Explore is a function that opens up once you have unlocked the Master Spirit that sits in front of the explorable location. Once this is done, Explore can be accessed by going to that location on the Adventure Mode: World of Light map or by accessing it through the Activities tab in the pause menu.
Explore has space for up to four spirits of any type, primary or support. Selecting one out of the four slots will allow you to select what spirit you want to send on an expedition. Once you're ready, you can send the spirits off to explore the place. They'll automatically gain resources over time varying on level and type (this means primary spirits are usually better as they can be upgraded) up to a maximum of two, six or ten hours depending on the spot you explore. The spirits cannot be used for fighting or any other activity while they're exploring, and despite you can end the expedition whenever you want, all those spirits will be exhausted and will not be able to access the Gym or go on another expedition for a while.
The rewards you get every expedition depend on many variables like the spirits' level, type (Sword, Shield, Grab or Neutral), rank and the amount of time the spirits went exploring along with other less obvious conditions unknown at the moment. When selecting a spirit to go on the expedition, a double arrow may appear on the lower right side of the spirit's icon, at roughly the same height as the level indicator (if they were to have one). If said double arrow is green and pointing upwards, it means that spirit will be a great contribution to the expedition. If it's blue and pointing downwards, they won't be as much a help to the expedition as usual. If there is no arrow, they will help, but not as much as one with the green upwards-facing arrow would. However, a level 99 Legend that has the downwards-facing blue arrow will help the expedition more than a level 10 Novice with the upwards-facing one, simply because it's so much stronger. If your spirits complete the expedition (i.e. explore for 2, 6 or 10 hours respectively) the rewards you get will get a fairly large boost, meaning it's always best to leave your spirits there for the expedition's full duration.
There are three different Explore locations:
- Ruins: The length of a Ruins expedition is 2 hours and the rewards are Spirit Points.
- Caves: The length of a Caves expedition is 6 hours and the rewards are various Spirit Board and Battle items along with a very small amount of Spirit Points and a few S or M Snacks.
- Jungle: The length of a Jungle expedition is 10 hours and the rewards are a very large amount of different Snacks and a very small amount of Spirit Points and Spirit Board/Battle items.