Forget stumbling through the opening hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. This guide lays out a golden path that will leave you with a free horse, a full set of powerful armor, thousands of groschen in your purse, and the game's most essential combat skill unlocked before you even seriously touch the main quest. By following these steps, you'll transform Henry from a hapless survivor into a formidable and wealthy adventurer, ready to dominate Bohemia.
The Prologue: Building a Better Henry
Your journey begins not with a sword, but with choices. The decisions you make in the game's scripted introduction have a lasting impact, especially on skills that are a pain to level up later. Get them right, and you'll have a massive head start.
Your First Choice: Why Advisor is Non-Negotiable
During the Battle of Sázava, you'll speak with Captain Thomas and be presented with three options for your initial skill boost. While Warrior and Stealth might seem tempting, always choose Advisor. This choice boosts your Speech skill. Why is this critical? You can level combat and stealth skills easily through practice, but Speech only levels through unique dialogue options. Miss them, and they're gone forever. A high Speech skill unlocks paths through quests, nets you better rewards, and helps you avoid unnecessary bloodshed. It's the single most valuable early-game investment.
The Campfire Classroom: Doubling Down on Speech and Scholarship
Later, around a campfire with Hans Capon, you'll get another set of skill choices. Again, prioritize the stats that are difficult to raise organically. Pick Speech for your main stat for the reasons above. For the secondary skill, choose Scholarship. Like Speech, Scholarship is primarily raised through a finite resource: unread books. Boosting it now sets you up for faster reading comprehension and skill gains later. For the final weapon skill choice, pick whatever suits your intended playstyle—swords, heavy weapons, or marksmanship.
The Herbalist's Hut: Potion Crafting for a Hidden Perk
After a run-in with some bandits, you'll find yourself at the herbalist Bojena’s hut. This is more than a recovery stop; it's your first opportunity to exploit the game's systems. First, bury the dead bandit outside. This allows you to talk your way out of a later encounter with his friends. Then, gather plenty of Sage, Chamomile, Nettles, and Belladonna from the pasture.
After Bojena teaches you to craft a Camomile Decoction, craft at least three more batches. Then, after she gives you the recipe for Saviour Schnapps, use the Nettles and Belladonna you gathered to craft three batches of that, too. If you brew a total of 20 potions here, you'll unlock a powerful hidden perk that increases the effectiveness of all potions and reduces hangover duration. It's a massive buff that costs you nothing but a few minutes at the alchemy bench.
Welcome to the Open World: Your First Hour of Power
Once you’re released from the stocks, the world is yours. But don't wander aimlessly. A specific route will net you crucial tools, valuable loot, and a free horse within minutes.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II in-game screenshot
Gear Up: The Spade, the Spectacles, and the Shield
Your first order of business is getting a spade. You can buy one from the trader, but it's easier to steal one from the cemetery east of Trosky Woods. Just be sneaky. With spade in hand, head west to an abandoned camp for some supplies, then continue west to a poacher's hideout. Inside a bird's nest, you'll find a pair of spectacles worth 250 groschen—a huge sum at this stage. Knock the nest down with a rock to claim your prize.
Next, head south of Trosky Woods to a set of fresh graves. Use your spade to dig them up. One of them contains a shield worth over 250 groschen. You're already wealthier than most peasants in Bohemia, and you've barely broken a sweat.
Your Free Steed: Taming Pebbles
Walking is for commoners. Follow the road southwest from Trosky Woods to the town of Semonín. Before entering the stud farm, grab a lockpick from a bird's nest on the north side of the pond. At the stud farm, you'll find a horse named Pebbles. Speak to the groom and use your high Speech skill to convince him to give you the horse for free. Equip the free horse tack you're given for an extra 20 pounds of carry capacity. Pebbles isn't just any horse; if you ride her for 35 kilometers without fast traveling, she unlocks a hidden perk, 'Good Old Pebbles', that turns her into one of the best mounts in the game.
The Nest Egg: A Hidden Key and 381 Groschen
With Pebbles as your companion, ride towards Miller Woyzeck's mill to the southwest. Just south of the mill, follow a small path to a clearing. In a bird's nest at the start of the path is a key. Take it down to the bottom of the hill where you'll find a 'very hard' locked chest. Use your key to open it and claim the 381 groschen inside.
