Hello again!
Here is a guide to explain the basics of treasure hunting, a mode that was introduced a few weeks ago and that I find pretty fun.
Where do I go to start adventuring?
Treasure hunts happen in the region of Zhul’Kari. Just like for the Arena in Broken Spire, you’ll find the activity located on the bottom right when you click on the kingdom.
Once clicked, you will be prompted to use a Treasure map :
Oh no! We don’t have any map!
How can I get treasure maps then?
Do not worry, fellow adventurer! The game provides you with several ways to get maps.
1/ You can buy them in the shop – just go to the rewards screen and buy them for 25 glories.
2/ You can get them any time you make a cascade, i.e. matches that lead to 7+ drops. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to do a screenshot to show it. 
3/ You can get them from your guild tasks.
All in all, you can pretty easily get some. It’s now time to go adventuring!
Ok, I have access, what happens now?
Here is what a board looks like when you start a game.
On the top left corner, you’ll see a number, which starts at 15: it is the number of moves you can make. Once it reaches zero, it’s over.
There are two ways to keep the counter going:
1/ Any 4+ match “stabilizes” the counter, that is, the number doesn’t decrease. If I do a 4+ match each turn, the number will stay at 15.
2/ Any 5+ match gives you an extra turn, that is, the number of available matches increases.
You can see here that thanks to several 5+ matches, I now have 20 moves available. You obviously can get higher. Personally, I’ve never been over 27 moves… yet. 
But I’m sure there are players out there who have done much better! 
Be careful though: you only gain ONE extra turn per cascade. So even if you get 5 “extra turn” text during a cascade, you will still only gain one. So sometimes, it’s better to avoid a cascade in order to actually get 2 extra turns rather than one.
It should also be noted that cascade matches are made immediately, rather than falling first.
Example:
Here you can see that the silver coins are going to create a gold coin in the middle lane.
And the match with the two other gold coins is made immediately, even if in classic mode the new gold coin would have fallen, meaning you’d have to use an extra move to make that match. You can actually often use this mechanic to your advantage.
Ok, so… what are all these different items to match?
Glad you asked!
When you match items, instead of disappearing from the board, they transform into a different one:
- 3+ bronze coins turn into a silver coin.
- 3+ silver coins turn into a gold coin.
- 3+ gold coins turn into a pouch.
- 3+ pouches turn into a brown chest.
- 3+ brown chests turn into a green chest.
- 3+ green chests turn into a red chest.
- 3+ red chests turn into a baby motherlode.
But… why? What is the point of all this?
The point, dear treasure plunderer, is to get as many big treasures as possible!
When your counter reaches zero, the game rewards you according to what is left on the board.
Here is a breakdown of the rewards for each item:
- Bronze coin: 1 gold
- Silver coin: 3 gold
- Gold coin: 10 gold
- Pouch: 25 gold or 3 souls
- Brown chest: 65 gold, 7 souls or 1 glory point
- Green chest: 175 gold, 15 souls, 2 glory points or 1 gem
- Red chest: 400 gold, 35 souls, 5 glory points, 1 gem or 1 iron key
- Motherlode: 1000 gold, 80 souls, 10 glory points, 2 gems, 2 iron keys or 1 magic key
Note that the rewards increase according to the container: you gain more gold if you open a motherlode than you would a green chest, for instance.
You can also adapt your play according to what you want to farm: if you hope to get gems for instance, it’s better to stop at the green chests since the red chest and the motherlode decrease your chance at getting some. On the other hand, if you’re hoping for keys, red chests and motherlodes become your goals. And if you’re anything like me, you just play for fun!
Ok so how do I know what I won?
At the end of the game, all of your items disappear from the board one by one, and you can see the rewards you gain from them on the right of your screen.
Here are three examples of treasure hunting rewards. You can see that the rewards may vary quite a lot from one game to the next. One game can mostly gives you gold, another one mostly souls, and another one a bit of everything. It’s all down to luck.
Is it worth it? Should I buy maps with my glory?
That one is really up to you. A lot of people think it isn’t worth because the rewards are not high enough for the 25 glories you pay. I disagree because I think it’s a fun mode and I mostly play it for a change of pace in the game and I don’t expect any specific rewards; my goal is always to go as long as possible, just for fun. But seeing that you can get them for free when you make a cascade and that you can gain some from guild tasks, you don’t need to spend glories on them necessarily. It really depends on why you’re playing them. If you don’t really have fun, just don’t buy them. You can get all the rewards they provide more quickly through classic means (soul or gold farming line-ups / invades / arena / guild tasks).
That being said, I will keep buying some regularly because I enjoy treasure hunting and I’ve got quite a lot of glories that don’t really have much use. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether you enjoy it too or not.
Can I go now? Tyri’s been waiting for ages!
Sure, don’t keep the lady waiting, and have fun, fellow adventurer!
