Welcome to our Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide. This guide will give you information about expeditions. It will show you the dangers, the rewards and everything you need to learn about many things.
Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide
When you orbit a Rocky or Garden planet, you may be given a chance to Scan for anomalies, revealing points of interest. You can choose to land at these anomalies and go on an expedition to find valuable resources, items, and improve Morale.
When you scan an anomaly, you will be given some basic information about the expedition sight:
Objective shows the goal of the expedition. It may not have a specific target, and be a place for mining, or contain a village to visit. Objectives show the action points a good outcome may require.
Danger, shown in a scale 1 to 3, this will indicate the dangers present, including number of hazards and the risks on Events you will encounter.
Possible Rewards, the type of rewards you can find, including Minerals, Plants, Objects, Blueprints, Aliens (Crew) and Omega.
Risks, showing the type of hazards you will encounter. Consider bringing crew and equipping objects that can better tolerate the risks.
Preparing for an Expedition
Before any expedition, you must prepare the team that will go. You can select up to 4 members to go on an expedition.
Demotivated crew cannot be taken on expeditions, this is caused by low Morale. This is indicated by a red marker, and their portrait will have a darkened background.
Items
Items are special objects found on expeditions, from events, and for sale on Civilised planets, which can be used on expeditions.
Every member of the team can be assigned 1 item from the ship. These items provide a passive benefit to the member or team. However, items can only be used a finite number of times before they’re used up completely.
Every item has an associated Class with it of either Xenolinquist, Survivalist, or Engineer. Items can only be used by crew of the corresponding class.
Health
A crew member’s health persists both before and after expeditions. Expeditions run a large risk of causing damage, therefore crew that are not full-health prior to an expedition may be at risk of death. Health can be naturally regenerated over time using a Sickbay while travelling across systems.
Suits – Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide
Unlike most crew, Nyx and Sergei have access to unique ‘Suits’. These are options that change both their Skills and Action Points during expeditions. Select the Suit most appropriate for the task.
Suits are unlocked as you progress through the story and complete missions.
During an Expedition
Expeditions operate on an expansive hexagonal board, with turn-based navigation. You begin the expedition with all of the crew you selected, with full action points.
The crew are given a set of stats that will determine their options during an expedition:
Rounds are done by selecting a location then clicking it again to move. Using a Skill or calling the ship does not take a round to perform, and the round only finishes when you move. You can only move as far as the Crew’s Speed in a single round.
Points of Interest and Events
Scattered around the map will be areas to gather valuable items to take back to the ship, including Treasure chests and resource veins. Treasure Chests can contain items including Objects and Blueprints, while resources can be for either Minerals or Plants.
Some named areas you may find will trigger an Event. Events during expeditions provide a choice where you may spend Action Points. Good outcomes can provide new crew, objects, blueprints, and materials, while some bad outcomes can cause crew to receive afflictions, lose health, or lose action points. If the Expedition has an Objective, the Objective will always have an Event.
Events offer three choices, with at least one that costs zero action points, usually with a low reward and riskier outcomes, and one that uses Action Points to more safely resolve the situation with better rewards. If more than one crew member can fulfil the Action Points, you will be asked to choose which one will perform the task. You will need to consider the current condition of your crew, and the potential implications of what your choice could do.
You can see what Action Points are required to receive the best outcome when hovering over a Point of Interest, and on the expedition’s Objective, however this will not show if a second option using Action Points is available. You can use this information to plan ahead what you will wish to spend on Skills and other Events.
Buffs and Hazards – Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide
The crew can receive beneficial and harmful status conditions, particularly from skills, objects, and some events. Some held objects may give these randomly or upon completing certain conditions, while skills can be activated any time to receive their benefits.
By contrast, hazards are dangerous zones that are sometimes found during an expedition. Standing on or moving across has a chance to inflict each member with a condition. The shown percentage on the hazard tile is the chance each member has of receiving the affliction.
Most afflictions will apply immediately, and then apply again within a number of turns. This makes it imperative to reach locations quickly, if the affliction will cause severe harm.
Villages
On some Expeditions you may find a Village. Similar to Civilised Planets, you can visit these locations to dismiss crew, recruit new crew, and trade materials and objects.
Calling the Ship – Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide
If you cannot make it back safely or need it immediately (i.e. a crew member has been dangerously afflicted), you can spend 7 Fuel to immediately call the Ship to an adjacent tile.
This action does not take a round. However, boarding the ship still requires 1 round, so plan accordingly if you are in dire need.
Losing Crew
If a crew member’s Health hits zero, they are immediately lost permanently. If all crew on the expedition are lost (and Nyx and Sergei are not on the expedition), the Expedition will end prematurely, and you will not receive any item or material gathered on the expedition.
If either Nyx or Sergei reach 0 Health, you risk a Game Over. The only way to avoid this is to spend 1 Omega from the ship to revive them. If you do not, your journey immediately comes to an end.
Completing an Expeditionp
Upon returning to the ship, you will receive every item and material earned on the expedition, alongside experience and morale for the crew, with a quick overview.
Experience and Morale
Depending on activities done during the expedition, your entire crew gains a certain amount of XP towards levelling up, and Morale benefitting the entire crew.
Experience gained depends on points of interest within an expedition, and the use of crew skills.
Morale is influenced by the completion of objectives and visiting villages, but is also affected by the loss and gain of crew.
Frequent expeditions are good for Morale if managed properly, but can be devastating if any crew falls. Complete as much of the expedition as possible to get more XP, but make sure to protect your crew, and prioritise safer expeditions if necessary.
Crew Level Up – Out There Oceans of Time Expeditions Guide
When a member of the crew has their XP reach maximum, they will Level Up. During Level Up, you can select 2 of 3 level up perks:
After levelling up, their XP returns to 0. No excess XP is earned. After each Level Up, the XP requirement increases.
Using a crew member on expeditions will improve their abilities for future expeditions. Maintain valuable crew and give them more expedition opportunities to ensure you can build levels.
Fatigue
After an expedition, all crew that went on the expedition become fatigued, and cannot go on another expedition for at least 2 inter-stellar trips, limiting how many expeditions you can perform. Currently fatigued crew are indicated by a red battery icon.
With more crew, or by using less crew on expeditions, you can perform more expeditions in a solar system, to better maintain Morale and gain resources.
