Complete Walkthrough/Act I

**ACT I**
*Even when you feel lost, there's always a way forward. Learn the world you're a part of, and find your own truth.*

After hearing some mysterious words, a male character is suddenly awoken by a girl's voice trying to understand what happens to him, as he looks fainted and weak. Once he is fully awake, she will introduce herself as Rhea, a Sol-Ikati girl. After a moment, he notices that he does not remember much about what he was doing, not even what his name is. At that stage, you will be able to name this main character to your will, although his default name is Aedric (this guide will refer to him as such for consistency). After choosing the name, Rhea will ask Aedric if he wants to come with her to the nerby town of Kokoro, where a wiseman known as the Elder lives and where she suggests Aedric might recover his memories. Aedric accepts. At this point you will gain access to one of the main mechanics of the game: the Next Step selection screen, where you can choose whether you want to manage your party, see the path ahead, or start with the journey directly. This will be your first journey.

### Journey to Kokoro

1) **Fight:**
During the first stage, Rhea will ask Aedric to be on the look for bellrenn, an herb she needs to bring back home, but while informing him, they notice some creatures coming their way. This will be your first fight, so be sure you know the basics about the game to understand how the fight will take place.

**Strategy**: This initial fight will be very straightforward, as you have no other choice than to use normal attacks, defend, and use salves to heal. Use your basic attacks repeatedly to beat them, or practice using the Defend stance with Aedric while you attack with Rhea to make use of Aggro and learn how to reduce incoming damage for more difficult battles. In any case, you might want to start with the Lesser Ratian Forager to get rid of a weaker menace first, then swap to the Ratian Forager to finish the battle.
**Rewards:** You will obtain the common rewards from the defeated enemies, and will finish the current journey stage.

**Fight:**
In the second stage, you will fight directly with a new set of enemies.

**Strategy**: This battle will be a bit more complex, as you will have Salves unlocked, meaning you will need a much more cautious Health management system. However, the strategy is quite simple, as you will only be able to attack one enemy at a time (since the second enemy is on the back row and protected by the first one). The safest approach is to spam your attacks with both characters and heal with Rhea using Salves to maintain the Aggro on Aedric while any of the characters is low on Health.
**Rewards:** You will obtain the common rewards from the defeated enemies, and will finish the current journey stage.

**Rest:**
In the third stage, see how both heroes stop to rest and eat. After eating some dried strawberries and sharing a little story related to one of the enemies you just faced, your party's stats will be replenished and you will be able to continue your journey. Don't forget to save the game while in this safe area, and try to keep the habit to do so to avoid having issues if facing difficult enemies.
Also remember to access the Manage Heroes section before continuing, as you gained a level and some Power Points during the last fight, and after having seen the corresponding tutorial, you should be able to assign and activate a new skill for both Aedric and Rhea, making further battles simpler. There is no single option to choose, as it will depend on how you want to build your heroes in the game. Be sure to read carefully the individual Powers you have access to, and their empowered versions as you advance along their corresponding specializations.

**Fight:**
In the fourth stage, you will start a battle almost directly, as your heroes decide to continue their walk through the forest.

**Strategy**: Having a fight against three enemies is your next challenge. Be careful with the new enemy, the Ratian Hunter, as it can deal very high damage to your heroes. This new enemy is slightly more powerful and resilient than the others, so you might want to get rid of the Foragers first (which you can eliminate easily with one turn of attacks from both your heroes), while also building the Resolve meter to get your newest and more powerful skills ready for the Hunter. You might lose one hero on the battle, but don't worry, this should still be a fairly easy fight.
**Rewards:** You will obtain the common rewards from the defeated enemies, and will finish the current journey stage.

Once you are finished with the battle, your heroes will find a satchel in the ground, where they will get 4 x Lesser Healing Salves and the Journal of Pilfering. These will be very useful, as the first ones will allow you have more healing for the battle to come, while the second can be equipped in the Off-Hand slot for Rhea, allowing her to use the Misc. action "Steal" (an action you should use in every battle with every enemy to obtain additional, and sometimes unique, items for your party). Be sure to visit the Manage Heroes section to equip it, and get ready for the last fight of this journey, and also save the game to avoid surprises.

**Boss:**
The final fight will make your team face a creature Rhea was talking about earlier: a Ratian Matriarch.

**Strategy**: The Matriarch can both attack and heal, so be careful when a hero gets injured, as they might fall easily in a combined attack from both enemies. The Matriarch is protected by the Hunter, so you only have one way to go: give the Hunter everything you've got until you kill it. Once you do so and hit the Matriarch a few times, she will call for reinforcements and go into Shadowstep (becoming untargetable). Now you will have to face another Ratian Hunter, so go ahead and attack it with everything at your disposal. Do it as fast as possible, as every few turns, the Matriarch will call another creature (a Ratian Wilder) to the battlefield, and will render the battle impossible if you do not manage the situation properly as she keeps calling for reinforcements.
**Steal:** 1 x Ratian Claw (Ratian Hunter), 1 x Fighter's Gem of the Aggresor (Ratian Matriarch), 1 x Ratian Claw (Ratian Wilder)
**Rewards:** 1 x Brawler's Gem of Fleetfeet. You will also obtain the common rewards from the defeated enemies, and will finish the current journey.

After the fight, the party heroes will celebrate and also discuss about Aedric's possible origins. Finally, they will arrive to Kokoro, Rhea's town. While introducing Aedric to the town, the group will search for Mrs. Tsukino, an inhabitant of the village, to ask her about an audience with the Elder. After being told you have to wait and knowing about the health issues of a guy called Jin, Aedric will agree on helping Rhea find some more bellrenn to create a salve to heal him, while waiting for your turn to speak to the Elder. Before leaving, Rhea will give you 4  50 , which will serve you to go to Zhiyuan's shop, a place where you can buy useful items to empower your characters before going out again in the wilds. Make sure you visit the shop with the Visit Merchant option, and go to Manage Heroes section afterwards to equip and manage anything you might have bought there, before commencing with the new journey.

**ZHIYUAN'S SHOP**