Where the Route Begins
- Finish the tutorial and speak with Vannaka, Doric, and Zanak before you arrive in Bramble Mead.
- Expect the Wise Old Man to ask you to build your first base once you reach Bramble Mead.
- Have a simple base, plenty of clean water, a supply of rat roast, flax growing on your farm, full reinforced armor, a bone club, a shield, and the Giant Hawk Amulet before pushing the Dragon Slayer quest forward.
The Ordered Route Through Dragon Slayer
- Head up to the Keeper Blue Flames to progress the Dragon Slayer quest.
- Before following the main quest into the Whispering Swamp, check out the Temple Woods vault to the south. Every enemy inside is only power level two, so with your armor it should not be difficult, and the rewards are good.
- Collect the three Vault Cores inside the Temple Woods vault, along with the runes and crafting materials, then build your first Lodestone back at your base.
- Bring enough materials to build another Lodestone once you reach the Whispering Swamp, which saves a lot of back and forth and gives you access to the region's materials.
- In the Whispering Swamp, use the vault on the east side to progress the quest. All enemies there are power level two except the Abyssal Demon to the west, so stick to the east side.
- Complete the vault, speak to Spitfire, and progress the Dragon Slayer quest. Defeat the Rat King and make sure you pick up the two Vault Cores inside.
- Return to your base, build a new crafting station, stock up on supplies one last time, then speak to the Wise Old Man again to finish Brimmore.
- Continue into Ghornfell, the second major stage of the game, which is made up of the Fracture Plains, Storm Touch Highlands, and Blood Blight Swamp. This section focuses on the Fracture Plains.
- Before leaving the Fractured Plains, visit Valgar's Rise and speak to Cathan's ghost. This progresses the Dragon Slayer quest and introduces the Challenge Horn.
- Mine the dragon tooth from the enormous dragon skeleton head, then craft a Challenge Horn by combining bloodwood sap, the dragon tooth, and five bronze bars.
- Before the summon, have full tier four armor and an Abyssal Whip, tier four ranged and magic weapons if you use those styles, plenty of anti-poison potions, lots of Dwellberry Crunch, and your Challenge Horn.
- Head to Velgar's tower, place the Challenge Horn onto the altar, and begin the fight. If you are fighting with melee, stay close to Velgar, which prevents him from using some of his longer-range poison attack and makes the fight a little easier.
Completion, Rewards, and Recovery Points
Before entering the Whispering Swamp vault, place the second Lodestone outside. If anything goes wrong, you can teleport straight back to that spot instead of walking the whole route again.
Once Velgar falls, speak to the Wise Old Man outside the tower. This completes Dragon Slayer, and your reward is the Dragon Blight Shield, giving you your second masterwork item.
At that point the early game is officially over. Your checklist should show full tier four armor for your preferred combat style, tier four weapons, the Abyssal Whip unlocked and crafted, the Dragon Blight Shield, an iron pickaxe, an iron logging axe, plenty of Lodestones for future regions, anti-poison potions stocked up, a good supply of Dwellberry Crunch, and Dragon Slayer completed.
From there, Fell Hollow is where the game really opens up: you start building a permanent base, unlock far stronger equipment, begin collecting masterwork gear across every combat style, and start prepping for mid and late game instead of simply surviving.