Island Expedition

Island Expeditions are 3-player scenarios introduced in Battle for Azeroth. Both factions sail across the seas of Azeroth to harvest and steal :Azerite from the islands.Wowpedia on Twitter: "Island expeditions: explore uncharted isles across the Great Sea. Plenty of Azerite and other unclaimed resources. Organic A/H conflict." The maps for the expeditions will be provided by the gnomes and goblins, who have developed a new technology to find which islands may contain Azerite. Ships to the islands will depart from faction hubs.MMO-Champion: World of Warcraft – Gameplay and Systems Deep Dive
Island Expeditions unlock through the War Campaign account-wide. One can then do Island Expeditions on alts as they level.Battle for Azeroth Muffinus Interview - Island Expeditions, Wrathion
==Description==
Set sail for the previously unmapped isles of Azeroth. Battle in groups of three as you race against cunning rival intruders—or enemy players—to collect the island’s resources. Constantly evolving challenges await as you traverse frozen landscapes near Northrend, open the gates of an abandoned Gilnean castle, navigate a war between elementals and more. Rise of Azshara adds two new Island Expeditions to the mix—Crestfall, a gloomy, derelict skerry, and Snowblossom, an idyllic, mountainous island.World of Warcraft - Battle for Azeroth
==Gameplay==
Expeditions are role agnostic, and take around 15-20 minutes to complete. They can be played in four different modes, Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and PvP. The goal is for three players to collect Azerite and mystery treasures faster than an opposing team. Combat may ensue should the teams meet, and the island map adds Fog of War to conseal opponents' actions.
Each island has four possible starting points, and computer opponents use a tailored AI for this gameplay. NPCs on the island are randomized so the context can change entirely each time one visits an island. One time it might be populated with plundering ghost pirates, and next time with conquering mogu. There could be a thousand possible scenarios with the available islands and the possible mix of "puzzle" like a mix of mobs.MMO-Champion: Shadow the Fox Plush, Collegiate Dungeon Race, Developer Interviews, WoW History
==Islands==
There are 11 islands in rotation, with 3 available each week.
*Crestfall - Remnants of the Second War are found there. The battlefield island is inhabited by restless orc souls, twilight dragons and pirates.Crestfall Salvage
*Dread Chain - A frozen landscape. The northern island chain is inhabited by mogu, kvaldir, ice trolls and wild yeti.Dread Chain Salvage
*Havenswood - An abandoned Gilnean settlement and castle. The Gilnean island is inhabited by feral worgen, Old God minions and dark necromancers.Havenswood Salvage
*Jorundall - A vrykul island settlement. The northern island is inhabited by vrykul, vargul, taunka and the elusive storm dragons.Jorundall Salvage
*Molten Cay - A volcanic island with Zandalari ruins. The volcanic island is inhabited by ogres, yaungol and both sand and jungle troll factions.Molten Cay Salvage
*Rotting Mire - A swampy island chain. It's inhabited by saurok, jinju and an especially sorry lot of stranded pirates.Rotting Mire Salvage
*Snowblossom Village - A pandaren village farm. The pandaren island is inhabited by mantid, mogu and the pesky virmen.Snowblossom Salvage
*Skittering Hollow - A dark and rocky island filled with spiders. The northern craggy island is inhabited by troggs, kobolds and nerubians.Skittering Hollow Salvage
*Un'gol Ruins - A tropical island with ogre ruins. The jungle island is inhabited by quilboar, pygmy and hozen.Un'gol Ruins Salvage
*Verdant Wilds - A forested island with mogu ruins. The druidic island is inhabited by furbolgs, druids and keepers.Verdant Wilds Salvage
*Whispering Reef - A forested island with night elf ruins. The reef ringed island is inhabited by makrura, murlocs and the naga.Whispering Reef Salvage
The Uncharted Island is visited as a tutorial scenario for Island Expeditions.
