, then specialize around the equipment and active skills you obtain.
Official access
For current availability and store information, check the Expedition of the Guild Steam page. Store details, demo access, and release information can change, so verify the current listing before planning around them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the best early party composition in Expedition of the Guild?
Use at least two front-line heroes, one or two damage dealers, one healer, and a flexible slot. Add a revival-capable hero when available, then adjust the final positions around equipment and dungeon enemies.
Q: Should I prioritize rarity over class balance?
No. Rarity can provide stronger passives or active skills, but a balanced party is usually more reliable than several high-rarity heroes filling the same role. Keep essential healing, defense, and damage coverage.
Q: How do I protect my heroes from permanent loss?
Use revival-capable heroes, watch the recovery timer, avoid reckless pulls, and exit after securing the dungeon objective. Do not continue collecting optional loot when several heroes are already in danger.
Q: When should I enter Scorching Desert?
Enter after upgrading your main party, preparing healing and mana supplies, and confirming that your roster includes enough sustain. The observed entry cost is 200 crystals, so avoid spending them on an unstable expedition.
Do not judge a run only by how quickly enemies fall. A successful expedition also preserves heroes, controls resources, secures equipment, and returns with a stronger roster.