Starsmith Idle Expeditions - Dungeon Runs, Materials & Relics

What do expeditions do in Starsmith Idle?

They send your people into dungeons while your forge keeps working. The official feature line lists exactly three returns: “materials, relics, and battle tales.” The system turns the game from a single-screen forge into a loop with an outward arm — the forge produces, the forge funds gear and parties, and parties bring back what the forge cannot make.

The three reward classes have distinct characters even at the description level:

Reward	Official name	Apparent role
Materials	“materials”	Crafting inputs — the gear layer needs ore and components
Relics	“relics”	A separate collection class; no stated function
Battle tales	“battle tales”	Story flavor from the dungeon runs

How do expeditions fit the core loop?

The official “How to Play” names expeditions as one of the three tab actions — “Use the on-screen tabs to build and upgrade forges, craft gear, and send expeditions” — which places the system as a peer of forging and crafting, not a mini-game bolted on. The practical loop reads:

1. Forge coins (tap layer + idle income).
2. Craft legendary gear from smelted ore and materials.
3. Send expeditions to fetch the materials and relics the forge cannot produce.
4. Return to step 1 with a bigger engine — and eventually reset the whole climb through Succession.

What is NOT documented about expeditions?

The questions a player actually asks have no published answers, and this page keeps the gap visible rather than filling it:

• Party composition and size — what you send, and whether it matters.
• Duration and pacing — how long a run takes, and whether deeper dungeons mean longer trips.
• Reward rates — no drop tables, no material quantities, no relic rarity scale.
• Failure states — whether parties can return empty-handed is simply not stated.

Every number-filled “expedition guide” you may find elsewhere for this game predates any community that could have measured one. The game is weeks old as of this writing; when real data lands, this page inherits it with sources.

How should you use expeditions as a new player?

Structure, not numbers:

1. Send parties the moment the tab unlocks — the game hands you no reason to wait, and materials bank toward the gear collection either way.
2. Prefer consistency over optimization. Until rates are measurable, “always have a party out” beats any theorized schedule.
3. Watch the materials-to-gear handoff. If a crafted piece asks for something your forge does not produce, that is your signal the expedition layer has become mandatory rather than optional.
4. Read the battle tales. They cost nothing extra and are the game’s only confirmed storytelling channel — a rare thing in the genre and part of the studio’s craft-forward identity.

Are dungeons combat you play yourself?

No active combat is described anywhere official. “Send expeditions into dungeons” phrasing, plus the game’s clicker category, points to dispatched parties rather than playable battles — but the exact presentation is not documented in text.

Do relics do anything?

Unknown. Relics are named as a reward class without stated effects. They may be collection trophies, currency for something deeper, or story keys — no official or community answer exists yet.

For what those materials build toward, see gear crafting across 18 series; for the system that eventually reframes all of it, read Succession.