Lost in Trosky: a KCD2 Early Game Quick Start Guide

This game feels like it should be simple -- poke sharp end of sword into enemy -- but it can be surprisingly difficult, especially in the early game or for those of us with aging reflexes. This is largely because what feels like a combat FPS is in fact a numbers-driven RPG, with a great deal of math going on "under the hood." Hidden stat and skill checks impact every aspect of combat, from how well you can block attacks to how long you can fight without tiring or whether not enemies surrender.

The good news is you don't have to understand any of that math, because I can understand it for you. This guide will focus on various tips, tricks, and strategies to help you get up and running over that initial numbers hurdle and past those first few hours.

None of this is strictly necessary! The game is perfectly beatable without any grinding, and your skills and stats will go up naturally just from normal play. If you want to just dive in and have fun, that's great! If, though, you've tried diving in and feel like you're drowning -- if you're Lost in Trosky -- then this guide will give you some directions on how to get your feet on solid ground and pointed in the right direction.

The target here is to get your character, if not "maxxed out," rapidly competent at all the game's various challenges, in a minimum of game time (between five and ten hours of play total). After that, I'll give some general gameplay guidance to point you in the direction of system mastery, and then a set of brief, minimal-spoiler pointers for the various early Trosky quest lines, just enough to teach the game mechanics and help you make sure you're not missing anything you don't want to miss. I'll try to avoid major plot spoilers, with vague language or spoiler tags where appropriate, but will reveal item and treasure locations.

This is a work in progress so there may be errors I haven't yet had a chance to correct. Apologies! Please let me know about any issues in the comments.

First, Do Drugs (Better Living through Alchemy)

Starting from the very beginning, just because it's a place to start (don't feel you need to restart if you're already further in):

• You can drop your 1403 Groschen in the chest in the lil’ cave, and half or more of it may still be there by the time you get a chance to come back and check on it all (depending on how quickly you check).
  
  
• If you're having trouble in the duel with Capon, the game doesn't really explain that you can avoid the parry/riposte tango by dodging his attacks with (direction key) + (spacebar). After you dodge an attack, stab him; time it right and there may be a moment where he can't block you (more on this later, below).
  
  
• Pick Speech, Scholarship, and Unarmed in the initial dialogue by the camp, as you’ll get a bonus point for each and those are the hardest to raise.

Once you've met Herb Woman Bozhena, first priority is hiding the body (making sure to take and equip the clothing and weapon you find). After that, the game gives you your first opening, and we are going to *seize* it. It's time to pick flowers. The game will only let you wander so far from the hut at this point, but the area is *full* of various herbs and plants. Look for Nettle and Belladonna, but pick *everything*. Go through that little forest glade like the world's first combine harvester.

Once you have all the herb, or at least as much as you feel like grabbing, head back to Bozhena; she will walk you through the basics of using the bench. The main thing to be aware of is that "boil" just means "lower cauldron onto fire"; start the hourglass as soon as the cauldron is lowered, raise the cauldron as the hourglass stops, and only use the bellows if the recipe specifically tells you to.

Make all the Chamomile Decoction you can stand until you're sick of it; the goal for right now is to get your Alchemy skill up to 8 or so, depending on how patient you are, which should take about fifteen minutes. Once that's done, do whatever else Bozhena asks, go to sleep, and wake up the next morning. Talk to Bozhena and Pavlena until Pavlena gives you the Saviour Schnapps recipe, which will let you save your game.

You will now be able to use perks under your alchemy skill. Take Secret of Matter I (ignore Secret of Equilibrium). Your next goal is Skill 14 for Secret of Matter 2 (which will take about a half hour more) but the real target is "Secret of Secrets" at skill 16 (roughtly twenty minutes more after that) which unlocks special Quality 4 potions. You don't have to grind all the way to either threshold right now, those are just the targets. If you do try to get it done right now, it will feel a bit monotonous, especially if you keep brewing chamomile decoctions over and over again, so there's no harm in waiting a bit until you have a few more recipe options.

You can discover potions you don't have the recipe for using "trial and error" the magic of the internet[github.com] to find the recipes -- Henry would remember them anyway, right? -- but you wont have the ingredients for most of them yet. You should be able to make Marigold Decoction (Healing over Time) and Nighthawk (Night Vision), though, and you'll need both (if not now, then sooner rather than later). Chamomile Decoction will be the fastest grind as it only requires one turn of the sandglass while the others require more.

Grind out as many Saviour Schnapps, Marigold Decoction, and Nighthawk as you have patience for. You can't have too many of any of those on hand, even lower-quality ones.

Then,once you feel done with Alchemy for now, talk to Capon and progress the main quest until the game sets you free in Troskowitz.

A Wedding? But I've Absolutely Nothing to Wear!

Now we're free, but we can't go to a wedding like this! We aren't ready!

Explore the town a bit and talk to people. There's a beggar girl near the stocks who talks to you; exhaust her conversation tree. Find the alchemist and sell him all those chamomile decoctions, which should be good for a few hundred groschen, especially if you haggle a bit (always haggle once; it raises your Speech and Reputation). There's a wide array of flowers around town, and a bench you can use in the Troskowitz Apothecary's yard (with the Artemisia recipe on a shelf nearby), so explore the town a bit and pick all the flowers you see.

Now's a good time to trial-and-error some other key potions[inara.cz]. Specifically, you want Aqua Vitalis (Damage Resistance), Buck's Blood (stamina) and Bane (deadly weapon poison). Artemisia and Embrocation will buff Strength and Agility respectively, good for combat. Painkiller (more damage resistance) and Lion Perfume (Charisma) are also worthwhile. Buy any ingredients you don't have from the apothecary (you can buy formulae too, if you want to find everything in-game, but they're pricey). If you put in some work at Bozhena's earlier, gearing yourself up with a few of each of those should tip you the rest of the way up to Alchemy 16, or at least get you closer to it. Use the drying rack here to preserve any of your herbs which have dropped below 60 or so quality -- you only need one "fresh" herb to make most potions.

After that, enough flower picking for now. There are some more interesting necessaries lying around neglected and waiting for our attention.

Head to the SW corner of the village and in an open shed you will find a “Skalitz Axe” free for the taking. Your stats are a bit low for it now, but we'll solve that shortly. It will have a little gold “III” badge on it in your inventory, for Quality 3, the highest quality available apart from what you craft yourself. [Keep an eye out generally for Q3 items, especially armor, as they are often worth saving in the early game.]

