This Of Ash and Steel Beginner Guide walks you from waking up in the tutorial all the way to unlocking Animal Trophies and stabilising your economy, while dying as little as possible in the process.
The core idea is simple:
- Your early-game goal is money and skills, not heroics.
- You rush Survival tree and trophy skills first, then start actually hunting.
- You kill as little as possible until you can skin and sell trophies properly.
Once you have Skinning and Animal Trophies online, the game opens up and you can start playing “normally” with a strong economy behind you.
Core Early-Game Plan
Spend your first four skill points in the Survival tree to unlock key econ tools.
Run a Dexterity-focused start using rapiers/daggers. They feel good even without weapon skills and you need Dex for Survival.
Avoid triggering the “Wood for Hunters” quest until you have access to the hunters’ camp and Skinning, as it can lock some NPCs.
Rush Skinning + Animal Trophies, then start farming wildlife properly.
If you want to play a non-Dex build long-term, you can still do this route by temporarily stacking Dex from gear:
- Two +3 Dex rings
- +6 Dex amulet
- +5 Dex armor
- A few Dex potions
Once you’re done with Survival and trophies, you can reshift your stat investment toward your “real” build.
Step-by-Step Early Route
1. Tutorial – Free Dexterity
- In the tutorial dialogue, pick the two options that grant Dexterity.
- Don’t overthink it – just grab the Dex and move on.
2. First Area – House, Lake, Free Stats
Inside and around the first house, do the following:
- Complete all the quests in the first house.
- Go down to the lake:
- There’s a patch of dirt near the shovel – dig there for +1 Strength.
- Hit the training dummy 30 times for +3 attribute points.
- Loot everything that isn’t nailed down.
- Do the soiled trousers quest and the halegrass quest, but pick up 3 extra halegrass.
- Equip the starting dagger – this will carry your early combat.
- Ignore armor upgrades for now. Gold is more important than a tiny bit of defense.
3. Road to the Abandoned Village – Slip Immunity & Early NPC
Head towards the abandoned village and watch for:
Puddle trick (anti-slip):
You’ll find a puddle on the path.
Draw your weapon.
Dash out of and back into the puddle around 30 times.
This gives you slip immunity.
- Being knocked on your back in this game is a death sentence; getting this done early is far better than eating random knockdowns later.
Wolves + NPC:
- There’s a ruin along the path with a bridge afterward. Before crossing, turn right and follow the wall.
- You’ll see an NPC being attacked by wolves.
- Try to land the killing blows yourself before he deletes them.
- Turn in 3 rags + 3 halegrass to him.
- Go through his dialogue fully – he will vouch for you with the hunters’ camp.
- You can also pick up your first Survival level from him if you want.
Free bow & loot:
Go back to the main path.
Don’t cross the bridge yet – follow the river first.
- There’s a chest with a decent bow inside.
- Useful for cheesing certain enemies (like the level 15 beetle in Mix’s quest) or picking off dangerous targets from safety.
Ruins & underwater cave:
Nearby, look for ruins by another lake. Here you can:
- Talk to Mix for a buried treasure quest (free shovels).
- Climb the ruins with precise sprint jumps (abuse quicksave) for a Dex potion.
- Dive into the small lake to find an underwater cave full of loot.
Under the bridge:
Return to the main bridge, swim under it, and look around.
- You’ll find about 65 gold stashed there.
Fox & Strength potion:
Cross the bridge. At the fork, turn right and talk to Fox and do his quest.
In a locked house nearby you can find a +1 Strength potion.
Outside the outhouse next to that house, loot a ring from the ground.
4. Cart Quest – Wheels, Early Rapier, and Food
Proceed along the path until another NPC is under attack.
- After he kills the enemy (try to last hit again), he’ll ask you to find his cart wheels.
- Buy 2 rye from him.
- From here, run past enemies – hobs are tanky and not worth fighting with starter gear.
Wheel locations:
Follow the right-hand wall – you’ll see a cave with a wheel outside.
Nearby is a Dex climbing spot with a high-level rapier at the top. Come back later if your Dex isn’t high enough; this rapier will carry you through much of early game.
A second wheel is in a nearby camp.
You also need a sparkling letter in this camp – grab it.
For the third wheel, follow the river to the broken bridge.