==Island features==
Each time an Island Expedition is queued up, the island has different features. A list of features as seen below:
*Different creatures with different organizations with different amounts of Azerite
*You might find capture points
*Chests and Azerite Nodes of all kinds
*Different quest givers
*Consumables and Shrines
*Every island has at least 4 start locations
*Caves, Ships...and more!World of Warcraft Gameplay and Systems Deep Dive - BlizzCon 2017
*Different weather effects.http://www.wowhead.com/news=283331.2/battle-for-azeroth-media-day-interview-roundup-weather-2-0-more-collection-achie
===Island denizens===
This is an incomplete list of creatures and islands where they can be encountered on:
	Humanoid groups 	Encountered on 	Additional interactions
	Amathet tol'vir 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins 	Swirling Sands portal to Dusty Tomb
	Bloodfist ogres 	Molten Cay 	
	Bloodwake vrykul 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay 	
	Brineshell makrura 	Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Bristlemane quilboars 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Coldlight deep sea murlocs 	Whispering Reef 	
	Craghorn yetis 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay 	
	Cultist necromancers and undead	 	
	Keepers & dryads 	Verdant Wilds 	
	Feral shapeshifted druids 	Verdant Wilds 	
	Feral worgen 	Havenswood 	
	Frostbeard wendigos 	Dread Chain 	
	Dampscale gorlocs 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Fleshrot vargul 	 	
	Gulan yaungol 	Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Icetusk ice trolls 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Kunzen hozen 	Un'gol Ruins, Uncharted Island 	
	Kvaldir 	Dread Chain, Un'gol Ruins 	Eerie Fog and Fetid Mist weather effects that reduce visibilityMisty Gateway to Quarters of the Damned on the Naglfar
	Minions of the Old Gods 	Havenswood 	Shadow Storm tentacles appear periodicallyDark Fissure portal to Maw of Go'rath
	Mirelurk saurok 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Mistscorn taunka 	Jorundall 	
	Muckfin murlocs 	Whispering Reef 	
	Mudwhisker kobolds 	Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Oomgut pygmies 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Pebblestone troggs 	Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Razorfin jinyu 	Rotting Mire 	
	Rockmane wendigos 	Dread Chain 	
	Saltfur hozen 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Sandscalp sand trolls 	Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow, Whispering Reef 	
	Shipwrecked humans 	Rotting Mire 	
	Slitherblade saurok 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Southsea pirates 	Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	Shoot yourself from a cannon to a pirate ship
	Spitefin naga 	Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	Swirling Postern portal to Animated Cavern
	Stinkfur Virmen 	Snowblossom Village 	
	Stonebound mogu 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow 	
	Undead vrykul 	 	
	Venture Company 	Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds 	Profit-O-Matic cannon operated by a Venture Goon
	Voru'kar nerubians 	Skittering Hollow 	
	Wildlands furbolgs 	Verdant Wilds 	
	Witherbranch trolls 	Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Zara'thik mantid 	Molten Cay 	Creatures and Azerite encased in amber
	Zian-Ti mogu 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds 	Spirit Gateway to Unknown Crypt
	Lone giants 	Encountered on 	Additional interactions
	Beach Strider 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Deepsea Tidecrusher 	Skittering Hollow, Verdant Wilds 	
	Earthliving Giant 	Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Frozen Stonelord 	Dread Chain 	
	Gemshard Colossus 	Molten Cay 	
	Goldenvein 	Dread Chain, Skittering Hollow 	
	Island Ettin 	Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Magma Giant 	Molten Cay 	
	Dragonkin 	Encountered on 	Additional interactions
	Black 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay 	
	Twilight 	Verdant Wilds 	
	Elemental groups 	Encountered on 	Additional interactions
	Air elementals 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds 	Tornadoes that lift players off the ground and damage themGusting Portal to a visible sanctum in the sky above the island
	Air pandaren spirits 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire 	
	Azerite elementals 	Encountered on all 9 islands in rotation 	
	Brimstone hell hounds 	Molten Cay 	