Forging a Warrior: Mastering Combat Early
Money and a horse are great, but you'll need to know how to handle yourself in a fight. The game's combat is punishing, but one lesson can give you an almost unfair advantage for the rest of your playthrough.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II in-game screenshot
Master Tomcat's Tutelage: The Art of the Master Strike
Head to the nomad camp and find Master Tomcat. He'll teach you the basics, but the real prize is in his second lesson, 'Combat Training 2'. This fight is tough. Tomcat is a beast, and you're still fragile. The key is to never riposte. He will master strike you every time. Instead, focus on perfect blocks (which cost no stamina), wait for an opening, and use feints (holding the attack button and changing direction before release) to land single, careful hits. Be patient. If you defeat him, he teaches you the Master Strike, the single most powerful ability in the game. It's a counter-attack that is nearly impossible for enemies to block. If you fail, just reload the auto-save from the start of the lesson and try again. It is absolutely worth mastering this now.
The Vagabond and the Goblin's Gold
With the Master Strike learned, head to the main quest marker to look for Mud. You'll find a vagabond looting a corpse in the same area where you were ambushed in the prologue. You can fight him, talk him down, or practice your stealth. The new stealth takedown system requires timed inputs—wait for the two blue swords to appear, then press attack. If he struggles, a green shield icon will flash; press block to counter his escape. After dealing with the vagabond, follow the nearby bank to find the 'water goblin's treasure', a pot containing 125 groschen.
The Midnight Heist: Securing a Fortune in Gear
Now it's time for the big score. This run will equip you with armor and weapons that would normally take dozens of hours and a small fortune to acquire. The key is to operate at night.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II in-game screenshot
Reclaiming Your Stash
Remember the chest from the prologue where you played dice with Conrad? Before leaving that camp with Hans, you should have placed all your money inside it. Now, you're going to get it back, with interest. The camp has since been taken over by bandits. Head to a ruined cottage nearby around midnight and drink the Nighthawk potion inside to see in the dark. Sneak around the back of the stables, wait for the patrols to pass, and loot the chest. It should contain around 930 groschen.
The Thieves' Camp: A 4,000 Groschen Jackpot
This is the main event. South of Trosky, on the way to Semonín, is a small thieves' camp. The reason you must go at night is crucial: during the day, the two bandits here are wearing their high-end gear. If you fight them, you'll damage it. At night, they sleep in their underclothes, with all their pristine equipment stored in a chest.
Sneak into the camp. You can easily stealth-kill both sleeping bandits. One of them (wearing red pants) has the key to the chest. Open it to find a hoard of armor and weapons with a total value of around 4,000 groschen. Equip the best pieces, load the rest onto Pebbles, and ride away. You are now a walking fortress.
Advanced Looting and Crafting
With the core setup complete, you can spend a little time rounding out your collection of gear, recipes, and perks to become truly overpowered.
The Gorge and the Wolf Pack: High-Risk, High-Reward Treasures
North of the bandit camp, there's a gorge with a hidden treasure that requires some tricky platforming across log bridges. If you make it, a skeleton's bag contains over 430 groschen in jewelry and 183 gold. Further north, a wolf pack guards two graves. One holds a Saxon Bascinet helmet, and the other a battle longsword. When fighting wolves, stay defensive and use ripostes after a perfect block to take them down one by one.
Unlocking the 'Hammer' Perk at the Forge
In the town of Talmberg, the blacksmith will give you a place to sleep and a chest to store your loot. He also offers a blacksmithing tutorial. You can unlock another hidden perk here called 'Hammer', which reduces stamina consumption for heavy weapons. To get it, simply craft 10 items at the forge. The cheapest way is to forge 'Farmer's Horseshoes' nine times. Wear the blacksmith's apron from your room for a +3 skill buff.
Essential Early Game Perks and Tips
As you level up, spend your perk points wisely. For a melee build, prioritize perks that lower weapon requirements like Train Hard, Fight Easy (Strength) and Deft Hands (Agility). This lets you use high-level gear much sooner. For Vitality, Thick-Blooded and Next to Godliness are fantastic for survivability. For Speech, Silver Tongue makes haggling more profitable.
Finally, follow three golden rules:
- Don't Fast Travel Early: Ride Pebbles everywhere to unlock her 'Good Old Pebbles' perk.
- Pick Poisonous Herbs: Collect 200 poisonous herbs (Belladonna, Herb Paris, etc.) to unlock the 'Resistance' perk, which grants a permanent +2 Vitality bonus.
- Check Weapon Requirements: Never use a weapon if you don't meet its Strength/Agility requirements. You'll do less damage and burn through stamina, making you ineffective. It's better to use a weaker weapon you can handle properly.
The Payoff
By following this guide, you've completely circumvented the game's brutal early-game grind. You have a full set of plate and mail armor, one of the best horses, a fat purse, and the game-changing Master Strike ability. The lands of Bohemia are filled with peril and opportunity, and you are now more than equipped to face them. Go forth and carve your name into history.