Next, it’s time to get a set of wheels hooves. Walk out of town to the southwest, initially following the “C” marker on your HUD for the quest to find Miller Kreyzl, until you reach Semine, where you will find a small keep. On the south side of the keep is a horse pasture and there you will see good old Pebbles, your horse from the first game! Talk the groom into giving you your horse back; with the “flower power” Survival perk or a Lion perfume you should be able to easily make the speech check.

Once you're back in the saddle, head southeast from the stables a short distance and look for a small valley near a road. In it, you will find the site of an ambush, dead men and horses. Loot everything; you're specifically searching for a "Von Bergow Knight's Shield" lying next to a body, a Q3 "field crossbow" with 350 power, a war hammer, and a pair of spurs. Equip all four (for now; the hammer requires lower stats than your axe).

Optionally, at this point, head east and look for an "abandoned building" near the "Schdiar - West Farm" fast travel point. There are two wild dogs in the yard, a key in an urn on the floor inside the hut, and a chest in the attic; key unlocks the chest. Save your game before entering -- the dogs may be too difficult a fight for you right now (mostly because you don't have armor yet, though your potions may compensate) but if you can manage them or sneak past, the chest is full of "cobwebs," which we will need shortly for crafting Quickfinger potions, and some Q3 "pickpocket's shoes." If you don't grab these now, come back later.

Follow the road northeast and north from the abandoned hut and look for a dead pig lying in a rivulet (unmarked on the map; see right, above). Loot the pig and you will find a golden ring worth 600 groschen; don't sell it though, put it on, you won't find a better charisma boost in that slot.

Head back to Troskowitz and then take the west/northwest road out of town until you come to a fork in the road where you see the castle ahead of you to the northeast. Right before that fork, step into the bushes to the right; you'll find a tree with an archery target on it. A dogwood bow and archery skill book are lying nearby; take both. Equip the bow and the arrows and shoot out the Nest in the tree directly above the target, as shown, then check the nest for a useful item.

Next, head east-north-east from there a short ways and look for an "Overgrown Dugout." There is a locked chest inside; the key is in an urn to the right of the door. The chest contains some crafting materials and the sketch for the "Executioner's Axe."




Continue north to the castle, circle around to the north side gate, and then head directly east. You are looking for a landmark called "Cave in Apollonia."

Once you find it, head inside (bring your torch). We need two things here. The first, a short ways into the cave, is a sack that contains a pair of spectacles, some books, and the "Sketch - Basilard". Save all that for later; don't even read the books yet. Keep going into the cave, up two ladders, and you'll find yourself in a "Cave under Trosky." Scattered around in that area you'll find a key, a sack, and a chest, along with a few other random things, including a Q3 Black Long Gambeson. Take everything (the key will open the chest), but what we're here for is the sack, which contains a lifetime supply of charcoal.

Head back to either Bozhena's or the Troskowitz Apothecary. If you haven't already, now is the time to grind the rest of the way to Alchemy 16 and Secret of Secrets,specifically for Q4 Fox Potions. You can't buy the recipe for these anywhere yet (you'd have to do a quest to unlock the vendor first; see the Quest Tips section below), but



"Henry-Quality" (perfectly crafted tier 4) Fox potions last for two days and give you a 50% bonus to all experience earned. This is why we did Alchemy first, and why we were targeting Alchemy 16 specifically as our goal. Once you have a Q4 Fox Potion in hand, drink it, and now you're cooking with charcoal!

Now is also a good time to make a few Henry's Quickfinger potions, while you're here. 6 is great, 12 is better. They're a surprise tool that will help us later!

At this point, you should be at somewhere under the five hour mark on the game overall. The array of potions you have now should set you up well for the early game, so you can start chasing quests and following the plot, or work on your skills a bit more, or wander the map a bit looking to make some more acquisitions. Your call. The next few sections will lay out some of those options.

Shopping by Force

A few last bits of looting to consider before we move on to the next phase. A few of these just weren't on our essential route before, but most of them we didn't grab earlier because they're harder targets, for one reason or another.

West of Troskowitz is Zhelejov. Northwest of Zhelejov is the Wagoner's Inn; talk to the innkeep and, if you can afford it, hire a bed for a long time (permanently); take a nap to save your game. The bed will come with a stash to store things.

Northwest from there, across the big bridge and the little bridge, there's a rock outcropping with a hidden stash containing a "Golden Cross with Garnets," your other charisma booster and the best neck jewelry you can find. The stash is a bit hard to find -- the sack is a decoy, look to the right of it, in the recess.

Southwest of Zhelejov in the forest at the end of a short trail is a "Thief's Camp." Go there at night and you are likely to find the thief asleep; hit "F" to render him unconscious, loot his keys, then unlock the camp chest and take all his gear. You will find some significant armor upgrades, two Houndmaster skill books, and a "golden crucifix" and "golden cup" lying around the camp, both of which can be resold for significant cash.

Southeast of there, another Thieves' Camp has two bandits (also hopefully asleep) with some additional gear including plate gauntlets and a Swordsmanship II skillbook.

Time for a test. Save your game (either with nap or potion) and then head back to the original camp where you were first ambushed at the start of the game. There will be four or five bandits there. You can fight them if you want, or sneak around to the back of the camp and just avoid them. If you dropped off your groschen at the very beginning, and you've made it back quickly enough, you should find about eight hundred or so of it left.

Either way, next we head west from that camp up into the hills. You are looking for a "Bandit Patrol" (a small camp with one bandit you will need to kill and a few useful items, including a good bow and a Quality 3 Billhook polearm), and, west of there, an "Old Poacher's Camp," where you will find a better "Poacher's Bow" with 170 Power, one of the better bows available in the Trosky region (it's a quest item for the Birds of Prey questline, so don't sell it).


East of there, back towards Zhelejov, at the top of a cliff, is a "Wolf Pack" site. Go there and be ready for a hard fight against four wolves (wolves are generally harder to fight than bandits, mostly because they use better tactics, but also because they go for your legs and arms; you have to block, then counterattack). The wolves have dug open some graves; look for another Von Bergow's shield, a longsword, and a quality II bascinet with visor, one of the better helms available at this stage of the game.

The "Song of the Merry Poor" lore book, a Q3 Glaive, and a Q3 Ash Hunting Bow are in the "Enemy Camp" with two inhabitants near the alchemist's hut, north of Trosky Castle. Very slightly south of that camp is an unmarked small forest "gym" with the Strength of the Knight II skillbook laying out on the bench. A "hidden treasure" with minor loot is to the northeast.


