Of Ash and Steel Walkthrough Guide

Of Ash and Steel is a classic RPG set in a grim Dark Fantasy world. The player takes on the role of an ordinary cartographer named Tristan, who goes on a work assignment to Greyschaft. However, the routine trip quickly spirals out of control, and the hero finds himself on a dangerous island where any mistake can be fatal. In this guide, we provide a step-by-step walkthrough of all story quests.

The game starts with a difficulty selection window. Note that you won't be able to change the mode during the playthrough.

Before starting the walkthrough, keep the following in mind. This is a classic RPG project in the full sense of the word. There are no markers, mini-map, icons above NPCs, or other casual attributes that many players are used to.

You begin the game as a person who has finished parish school and recently became a cartographer. Accordingly, at the start, he doesn't really know anything, and you'll have to literally build your character from scratch. Leveling up the hero is complicated by the fact that, unlike in regular games, you can't just level up and buy a skill.

Here, you need to find a teacher who will train you in a specific perk for money, provided the hero has certain attribute values. For example, to get the starting skill "Basic Mastery" from the "Creation" tree, which allows you to craft simple items, Tristan needs 8 "Insight" points and 5 "Fortitude", and you'll have to pay 150 coins for this.

The same rule applies to equipment. Each weapon and armor has its own requirements. If the hero's "Strength" is too low, he won't be able to use a large axe.

Therefore, complete side quests and earn gold whenever possible. The game features a tough economy and a complex combat system. Prepare carefully for each fight and first of all try to reach the capital city of Greyschaft. There you can get good weapons and armor, as well as find teachers and obtain a world map, which will not be available to you at first.

The story begins with a military ship being sent to the island of Greyschaft. To navigate the reefs, the young cartographer Tristan is brought on board. Upon arrival on land, the main character gets seasick, so the knight Sirdar advises him to find the healer Emmet.

Pass by Sirdar, turn right, and head towards the tent. Tell the healer about the hero’s ailment. He will be too busy, as most of the crew has been poisoned by spoiled water and now needs medicine prepared.

Emmet will give you a key to a chest and ask you to bring him some brandy. Head to the spawn area and look for a chest under a white canopy near the shore. Take three bottles of alcohol from it and return to the healer. Give him one bottle; the rest will be needed later for side quests. In any case, Emmet will give you an antiemetic.

Return to Sirdar, who will ask the hero two questions. The answers determine which attributes Tristan will receive a bonus to. This is how you begin to form your character build.

First question

Second question

After the conversation with the knight, head to the navigator. He can be found to the left of the healer’s tent. Discuss the route plan to the port of Greyschaft with Murray. To get a bonus to "Insight", give him a bottle of brandy if you still have one, and listen to his story about his travels.

Now you need to return to the captain, but first we recommend completing side quests, because after the conversation with the commander you won’t be able to return to this point. Head to the start of the level and ask Gelbert why the ship went to Greyschaft. The knight will say that it is a secret of the Order of the Seven, and the hero was only supposed to guide the ship through the reefs, and his mission is over. So the next day, Tristan must return home to the capital.

At night, the order’s camp is attacked. The raiders kill everyone except the hero and Sirdar, and sink the ship. Tristan receives a minor injury — a condition where health is reduced to a quarter and cannot be restored above that. Also, each combat action that consumes endurance will completely deplete the stamina bar. If a second such wound is received, the injury becomes severe. To heal it, you need to wait about ten minutes or drink a healing potion.

Approach the wounded Sirdar. The knight will tell you that the order’s mission is to deliver an important letter to Anser. But first, he needs medical assistance. To do this, go to the healer’s tent and pick up the bag with the potion. You can drink it yourself, but it’s better to give it to your companion.

Sirdar will share valuable information that will be needed later. First, you need to find his weapon. The family sword is stuck in a corpse lying by the path leading into the forest. Return to the knight and pick up the letter from his body.

Wait until morning and leave the camp through the path where you found Sirdar’s sword. Watch the cutscene where Tristan is knocked out by bandits. They thought they had killed him, and since he had nothing valuable on him, they simply left the hero’s body somewhere on the road.

The hero is saved by the scavenger Nyerest, who decided that he would be more useful alive. Talk to the old man, then gather everything you can in his house. Restore your health by eating apples. Find the old man in the garden, who will ask you to carry two barrels from the well to the left side of the house and to weed the garden beds.

