Beginner's Guide

From Curious Expedition 2 Wiki
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Welcome to the exciting world of Curious Expedition 2! This guide will help you navigate this complex and challenging game in order to keep your explorer alive. The game has two game modes: Campaign and Director Mode. The main mode is the campaign, in which you follow the story of Victoria Malin and go on several expeditions per year. Each year has normal expeditions and one story expedition. You must go to the curious islands, explore them, bring back treasures, and become a famous explorer.

You can also check out this Beginner's Guide video by PalicoPadge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ONGKB0jUI

How to start?[edit]

Note: You should play the Campaign first as the Director Mode is for more experienced players. It is also set narratively just after the end of the Campaign. But it is still possible to start a Director Mode game anytime if you want.

Difficulty Modes[edit]

DifficultyModes.png

Chose between 3 difficulty modes: Traveller, Adventurer, and Lunatic. If you are looking to play casual, you should go for Traveller. If you are looking for a challenge you should choose Adventurer. And if you are an experienced player, try the lunatic mode.

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Furthermore, you can also choose the following death consequences: Restart Expedition, Wipe Year or Wipe Campaign. Chose Restart Expedition if you want to play safe and Wipe Campaign if you feel confident and want the traditional way to play.

It is important to mention that you can change the difficulty later anytime between expeditions.



Choosing your explorer[edit]

The Big Game Hunter and the Anthropologist are the two first explorer classes you can chose from.

Different Explorers classes allow for different playstyles. When starting the game for the first time you can choose between the Big Game Hunter and the Anthropologist.

The Big Game Hunter comes with a Nurse and a Hunting Dog and is a more combat-heavy playstyle. The Anthropologist comes with a native shaman and a translator and is a more pacifist playstyle in which you want to interact more with the islanders.

You can also unlock more Leaders by fulfilling little quests. For example, you can get the Cartographer when you discovered 15 locations.


Paris Hub before your first expedition[edit]

Boussole cassé.png
You can recruit a new trek member between every expedition.

The game is set during the “exposition universelle” of an alternative Paris 1886. It is a place that showcases the great treasures, studies, and discoveries explorers have brought back. This is the place you will return to between every expedition.

The first thing you should do before taking it to the sea is going to the Boussole Cassée and recruit another team member. You can recruit one new team member between every expedition. (As long as your trek is not full.)




Choosing an expedition[edit]

Expedition Selection Screen

Choose between 2 or 3 different expeditions. There are 6 different types of expeditions with unique goals. Chose a low-difficulty expedition if you want to play safe and chose a higher-difficulty expedition if you want a higher reward.








Choosing an explorer club[edit]

Choose which club should be your sponsor.

The chosen explorer club is your sponsor, they will give you money for the expedition and reward you for what you bring back to Paris. You also gain Club XP and unlock purchasable items in the corresponding club shops.

More about the explorer clubs : here.






Preparing the expedition – buying provisions from the ship shop[edit]

Buy provisions from the ship shop to prepare your expedition.

Decide which items to take on your expedition. Make sure to take enough sanity items like chocolate or whisky. A First Aid Kit can also often come in handy as well as the Torch which can be used to enter caves or help you out in dice challenges like the one in the shrine chambers. If you still have some money left to spend, go for the Climbing Gear to use less sanity when climbing hills.

The further you play, the more you can decide what you need depending on the expedition type, the biome, and your trek. If you play on drylands, do not hesitate to take enough Water as it will reduce sanity costs while traversing the desert.





Survival[edit]

Sanity[edit]

The golden tick indicates the 30 sanity threshold. Keep an eye on that.

The key to survival is sanity, which you can monitor on the top right of your screen. Always try to keep it at 30 or higher, as dropping below and resting can trigger negative events. If you cannot, still try to not get to zero sanity which will trigger an Insanity Event after a few days with very bad consequences.

The player spends a piece of climbing gear in the swamps to use less sanity.

Avoid moving through difficult or hazardous terrain, as these cost more sanity than moving through grasslands. Keeping terrain-specific travel items can help reduce these costs.

Also, try to plan your way ahead and move longer distances. Every time you start a trip you pay travel start costs, so many shorter trips will cost you more sanity than less long ones.





Restoring Sanity[edit]

Trek resting at healing springs.
Whisky gives you 20 sanity.

You can only restore your sanity in two ways: using certain items or resting somewhere overnight.

Since rest spots are few and far between, you will largely depend on keeping a stock of sanity-restoring items to consume during travel.

If you are lucky enough to find a rest spot location, stay overnight as many times as needed to refill your sanity. You can rest in villages, missions and several nature rest locations like a waterfall, healing springs or an overarching rock. The nature rest locations are especially interesting as you do not lose standing nor need to trade to rest. Depending on your route it might make sense to come back to the resting spots.

Combat[edit]

A fight against two raptors.

Combat is also a huge part of survival and is highly dependent on the party members and weapons you have. Studying this mechanic will do wonders for your ability to fight enemies, select optimal companions, and use supporting weapons. Enemies can be distracted with certain items, but sometimes combat is simply unavoidable. Beware: an unprepared party can easily die in combat, ending a game in failure or making it a lot more difficult to continue if you lost most of your trek members. Don’t hesitate to try to flee if you think it will be a lost battle. Do not forget to equip your weapons else you will not have them in a fight.

An intro to combat: here.




Exploring the map[edit]

When you are two tiles in range of the marker you reveal the location.
The player has the choice to steal valuable treasures or to leave them there.

There are location markers (indicated with a ? symbol) all over the map. Try to reveal and visit them. Some locations are especially useful like resting locations or villages but there also many other interesting types of locations with useful interactions or that can get you great items.

Shrines: If you want to bring back more treasures and get some more fame to also get more tickets in Paris you can go to shrines and rob the altar. But watch out when to do it as this will trigger disaster and you will lose some standing with the locals.

It is sometimes useful to climb on hills to enhance the view. Best would be to do it with the Climbing Gear to use less sanity.

Now it is time to get out of here! Pay attention to your compass: it will guide you to your next objective and becomes more accurate as you uncover more of the map.

Some more tips[edit]

  • Upgrade your weapons in Paris: when you found a good weapon it is very useful to make that weapon more powerful. You can go to Lux Labs in Paris and level your weapons up against tickets.
  • Get rid of ailments at Avalon or with a shaman: some ailments can be a real danger for your expeditions. If possible it is good to get rid of them at Avalon in Paris against tickets or by trading with a shaman on an expedition.
  • Check out the shady dealer's sales: sometimes the Shady Dealer has sales on his some very useful objects. It is also a place to look for a Saddle.
  • Promoting: you will gain XP while playing. Don't forget to promote yourself and your trek members. You will level up and have more powerful stats.


Related topics[edit]

Gameplay
Overview Beginner's GuideCampaignDirector ModeParis HubExplorer ClubsExpeditionsLeadersCompanionsFamous Explorers
Mechanics DiceChallengesCombatTradeItemsTravelRestEncountersEventsClub CompetitionsAchievementsJoobee the truffle hogThe Duke
Attributes Sanity Inline120.pngHealth Inline74.pngLoyalty Inline93.pngStanding Inline131.pngExperience Inline56.pngFame Inline12.pngTickets Inline19.pngPerksAilmentsRelationships