Meanwhile, back over in Apollonia, The "Tunnel in the Cliffs" has a Q3 hunting crossbow and a couple other things; the real find is the *respawning* sack of "Fine Bolts" nearby, the best ammunition available at this stage of the game.





A little bit further north of there, in the "Ruin in the Rocks," there is a "Master's Studies IV" and "Products of Skilled Hands III" skillbooks are in a chest behind an "easy" lock (you will need lockpicks and either some Thievery skill or a Quickfinger potion). This chest also contains Exotic Wood and Copper, which we will need for the Basilard.





Finally, a "Dragon Saddle," "Quiet as a Cat I" and "Rule of St. Dismas 1" skillbooks can be found (stolen) at Nebakov Mill. The saddle and stealth book are in a "hard" locked chest, but the key can be pickpocketed from the millworkers (this appears to have been moved or removed with the latest patch)

Training Time: We're Gonna Need a Montage

Montage!

It is not *necessary* to do any additional grinding if you don't want to; your skills will raise naturally, especially now you have Fox potions. However, as we have already seen, a little investment of time up front can make the later stages of things radically easier. Here are a few quick ways to put those Fox Potions to good use.

Scholarship

You deserve a nice little break.

By now you've collected a few different books. Put on those Spectacles we found earlier, drink a fox potion, and head over to the nice sunny little bench, just north of the apple orchard, northeast of Troskowitz. If you can take the "Radzig's Heritage" perk under Main, do so now. Pick up the Speech II book that's on the bench, sit down (sitting gives a bonus), and read the books we've found so far. Apart from the direct benefits of the books, this should raise your Scholarship skill up to Rank 8 and the "Wonders of Man" perk, which will help you avoid some of the Craftsmanship and Thievery grind (see below).

Shooting your Shots

Marksmanship is particularly annoying to raise "naturally" as low skill makes your arm weave and bob around, making it virtually impossible to actually hit anything, and you can't skill up if you never land any hits.

Immediately south of Trosky castle there is a small quarry with archery targets and a dude in robin-hood-esque attire loitering around. Talk to him until he tells you about the hidden treasure in the quarry. Behind the row of targets is a ladder; head up the ladder and to the left across some logs. You'll be in an area near a small pier with a melon perched on it. (see map). Search between the logs you just crossed and the melon and you will find the hidden treasure.

Equip your crossbow, then head back and tell the robin hood guy you want to compete. Pick "crossbow" (it's easier to aim) and "beginner" (you are one). Bolts are provided. When competition starts, check whether you are on the right, left, or in the middle -- it's randomized -- and then shoot at the corresponding target. Your shots will "jump" a bit, so try to aim *below* the target. If you're having trouble with the "wobble" effect, try to line up your shot first, then draw and release as quickly as you can, before the wobbling starts.

Don't worry if you lose at first; the point here is to gain experience. The competitions will raise your character's Marksmanship, Warfare, Strength, and Agility scores *rapidly* making this the best way to raise your overall combat stats in the early game. I found I could win the intermediate contests with around 10+ skill and could win the Master competitions regularly at 16+ skill. Reaching Marksmanship 18 and the "Eagle Eye" capstone perk took about 45 minutes, even with the slow Field Crossbow, and I made about a thousand groschen in the process.

There is another archery competition at the gamekeeper's, west of Tachov, but it takes place at much closer range, so gives less experience (you get more experience for longer shots). Plus, at such close ranges, nobody ever misses, so you need a faster bow to reliably finish first for the +3 bonus and win even when everyone hits the bullseye every time.

Get Crafty

The "B" in your quest log will take you to the Tachov blacksmith, who is looking to hire an apprentice; lucky for him, Henry is here! Agree and you'll get another permanent bed and stash chest right near his forge; next to the bed is a "leather apron" which will give you a +3 craftsmanship bonus when worn (leather gloves, also nearby, give an additional +2 boost). There's also a Shovel in a nearby shed by the inn, which you should grab.

First, though, before you craft anything: right next to the forge is a grindstone. Sit down at it and select your Skalitz Axe. Time for literal grinding. Sparks good, smoke bad. Hold the blade at a 45 degree angle and sharpen it, pressing spacebar to keep the wheel going, until Henry says he's done and the weapon is finished. Then deliberately hold it at a 90 degree angle so it smokes and screeches. That damages the blade edge . . . which lets you sharpen it again, for more Craftsmanship skill. Keep going until you unlock the "Martin's Secret" perk at rank 16, which will let you craft "Henry-quality" tier 4 weapons. This should take between thirty and forty minutes or so.

If you want a Tier 4 weapon right now, you'll have to learn the blacksmithing minigame. Talk to the smith again and he'll teach you the basics. There are two tricks (beyond "save first.") The first is keeping in rhythm at speed; you want hammer strikes powerful enough to make a big shower of sparks, but fast enough that you generally finish the weapon before it cools to the point you have to re-heat it. The second trick is that the higher your skill, the more mistakes you can make; fortunately, Henry-quality Quickfinger potions, the apron, and leather gloves together give you +13 skill, so you're already almost at the max.

The Basilard is the best weapon you can make before the wedding, but you probably won't have the materials yet. The best one-hander you can craft *this moment* is probably the "military sword" -- the blacksmith will sell you the sketch. The Common Longsword is also an option for a two-hander. Because only swords can do "master strikes," they have a marked advantage over other weapons.

Sneakin' and Stealin

There are a lot of challenges in the game that rely on stealth or thievery, so it's important to get a baseline competency in those skills even if you're planning a mostly prayerful Henry.

Oddly, the best easiest place to train Stealth is a small pasture on the northwest side of Zhelejov that has four pigs in it. (see right). Sneaking around the pigs will gain Stealth and Agility extremely rapidly, taking roughly a half hour to raise Stealth to 18 for the capstone perk (plenty for the early game, especially as it will keep raising further through natural use). Carrying excess weight while you do it will raise Strength and Vitality too!

To train Thievery, though, you're going to have to see Miller Kreyzl -- follow your quest marker "C" and find him at the mill southwest of Semine. He'll tell you to grab some sacks; near the sacks you'll see a dagger, lockpicks, and conveniently placed training chest, which you should use to raise Thievery to level 8 (after that, to raise thievery further, you'll need to either unlock chests or pickpocket people; sleeping people are the easiest targets; Quickfinger potions can help as a crutch). The dagger, once equipped, will let you perform kills from stealth. Finish carrying the sacks until the cutscene and you'll unlock some additional quests for later.

