In Of Ash and Steel, you play as a cartographer named Tristan. After being shipwrecked on the island of Greyshaft and subsequently seeing the entire crew murdered, it’s up to you to survive on your own. From rolling hills and lush fields to dense forests and snow-capped hills, you’re bound to venture forth into an unforgiving wilderness.
Our Of Ash and Steel guide has several tips to help you get started. We discuss some core features, such as the attributes and skill system. We also take a look at some early-game objectives that lead you to Grayshaft’s capital city and beyond.
Rely on contextual clues due to a lack of quest markers
While Tristan is a cartographer by trade, you won’t actually have access to a map right from the get-go. Moreover, the game itself doesn’t have quest markers that show the locations of required objectives.
Think of it as somewhat akin to classic games, such as the Gothic series from Piranha Bytes and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind from Bethesda. As such, you must rely on contextual clues from NPC dialogues and descriptions in the quest log to point you in the right direction. You do have access to a compass, which appears in the upper-right corner of the screen. Things might be challenging at first, especially as you’re trying to get your bearings and understand the lay of the land.
Determine which attributes are viable in the long run
One important Of Ash and Steel tip to remember is that your attributes greatly determine how your character develops throughout the campaign. These are the stats you need to consider:
- Strength – Deal higher melee damage, wield powerful STR-based weapons, and lift heavy objects.
- Dexterity – Deal higher damage with bows, swords, and rapiers; wield stronger DEX-based weapons.
- Stamina – Higher stamina lets you run and swim for longer periods, and it also grants increased oxygen supply while underwater. You’ll also be able to attack and dodge more often in combat.
- Insight – Increased critical hit chance; unlocks persuasion options in conversations.
- Fortitude – Grants more HP, increased resistance against damage types, and slightly faster stamina regeneration.
Note that you gain bonus attributes depending on certain dialogue choices that you make during the prologue. From there, you earn +3 stat points whenever you level up.
Skill unlocks are dependent on your attributes and known trainers
Speaking of attributes, your stats also determine the types of skills that you’ll be able to unlock via the game’s skill trees:
- Survival – Set up camps, skin animals, use objects and structures in combat, and more. Certain perks also allow you to learn Survival-type diagrams/blueprints.
- Crafting – Lets you craft gear pieces, reinforce armor, and mine ores. Some perks also allow you to learn more Crafting diagrams/blueprints.
- War – Unlock heavy strikes, parrying, weapon masteries, and combat abilities.
You need to meet certain requirements to unlock skills:
- Attribute/stat level – For example, improving your expertise in Crafting requires higher Insight and Fortitude. But if you want to unlock the Master Blacksmith perks, you need higher Insight and Strength. Conversely, Weapon Honing perks require higher Strength and Fortitude.
- Gold – You need to spend gold to unlock skill nodes.
- Trainer NPCs – Specific NPCs in the game world allow you to learn perks if you talk to them. However, only certain skill trees will be available. For instance, a named guard might teach War skills, while an artisan lets you learn Crafting skills.
Use various workbenches and tools to create and improve items
There are all sorts of fixtures that let you create new items or increase the effectiveness of the ones you already have. Remember that some of these still require a particular skill/perk and a related tool/object:
- Workbench – Craft consumables, bows, and arrows. You can also craft better gear pieces if you have the materials.
- Tannery – Survival perks let you turn animal hides into cloth and leather.
- Sharpening Stone – Hones your weapon to increase its damage.
- Armor Reinforcement – Use Armor Reinforcing Kits to improve the resistances of your equipment.
- Anvil – The Basic Mastery skill lets you craft different types of melee weapons. Later in the game, the Master Smith skill and the Treasure of Tantares allow you to create the Pride of Tantares, a unique sword that suits your personal taste.
- Alchemy – Create healing potions and buffing concoctions as you unlock Survival skills.
Catch fish to get more food
Apart from picking up or buying all manner of vegetables and fruits, you could also start fishing to obtain more food:
- You need to find an appropriate fishing spot in ponds and rivers. You also should have some bait.
- Once the fish nibbles on the bait, wait and see what it does next:
- If the bobber sinks, press the left mouse button to hook/snare it.
- If the fish moves from side to side, press the right mouse button to reel it in.
- Your line has a durability, which deteriorates over time. If your success chance is high enough and you want to risk it, you can press the spacebar to quickly pull the rod.
