Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 can be a difficult game to get into, especially if you’re a new player. It’s a hardcore RPG that will test Henry’s fortitude on every level. Because of this, the game’s learning curve can be steep towards the beginning. These tips and tricks should help you survive through the lands of Trosky and Kuttenberg as you find your bearings along the way.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: Tips and tricks to help you survive
When you first meet Henry in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, the man is a blank slate. While he has a strong personality, his skills can be subpar at the beginning of the game. Leveling him up will allow you to gain progression in the skills of your choosing, shaping Henry the way you want to play.
Having early levels in certain skills and completing some tasks can smoothen the learning curve and make level progression easier.
Learn blacksmithing
Once you complete the tutorial and the opening segment, you should be left stranded in the pillory in Troskowitz with no clear direction of where to go. Your first main quest will lead you to Tachov where you can find Blacksmith Radovan. Talking to him will initiate the blacksmithing subquest, taking you through all the steps required to craft weapons and horseshoes.
After you learn how to make weapons, you can pick up orders and materials from the blacksmith to craft cheap hunting swords and horseshoes. Creating a few of these at the start of the journey can get you the Groschen you need to fund your early game endeavors. Keep up the smithing as you progress through the story to make some exceptional weapons you would not be able to normally acquire.
Learn to pickpocket and lockpick
The first main quest has two optional objectives. While one points you towards the blacksmith, the other will take you to Lower Semine to meet Miller Kreyzl. Enlisting in his service will get you access to his thieves, who will teach you how to pickpocket. After completing the tutorial, you should be able to clean the pockets of rich NPCs you find.
Apart from pickpocketing, you can also learn how to lockpick here. Once you acquire a few lockpicks, you can attempt to pick the locks of doors or chests. Picking door locks can gain you access to people’s homes at night, allowing you to pickpocket them or use the other lockpicks to pry open valuable chests.
Just ensure that your lockpicking and pickpocketing levels are high enough before you attempt the higher-tier locks, lest you get caught.
Acquire a horse
Once you have enough Groschen to roam the lands, you will need to do so quickly. Visit the stables in Semine to gain access to a horse of your own. You could also steal horses, but we recommend doing that after you’ve unlocked the Nomad Camp and know how to make a quick getaway. For now, approach the stables, and Henry should recognize his old mare Pebbles as you get closer.
Talk to Groom Ballatay and persuade him to give you Pebbles for free. If you fail the skill check, you will have to pay him 160 Groschen to get her back. You can always pickpocket the money back from him later, so don’t worry too much about it. Regardless of how you go about it, you should have your own horse before leaving Semine.
Having a horse greatly shortens the time needed to travel from one settlement to the next, making it a valuable investment early in the game.
Find Mutt
Now that you have one companion back, it’s time to find the other. Henry and his loyal hound Mutt get separated at the start of the game, and it is up to you to find him again. The quest to find him is quite long and will lead to other side quests you can complete. When you finally reach the end of the quest line, you will find Mutt roaming with a pack of wolves.
Once he encounters Henry, Mutt will choose to leave the pack and join you again. However, you will have to fight off the wolf pack before you can successfully save him. After Mutt rejoins you, you gain access to the Houndmaster perk and can teach him a variety of useful commands to help you in and out of battle.
Level up perks
As Henry levels up, you will unlock various perks in different categories. With over 200 perks to choose from, it would be best to pick up a few that suit your playstyle. Whenever you unlock a perk point, check the menu and look for a worthwhile upgrade immediately instead of saving it up for later. Every minor thing you do in the game, including simply walking around, will add to Henry’s experience points.
Some perks universally fit into every build such as Pack Mule, Next to Godliness, and Jack of All Trades. Story progression will inevitably grant you access to perks from different skill trees, including Combat, Speech, Stealth, and Survival, among others. Our perk tier list will help you find out which perks are best for your play style at every stage of the game.
Always appear presentable
More often than not, you can solve Henry’s problems through words rather than violence. If you want to present a compelling case to the people you talk to, looking presentable would greatly help you out. Whenever you enter a settlement, look for a water trough or a laundry spot to quickly wash out the dirt, grime, and blood you might accrue from your journey.
When it comes to really convincing the top brass, you want to look your best. This is when you visit a bathhouse to completely clean and heal yourself, and fix your clothing. The Time Well Spent buff will also help you in additional speech checks or combat encounters later. Pick up some fancier clothes if you plan on spending time among the upper echelon of society.
Picking up the Next to Godliness, Flower Power, and Charming Companion perks will help you even further when it comes to looking like a gentleman.
Train yourself in combat
You can’t solve every problem through words alone. Sometimes, you will have to sharpen up the old broadsword and hack away at hostile enemy forces. However, you can’t go into combat fully trained because you will often be outnumbered in battle and Mutt can only help you so much. This is where you need to find combat trainers.
As soon as you can access the Nomad Camp, make your way to Tomcat and learn how to fight. Learning different combos for your weapons will be beneficial in the long run since you can kill most enemies with one successful combo. You can also go to Miller Kreyzl and engage in fistfights to improve your Unarmed combat skills. A well-rounded fighter can take on any situation.
If you prefer one weapon over the rest, your skill with the others will fall behind. In this case, you can read skill books to make up for it and improve specific weapon combat skills.
Sleep often
Most of the quests in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 do not run on a timer. Because of this, you can spend your time resting whenever you finish a quest. Sleeping is the main way to heal your wounds, recover your health, and cure certain negative conditions, and you can do it for free in most cases. Renting a bed of your own can be cheap, but acquiring your own is highly recommended.
Sleeping in your own bed is also one of the few ways to save your progress, even if you limit it to an hour-long power nap. Try not to fall asleep in beds you don’t own because you risk being caught by the owner and will be tried for trespassing. Sleeping in the wilderness is another option, but bandits run rampant across Trosky and Kuttenburg, so don’t be surprised if you get a rude awakening.
Your best bet is to acquire beds at different points on the map so you’ll always have a place to sleep when you need one.