Next, we put those skills to use.

Combat: Hugging with Swords

There a couple of minor quests you can do to get your teeth into the combat system. We'll start with those.

Joining Fight Club

The Semine Miller will suggest you join the local fight club, which is good to do as it will raise your unarmed skill as well as your Strength and Vitality and Warfare, plus the skill perks are generally beneficial. The fights themselves may be a little challenging but will be perfectly winnable if you juice yourself up sufficiently first.

If you spoke with the young woman who comes up to you right as you get off the stocks and exhaust her conversation options, she'll direct you to Tomcat in the nomad camp. Once you have a sword, go see him; he will teach you sword combos and "Master Strikes" which can one-hit a lot of lesser enemies, and you can do practice fights with him afterwards which will raise your other melee combat skills as well as your physical stats. The preliminary training in combos can be a bit of a hurdle for those of us with bad reflexes -- click the next move in the combo as your first hit lands, when the relevant part of the reticle flashes white.

Once you've done their initial quests, you can practice further at the unarmed rings and with Tomcat. I strongly recommend doing so, especially with Tomcat.

Float like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Sword in the Back

As I mentioned at the opening of this guide, this isn't a pure action game; it's a RPG. While it might seem like what's happening in combat is a game of reflexes, really it's a game of numbers: with each parry or block or riposte, you're actually just rubbing your numbers up against the enemy's numbers to find out which of you is bigger.

There are three ways to beat the combat system, all of which cross-complement each other:

• The first, the one the game teaches you, is the reflex game, learn to do the "perfect blocks" and "master strikes," and win the game by winning it. That's only works so well by itself, because sometimes either you'll screw up and they'll Master Strike you first, or they'll have bigger Number than you do and break down your blocks.
  
  
• The second way is to break the game by just making sure you always have bigger numbers than anybody else.This is why we've been turning Henry into a potion junkie, grabbing the best gear we can find, and raising up our skills and stats. Big enough numbers -- especially Strength and Vitality plus quality gear -- you can just beat everyone you meet into pulp and solve your problems with raw force. This only goes so far by itself also, though, because enemies will sometimes also have Big Number and also often outnumber you.
  
  
• The third way to beat the combat game is to quite literally sidestep it. Just like you, enemies can never block or parry an attack from behind. You can use this to finangle combat by repeatedly dodging them until you dodge behind them and it's open season. To dodge, tap the spacebar while moving in combat. Do it in the "perfect block" window while moving away from the side they're attacking from to "perfect dodge" and circle behind them; better stats will make this easier.

Practice fights will let you improve in all three of those areas. You'll improve your reflexes with the combat system while also raising all your combat stats generally (which will help make sure you have bigger numbers and give you bigger windows to execute your moves). Plus, each successful dodge will help raise your Vitality and Agility while also giving you a chance to learn how to routinely evade combat and poke 'em in the rear.

The other big thing to remember is that combat uses a hold/release system: Hold to prepare your attack, release to attack. Hold to guard, release to reset. Holding longer builds more power, and moving your weapon position while you hold an attack will "switch up" your attack into a feint, which enemies have a much harder time parrying. Conversely, though, if you're holding a block, you won't get the popup window for a "perfect" block or dodge -- the game thinks you're already defending!

At this stage, because there aren't any enemies who can master strike against you, you don't have to worry about your own weapon position too much; you will need to learn that later, though, and it's best to form good habits now. The short version is, if they can masterstrike, don't attack from the position opposite the opponent's weapon (dodge around and stab them in the back instead).

While you're near Tomcat, there are two free skillbooks you can find in the Nomad Camp. "Rule of St. Dismas I" is on a cart near Aranka; "The Art of the Sword I" is behind Fence Whitebeard down the side of a cliff under a fallen tree.

Choosing the Right Suit

Figuring out what armor and clothing is "best" is a little counter-intuitive in this game -- is a pourpoint better or worse than a gambeson? Is a saxon hauberk better than an italian one? So forth.

To really tell, you have to look at the numbers. Each bit of gear has seven numbers which matter. The first three are piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage resistance; the next three are conspicuousness, noise, and visibility; the seventh is what it does to your charisma. Some of those numbers are in turn obscured or altered by other numbers; for example, the item's condition impacts how much protection it gives. How the item is layered also matters, as only visible garments matter for conspicuousness, visibility, and charisma, but layers also stack protection, and larger garments will protect more areas. Finally, your character build can shift things further!

What that means in practice is:

1) You generally want one set of gear that maximizes armor and defense, a second set of gear that maximizes stealth, and (at least initially) a third set that maximizes charisma. Because expensive armor boosts Charisma, though, and because Charisma caps out at 30, eventually you'll have two suits: one armored and one stealthy. Your third slot can then be for fancy wedding clothes; again, because charisma caps out, there is considerable room for personal style.

2) It is extraordinarily difficult, without paying to repair every single item you find, putting it on, and comparing it against every other item you've found, to figure out what armor and clothing is worth saving and what is vendor trash.

To help you sort through all that bandit loot, here's a *rough* table of the *approximate* best choices for each column, out of what's * generally available* at this stage of the game. There can be a great deal of variation between items with the same name, though, even at the same quality tier, so you'll have to do further testing: a light-colored "long gambeson" might be one of the worst choices for stealth, while the darkest available variety might be one of the best. This table is a shopping list not an exact prescription. Still, at least this way you know not to bother with all the other, shorter gambesons.