	Earth elementals 	Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	Sandstorm weather effectCrystalline Ingress portal to Crystalline Depths
	Earth pandaren spirits 	Rotting Mire, Verdant Wilds 	
	Fire elementals 	Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow, Verdant Wilds 	Blazing Sky weather effect with fires that break out periodicallyVolcanoes that erupt rocks in a location that damage playersBlazing Gateway to Blazing Cavern
	Fire pandaren spirits 	Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Thistlebrush sprites 	Dread Chain, Verdant Wilds 	
	Nettlevine sprites 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Water and ice elementals 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	Snowstorm weather effectFrozen ground that slows movement speedSwirling Postern portal to Marine Grotto
	Water pandaren spirits 	Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Wild beasts 	Encountered on 	Additional interactions
	Bonescale worms 	Molten Cay, Dread Chain, Un'gol Ruins 	
	Breakbeak vultures 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef	
	Brightscale wind serpents 	Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Whispering Reef 	
	Brineshell turtles 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Bristlethorn tarantulas 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow 	
	Coralback crabs 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Craghoof goats 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Darktunnel worms 	Whispering Reef 	
	Deathsting scorpids 	Molten Cay 	
	Deepsea crabs 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Dreadfang snakes 	Molten Cay, Verdant Wilds 	
	Duskcoat tigers 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay 	
	Flamescale hydras 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Frostscale hydras 	Dread Chain, Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Garnetback worms 	Skittering Hollow, Whispering Reef 	
	Gritplate basilisks 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	Other island denizens as statuesque Petrified Foes that can be released
	Grizzlefur bears 	Molten Cay, Verdant Wilds 	
	Ironweb spiders 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef 	
	Jadescale worms 	Skittering Hollow 	
	Jungle tigers 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Kindleweb spiders 	Molten Cay 	
	Knucklebump gorillas 	Un'gol Ruins 	
	Mudsnout boars 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow 	
	Muskflank yaks 	Molten Cay, Rotting Mire 	
	Nightsabers 	Dread Chain 	
	Nightscale wind serpents 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Pinegraze deer 	Verdant Wilds 	
	Rotclaw bears 	Dread Chain 	
	Runehoof deer 	Molten Cay, Verdant Wilds 	
	Rustpelt wolves 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay 	
	Snowfur wolves 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Skittering Hollow, Whispering Reef 	
	Sparkleshell crabs 	Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Spineclaw crabs 	Dread Chain, Un'gol Ruins, Whispering Reef 	
	Spineshell turtles 	Rotting Mire 	
	Venomfang spiders 	Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds 	
	Venomscale hydras 	Molten Cay, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds 	
	Vicejaw crocolisks 	Dread Chain, Molten Cay, Rotting Mire, Skittering Hollow, Un'gol Ruins, Verdant Wilds, Whispering Reef	
===Explorers===
Explorers that can be found on Island ExpeditionsAchievement Helping Hand are listed below:
==Advanced NPC opponents==
In three difficulties Normal, Heroic, Mythic the 3 person player group faces off against a team of 3 Advanced NPC opponents from the opposite faction in a race who can gather more Azerite to reach the required amount of Azerite for victory.
The Advanced NPC groups seem to be mirrored between the Alliance and Horde, with a pirate group on each side, gnomes on one side and goblins on the other, Horde pyromancers against Alliance cryomancers, so on.
; Alliance
All of them can be seen resting at Tradewinds Market in Boralus.
* Briona's Buccaneers: Dwarven and gnomish pirates (Briona the Bloodthirsty, Varigg, "Stabby" Lottie).
* Auric's Angels: Male hydromancers (Frostfencer Seraphi, Squallshaper Bryson, Squallshaper Auran).
* Light's Vengeance: Lightforged and normal draenei (Vindicator Baatul, Anchorite Lanna, Archmage Tamuura).
* Razak's Roughriders: Gnomish soldiers and engineers (Razak Ironsides, Dizzy Dina, Tally Zapnabber).
* Riftrunners: Void elves (Riftblade Kelain, Shadeweaver Zarra, Duskrunner Lorinas).
* The Wolfpack: Worgen (Gunnolf the Ferocious, Fenrae the Cunning, Raul the Tenacious).