The fourth wheel is by the gravekeeper on a side path leading off the route back toward the village.
Trade him alcohol for the wheel.
Buy food and water:
From the cart NPC / vendors in the area, pick up about 20 carrots and 20 water.
They’re cheap healing.
Eating 20 carrots gives you a permanent +1 Insight, but you don’t need to rush that.
5. Outpost – Buggy Quest and Free Escort
Follow the path until you reach the outpost.
- Save before doing anything here – one of the quests can bug.
- Talk to the beaten-up guy and complete his quest fully.
- If it bugs out, reload and try again.
Then:
- Talk to the “free hunter” who offers to escort you.
- You can hang around and suffer through Ranta for some extra gold if you really want to.
- Follow the hunter toward the outskirts.
- At the large statue on the way, talk to the blind woman – easy quest, easy rewards.
6. Outskirts Town – Easy Quests & Second Hunter
In the outskirts settlement:
- Talk to the woman cooking and complete her quest.
- Talk to the man sitting on the path and do his quest too.
There’s also a second hunter sitting at a campfire near the entrance, but:
- You’ll need Skinning to do his quest properly.
- Remember this spot; you’ll come back after learning Skinning.
To enter the main city from here, climb the vines on the left wall.
7. City – Painful but Profitable
The main city is clunky and harsh, but it is packed with easy quests and important gear.
While you’re here, aim for:
- Enough gold for:
- +6 Dex amulet (market jewellery shop).
- Adventurer armor or Noble clothing (clothing shop).
- Noble clothing gives +10 Insight, which is great if you like exhausting dialogue options for permanent Insight gains later.
- Around 650 gold for the Trophies skill later.
Do as many simple city quests as you can handle – the goal is gold and reputation, not combat.
8. Hunting Quest – Getting Skinning
Head back to the outskirts hunter you saw at the campfire:
- Learn Skinning from him.
- Immediately go on a hunt with him.
- Run ahead and try to kill the wolves yourself for the XP – he will one-shot them if you’re slow.
- After the hunt, follow him back and exhaust his dialogue to get his second reference to the hunters’ camp.
9. Bounty Hunters’ Guild – Free Skill Point
Near the big statue in the outskirts, a path goes up a hill to the Bounty Hunters’ Guild.
- On the top floor, there is a chest and a shelf with a +1 Skill Point potion you can steal.
- Quicksave, steal it, and reload if you get the theft tutorial pop-up (that means you were seen).
10. Unlocking the Hunters’ Camp & Animal Trophies
Return to the outpost.
- Head toward the lighthouse, but run past it.
- You’ll go down past some water and a lizard.
- Hug the right wall and sprint past everything – you should eventually find the Hunters’ Camp.
Important notes:
- You should now have two references from hunters, letting you fully interact with the camp.
- Do not start the “wood for hunters” quest earlier than this; it can lock NPCs prematurely.
At the camp:
- Find the trainer who teaches Animal Trophies.
- From this point onward, you are finally free to hunt wildlife for profit.
- When selling, consider dropping hides on the ground first if you don’t want them sucked into trophy sales right away.
Next skill recommendations:
- Lockpicking + Pickpocketing – they pay for themselves very quickly in extra loot and XP.
- Work up to Mining and one metal crafting recipe so you can:
- Mine iron
- Process it
- Craft gear
- Sell crafted items for good money
Somewhere in this process you’ll find a green-quality rapier, which will comfortably carry you through content up to around level 25 even without heavy combat skills.
Combat Guide – How to Kill the Wildlife
The game is very punishing; many enemies can one-shot or combo you if you’re careless. Most fights boil down to bait an animation → punish → dodge.
Below are simple patterns you can abuse for each enemy type.
Maulers
- If they bark and walk straight at you, they’re preparing a lunge.
- Either bait and side dash, or keep side dashing until they break the pattern and start circling.
- When they’re circling you, stay close and hit them – they generally won’t attack while doing this.
- If you hit them and they hop backward, immediately side dash; they lunge forward very often after that.
- When they get the “zoomies”, they’ll lunge if they have a clear straight-line path for a few meters. Staying close can deny this.
Woodwalkers
- Keep some distance and poke with fast attacks or reach weapons.
