Read it once before you queue: every boss, the mechanics that wipe a group and the arena diagrams.
Expedition HardNewRequired GS: 27005 players← Conquest guide
3Bosses5Mechanics1Arena diagrams
Hard mode of this Expedition, live on the global servers since the Oct 28 (CET) update. Same route and bosses as Conquest, with tighter rules and better rewards. Each boss below lists the Hard-only changes first, then the Conquest mechanics that still apply.
Item level 2,700 to enter. Every boss goes into Frenzy after 4 minutes, and each player can be revived only 3 times. NC has not said what Frenzy does — treat it as an enrage and plan to finish each boss inside the timer.
Official patch notes · global, Oct 28 NCSOFT · Patch notes Oct 27 (PDT) / Oct 28 (CET)
More Kina than Normal; Ariel Fragments for the new Ariel Daevanion board (the fragment type depends on the dungeon); a chance at Philosopher's Stone: Revelation, which you can also pick as the guaranteed reward; and a chance at Expedition Hero Artwork. Every Unique crafting material drops here, including Wrathful Mind, Wrathful Will and Wrathful Ego. In Substance Morph, 100 fragments become a Daevanion Crystal: Ariel (up to 30 per character) and 1 fragment becomes 5 Enhance Stones. Hard achievements give Unique skins.
Official patch notes · global, Oct 28 NCSOFT · Patch notes Oct 27 (PDT) / Oct 28 (CET)
The game sets no combat power requirement, and there are no global reports yet — the mode opened on Oct 28. The gate is 100 item levels above Krao Cave and Draupnir Hard, so bring a group that already clears those two comfortably. Stagger skills, buff food and scrolls matter on a 4-minute timer, and a Cleric with resurrection saves runs. Bosses in every Hard Expedition hit 10% softer since this update.
Our advice · global, Oct 28 NCSOFT · Patch notes Oct 27 (PDT) / Oct 28 (CET)
Boss 1 / 3
First boss
No Hard-only changes reported for this boss yet — its Conquest mechanics below still apply, now with the 4-minute Frenzy timer.
When he enters the counter stance, everyone stops attacking and moves away until it ends. Each hit he takes triggers a counterattack on the attacker, and successive counters get stronger.
Conquest · player recordings A2Naki · Urugugu Canyon
Boss 2 / 3
Second boss
No Hard-only changes reported for this boss yet — its Conquest mechanics below still apply, now with the 4-minute Frenzy timer.
Simple: he enrages and gets faster in movement and attacks.
Same as Conquest
When he starts this cast, move away from him. Pulsing damage around the boss is followed by a ground zone; wait outside until it is safe to return.
Conquest · player recordings A2Naki · Urugugu Canyon
Boss 3 / 3
Final boss — the bird
When he grabs a player and slams them down, the landing spot now becomes a shared damage circle instead of a plain area hit: the more players stand in it, the less each one takes. Watch where the grabbed player is falling and stack on that spot.
Hard · Korean server report (Dec 2025) — not yet confirmed on global 게임톡 · 아이온2 원정 어려움 모드 패턴 분석 (KR, 2025-12-30)
Same as Conquest
His winds hit in front of him — stand behind. If they catch you, he lifts you in his beak for a few seconds and slams you into the ground.
He flies up, marks one player with his eye and a small field grows around them, with arrows pointing in from four sides. Everyone runs into that circle and splits the final hit, or the marked player dies. Avoid the wind lines on the way. In the second phase he does the same from the middle, with a vortex around the arena.
Another self-cast applies a debuff to nearby players: step back when it starts. A separate targeted grab deals two hits and applies a debuff; the target moves out and the healer prepares to heal them. Do not confuse this with the marked circle that everyone must share.
Conquest · player recordings A2Naki · Urugugu Canyon