* Dark Iron Demolishers: Dark Iron dwarves (Airyn Swiftfeet, Lady Tamakeen, Brother Bruen).
* Thornspeakers: Kul Tiran human druids (Thornguard Burton, Thornspeaker Tavery, Thornstalker Nydora).
; Horde
All of them can be seen resting in Dazar'alor.
* The Headhunters: Zandalari and jungle trolls (Berserker Zar'ri, Shadow Hunter Ju'loa, Witch Doctor Unbugu).
* Warbraves: Highmountain tauren (Spiritwalker Quura, Mahna Flamewhisper, Sunwalker Ordel).
* Greenbelly's Raiders: Orcs and Forsaken pirates (Captain Greenbelly, Dorp, Sneaky Pete).
* The Blazing Sunhawks: Blood elven pyromancers (Phoenix Mage Rhydras, Phoenix Mage Ryleia, Sunbringer Firasi).
* The Highborne: Nightborne (Moonscythe Pelani, Rune Scribe Lusaris, Astralite Visara).
* Gazlowe's Greasemonkeys: Engineers (Gazlowe, Skaggit, Lady Sena).
* Draenor's Blood: Mag'har orcs (Nagtar Wolfsbane, Ranah Saberclaw, Charg "The Boisterous").
* Raptari: Zandalari troll druids (Guardian M'sheke, Mooncaller Mozo'kas, Wardruid Ko'chus).
==Rewards==
Obtaining rewards through an Island Expedition is based on the themes provided with the creatures and invasions that occur during an expedition. For example, Squawks is a mount reward from a pirate-themed expedition. If the player encounters some pirate-themed rare creatures and kills them, pirate-themed items such as Squawks may show up in the loot window when the expedition has been completed. Another example would be the Plundered Blade of Northern Kings, which is only available from encountering and killing vrykul-themed creatures in an expedition which provides a chance for this two-handed sword or other vrykul-themed items to be awarded at the end of the expedition.
Focusing on special enemies, such as themed creatures and rare-quality mobs, is believed to improve the odds of being rewarded special loot. Regardless, it still comes down to the on if anyone in the group manages to loot items related to the creatures that were killed.
==Notes and trivia==
*Island Expeditions introduced a new type of tactical AI being tested in Battle for Azeroth.
*Krill Island, Oyster Reef, and Scarlet Isle were islands shown on drawn maps at BlizzCon 2017 but didn't make it to the game. Other islands have been datamined since but not implemented, such as White Mesa Isles.Islands803, minimap, newmaps.marlam.inMMO-Champion: Battle for Azeroth Alpha - Build 25902 Misc Changes
*The Ultimate Visual Guides state that many small islands dot Azeroth's oceans and explorers agree that more remain to be discovered.
==Gallery==
;Islands
Island Expeditions randomness01.jpg|Island expedition randomness 1.
Island Expeditions randomness02.jpg|Island expedition randomness 2.
Island Expeditions randomness03.jpg|Island expedition randomness 3.
Island expedition - Tropical 1.jpg|Un'gol Ruins.
Island expedition - Tropical 2.jpg|Un'gol Ruins.
Havenswood.png|Havenswood.
;Opponents and user interface
Blizzcon 2017 - Island expedition Spirits of Vengeance.jpg|The Spirits of Vengeance, now changed to The Headhunters.
Blizzcon 2017 - Island expedition Wolf Pack.jpg|Wolfpack.
Blizzcon 2017 - Island expedition dwarves.jpg|Unused dwarf team representing all three dwarf factions, including Kurdran Wildhammer who is oddly wielding Scaleshard. 
Island Expedition UI Horde victory.jpg|Horde victory.
Island Expedition UI Alliance victory.jpg|Alliance victory.
;Queue Menu art
BFA Map Sketch 1.jpg|
BFA Map Sketch 2.jpg|
BFA Map Sketch 3.jpg|
BFA Map Sketch 4.jpg|
BFA Map Sketch 5.jpg|
==Patch changes==
*
*
*
*
==References==
 
Category:Battle for Azeroth