Move the barrels and head to the garden. Note that there are two types of plants here: green bushes and corpseweed — light green stems with sparse small leaves. Pull out all 14 weeds and return to Nyerest.

Now he will ask you to clean up the house, for which you need to collect 16 bottles in the hut. Tell Nyerest what happened, and you will learn that due to increased volcanic activity, leaving the island is almost impossible. Furthermore, the mines have closed, and the authorities have raised taxes, which has made the locals much poorer and many have turned to banditry.

Things are also bad for the local Order of the Seven. The letter for its leader has been lost. The documents were most likely taken by the scavengers who knocked Tristan out. Therefore, Nyerest will suggest heading to Greyschaft.

It is important to clarify one thing. The game has a world map. But at the beginning of the walkthrough, it is unavailable. Therefore, you will have to navigate on your own, question characters, remember roads, and actively use the compass. Looking ahead, you can only get the atlas in the capital city by completing a series of faction quests.

From this point, you can start exploring the world. Right now, your hero most likely has low skills and lacks proper weapons and armor. Even in the starting location, mobs can kill Tristan in a couple of hits. Therefore, first get to Greyschaft—the route to which we will describe in detail—and only then can you start mastering the game’s crafting, cooking, and leveling mechanics. Now leave Nyerest’s hut, follow the path straight to the fork with the signpost, and turn left towards the abandoned village.

Follow the path and enter the abandoned village. Go under the archway and turn right, then continue forward to the bridge. On the way, you will encounter monsters. You don’t have to fight them; you can just run past, as their slowness is your advantage.

Cross the river, approach the signpost, and turn left from it, then continue straight along the path. Cross the bridge by the waterfall and proceed to the ruins. Then head down the road to the next fork with a navigation post.

Turn left, walk a bit forward, and you will see a red watchtower. In this first outpost of civilization on your journey, there is a tavern, a healer, a notice board, and many characters who will share valuable information with Tristan. Additionally, they can teach the hero combat skills and the basics of crafting.

Go down from the watchtower toward the river and find Jiri on the pier, who will agree to escort Tristan to the city, after which the side quest "Take Me By The Hand" will begin. This is optional, but considering you probably won’t have a map at this point, a guide will be useful.

In any case, move forward along the road from the tower. Go through the ruins, descend to the giant statue, and at the fork go left. This way you will reach the outskirts of Greyschaft.

Follow the path ahead until you see the giant city wall. When you try to pass through the gate, the guards will demand a one-time payment of 200 coins, at which point the side quest "So Close, Yet So Far" will begin. If you don’t have the money, complete a few quests in the outskirts. There’s also an option to break the grate into the sewers to the right of the gate, but for that you’ll need a high "Strength" stat.

Now you need to get to the port to find the captain who will take Tristan to the capital. At the city gates, the street thief Theo will meet the hero and offer to escort him to the docks for just 20 coins. Greyschaft itself is very large and confusing, so we recommend agreeing, but in the dialogue choose the line "Deal, but I’ll pay when we get to the port", otherwise he’ll take the money and run away. Just be sure to pay him at the end to avoid problems in the future.

Now go around the first building on the right and follow the compass north. Go through two arches and turn right, then head up to the next city gates on the right. Go down the stairs and at the last landing turn left.

Continue moving north. Go through the next city arch, turn left, and follow the cobblestone road without turning off anywhere. This way you'll reach the port. Walk forward from the arch to the cart, behind which stands Philmore, leaning against a lamppost. Question him and you'll learn that you need to find the seafaring office "Guiding Chapel" and speak with Helmut.

To get to the office, head toward the piers and look for a building on the left side with a large ship anchor and a sign with a scroll above the entrance door. Helmut will say that because of the volcanoes, everyone is afraid to go to sea, but recently one captain invested a lot of money in his ship and might agree to go to the capital.

Captain Carrera stands opposite the fireplace. He will agree to go to the capital for 5,000 coins. For the hero, this is an unaffordable sum. Therefore, leave the office, and Tristan will be met by Vard, who has been ordered to escort him to the Order of the Seven headquarters.

Vard turns out to be a hired assassin wearing a knight’s armor. He will lead Tristan into the slums, but Irvin will manage to save him. Then the rescuer will advise you to join either the Order of the Seven or the Freefolk to find out who is behind the assassination attempt.