12 tips to help you get started in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
The Middle Ages were a tough time. To stop your life in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 from getting any harder, here’s a few beginner’s tips for you.
As Heinrich von Skalitz, you’re in for a great adventure in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. And admittedly, I made a lot of rookie mistakes, as you can see from my review. You can avoid all this by following my tips below.
A dog – man’s best friend
Heinrich can get a dog to help him hunt, fight and even carry conversations. But first you have to find him again. At the beginning of the game, your paths separate, and I didn’t really make any progress in the quest to find him for a very long time. And since I was doing other things in the mean time, I didn’t even know where the quest continued later on.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
So please, keep an eye out. When you finally find the gamekeeper who’s supposed to put you on the trail of your Mutt – yes, that’s his real name – pay close attention. I almost despaired when I realised I had to find his stolen horse. During the cutscene, the camera shows a tree trunk with a knife stuck in it, suggesting I should look for clues there. Ignore that! The horse’s footprints lead somewhere else, and they’re easy to find in the gamekeeper’s small camp. The rest of the quest is easy, and you’ll soon be able to go for a walk with your dog.
Get naked
Your equipment has an effect on how much noise you make. Plate armour is a good choice in combat, less so when sneaking. But instead of slapping on soft shoes and the black thief outfit every time, you can always get naked. This is the quietest option possible, and as you don’t want to be seen anyway, you don’t have to worry about what people think of you.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Use equipment sets
Speaking of changing outfits: in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, it’s all done with a single click. You can carry a maximum of three different outfits. I recommend a combat outfit, the classic naked thief and a third one for speech checks. Which also brings me to my next point.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Clothes make the warrior
The Speech and Charisma stats are decisively influenced by your clothing. You won’t be able to wrap the fair lady of the castle around your finger in ragged clothes and holey pants, after all. Also, wash your clothes regularly as they’ll quickly become covered in blood during fights. You’ll need soap and a washing station, which you can find at every pond. A regular bath in a bathhouse does Heinrich no harm either. For a quick scrub, however, one trough is enough.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Being clean and smelling nice makes swaying people even easier. Across plenty of quests, this’ll make it easier for you to reach your goal and can lead to more interesting options.
Use the free save options
In Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, you can save in three ways. At automatic checkpoints, when you drink a Saviour Schnapps or when you close the game. But if you’re running low on schnapps again and don’t feel like brewing more, use the last option. Although it’ll take longer to end the game and start it again, the loading times in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are fine enough.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
By «savescumming» this way, I more than once cracked an almost impossible chest or snuck unnoticed through a heavily guarded lock. If I’d used Saviour Schnapps instead, I’d have had to build up a huge supply first and Heinrich would’ve been drunk as a skunk on top. Schnapps is booze, after all.
Practice makes perfect
You improve your skills by actually using them. Especially when it comes to stealing and lock picking, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to train them. Stealing works particularly well on sleeping victims. If necessary, you can make a quick getaway when they realise those fingers rummaging through their trousers aren’t part of a wet dream.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
As boxes and chests often contain valuable items, picking locks is essential. So make sure you always have enough lockpicks with you. As a blacksmith, you can even make them yourself. Initially, you’ll only be able to pick locks that are very easy or easy to pick – unless you quaff a Quickfinger Potion. Don’t miss out on those chests, it’s the only way to become a master thief.
DIY to the bone
Even with the sweetest of tongues, you won’t be able to avoid battles in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. The resulting dents and dings in your armour can be repaired by blacksmiths or tailors. But since they’ll charge you an arm and a leg, you’d better do it yourself. Depending on whether you want to repair a bow, sword, armour or trousers, you’ll need a different tool set. They cost a fraction of what you’ll have to pay a tradesman.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Just like other skills, you’ll need to practise repairing too. You may not be able to get the condition of a particularly fine weapon to 100 per cent to start. But most of the equipment you’ll find is usually suitable for your level and can be repaired by yourself.
Equipping your horse
As soon as you get your horse, equip it with a bridle, horseshoes and saddle. The latter increases the carrying limit of your steed, and since you’ll usually be overloaded, the extra capacity is nice to have. But be careful: most saddles reduce your horse’s stamina and speed. So if you ever find yourself in a race, discard anything that’ll have a negative impact. Heinrich, the old warhorse, has a well-padded behind and can also be ridden bareback.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Stay healthy
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is also a bit of a survival game. You have to make sure Heinrich always eats and sleeps enough, otherwise you’ll incur a penalty to health and stamina. If you wait too long, he’ll eventually keel over or even die. The latter can happen if you eat spoiled food, so always make sure the shelf life of your meal isn’t in the red zone or even zero. Food poisoning killed me more than once when I didn’t have a healing potion to save me.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Cash rules everything around you
Thanks to a solid economic system, you won’t necessarily be swimming in money even after 70 hours of play. Practising with trainers in particular costs loads of money. And since Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 doesn’t exactly throw loot and rewards around, it’s worth lugging expensive armour pieces and weapons with you and hawking them at the merchant’s. Starting out, those bandits who ambush unsuspecting passersby along paths are a great source of free equipment. On horseback, you can take them out with ranged weapons and ride away quickly if they get too close.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Keep an eye on your stamina
Sooner or later, you’ll have to engage in hand-to-hand combat. But as soon as you fight more than one enemy at once, things will get hectic. In such situations, try to position yourself so that your nearest enemy blocks the path of the others. This way you won’t have to fight on several fronts. After that, it’s primarily about stamina management. Wildly swinging your sword won’t help. It’s better to make a few targeted blows then withdraw and regenerate. This way you can parry or block attacks practically indefinitely – this also applies to fistfights.
Source: Philipp Rüegg
Enjoy the journey
My last tip concerns playstyle. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 takes a more leisurely pace than other open-world games. It’s just something you’ll have to be fine with. Enjoy the ride from one location to the next. The landscape is beautiful, and you’ll almost always discover something interesting. And often, the journey is more important than the destination.
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Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
