Wartales Walkthrough — Start to Endgame

Wartales is an open-world tactical RPG where you lead a mercenary warband through a gritty medieval world. Unlike linear RPGs, Wartales drops you into a region map and lets you take contracts, explore ruins, and pick fights at your own pace. The turn-based combat uses positioning, engagement zones, and morale mechanics. Between battles, you manage your company's food supply, pay wages, assign professions (blacksmith, cook, thief), and craft equipment. With the Pirate DLC adding naval content and the full 1.0 release, Wartales offers 80+ hours of mercenary sandbox gameplay.

This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. Follow this path to avoid common traps that stall most players.

Quick Progression Summary

Phase 1: Getting Started — Tiltren County

The starting region with the lowest difficulty. Bandit camps, minor undead encounters, and basic contract boards. The main quest introduces regional politics and warband management basics. Resources are plentiful and enemies are manageable with starting equipment.

Level/Difficulty: Level 1-4 warband Key Rewards: Starting contracts, basic equipment, first profession unlocks, tutorial questline

What to Do in Tiltren County

1. Learn mercenary management. Your warband consists of recruited fighters, captured prisoners, and trained animals. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
2. Pick Archer as your starting build. It's the most forgiving option.
3. Feed your troops every day or morale plummets — low morale causes combat penalties and eventual desertion. Assign a Cook profession to a warband member to prepare meals that provide morale bonuses on top of base nourishment.
4. Acquire your first equipment upgrade — Longbow or whatever's available.
5. Clear all main content before moving on.

Phase 1 Checklist

• Understand mercenary management fundamentals
• Archer selected and functional
• Tiltren County main content cleared
• Ready for Arthes Region

Phase 2: Early Game — Arthes Region

A mid-difficulty region with organized bandit groups, tougher wildlife, and regional faction conflicts. The Arthes questline involves mercenary politics and choosing sides. Better contracts pay more but enemies hit harder. This is where warband composition starts mattering.

Level/Difficulty: Level 4-7 warband Key Rewards: Mid-tier equipment, higher-paying contracts, faction reputation rewards

What to Do in Arthes Region

1. Work on turn-based combat. Combat uses a hex-based grid where positioning determines flanking bonuses and engagement zones. This system becomes critical from here on.
2. Farm for Longbow if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
3. Crafting professions save thousands of gold on equipment — a Blacksmith repairs for free what a town smith charges 50-100 gold for. Assign Blacksmith to your highest-Dexterity non-combat member.
4. Complete all objectives before pushing to Ludern Province.
5. Consider whether Swordsman might suit your playstyle better than Archer.

Phase 2 Checklist

• turn-based combat integrated into gameplay
• Longbow acquired
• Arthes Region fully cleared
• Ready for Ludern Province

Phase 3: Mid Game — Ludern Province

An industrial region with mines, forge towns, and well-equipped human enemies. Ludern's enemy warbands use steel equipment and tactical formations, requiring you to match their gear quality. The Blacksmith profession becomes essential here for crafting competitive equipment.

Level/Difficulty: Level 6-9 warband Key Rewards: Steel-tier equipment, advanced crafting recipes, lucrative mining contracts

What to Do in Ludern Province

1. Master crafting professions. Each warband member can learn a profession: Blacksmith (repair/craft weapons), Cook (prepare meals), Alchemist (brew potions), Thief (lockpick and steal), Angler (catch fish), Scholar (identify items), Miner (extract ore), and Tinkerer (craft traps/tools). This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
2. Start working toward Greatsword. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
3. Rest at camps between fights to heal injuries — wounded characters fight at reduced effectiveness. Camps cost 1 food per person but heal all injuries and reset abilities. Never fight consecutive battles with injured troops.
4. This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
5. Start investing in region exploration for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.

Phase 3 Checklist

• crafting professions mastered
• Greatsword acquired or in progress
• Ludern Province fully cleared
• Ready for Gosenberg

Phase 4: Late Game — Gosenberg

A mountainous region with harsh weather, undead crypts, and the most dangerous bounty targets. Ghost enemies ignore physical armor, requiring specialized equipment. The crypt dungeons contain the game's best loot but feature multi-wave combat encounters.

Level/Difficulty: Level 8-12 warband Key Rewards: Legendary equipment, crypt loot, highest-paying bounties, ghost-specialized gear

What to Do in Gosenberg

1. Finalize your build. You should be running Swordsman or Archer with optimized gear.
2. Greatsword should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
3. Prisoners can be recruited after their Suspicion drops to zero (takes several days). Captured enemies are free recruits with random stats — keep the good ones and ransom the rest for gold.
4. camp management optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
5. Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Drombach.

Phase 4 Checklist

• Build fully optimized
• Greatsword upgraded to max
• Gosenberg fully cleared
• Ready for Drombach

Phase 5: Endgame — Drombach

The pirate-themed coastal region (DLC content) with naval combat, port towns, and sea-based contracts. Drombach introduces ship management and boarding actions. The region's questline involves pirate factions and naval territory control.

Level/Difficulty: Level 7-11 warband Key Rewards: Naval equipment, ship upgrades, pirate faction rewards, unique coastal resources

What to Do in Drombach

1. Drombach tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
2. Influence points unlock regional bonuses: market discounts, contract bonuses, and guard assistance. Earn Influence by completing region-specific quests and donating to local factions.
3. The endgame loop: run Drombach, optimize gear, push harder content.
4. Experiment with Ranger for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
5. This is where camp management mastery separates good players from great ones.

Phase 5 Checklist

• Endgame content on farm
• Best-in-slot gear acquired
• Drombach fully cleared
• Ready for challenge content

Common Progression Mistakes

• Growing the warband too fast — every member costs food and wages daily. A lean team of 6-8 well-equipped fighters outperforms 12 poorly equipped ones with constant food shortages.
• Ignoring engagement zones in combat — moving away from an engaged enemy triggers an attack of opportunity. New players lose characters by accidentally walking through enemy engagement zones.
• Not assigning professions early — professions level up with use, so assigning a Blacksmith on day 1 means they're skilled by mid-game. Waiting until you 'need' a Cook means suffering through morale problems.
• Exploring high-level regions too early — enemy difficulty doesn't scale to your level. Walking into Gosenberg with a level 3 warband means instant party wipe against level 8+ enemies.
• Selling all loot instead of salvaging — Blacksmiths can break down equipment for crafting materials worth more than the sell price. Salvage steel weapons for ingots instead of selling them.

Key Tips for Smooth Progression

1. Feed your troops every day or morale plummets — low morale causes combat penalties and eventual desertion. Assign a Cook profession to a warband member to prepare meals that provide morale bonuses on top of base nourishment.
2. Crafting professions save thousands of gold on equipment — a Blacksmith repairs for free what a town smith charges 50-100 gold for. Assign Blacksmith to your highest-Dexterity non-combat member.
3. Rest at camps between fights to heal injuries — wounded characters fight at reduced effectiveness. Camps cost 1 food per person but heal all injuries and reset abilities. Never fight consecutive battles with injured troops.
4. Prisoners can be recruited after their Suspicion drops to zero (takes several days). Captured enemies are free recruits with random stats — keep the good ones and ransom the rest for gold.
5. Influence points unlock regional bonuses: market discounts, contract bonuses, and guard assistance. Earn Influence by completing region-specific quests and donating to local factions.

For detailed build optimization, see Wartales builds. For quick wins, check tips & tricks.