Preparation

During the Preparation Phase, the player prepares their crew for the next expedition. There are four preparation phases in a normal 5-Expedition adventure - there's no preparation phase before the first expedition or after the last.

Actions during Preparation
The player can perform the following actions during their Preparation Phase:
 * Spend [[File:Gold icon.png]]Gold on new Equipment, and sell old items to gain additional Gold.
 * Upgrade the Equipment Shops with [[File:Gold icon.png]]Gold to increase the selection of items available.
 * Spend [[File:Status icon.png]]Status on acquiring new Entourage in the form of Helpers and Specialists.
 * Upgrade the Entourage Halls with [[File:Status icon.png]]Status to increase the amount of Helpers and the selection of Specialists available.
 * Spend [[File:Research icon.png]]Research on Research Projects for various benefits.
 * Research can also be spent during Expeditions, though Tokens are only converted to Research at the end of each Expedition.
 * Spend [[File:Insight icon.png]]Insight on various Jobs around the world, to convert it to a variety of Tokens.
 * Select a new Expedition to explore next!

Preparation Phase 1
After returning from their first Expedition, the player is granted the RE:IS Honorary Membership Treasure. During this preparation phase, only 2 out of the total 6 Research trees are available.

Preparation Phase 2
Upon the conclusion of the second Expedition, the player is given a choice to unlock either the Equipment Shop in New Orleans (along with the Entourage Hall in San Francisco), or the Entourage Hall in Constantinople (along with the Equipment Shop in Muscat). Whichever the player does not choose will still be available after the third and fourth Expeditions. New Orleans (and San Francisco) can also be unlocked through Research. Also, from this point onwards, all Research Trees are available for use.

Preparation Phase 3
In addition to the location not chosen in Preparation Phase 2, the player can now unlock the Equipment Shop in Sydney and the Jobs in Africa, but can still only unlock one additional location out of these. All options not selected here will still be available after the fourth Expedition. Both Equipment Shops can still be unlocked through Research, although no compensation is given if the player has already unlocked these Shops and completes the Research Project.

Preparation Phase 4
In addition to all other locations not available yet, the player can now also choose to unlock the Entourage Hall in Rio de Janeiro, and the Jobs in Asia. The player gets to pick one last location out of these to unlock, the rest will be unavailable for the rest of the adventure unless the player enters Marathon Mode after their fifth Expedition. The Job locations in Asia can also be unlocked through Research, but the Research Project offers no compensation if these locations are already unlocked. Finally, at the start of the fourth Preparation Phase, the player's Captain is interviewed by a Journalist. They can increase the amount of Renown earned from a particular source (Gold, Status, or Research) by 100% and from other sources by 25%, or increase Renown from all sources by 60%. This bonus does not take effect until the fifth Expedition starts, however, and thus has no effect on how the player spends their Insight.