Armor Slot	armor values	stealth values	charisma values
helmet	closed face helms > kettle hats > metal skullcaps	cloth caps or hats, darker is better.	fancy caps and chaperons; some fancy helms.
hood	virtually interchangeable	Thief's, Pickpocket's generally best for stealth; "simple" or "cleric's" also can be good options.	"embroidered" hood is the best commonly available; Noble's if you find it.
collar	mail collar	Mail collar is noisier, padded collar quiet but more visible.	mail collar
coif	mail coif > broad battle coif >Padded coif	mail coif is worst for noise; "black" coifs are less visible.	Anything but a simple coif will prevent wearing a fancy hat, but can be combined with a fancy helmet.
body	"Long Gambeson" is good enough; Q3 "Long Pourpoint" is slightly better.	Dark Tunic for pure stealth, but any "black" pourpoint or gambeson will allow you to wear other armor while still maintaining stealth.	Burgher Pourpoint
hauberk	"Hauberk Long" > "Short Chainmail" > "Saxon Hauberk" > "Italian Hauberk".	There is no mithril in Bohemia. All chain hauberks have 100 noise; they aren't part of a stealth setup.	All identical.
plate	In Trosky, the good options are "Milanese Cuirass" or "Smooth Cuirass." Milanese is better.	"There are some "blackened" cuirasses; but with noise perks and an overcoat covering it, you can get away with the milanese just fine.	Generally speaking, higher cost > more charisma.
overcoat	Mostly identical	Thief's Coat or Dark-colored "Hunting" or "Ordinary" Coat.	"Embroidered Coat" is the best generally available in Trosky area.
sleeves	Sillesian Brigandine Sleeves > Laminar Sleeves with Rondels > Reinforced Tempered Gauntlets > Plain Laminar Gauntlets > Couters with Rondel	"couters with rondel" are by far the strongest stealth option with very low noise. They rattle like everything in the game audio, though.	Roughly parallel with protection and cost.
gloves	milanese > hourglass >noble's > chainmail> gloves	Knacker's gloves are best overall; pickpocket's gloves or plain "leather gloves" also good choices.	At this stage, Riding Gloves.
hose	padded chausses, quilted hose, and noble's quilted hose are all comparable.	Beggar's, Miner's, or "simple" hose best for pure stealth; armor requires padding, though, so a dark pair of chausses or "dark" quilted hose will be better for a mixed build.	Noble's quilted hose are slightly more charismatic than chausses.
cuisses	"Milanese plate" or "Noble's Brigandine" depending on quality. Otherwise, Half Plate legs > Poleyn > Leaf Shaped Couters.	"leaf shaped couters" or "poleyn" assuming you have padding beneath them; otherwise empty slot.	Most good options not available yet; Milanese Plate or Noble's Brigandine.
Shoes	Cuman, Soft, High, or Riding boots. The Nomad Camp fence sells Q3 "Soft" boots.	Thief's Shoes or "Soft" or "Simple" shoes depending on your needs.	Burgher's shoes or Courtier's boots.

You may find "Darkened," "Black," "Pickpocket's" or "Thief's" versions of particular items. Those were added in Patch 1.2 and will have better stealth values than typical items of that type.

This table is mostly based on the values listed on https://inara.cz/kingdom-come-2/ and I haven't fully cross-checked it in-game. For that reason, and because there can be considerable variation even between items with the same name, be sure to check these values yourself in-game for any particular piece you find. This table also assumes "Quality 3" versions of all items. A high-quality Long Gambeson may be superior in every way to a medium-quality Long Pourpoint, etc. It also doesn't necessarily include every single item you can potentially find, as some random encounters or lone NPCs may have rare items outside the normal ranges and I haven't murdered all of Trosky to check.

This table also simplifies and collapses together categories in a way that may not always be accurate,depending on your situation. For example, the visibility and conspicuousness of your cuirass may not matter if it's covered by a coat. Again, you'll need to test the particular pieces you find against your own particular build in game to really know -- this is just a rough shopping list.

Final Caveat: if you have the DLC Brunswick set, or the "Warhorse" or "Cutpurse" free DLC items, they're equivalent or better than the best items you could otherwise find at this stage of the game. So if you have them, this section is ignorable for now; you won't have to worry about armor or clothing choices until later in the game. Wear Brunswick or Warhorse for armor and charisma and wear cutpurse for stealth.

Tumbling Dice

The "Farkle" dice minigame is an actual historical game and you can find optimal strategy guides for it [www.ryanhmckenna.com]online. The simple version of a basic, mostly effective strategy is to roll again if you have four or more dice left to reroll, but pass if you have three or less, as you're likely to bust out at that point. All else being equal that will get a win more often than not.

In the grim darkness of ancient Bohemia, though, everyone cheats, so the way to win Farkle here is to get a good set of dice. A number of quests involve dice games, so having a set of trick dice in your pocket will make those quests much easier.

The most potent strategy is to collect a set of six "St. Antiochus" dice, which *always* roll three. As Henry always goes first, this means you can get infinite points in your first round, and will always win every dice game. Which is a bit boring. If you just want to bypass the dice games, pickpocket one of these every few days from the Troskowitz dice player until you have a full set.

The next best die is the "weighted" die, which will respawn in the chest by at the initial ambush camp every few days. [edit: it no longer respawns after Patch 1.2]. It is ten times more likely to roll a "1", which again is a bit boring, but will let you win fairly routinely.

My favorite dice are the "Lucky" and "Favorable" dice, because they strike a nice balance between "probably going to win" and "still playing a game."

The "Favorable" die can be pickpocketed every few days from Dice Player Spots at the Wagoner's Inn. It is strongly weighted towards one and five, slightly weighted towards 6, and has a nice metallic visual that looks good when you roll it.

The "Lucky" die is similar to the "Favorable" die, but weighted more strongly towards six and less strongly towards one and five. It can be pickpocketed from Dice Player Jenova or Hired Hand Zdenyek the Mouth in Tachov.

Of special note is the "Devil's Head" die. It's evenly weighted, but the "1" face is a devil's head; it won't count as a "1" on its own, but can act as a wildcard, completing other combinations if you need it to. You can find one by completing the shepherd quests (see below) or digging up the Pagan Burial Ground south of Semine on the other side of the river.

For more information about dice, see:
dice weight table:
https://www.reddit.com/r/kingdomcome/comments/1ijaac0/kcd2_dice_weight_table/
Dice simulations:
https://www.reddit.com/r/kingdomcome/comments/1im9ocp/kcd2_on_the_matter_of_superior_dice_combinations/
Complete list of all dice:
https://raiderking.com/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-all-dice-list-probabilities-locations-what-they-do/

Stats, Skills, and Perks

Stats and skills are generally capped at thirty; even some things that aren't stats or skills, like Charisma or Speed, appear to be capped at thirty (oddly, Stamina is not).

The main thing with perk choices is to make them: don't let perks sit unselected on your character sheet. Unlike the first game, there are almost no "trap" perks, and you will get enough perk points to take all the perks in each skill and stat (apart from a few that are mutually exclusive). Plus, it's easy to reset at any time with a Lethe potion.