Check your character’s hunger, thirst, fatigue, and wounds
Carrying a ton of food with you helps improve your chance of survival out in the wilds. Many campfires that already exist can be used without issues, allowing you to cook scrumptious morsels. Alternatively, certain sites let you set up a camp once you’ve unlocked the Basic Survival skill.
From there, you have to take note of your character’s condition. Status effects are denoted by icons below your health and stamina bars, as well as in your inventory menu:
- Hunger – Increases your maximum health if you’ve eaten well; decreases your maximum health if you’re hungry.
- Thirst – Increases your maximum stamina if you drink water or milk often; decreases your maximum stamina if you’re thirsty.
- Fatigue – Increases your melee damage if you’re well-rested; decreases your melee damage if you’re tired and lack sleep.
- Wounds – If you get hit in combat or take some form of damage, you might incur a minor injury that heals over time. However, if you keep taking damage, that minor wound can turn into a serious injury. Note that healer NPCs can restore your HP, as well as cure your wounds and illnesses, if you pay them enough gold.
Look for ways to amass more gold and XP
You can discover more ways to earn gold and XP while you’re out and about:
- Shrines that dot the countryside net you XP if you pray and offer some gold.
- Every new book that you read also grants XP.
- Crafting materials and junk that you don’t need can be sold to vendors via dialogue options–i.e. “Do you need more herbs?” or “Do you want to restock your wares?” This is akin to a “sell all” function, which means all relevant items will be traded away.
Be careful when looting items since you could accidentally steal something
More often than not, you could pick up all sorts of items that are just lying around. Even if some NPCs are within the vicinity, they’d hardly care. That said, there are instances when grabbing loot counts as stealing it, and this prompt isn’t readily visible if you’re just mousing over an item. Instead, a pop-up will appear telling you that you just stole something.
- When you commit a crime, a guard will immediately approach you. You’ll be asked to pay a fine–i.e. 500 gold for stealing. Refusing to pay the fine leads to your immediate execution.
- If you don’t want to pay up, then you might want to reload your latest save before you picked up an item that isn’t yours.
The day-night cycle presents more dangers and opportunities
Another important Of Ash and Steel tip to keep in mind is that the game has a day-night cycle. When night falls, more opportunities abound, but there are also dangers:
- Always have a torch with you at all times since it’s extremely dark in the countryside. Unlike consumables, torches cannot be equipped in your item keybinds. Instead, you have to right-click on it in your inventory. Also, as of the time of this writing, it seems that dropped torches can no longer be picked up.
- NPCs have a set schedule–i.e. they’ll tend to their shop mid-morning and they’ll be asleep at night.
- Most houses and shops will be locked at night, but you can use a lockpick provided that you’ve learned this particular Survival skill. Lockpicks also let you open treasure chests.
- If you’re caught inside a home or a shop when it’s clearly not daytime yet, the NPC will warn you for trespassing. If you linger for just a few seconds, it will count as a crime and you have to pay a fine.
Be ready to face bandits and hostile creatures in combat
Grayshaft is filled with numerous hostiles, from robbers and bandits to were-creatures, insects, undead, and massive ogres. Unfortunately, because Tristan is a cartographer, his martial prowess at the start is laughable at best. You’re going to spend the first few hours of the game gingerly approaching foes and running away if the threat seems too great. Still, here are some tips if you want to stand your ground:
- The Basic Combat Training skill unlocks heavy attacks for your melee weapons.
- Many weapons, such as swords and axes, allow you to parry a blow.
- The Parry skill causes a perfect parry to knock your opponent off balance.
- Note that some weapons like daggers cannot be used to block or parry at all.
- If you want to take out enemies from a distance, you can do so with bows (DEX) or crossbows (STR).
- The backstep dodge–i.e. spacebar–is useful when trying to avoid a strike from hostiles, but it does feel very clunky.
- Always sheathe your weapons in villages and cities. This can be done by pressing the “R” key.
Get help from villagers and guards if you’re unable to take out your foes
Because Tristan tends to be woefully inept in combat at the start, you might want to get help from other folks:
- When an enemy sees you, the music will change to the game’s combat theme.
- If you don’t want to fight your opponent/s, just run away and look for a nearby NPC.
- If you keep “luring” that creature, the NPC might engage it instead.
- When an NPC take out a creature, you’ll receive around +10 XP. However, if you land the killing blow, you might just receive the full amount of XP.
- Enemies that are too strong can knock out friendly NPCs, but they’re likely to get back up on their feet after a while.
