Main Story Walkthrough: Route and Progression Checkpoints

Opening route to Vernworth

The opening sequence leads through Gaoled Awakening, Tale's Beginning and In Dragon's Wake toward Vernworth. These quests establish the route into the main city and the story context for Brant's investigations. Follow the current objective until you reach the city rather than treating every destination on the wider map as part of the immediate critical path.

Once you arrive, the next important connection is Captain Brant. The main-story route and free exploration can overlap, but reaching Vernworth gives the early campaign a clear investigation hub. If you become distracted by optional content, use the current main objective to identify the next required story conversation.

Meet Brant at the Stardrop Inn

Brant meets the Arisen at the Stardrop Inn at night. Return at the appropriate time and discuss the available investigations to understand what the campaign currently asks you to do. Several tasks originate through this hub, so visiting it again is more useful than assuming that one conversation supplies the entire early story.

Keep a note of the investigations already accepted and the ones you have completed. This helps when you are exploring a destination that also contains optional quests or vocation-related content. A story lead from Brant is not automatically the same objective as every other interaction available in that settlement.

Brant's early investigations

The early investigations include Monster Culling, Disa's Plot, The Caged Magistrate, The Stolen Throne, The Nameless Village and An Unsettling Encounter. Some of these can be completed in a flexible order. That flexibility is why this walkthrough organizes the campaign into stages rather than forcing every save into one rigid sequence.

Choose an available investigation, complete its specific requirements and report back when instructed. If an individual objective is blocked, use its focused guide instead of advancing an unrelated main quest in the hope that the missing step resolves itself. The Caged Magistrate and The Nameless Village both contain requirements beyond simply reaching the marked destination.

Solve the magistrate's actual requirement

The Caged Magistrate requires finding a place with books before Waldhar agrees to leave his cell. The investigation therefore connects the gaol visit with Kendrick, Malcolm and the underground archive. Opening the cell alone does not finish the task, which makes this a common point where a brief main-story checklist is insufficient.

Use the Caged Magistrate guide when you reach that step. It separates the gaol access, library discovery and return escort so you can identify the missing action. Keep the wider campaign route open as an index, then return to Brant once the focused quest objective is complete.

Complete the Nameless Village investigation

The Nameless Village investigation continues beneath the surface settlement. Flaud's manor conversation is part of the route, but the hidden depths and Srail's evidence are essential to the report Brant needs. A visit that ends at the manor leaves the underlying investigation unfinished.

Follow the Nameless Village walkthrough for the concealed entrance, obstacle route and evidence handover. The village also contains Thief teachings, which are separate from the main quest's evidence requirement. Collecting a teaching does not replace obtaining the documents and returning to Vernworth.

Before Feast of Deception

Feast of Deception is a major progression checkpoint in the Vernworth stage. Review active local quests before advancing it, especially anything already marked as urgent or tied to an ongoing NPC interaction. The goal is to make an informed story decision rather than discover later that you left a desired objective unfinished.

This does not mean every optional quest ends at Feast of Deception. Individual quest windows and prerequisites differ, and a blanket cutoff would be misleading. Use the quest index to separate timed rescues, optional chains and main-story progression, then consult the relevant focused walkthrough for its actual conditions.

The Battahl stage

The researched Battahl arc includes Nation of the Lambent Flame, Flickering Shadows, Convergence and A New Godsway. These provide the next broad sequence after the early investigation stage. Follow the current objective and its prerequisites instead of assuming that reaching Bakbattahl automatically completes the story transition.

Travel planning becomes especially useful as the campaign moves between regions. Keep the world map guide available to distinguish a destination from the route that the current story state allows. A line on the map is not, by itself, confirmation that every border crossing is presently available to your character.

The Guardian Gigantus and Legacy

The Guardian Gigantus and Legacy lead toward the ending. Before pushing through the final stage, review the optional objectives and equipment goals you still care about. This is a useful place to decide whether you want the ordinary ending route or intend to explore the alternative endgame.

The Unmoored World guide explains the specific action that leads into that branch. It contains ending spoilers, so open it when you are ready to make the choice. Defeating the dragon normally and taking the alternative entry route should not be treated as interchangeable instructions.

Keep rescues and expansion entry separate

Immediate rescue quests deserve attention even when a main-story destination seems more convenient. Hourglass warnings and known rescue conditions are better planning signals than a generic claim that the entire campaign follows one safe order. Complete the urgent objective first if you want its successful outcome in the present cycle.

Dark Arisen adds an entry route through Brant, but it does not replace the base-game campaign described here. Use the DLC guide to decide when and how to begin that additional content. Keeping main story, optional quests, alternative endgame and expansion entry distinct makes the walkthrough easier to follow without inventing one universal quest count.

Common questions

Must I complete Brant's investigations in one rigid order? Several early investigations can be completed in a flexible order. Choose an available objective, solve its actual requirements and report back when asked. Use the focused quest guide for a blocker rather than assuming that completing an unrelated investigation substitutes for a missing library discovery or evidence document.

When should I review optional quests? Review the journal before major progression checkpoints such as Feast of Deception and the later ending stage. Pay particular attention to active urgency and outcomes you still want. This is a planning check, not a blanket claim that every optional chain expires at the same story milestone.

Does the expansion replace this campaign route? The expansion entry through Brant is additional content rather than a replacement for the researched base-game stages. Keep its northern and ruins leads separate from the campaign objective you are currently following. That distinction helps you choose what to pursue next without confusing expansion access with completion of a main-story investigation.