So choosing perks is more about choosing which to take *first*. I generally advise experience boosters first, then stat boosters, then money last.

Keeping that in mind:

Stats

Main

Four real choices here, because of perks that conflict with each other directly.

• Charming Man is overall going to do more good than Opportunist because you will gain more reputation than you'll lose (unless you're going full Murder Hobo Henry).
  
• Similarly, Good Natured will probably be a better choice than Criminal Element unless you plan on a life of crime anyway.
  
• Warmonger is going to be far more useful than Pacifist unless you're deliberately doing a pacifist run.
  
• Radzig's vs. Martin's Heritage is mostly a RP choice, but marksmanship and scholarship are more grindy to raise overall, and Scholarship especially is limited by how many books you find, so you probably want Radzig's.

"Undaunted Cavalier" interacts very well with the other perks that grant bonus charisma, such as Knight in Shining Armor, etc.

Memorable is worth taking early so the benefit of all your questing gets spread around.

There are some reports that "Local Hero" may have a bug that impacts FPS on some systems.

Strength

"Train Hard, Fight Easy" I and II are better than they seem. You get bonus damage for being significantly above a weapon's stat requirements, so this will give a long term bonus to weapon damage generally.

I really like the more-carry-weight perks as a convenience, but since you get more Vitality experience by carrying heavy weight around, Hard Working Lad may be worth waiting on till you get your Vitality higher.

Agility

Deft Hands I and II are likewise better than they seem, for the same reasons as THFE.

Ranger Run is just extremely convenient, and Finesse and Viper are universally useful.
Past that, largely depends on how much you dodge, sneak, etc.

Vitality

Get both Hermes Haste and Marathon Runner as soon as you can. Past that, up to you.

Speech

Take "Jack of All Trades" as soon as you can for the experience gain bonus.

Battle Cry and Dreaded Warrior would be great if I ever remembered to battle cry.

Combat Skills

Warfare: take the ones that boost your stamina or reduce stamina drain first. The ones for when outnumbered in a fight are very good also, as you are usually outnumbered.

Swords: Take the ones for short sword (assuming you’re using the Basilard as per the rest of this guide).

Heavy weapons: Sundering Blow and Brute Force are generally great.

Unarmed: Here, prioritize the perks that help with things that aren’t unarmed combat (Kurzkampf, Sandman).

Polearm: Polearms are not good right now, and the devs have announced they’ll get a rebalancing, so I haven’t bothered with them yet. If you have strong opinions, let me know in the comments.

Marksmanship: Eagle Eye is a true capstone, take it right at 18. Then you can start using a bow in combat against multiple opponents, even if you have old man reflexes.

Hal Shot First I & II are great for stealth builds.

Does anyone actually bother with mounted combat?

Non-Combat Skills

Alchemy

"Art of Preservation" is probably the first one to take, just to minimize the amount of time you run around collecting fresh stuff.

Secret of Matter I and II ASAP; the Secrets of Equilibrium are a trap choice, partly because major alchemy errors are easy to avoid, partly because higher skill lets you get away with mistakes anyway. There is an argument for SoE I and SoM II, for five potions per go with a margin of error, but why plan to fail?

Dark Arts Apprentice will also let you get away with a mistake and gives a chat boost, too.

Craftsmanship

Razor Sharp is just a flat bonus.

Well-Fitted is an absolute must-have on your stealth builds, but only applies when you repair it yourself *with an armorer's kit,* not the tailor's kit.

Seven-League Boots is a great perk but is finicky and may be bugged; it similarly requires you repair it yourself, and only works with *footwear*. If the armor takes up both your leg and shoe slot, this perk won't apply. It also seems to just . . . stop working sometimes, not sure why.

Normally I advise taking the "bonus experience" perks early so they pay for themselves, but craftsmanship is so easy to raise at the grindstone that Keen Eye is kindof a waste, especially as it will in practice conflict with Well-Fitted and Seven League Boots.

Drinking

Take Beer Belly early. Otherwise these are kinda silly unless you're in Hardcore Mode, as the buffs from these perks can help counter some of the hardcore mode debuff perks.

Horsemanship

Two horses, Pebbles and Herring, have "secret perks" -- "Good Old Pebbles" and "Red Herring" -- that turn them into superhorses if you ride them long enough (35km for Pebbles, 50km for Herring). Herring's perk makes her very slightly faster, but takes longer to get, and Pebbles has significantly better carry weight. You can unlock either with a minimum of fuss by setting yourself to auto-follow the circular road around Trosky Castle and going afk.

Head Start is worth taking as soon as you can, as is Ride like the Wind.

The choice between Roadrunner and Wildrider is mostly just preference, but you can always go offroad, so Wildrider is probably marginally better.

The mounted combat perks . . . this game isn't really built for mounted combat.

Houndmaster

Mutt's great. Most of these perks aren't. Prioritize Search! and the ones that boost his combat.

Scholarship

Wonders of Man to boost Craftsmanship and Thievery. Houndmaster and Horsemanship don't need to be particularly high and survival will max itself out rapidly anyway as you gather herbs for alchemy.

Liberal Arts at skill 10 is a must-pick as it will help you with skill checks throughout the game.

Explorer at 18 is great for finding almost everything on the entire map. Can dramatically simplify "find the location" quests; however, location names may sometimes spoil plot details. There are still some unmarked unique locations even this perk won't show. Many find it annoying when first hitting the Kuttenberg map.

Stealth

Rodent is a better choice than Weasel Boy because most of the critical sneaking you will do is indoors.

Surprise Attack and Ambusher are great for stealth archery, which is the best archery.

Survival

There's a "secret" perk here that gives +2 vitality for picking poisonous plants; you'll get it before you realize it.

"Leg Day" is very much worth taking right away, as it will help you passively raise strength. "Flower Power" is a good boost to Charisma especially early on.

Heartseeker and Master Fletcher also help with your archery.

"Lucky Find" generally just fills your pockets with junk but every so often you'll get something worth having.

Bounty of the Wild lets you get lots of nice cuts of meat to give to Mutt. Here Mutt! Kidneys!

Thievery

Silent Fiddler and Tool Master really help with the lockpicking minigame, which is the harder of the two minigames; I generally find I don't need Nimble Fingers or Rapid Flight.

Sometimes you're gonna want to steal really expensive items that take a ridiculously long time to lose their "stolen" flag sitting in your inn stash; the Trafficker perk really helps with that.

