Warhorse Studios released Kingdom Come: Deliverance on 13 February 2018, set in Bohemia in 1403 with no magic, no dragons and a map built from real places. You play Henry, a blacksmith's son from Skalitz, after Cuman raiders in Sigismund's pay burn the town and kill his parents. All 17 skills level only through use, and saving outside a bed normally costs a bottle of Saviour Schnapps.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Go to Captain Bernard at the Rattay arena before the main quest pushes you into real fights
Go to Captain Bernard at the Rattay arena before the main quest pushes you into real fights. He is the only character who teaches Master Strikes, combos and feints, and Master Strikes alone change the difficulty of the whole game.
2. Fight in doorways, on stairs or with your back to a wall
Fight in doorways, on stairs or with your back to a wall. Multiple opponents in open ground will surround Henry, and the combat system genuinely does not let you beat three armoured men at once early on.
3. Learn Alchemy early purely for Saviour Schnapps
Learn Alchemy early purely for Saviour Schnapps. Buying them drains money you need for armour, and brewing a batch of twenty removes the anxiety that makes people avoid experimenting.
4. Blunt damage beats plate
Blunt damage beats plate. A Ceremonial Mace against an armoured knight does what a longsword edge cannot, so carry both and switch based on what the enemy is wearing.
5. Bathe and change into clean clothes before any conversation with a noble or a quest giver
Bathe and change into clean clothes before any conversation with a noble or a quest giver. Appearance feeds Charisma directly, and speech checks you fail dirty will pass clean.
6. Sell stolen goods to Miller Peshek at the Rattay mill or to other millers rather than to town traders
Sell stolen goods to Miller Peshek at the Rattay mill or to other millers rather than to town traders. Regular traders recognise stolen items and will report you.
7. Read every book you find and take Reading lessons from the scribe in Uzhitz
Read every book you find and take Reading lessons from the scribe in Uzhitz. Recipe books are unreadable at low Reading skill, and Alchemy depends on them.
8. Repair armour before it drops below roughly half condition
Repair armour before it drops below roughly half condition. Maintenance on badly damaged gear costs more and repairs poorly, and blacksmith repair prices scale with how far you let it slip.
9. Ride everywhere and use the horse as a mobile chest
Ride everywhere and use the horse as a mobile chest. Horses carry a large amount of weight, which is the difference between looting a bandit camp completely and leaving most of it behind.
10. Hardcore mode, added free after launch, removes the map marker and compass and makes you pick negative perks such as Somnambulant or Numbskull
Hardcore mode, added free after launch, removes the map marker and compass and makes you pick negative perks such as Somnambulant or Numbskull. Play it on a second run rather than a first, because it assumes you already know the roads.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Swordsman (A-Tier):
- Focus on Skills level only through use combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Longsword
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Archer (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Shortsword
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Kingdom Come: Deliverance's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Skills level only through use + Combat rose and Master Strikes: Seven combat skills cover Sword, Mace, Axe, Bow, Unarmed, Defence and Warfare, while ten non combat skills cover Alchemy, Herbalism, Hunting, Horsemanship, Lockpicking, Maintenance, Pickpocketing, Reading, Stealth and Drinking. Combined with Combat rose and Master Strikes, attacks are aimed at directions on a combat rose, and blocking at the exact instant an opponent begins a swing triggers a master strike that counterattacks automatically.
Saviour Schnapps save system + Hands on alchemy brewing: Sleeping in a bed you own saves, and quitting saves, but a mid quest save requires drinking Saviour Schnapps. When paired with Hands on alchemy brewing, potions are made physically at an alchemy bench: read the recipe from the book, grind or chop the herbs, boil for a counted number of hourglass turns and pour into the phial.
Reputation, speech and charisma scaling: Dialogue options are gated behind Speech and Charisma, and both are affected by whether Henry is washed, well dressed and wearing appropriate clothes for the audience. Reputation is tracked separately per settlement, so a theft in Rattay does not instantly ruin your standing in Sasau.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Longsword | Duels and one on one fights against lightly and medium armoured opponents | Two handed, the fastest route to Master Strike dominance and the weapon most trainers assume you are using. |
| Shortsword | Early game fights and any situation where a shield matters more than reach | One handed, which frees a shield for the early game when Henry blocks badly and takes damage he cannot afford. |
| Mace | Armoured knights and any fight where the enemy is better protected than you | Blunt damage that gets through plate where a sword edge simply does not. |
| Axe | Early bandit camps and players who want cutting damage without longsword training | Sits between sword and mace, cheap to acquire and effective against unarmoured bandits. |
| Bow | Hunting, thinning bandit camps before contact, and mounted hit and run | Has no crosshair by design, so hitting anything requires learning the arc by feel. |
Location Efficiency
Rattay (From early game onward): The largest town and Henry's base for most of the game, seat of Lord Hanush of Leipa and Sir Radzig Kobyla. It holds the combat arena where Captain Bernard trains Master Strikes and combos, plus the mill where Miller Peshek fences stolen goods.
Skalitz (Prologue and early story return): The silver mining town burned in the prologue by Cuman raiders. Henry returns later in the story to bury his parents, finding it picked over by bandits and littered with the dead.
Sasau (Mid game): A monastery town where the abbey is still under construction in 1403, and the setting for one of the game's longest quests, in which Henry enters as a novice to hunt a man hiding among the monks. The town below has traders, a tannery and one of the better armour markets.
Talmberg (Prologue and early game): The castle of Sir Divish and Lady Stephanie, where Henry wakes after fleeing Skalitz and where the early escape sequence takes place. It is defensible, small and useful mainly for its quarry and its quest ties.
Ledetchko (Early to mid game): A village on a tight bend of the Sasau river inside Divish of Talmberg's demesne, northwest of Rattay and east of Sasau. It has a mill, a tavern, a bathhouse next door, a blacksmith and an archery range, and it hosts one of the game's better remembered murder mysteries.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Fighting more than one armoured opponent in open ground before Master Strikes are trained.
- Rationing Saviour Schnapps by buying them instead of levelling Alchemy and brewing your own.
- Bringing a longsword against fully plated knights where a mace would get through the armour.
- Selling stolen goods to normal town traders and picking up a criminal reputation across the settlement.
- Ignoring Reading, then being unable to use the recipe books and lore texts the game hands you constantly.
Pro Quick Tips
- Go to Captain Bernard at the Rattay arena before the main quest pushes you into real fights. He is the only character who teaches Master Strikes, combos and feints, and Master Strikes alone change the difficulty of the whole game.
- Fight in doorways, on stairs or with your back to a wall. Multiple opponents in open ground will surround Henry, and the combat system genuinely does not let you beat three armoured men at once early on.
- Learn Alchemy early purely for Saviour Schnapps. Buying them drains money you need for armour, and brewing a batch of twenty removes the anxiety that makes people avoid experimenting.
- Start with Archer, switch to Swordsman when ready
- Invest in Longsword above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Rattay → Skalitz → Sasau → Talmberg → Ledetchko. See our maps guide
- Skills level only through use + Combat rose and Master Strikes together are stronger than either alone
More Kingdom Come: Deliverance Guides
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Kingdom Come: Deliverance Overview
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Best Builds
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Tier List
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Walkthrough
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Beginner's Guide
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Weapons Guide
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Combat Guide
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Boss Guide
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Maps & Locations
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Crafting Guide
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance Classes & Characters
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