Netmarble Neo put Game of Thrones: Kingsroad into Steam Early Access on 26 March 2025 and released it on 21 May 2025 as a free to play action RPG. You play an invented character, the bastard heir of House Tyre, whose siblings died at the Red Wedding, and the story fills gaps around Season 4 of the HBO show. Combat is fully manual, with light and heavy attacks, dodging and parrying rather than automated fighting.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Castle Black | Three fixed classes basics | Sellsword | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Winterfell | Manual dodge and parry combat mastery | Sellsword | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | King's Landing | Weapon swapping mid fight + gear | Knight or Sellsword | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Hornwood | Build optimization | Knight | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Storm's End | Min-max | Knight or Weapon swap loadout | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Castle Black)
Where the campaign opens, with your uncle serving in the Night's Watch. Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly appear here, and the early Guide Missions that hand out skill points are concentrated around this stretch.
Level/Difficulty: Opening chapter Key Rewards: Early skill points, the first Guide Missions, introduction to parry timing
What to Do in Castle Black
- Learn Three fixed classes. Knight, Sellsword and Assassin are the only classes, and each is styled after a show character: the Knight after Jaime Lannister, the Sellsword after Tormund, the Assassin after Arya Stark. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Sellsword as your starting role. See our builds guide for why.
- Clear every sub quest that pays skill points before pushing the main story. Skill points come from Guide Missions and sub quests rather than from levelling alone, so skipping side content leaves permanent gaps in your kit.
- Acquire your first weapons upgrade: Two handed axe or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Three fixed classes fundamentals
- Sellsword selected and functional
- Castle Black main content cleared
- Ready for Winterfell
Phase 2: Early Game (Winterfell)
The Northern seat your house is sworn to, and one of the show locations rebuilt for the game. House Tyre's loyalty to the Starks and the aftermath of the Red Wedding drive most of the questing here.
Level/Difficulty: Early to mid campaign Key Rewards: Story progression, regional coins, early crafting materials
What to Do in Winterfell
- Work on Manual dodge and parry combat. Attacks are driven by real time light and heavy inputs, with dodging and parrying handled by the player rather than an auto battle toggle. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Two handed axe if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Do not spend Mastery Books casually. They upgrade basic skills and cannot be reset, so a book poured into a skill you later stop using is gone for good.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to King's Landing.
- Consider whether Knight might suit your playstyle better than Sellsword.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Manual dodge and parry combat integrated into gameplay
- Two handed axe acquired
- Winterfell fully cleared
- Ready for King's Landing
Phase 3: Mid Game (King's Landing)
The capital, where the political side of the story takes over from Northern skirmishing. Jaime Lannister and Varys are among the show characters you meet.
Level/Difficulty: Mid campaign Key Rewards: Faction quests, marketplace access, higher grade gear recipes
What to Do in King's Landing
- Master Weapon swapping mid fight. Each class carries two main weapons plus one ranged weapon and can switch between them during a fight. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Longsword. It's the best weapon and becomes accessible around now.
- Raise World Level only after you have cleared the one time content available at your current level. Higher World Level improves ordinary rewards but does nothing for one time rewards, so raising it early simply makes the same content harder.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Set Research passive bonuses for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Weapon swapping mid fight mastered
- Longsword acquired or in progress
- King's Landing fully cleared
- Ready for Hornwood
Phase 4: Late Game (Hornwood)
A Northern region whose eastern edge hosts the Drogon field boss on a fixed timer. Killing it is one of the few dependable ways to see legendary grade equipment drop.
Level/Difficulty: Late campaign and endgame Key Rewards: Legendary equipment chances, faction hideout chests
What to Do in Hornwood
- Finalize your build. You should be running Knight or Sellsword with optimized gear.
- Longsword should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Learn Drogon's spawn window east of Hornwood and plan your evening around it. Legendary gear is scarce enough that a field boss with a fixed timer is worth more than several hours of ordinary farming.
- World Level difficulty scaling optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Storm's End.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Longsword upgraded to max
- Hornwood fully cleared
- Ready for Storm's End
Phase 5: Endgame (Storm's End)
Added along with Felwood in the Chapter 3 content that landed at the May 2025 grand launch, together with a Unicorn boss encounter. It marks the point where the campaign stops being a Northern story.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 3, endgame progression Key Rewards: Unicorn boss drops, higher tier crafting materials
What to Do in Storm's End
- Storm's End tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Extract Skill Effects before you replace a legendary weapon. Effects pull out into separate items and engrave onto other gear, so an upgrade does not have to mean losing the roll you were building around.
- The endgame loop: run Storm's End, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Weapon swap loadout for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where World Level difficulty scaling mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Storm's End fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Raising World Level before clearing one time content. The one time rewards do not scale with World Level, so you pay in difficulty and get nothing back.
- Spending Mastery Books on a skill you have not committed to. There is no reset, and the books are limited.
- Selling set pieces you have not fed into Set Research. Those duplicates are the input for permanent passive stats, not vendor trash.
- Playing the Assassin like the Knight. It has the lowest survivability of the three classes, so trading hits in melee rather than rotating out kills runs that a Knight would survive.
- Ignoring the ranged weapon slot. Every class has one, and fights against flying or elevated enemies get much longer without it.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Clear every sub quest that pays skill points before pushing the main story. Skill points come from Guide Missions and sub quests rather than from levelling alone, so skipping side content leaves permanent gaps in your kit.
- Do not spend Mastery Books casually. They upgrade basic skills and cannot be reset, so a book poured into a skill you later stop using is gone for good.
- Raise World Level only after you have cleared the one time content available at your current level. Higher World Level improves ordinary rewards but does nothing for one time rewards, so raising it early simply makes the same content harder.
- Learn Drogon's spawn window east of Hornwood and plan your evening around it. Legendary gear is scarce enough that a field boss with a fixed timer is worth more than several hours of ordinary farming.
- Extract Skill Effects before you replace a legendary weapon. Effects pull out into separate items and engrave onto other gear, so an upgrade does not have to mean losing the roll you were building around.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Guides
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Overview
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Best Builds
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Tier List
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Beginner's Guide
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Tips & Tricks
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Weapons Guide
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Combat Guide
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Boss Guide
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Maps & Locations
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Crafting Guide
- Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Classes & Characters
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