Quest Tips: Here be Spoilers [drafting]

This section contains spoilers. I'll try to minimize and tag them but I can't warn you "do X to avoid Y" without telling you that Y is a possible outcome.

Some quests are timed or have deadlines; if an NPC warns you to come quickly or solve it quickly, they generally mean it. As a general rule, complete quests when you get them, then get the next quest, don't try to do multiple quests in parallel.

Many quests have alternative, non-obvious solutions.

Main Quests

Jaunt: First major quest in the Blacksmith questline. Do this early as it unlocks several other things. Timed, and can be failed if you don’t promptly join them in the courtyard once asked, they’ll go without you. When asked to spar, boost yourself with potions. Don’t go home immediately after the final fight, as there’s a chest with 2 Toledo Steel in it, which you can use to smith the Basilard.

The Hermit: Second major quest in the Blacksmith questline. Parts of this quest can be failed if not completed promptly. For the best outcome, explore all optional side goals before talking to the Hermit. . There are several items in this with unique graphics you can't otherwise obtain (except from a travelling merchant Gregorious who appears randomly sometimes after this quest is completed). For the most loot, side with the Hermit, then steal his gear after he goes to sleep afterwards. For a bonus reward of the Alchemy II skillbook, talk to Gerda again after the quest is complete. It is currently not possible, apparently due to a bug, to forge a Q4 version of the "toledo steel sword", and it won't benefit from the "hardened steel" perk either. Once forged, hand it in to Radovan to complete the quest, but it will probably be more entertaining to go to the wedding with the Miller instead.

Materia Prima: First major quest in the Miller’s questline. Target for theft is Troskowitz Rathaus, which is predictably surrounded by guards at all times. How to crack it? Talk to the Innkeeper next door to the Rathaus and sleep on the hay behind the wagon nearby until 2 am. Tell Mutt to stay, drink a Nighthawk and Quickfinger, and move through the Inn into the Rathaus courtyard. Pick front door, head inside closing door behind you, pickpocket a sleeping guard for a key. Master’s Studies II and Skull Crushers II by where the scribe sits. Sketch-common longsword on shelves by chronicle. Upstairs is sleeping scribe; pickpocket him for both sets of his keys. “Offer of Hermes Trismegistus” is in Rathaus jail cellar, past sleeping guards; don’t take stairs to outside as they are guarded and you will be discovered. There is a "Strength II" skillbook in the hay in a side room. Leave way you came. Once back in courtyard, head up the outside stairs to the 2nd floor and make sure to hit the scribes’ shop chest; there's also an armory across the courtyard full of the guard's gear (though the 1.2 patch may have made that harder to breach). If no one’s spotted you, glide back to the inn courtyard and sleep, otherwise if you had any close encounters, leave town and don’t come back until the red grating flag on the town name goes away. You can store all your loot in your Inn stash until the red hand flags all expire.

Forbidden Fruit: Second quest in the Miller's questline. The "Key to the ruins of Slatego" key is a red herring and only unlocks the room it is found in. For the best result and a positive reputation do everything Gravedigger Ignatius says and agree to kill the dog at the end, but then let Bonnie save the dog anyway. The "Knacker's Gloves" he gives you are great for your stealth build. . There is a St. Dismas I skillbook at the graveyard outhouse.

Opus Magnum: Third quest in Miller's questline. Probably the most interesting way to get into the wedding.

Quest Tips II: Electric Spoileroo

Tasks & Side Activities

Melee at the Mill > Wine, Women, and Blood > Best for Last: these are the unarmed combat side activities. Start at the Semine mill by talking to Kreyzl. "Melee at the Mill" is repeatable for more experience.

Combat Training: Start by talking to Bara in Troskowitz (the beggar girl near the stocks). She'll point you to Tomcat at the Nomad camp for basic combat training (as above).

Mutt: This one will take a few steps and you can find several side quests while chasing down leads, specifically "Bad Blood" and "Lackey." Be sure to talk to everyone. When talking to Herdsboy Siegfried, for the best result, ask to use Ignatius, but leave him with the other sheep, then just drop some raw meat on the rocks to lure the wolves; this way Ignatius will survive, unlocking another quest later.. You can also just go directly to the spot where Mutt is on the map southwest of the Nomad camp but that will bypass several quests.

Bad Blood: You will begin this when you return to talk to Herb Woman Bozhena. It’s best to do it before you retrieve Mutt, and pursue all the optional goals, to achieve the best outcome. There may be a time limit of some kind, possibly "before wedding," to avoid a bad result. If resolved positively, Pavlena opens up as an alchemy merchant, and can sell the Fox Potion formula.

Lackey: This one is a good opportunity to build vitality; load yourself up with extra weight from your horse. When given vague directions, use the journal map menu to find each next objective. There is a Q3 hazel longbow at the hideout. You can take him straight back to his wife but it isn't the optimal outcome. Afterwards, talk to the gamekeeper again to start the "Birds of Prey" questline.

Axe from the Lake: start this by talking to Zdenyek the Mouth, who hangs out near the Tachov Inn. A Q4 version of this axe is superior to the Q3 Skalitz Axe, but inferior to the Executioner's Axe, Basilard, or a Q4 Military Sword.

Invaders: Start this when you return to the Troskowitz inn. For the best outcome, choose the amicable options. Be sure to have a "Hair of the Dog" potion before progressing the quest. when you wake up the morning after the quest, the cumans will all be asleep passed out drunk; drink your Hair of the Dog potion, pickpocket them, and rob the camp chest for a "Cuman Chief's Bow," 180 Power, highest power bow in Trosky.

Bounties: Canker > Handsome Charlie > Johnny the Gob > Casper: Available in Semine after Jaunt is complete; talk to Gules and he'll give you four bandits in sequence to chase down. Several of these targets have high-quality gear otherwise unobtainable at this stage, so it's worth completing these. Must be completed before the wedding. Gules himself is wearing several pieces of the best armor you can find at this stage of the game. A day or two after you complete Jaunt, put on your stealth gear, vault the horse pasture fence, sneak through the keep at 2 am or so while everyone’s asleep. Pickpocket Gules for his chest key and take it all, then ghost back out the way you came. The items are high-value and will need to sit in your stash for a long time to lose the stolen flag.

Birds of Prey: Talk to Gamekeeper Vostatek after completing "Lackey." This questline must be completed before the wedding or it will fail. "Explorer" perk under Scholarship will help find the camp locations.

