Update 1.4, code-named Rio Salado, has a new system on its way that this site has not covered until now because it did not exist publicly until very recently: Expeditions. Everything below comes from a single source, Tinto Talks #121, posted August 19, 2026, where Paradox introduced the system in an early look. Before anything else, take that framing seriously, the same way the Political Influence guide did for its own 1.4 preview. The developers said it in their own words: Expeditions are still under development, actively being tested and iterated on, and this is an early look. None of this is in the live build of the game today, and numbers and mechanics can change between now and release.

Expeditions are a new system meant to make exploration more engaging. The examples in the diary are part of the free 1.4 update, and they are deliberately flavorful. Paradox says the team went for a more flair-forward approach to art and UI than previous features: 3D character models, unique icons per expedition, animated buttons and dialog containers, and more color and texture in the panels. That is a direct, explicit response to long-standing player feedback that EU5’s UI needed more visual feeling. Some other expeditions will be exclusive to the paid “Across the Pillars” Chronicle Pack DLC, the first of that kind for the game, and those have not been shown yet. One more honest note before the three examples: the diary is almost entirely qualitative. Very few hard numbers exist, so this article does not pretend otherwise.

Circumnavigation: the race around the world

Circumnavigation is a prestigious expedition, a race to be the first country to sail all the way around the world. Along the way the expedition collects resources, with the example given being cloves, which are sold at market price for ducats. The developers describe resources as somewhat abstracted, so this is closer to a story-driven voyage than a full cargo simulation. Provisions matter in the most direct way possible: run out of provisions and morale drops, and low morale risks mutiny, which can end the expedition entirely. Being the first to circumnavigate yields useful bonuses, and no exact numbers were given for what those bonuses are, so the uncertainty is stated openly rather than papered over.

The Treasure Fleet: a Middle Kingdom exclusive

The second example is unique to the Middle Kingdom, the game’s term for China, and it only becomes available through the Age of Treasure Voyages event. It starts through an action in the Middle Kingdom International Organization, where the country picks three things: the target destination, the character who leads the expedition, and how much cargo the voyage carries. The leader’s stats are mechanically relevant, and this is the part most players will care about. Military skill reduces cargo loss when negative events hit, and diplomatic skill increases the chance that visited countries make choices favorable to China. The expedition gets its own dedicated GUI view, showing Voyage Cargo, the quantity of Gifts Received, and Countries Visited.

As the fleet travels it stops at prominent ports and triggers events, and each host country chooses between two stances, which is where the system gets genuinely interesting. A submissive stance makes that country a distant member of the Middle Kingdom IO, grants benefits to the Outward societal value, and adds tribute benefits. An arrogant stance instead gains power projection, noble satisfaction, and subject loyalty. Those are two very different deals, patronage and tribute versus pride and internal consolidation, and both are on the table. Some pulse events, the diary notes, can also meaningfully alter local politics on their own during port stops, so the destination is not the whole story.

When the fleet returns, the Middle Kingdom receives a summary of the journey, including gifts received and other notable occurrences, with the example given of an extradited dissident or even a captured foreign ruler. It is diplomacy wearing a fleet costume, and it plugs straight into the systems the EU5 Diplomacy Guide on this site covers in depth.

The Great Pilgrimage (Catholic)

Expeditions also cover religion, with two separate religious expeditions shown in the diary. The first is the Great Pilgrimage for Catholic countries. It tries to visit as many Catholic Holy Sites as possible, and each site visited adds to a running count that increases the expedition’s benefits. The journey ends with a visit to Jerusalem, with additional sites possible on the way back. Sites that do not have their own unique events still tally toward that count, and at the end the total feeds a clergy satisfaction and legitimacy reward. It is a numbers-adjacent pilgrimage rather than a purely narrative one, and the reward scales with how many holy places you actually hit.

The Royal Hajj (Muslim)

The second religious expedition is the Royal Hajj, and it is focused on the journey more than the destination. The ruler themselves departs with an entourage of guards, and the trip must be completed within the same year or the pilgrimage fails outright. Depending on where in the world the journey starts, the expedition aims for one of four destinations: Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, or Jeddah. The country can pay extra gold before departure for more guards and a more splendid entourage, and the mahmal can be picked up en route, opening extra event options for displaying wealth. The catch is that the mahmal can be lost if the expedition is raided, and more guards protect against exactly that. The one-year time limit is a real constraint, lingering too long on side events can cause the hajj to fail. On successful completion the pilgrim performs the rites at Mecca, and the more splendor accrued along the way, the bigger the prestige reward at the end.

What is still coming before the open beta

Update 1.4 releases October 28, 2026, with the open beta that started October 1 shaping what the final version looks like. Before the stable release, Paradox has teased what is still on the docket: Paradox has teased what is next on the docket: Catholicism updates, a small surprise 1.4 feature that was teased without explanation and is not guessed at here, more UI quality of life work, and economy and trade additions. Next week’s Tinto Talk was skipped for Gamescom, and the diary also leaves the door open for the Across the Pillars DLC expeditions to be shown off at a later date.

That is the shape of things to come, and it is a good reason to come back when the beta lands. Expeditions are still being tuned from this very preview, the free examples above are the confirmed starting point, and the DLC expeditions are the promised follow-up. This is one of those systems where the numbers will keep moving between now and release, and the site will be right here with the full breakdown once they stop.