Expedition Tech is the missions tech. It does two jobs. It unlocks new missions on the Missions page, and every level adds 30% to what all of your missions pay out. The payout bonus is the real reason to research it, and it never stops scaling.
Requirements
Research Lab at level 3 and Espionage Tech at level 4. That is the whole list. Nothing else gates it, so you can have it running before the end of your first week.
What each level gives you
Every level adds a flat +30% to the resources a mission pays out. It applies to every mission on the page, not just the expedition ones. The bonus is added to your base rate rather than multiplied into it, so the payout multiplier climbs in a straight line:
| Expedition Tech | Mission payout |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1.0x |
| 1 | 1.3x |
| 2 | 1.6x |
| 3 | 1.9x |
| 4 | 2.2x |
| 5 | 2.5x |
| 6 | 2.8x |
| 7 | 3.1x |
| 8 | 3.4x |
| 10 | 4.0x |
| 15 | 5.5x |
Once you have at least one level, the Missions page header shows the bonus you are running:
The Ore, Crystal and Hydrogen figures on each mission row already have the bonus baked in. They are averages rather than exact amounts. Each completed run rolls a bit either side of the number on screen, normally inside about 10%.
If you are in Diplomacy Mode your base rate starts below 1.0x, and the Expedition bonus is added on top of that reduced base.
Missions it unlocks
Three missions need Expedition Tech. Base payout is ore / crystal / hydrogen before your Expedition bonus:
| Mission | Unlocks at | Ships | Round trip | Base payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recon Enemy Territory (daily) | Level 1 | 2x Artemis Class Fighter, 1x Hermes Class Probe, 1x Atlas Class Cargo | 25m | 5,000 / 1,000 / 500 |
| Escort Ship (daily) | Level 2 | 1x Apollo Class Fighter, 2x Atlas Class Cargo | 1h 15m | 5,000 / 5,000 / 5,000 |
| Sweep For Enemy Mines | Level 3 | 1x Ares Class Bomber | 7m 30s | 850 / 0 / 850 |
The ships have to be parked on the planet you launch from, and they are locked up until the fleet gets home. Every mission in flight also burns a fleet slot, and you only have 1 plus your A.I. Tech level of those across the whole account. Send a batch of five copies of a repeatable mission and it takes five slots, not one.
Daily missions are tracked per planet, so a ten planet empire can run Recon Enemy Territory and Escort Ship ten times a day. Sweep For Enemy Mines has no daily lock at all, so the only limits on it are free fleet slots and how many Ares Class Bombers you have sitting there.
The in game description mentions new missions unlocking up to level 6. Those extra missions are not switched on in SFC2, so from level 4 upward you are buying the payout bonus and nothing else.
Ships it unlocks
- Carmanor Class Cargo at level 4
- Hephaestus Class Attack Platform at level 8
The More Info button on the Research page lists all of it in game:
Costs
Level 1 costs 4,000 ore, 8,000 crystal and 1,000 hydrogen. Every level after that doubles all three.
| Level | Ore | Crystal | Hydrogen | Payout after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 1.3x |
| 2 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 2,000 | 1.6x |
| 3 | 16,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 1.9x |
| 4 | 32,000 | 64,000 | 8,000 | 2.2x |
| 5 | 64,000 | 128,000 | 16,000 | 2.5x |
| 6 | 128,000 | 256,000 | 32,000 | 2.8x |
| 7 | 256,000 | 512,000 | 64,000 | 3.1x |
| 8 | 512,000 | 1,024,000 | 128,000 | 3.4x |
| 9 | 1,024,000 | 2,048,000 | 256,000 | 3.7x |
| 10 | 2,048,000 | 4,096,000 | 512,000 | 4.0x |
| 11 | 4,096,000 | 8,192,000 | 1,024,000 | 4.3x |
| 12 | 8,192,000 | 16,384,000 | 2,048,000 | 4.6x |
There is no level cap. Level 13 is 16,384,000 ore, 32,768,000 crystal and 4,096,000 hydrogen, and it keeps doubling from there. Crystal is always the wall.
Everything up to and including level 8 adds up to 1,020,000 ore, 2,040,000 crystal and 255,000 hydrogen.
Research time comes off ore plus crystal divided by your Research Lab level, so the same level lands much faster once your lab is tall or once ARCNet is pooling several labs. Level 4 on a level 5 lab is 8 hours. The same level on an effective lab level of 20 is a bit over 2 hours. The Research page shows the exact time before you commit.
Quests
Three quests pay out for levels in this tech:
- Broaden Your Horizons I at level 1: 5,500 ore, 4,600 crystal, 1,200 hydrogen
- Broaden Your Horizons II at level 5: 9,800 ore, 65,500 crystal, 22,700 hydrogen
- Broaden Your Horizons III at level 8: 123,300 ore, 89,600 crystal, 137,100 hydrogen
How far to push it
The cost doubles every level but the bonus goes up by the same flat 30% of base every time, so each level buys exactly what the last one did for twice the price. The first few levels are close to free for what they hand back. The later ones only make sense if you actually run missions.
Some rough numbers. The three daily missions together are worth 14,000 ore, 10,000 crystal and 6,700 hydrogen at base rate, so one extra Expedition level is worth 4,200 ore, 3,000 crystal and 2,010 hydrogen per planet per day from the dailies alone. Level 4 costs 32,000 ore, 64,000 crystal and 8,000 hydrogen. On one planet that is about three weeks to pay for itself. Across ten planets it is two days.
Repeatable missions change the sums completely. Sweep For Enemy Mines takes seven and a half minutes and has no daily limit, so if you keep your fleet slots cycling on it the bonus pays back far faster than the daily numbers suggest. If you never touch the Missions page, skip this tech past whatever level you need for the Carmanor or the Hephaestus.
Comments
To see our version of the Tree, Go to Main page --> MORE --> CONTENT.
I miss the tech tree. This version requires going through wiki for the specific requirements.
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