Miri Fajta: Another timed quest. Start this by talking to the Voivode in the Nomad Camp. When searching Marika's things, the scarf you need is lying against her chest. It'll best to have a marigold decoction, bandages, marigold, nettles, an upgraded horse, good unarmed skill, and a good set of winning dice already in hand before starting the quest. For the best outcome, do what Marika asks and deal honorably with her, then wager with the Voivode. .

The Voivode's Curse: Start this by talking to Aranka after finishing Miri Fajta. She wants you to forge a saber; it's a respectable weapon, not as strong as the Basilard but close, and can be forged at q4. If you can't find a wild dog there are some in the area behind Tomcat, or kill a wolf instead. You can keep the sword or turn it in for a reward, a Q3 Vagrant's Hat for stealth setups and 45 groschen. If you turn it in, you can always pickpocket the sword back from Aranka later

Frogs / Mice > Battle of Frogs and Mice: Village pranks questline. Start by talking to either Olbram in Zhelejov or the innkeeper in Tachov. For the best outcome, after running Frogs and Mice separately, instead of going to fight, talk to the Bailiff, read the Chronicle, then find the nail in the central tree in the pasture. .

Cabbage Thief: This isn't marked as a quest in your journal. However, if you talk to Bailiff Thrush, he will mention that someone has been stealing cabbages. Head to the Grocer east of Semine and north of Nebakov Mill and ask, then follow (and gather) the clues cabbages.
If you can't find the endpoint, the "Cabbage Cave" is south of Semine stables, across the river, at the end of the road. .
For the best outcome, spare the cabbage thief and you can bring cabbages to him for the best weightless, non-spoiling, buffing food item in the game. The cabbage trail you followed will respawn every few days..

Troubadours: Start by talking to George or Michael at the Zhelejov Inn. To avoid a bad but funny outcome later on, buy the lute, don't steal it..

Shepherds: Several shepherds will give you amusing side tasks, which can be completed for minor rewards, including a Devil's Head Die.

Mods and Resources

Useful Mods

Unlimited Saving: adds a quicksave button
https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance2/mods/14

For those of us who don't have time to lose an hour.

Instant Herb Picking: so we don't have to watch the animation every single time

https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance2/mods/32

Links & Resources

https://inara.cz/kingdom-come-2 is a fairly well laid out database of the game's armor, weapons, item locations, etc. The information here is clearly derived from a crawl of the game's databases but it's well formatted and makes searching for things like "lowest noise chest armor" or who *exactly* sells Mail Collars quite straightforward.

https://github.com/Omricon/Henrys-Moste-Potente-Potions/tree/main is a detailed written guide to the game's alchemy, thoroughly playtested to the point that it will tell you not just the recipes, but when and where you can skip parts of the recipe to make more potions faster.

https://www.gamerguides.com/kingdom-come-deliverance-ii/maps/trosky-region-map and https://mapgenie.io/kingdom-come-deliverance-2/maps/trosky are searchable maps of the Trosky region, very useful if you're looking for something specific, like "books" or "henbane." They each seem to be drawing on slightly different information sets, so it can be worth checking both.

Many of the above tips and pointers have been culled from https://www.reddit.com/r/kingdomcome/ and https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4081210 . I strongly recommend heading to those sources if you've got a question this guide doesn't answer.

Misc. Tips

When returning to Bozhena's hut, you can "sleep and save" in the bed that Capon slept in, not the bed you recovered in.

Do not attempt to "grind" your Drinking skill. You'll get alcoholism, a long term debuff that is a giant pain and can't just be cured with a potion like in the first game.

"Dollmaker" poison is more suited than Bane for ranged weapons, as it stops enemies from running away or towards you and coats a much larger stack of arrows. It requires Herb Paris. You can find a stash of Herb Paris by following the stream at Bozhena's hut upstream until you come to a "Nameless Spring." The Herb Paris will be in a basket nearby.

You have to collect knowledge of specific weapon combos from specific trainers. Tomcat at the Nomad Camp and Gnarly at Semine can each teach some combos. You can spar with Tomcat at any time and with Gnarly after "Jaunt".

For many chests, it is easier to pickpocket the key from the owner (especially if the owner is asleep) than it is to pick the lock. This is especially productive for stealing NPC's attire or items, which they often put in a chest to store for the night.

You can steal horses and sell them to the horse trader in the Nomad camp; talk to him while riding the horse you want to sell.

Save the "wolf's ears" you find as they can be turned in for a reward.

If you hear crows cawing and flocking to a particular spot, they may guide you to something interesting.

It's generally a good idea to keep a "Hair of the Dog" and "Digestive" potion on you at all times, just in case a questline gets you into a situation.

The best set of horse gear in the Trosky region is on one of the horses stabled behind Zhelejov Wagoner's Inn; killing and butchering the horse will let you steal the gear.

Someone on Reddit has done the math, and it’s mathematically better to repair gear with kits before selling it, assuming an armorer with infinite wealth to buy everything you have for sale. Of course, no such armorer exists, but nevertheless.

No one is entirely sure yet precisely which bows are better or worse than other ones. That said, there does seem to be a general consensus that higher "Power" is better in terms of damage and flight, but makes for slower rate of fire, whereas the "Master's Hunting Bow" has the best overall speed. This means that if you're stealth sniping, you probably want the highest power you can find (which at this stage of the game means the Field Crossbow), whereas if you're using bows to administer generous helpings of poison to multiple enemies in combat as quickly as possible, you may prefer the Master's. Hired Hand Jakesh at the Nebakov gamekeeper sells a Q3 Master's Hunting Bow.

There is a bugged / developer relic alchemy recipe still in game: water in cauldron, one eyebright and one sage, immediately pour, no boiling or anything, will make a Henry's Saviour Schnapps. This can power level alchemy extremely fast. It adds a bugged "gunpowder" recipe to your alchemy recipe book.

Another wise one of Reddit has discovered that you can make Mutt carry infinite weight by having him "fetch" a dead animal (after loading the dead animal's inventory with whatever you want carried).

[Hieronymous Alloy]

The belladonna that's easiest to find is by following the path to the right out the hut as far as the game will let you; where it stops you, there's several bushes right around there. Individual clumps of bushes are scattered all over that whole area, especially in the areas to the right and left of the path up to the herb garden.

[Cornuthaum]

damn where'd you find this much belladonna in the tutorial area?