Main quest: The Long Road Home
The next part of our Of Ash and Steel guide talks about what you can expect from early-game progression. At the end of the prologue, you’ll receive a quest called “The Long Road Home,” which entails making your way to Grayshaft’s harbor:
- Initially, you just need to do a few chores for an NPC named Nerest. You’re then given the directions to the city: “Follow the path past the abandoned village, straight through the ravine, and until you see the guard tower.”
- From Nerest’s hut, continue along the road until you meet a vagabond named Fox. He wants you to help him find sacks in the abandoned village as part of a side quest called “Fox’s Flawless Plan.”
- There are a bunch of insectoid enemies in the village, but you can lure them over to Fox.
- Fox will run away and you have to escape via the second-floor landing of the large house. Don’t worry since you’ll stumble upon him a bit later.
- Cross the wooden bridge past the abandoned village to meet a merchant who’s lost the wheels of his cart. This starts the “Bad Neighborhood” side quest:
- Wheel #1 – Found outside a ruin guarded by a Hobster.
- Wheel #2 – Just past the ruin, there’s a camp where three Hobsters are waiting for you.
- Wheel #3 – From the merchant’s cart, follow the road that leads to the stone bridge. The wheel is off to the side by the collapsed section of the bridge.
- Wheel #4 – From the merchant’s cart, go back the way you came and look for a graveyard. Follow the sloping path and enter the hermit’s hut. Give him a couple of bottles of rye to receive this wheel.
- Continue along the road past the Hobster camp until you see a burned out guard tower. Just past that area, there’s another camp filled with human soldiers. Don’t worry because they won’t attack you.
- Take a look at the pier by the river and talk to an NPC named Jiri. You can accompany him as part of a side quest called “Take Me By the Hand.” As you walk with Jiri, you’ll see that he can easily kill various enemies that approach. He’ll also give you some Camp Supplies that you can use if you’ve unlocked the Basic Survival skill.
- From the crossroads with the large statue, just keep forging ahead until you see yet another camp. The winding road eventually takes you to the southern entrance of Grayshaft’s city.
- An NPC will approach you upon entering the city. He’ll give you a tour that leads all the way to the harbor. Don’t forget to pay him 20 gold afterward.
- At the harbor, you’re told that you need to strike a deal with one of the captains:
- Look for a building with a scroll icon. Talk to the NPCs inside to learn that (a) most of the ships won’t be leaving and (b) the only one that’s able to sail requires a payment of 5,000 gold.
- Upon exiting the building, a man will approach you, asking you to follow him.
- A cutscene happens in the slums. There, a certain fella tells you that you need to find a benefactor.
- Your benefactor can either be from the Order of the Seven or from the Free Hunters. This kickstarts the next main quest called “Friends in High Places.”
Main quest: Friends in High Places – Where to find the Order of the Seven headquarters
The Order of the Seven’s headquarters is actually located in the city itself:
- From the harbor, go to the next district in the south. Then, look for a towering fortress along the eastern section of the zone.
- When you talk to the leader in the fortress, you’ll learn that several knights are missing.
- Take note of the contextual clues in the quest description as you look for all of them.
Main quest: Friends in High Places – Where to find the Free Hunters/Fremen headquarters
Conversely, if you wish to join the Fremen or the Free Hunters in Of Ash and Steel, then you need to make a long trek through the countryside. The quest description itself is somewhat misleading and incomplete, since it only tells you to: “Hike to the eastern side of the island” and that you “won’t miss their camp as soon as you reach open space.”
Here’s what you need to know:
- Look for the city’s eastern exit–i.e. it’s halfway between the harbor district and the Order’s headquarters. Cross the bridge all the way to the end until you transition back to the wilderness.
- Continue onward until you stumble upon a manor. There’s a sloping path to the side.
- You’ll see a wide-open field with numerous farmers and peasants. Funnily enough, there are no signs of the Fremen camp. Also, you might think that you should continue going to the eastern shore of the island, but this is actually a bad idea.
- Instead, cross the fields until you see the river. Follow this river as it winds to the south. You’re going to see a wooden palisade in the distance.
- Make your way to the palisade and follow the narrow hillside path. Beyond that point, you should spot a large base with wooden walls and towers. There are so many human and animal enemies in this area, so just avoid them all until you reach the Free Hunter base.
- Your goal is to talk to their leader, Kurt. Kurt only wants to chat when it’s daytime. If you enter his home and he’s not in front of his desk, then it means you’re trespassing and you could get fined.
That does it for our Of Ash and Steel guide. We hope these tips help you on your adventures in the lands of Grayshaft and beyond.
