Boss Nodes

Boss Nodes mark the toughest encounter type in Expedition Mode. The payload's travel speed drops just as it would at any other combat node, but instead of a standard enemy wave, players face down that map's Boss while regular enemies close in from all directions at the same time.

Players defend the payload by placing Units across the available area and fighting until the Boss and every accompanying enemy are defeated, making Boss Nodes the heaviest fight found in a typical Expedition run.

Boss Nodes pull from the richest reward pool of any node type. Clearing one draws from Equipment Lock, Equipment Reroll, Trait Tome, Fuel Cell, Expedition Coin, Equipment Scrap and a map-specific material such as Cursed Timber, Lush Dirt or Aqua Shard, on top of guaranteed Player EXP, Payload EXP and a Yen payout in the 10,000 to 15,000 range.

That combination of Equipment Lock, Equipment Reroll and Trait Tome makes Boss Nodes the primary place to farm gear and trait upgrade materials in Expedition Mode, since those items don't appear in the lower node reward pools.

Because Boss Nodes stack a full enemy wave on top of the stage Boss, bringing Units that can handle both burst single-target damage against the Boss and area coverage against the surrounding enemies helps avoid getting overwhelmed on two fronts at once.

Since this is typically the final encounter of an Expedition run, going in with Units already leveled up from earlier Assault and Defence Nodes, and with Anvil-style stat upgrades bought at Checkpoint Nodes along the way, makes the Boss fight far more manageable.