- If they do their stunned animation, chain a few more hits.
- If they dodge to the side, you should also dodge sideways – they often lunge right after.
- After you kill one, you can quicksave/load to despawn the beetle swarm they can summon.
Ratwalkers
- Bait out their projectile, then kite them backward.
- Hit once; if they flinch, hit again.
- If they don’t flinch, dodge backward immediately and repeat.
- Higher-level variants sometimes do a straight lunge – be ready to side dash reactively.
Hobs
- Hit them once.
- If you see the helmet shake/stun, hit again.
- If not, dodge backward and reset.
Cave Bugs
- Ideally: open with a power attack.
- If they get knocked down, hit them two more times.
- If they don’t fall, dodge backward immediately.
- Without power attack, stick to hit-and-run.
Rovers
- Very easy.
- Hit once, then side dash.
- Don’t stand too close; they occasionally do a spin attack.
- Just chip away from max melee range.
Humanoids
- Back off and poke, then dodge backward or sideways.
- Avoid getting hit by power attacks at all costs – knockdowns are often fatal.
Lizards
- Hit once and immediately side dash.
- They almost always follow getting hit with a straight lunge.
Stingers
- Run up and attack repeatedly.
- They tend to use weird mortar-style attacks that miss at close range and often get stunlocked.
- Higher-level ones may have more meaningful patterns, but most early stingers can be bullied.
Brutes
- Not recommended at low level.
- After hitting them, they respond with a wide swipe.
- Side dash to avoid it and play very cautiously.
Stonecruncher
- Wait for it to burrow and make sure you lock on.
- When it pops up next to you, it immediately does a straight attack.
- Side dash that attack.
- Run in and spam attacks until your stamina gets low; it won’t turn while attacking.
- Sprint away, let it reset, and repeat.
- If it gets a circular swing off, you can side dash through it using i-frames.
Miscellaneous Tips & Tricks
Abuse Quicksave
This game is punishing, and some deaths are pure nonsense. Get used to:
- Quicksaving before fights, dives, stealing, and new areas.
- Using quicksave/load to:
- Check underwater spots safely.
- Learn enemy patterns.
- Undo getting one-shot by something cheap.
Steal Everything (Safely)
Stealing is absolutely worth doing.
- Quicksave before every steal.
- If you see the stealing tutorial pop-up, that means you were spotted – reload.
- Result:
- Extra loot
- A surprising amount of XP
Dig Spots
- Look for disturbed ground patches – they often contain very good loot.
- Always quicksave before digging; you might whiff the spot.
- You can even quickload mid-animation if you realise you’re off.
Eating 20 of a Food – Permanent Stat Bonuses
The game never really explains this, but many foods grant a permanent stat increase after you eat 20 of them.
Confirmed so far:
- Strength
- Fresh Bread and Meat
- Apple Pie
- Rum
- Insight
- Carrot
- Mushroom Pie
- Stamina
- Tomato
- Rye
- Fresh Bread and Potatoes
- Dexterity
- Red Apple
- Herbfish Pie
- Cabbage Pie
- Fortitude
- Spiced Meat
- No effect (just food/drink)
- Green Apple
- Milk
- Cabbage
- Pear
- Cucumber
- Bell Pepper
- Berries
- Cheese Chunk
- Onion
- Top Quality Meat
- Burnt Meat
- Sausage
- Cooked Brunfish
- Cooked Herbfish
- Cooked Woadfish
- Herbal Tea
- Berry Tea
- Cheese (wheel)
- Brunfish Pie
- Woadfish Pie
- Scrumptious Sandwich
- Stale Bread
- Berry Pie
- Azure Nights
- Greyshaftian Dark
- Mead
- Peasant Lass
- Liquorice Ale
- Herbal Tea with Honey
- Wolfsbane
Other notes:
- Herbfish Pie – Dex
- Apple Pie – Str
- Cabbage Pie – Dex
- Mushroom Pie – Insight
- Fresh Bread and Potatoes – Stamina
- Drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol can unlock “Capable of anything” and +50 Stamina.
Food/Drink Animation Cancel
You can shorten the eating/drinking slowdown:
- Start consuming the item.
- Walk off a small ledge so the game registers a fall.
- This cancels the animation and movement penalty early while still giving you the effect.