“Isn't this exciting? This is the sort of thing I've always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl; cruising through the clear blue sky, seeing the wonders of all Sios with my own eyes, discovering secrets I never thought existed…and maybe, just maybe, we'll see an Arcwhale today! I really, really hope we do get to see an Arcwhale, they're such magnificent creatures, wouldn't you agree?” - Captain Maria Elena Asuna, Chief of the Sky Shepherds
Exploring the world of Sios is one of the first things Captains may do when they take command of their Ships, and remains an important aspect of their entire career in the skies. When a Captain explores, he or she may encounter random events, make Discoveries, and do battle with the other denizens of the skies.
How much Action Points (AP) you use whenever you Explore has no effect on what the probability of which events you may encounter. Therefore, there is no difference between Exploring 10 times using 10 AP each, and Exploring once using 100 AP.
When a captain decides to explore, there are a few possible outcomes:
Before embarking on an Exploration, a Captain must first decide the focus of the expedition in question. There are currently 3 Modes that a Captain may toggle at the top of the screen, and these Modes affect the outcome of the Exploration.
Normal Mode is the default Mode of Exploration, where the Captain steers the Ship according to his/her whims, and takes whatever occurs in stride. This allows an equal chance of making Discoveries (which will be explored in more detail later on) and having encounters with Enemies.
If a Captain chooses to Hunt for Monsters, he/she will spend 10 AP to get a 100% chance at encountering an Enemy to do Combat with. Because the Captain is focused on search-and-destroy, he/she will miss out on unearthing Weapons/Parts or making Discoveries which would otherwise have happened in Normal Mode. This is a decent option for getting EXP when Clan War and Ship-to-Ship Battles are otherwise unavailable for some reason.
Should a Captain choose to Hunt for Treasure instead, this will increase the probability that the Captain will unearth Weapons and/or Parts, as well as a higher chance of making Discoveries. This is a good option for finding otherwise Rare items, as well as clearing APs fast when necessary. This Mode is unlocked upon purchase of at least 50 Ocho coins.
When the Captain has toggled the Mode of choice to start the Exploration with, he/she may toggle the amount of AP to use in the drop-down menu at the bottom-right of the screen, and choose to use 10, 50, or 100 APs each time. Once this is done, the Captain need only press the Explore button, and Exploration will begin!
All sorts of weird and wonderful things can happen, when you're out exploring the skies of Sios. The most common event during Exploring, these events simply generates a one-line text result in the Exploring Log which appears when you click the Explore button.
Many of these Random Events have no effect and basically serve as flavouring to your Exploring experience, but some are “good” events which adds to your Gold, Experience Points (EXP), Resources, and/or APs. Conversely, there are also “bad” events which can result in a loss of Gold or harm the Hull Points (HP) of your ship.
On occasion, Captains may discover Wooden and Silver Treasure Chests while Exploring. These Treasure Chests may contain Gold, Resources, Common or even Rare Weapons and Parts.
The contents of Wooden Treasure Chests and Silver Treasure Chests are listed here.
Treasure Chests can be opened in the Hangar.
The skies of Sios do not belong only to the Airship Captains; a variety of fauna, as well as the individuals of minor factions, make the skies their home. Such entities are known in Battle Stations gameplay as Enemies. Enemies may be encountered during Exploration in Normal Mode, or more frequently when choosing the Hunting for Monsters mode.
These are called Enemy Encounters, and lead immediately to Combat between the Captain and the Enemies. Defeating these Enemies in Combat grants Gold and EXP rewards, just like any other form of Combat.
Because of this, make sure your ship is fully-equipped with Parts and Weapons at the Hangar, and ideally at 100% HP before you go Exploring!
This is because when you explore,you will not be able to skip the Enemy Encounter.
Every 5 levels, Captains unlock new Enemies with which they may encounter and enter Combat with. Therefore, for Captains looking to pick a fight with the Enemies, it is most beneficial to attack them when your levels are x0-x2 and x5 -x6.E.g level 10 to level 12 and level 25 to level 26.
These are the levels where new Enemies gives the highest EXP and Gold rewards.
Apart from discovering them in Treasure Chests, Captains may unearth Common Weapons and Parts directly as well during Exploration. Such occurrences are still rare, but relatively more common than the discovery of a Treasure Chest.
In the course of Exploration, Captains may make special Discoveries which will enrich their knowledge of the unique features of Sios. These Discoveries often come with a one-time Gold and/or AP reward, and may be viewed at any time.
Discoveries are specific to each Port, and a certain Discovery may not be unlocked at a Port other than the one they are found in.
Finding all of the Discoveries at a particular Port will allow a Captain to unlock that Port's particular Boss Battle Monster, with which he/she may do battle with. These Boss Battles are tougher than the average Enemies, but drop Rare items which may be difficult to obtain otherwise.
Once a Discovery has been made and unlocked, a Captain may Search the Discovery for additional Gold and EXP. A Captain may conduct a Search on up to 4 Discoveries around any Port in Sios, and may collect the Loot from the Search after some time.
Ship MUST NOT be sunk when you want to start a Search.
You may ask your friends for help.
Each friend helping will reduce the search time by 5%.
Up to 10 friends can assist you in the discovery search.
A Captain may optionally assign a Crew member to lead the search.Depending on the Level and Class of the Crew member chosen, there will be slight difference in the bonuses on the discovery search rewards:
Sailor: Slight Bonus Gold
Soldier: Slight Bonus XP and Gold
Pirate: Bonus Gold
Mechanic: Bonus XP
Scout: Slight Bonus XP and Gold
Bonuses are based on the Level of the assigned Crew, but are capped according to the assigning Captain's own Level (i.e. if a Level 100 Captain assigns a Level 150 Crew to a Search, he/she will get bonuses equivalent to a Level 100 Crew assigned to the Search).
