Broken Ranks

After the introductory cutscene you will meet your first opponent; an Utorian lurker. He's blocking the path to the fort and you need to defeat him to continue. The game will explain combat basics via some dialogue boxes which you can dismiss by pressing the I understand button When the game asks you to click the first action circle, use the arrow keys to find it and press Enterto activate it. In the normal game, you can use shortcuts LALT+1to LALT+5to focus the coresponding action circle. When the tutorial asks you to select the Strike skill just press enter, as other skills are dimmend and so cannot be selected. After the skill is selected, the tutorial will ask you to set 5 AP for the circle. There are two ways to set AP. The first one is to press the Right arrowkey to increment and Left arrowto decrement. Arguably easier way is to press the HOMEkey to set the AP to minimum possible value, and ENDto do the opposite. You can also press the LALT+Rshortcut to view the remaining and maximum AP. After you set the AP, you can press LALT+Eto submit your turn. The tutorial also forces your focus on the end turn button, so you can very well just press Enterhowever this will not work in the main game. After the combat scene plays out you will be asked to choose a skill in the second action circle. Do it as you have previously done and set 1 AP in the second action circle, as instructed by the tutorial. Afterwards you are ready to finish this combat. If you ever get stuck, you can always press LALT+0shortcut to read the last tutorial message. After dismissing the tutorial'svictory message you will be presented with the combat summary screen. You can review the victors and defeated opponents. After you are done, press the Escapekey or select the appropriate button to continue. The tutorial will ask you to find the highlighted area. You can use the arrow keys to go west and then north, or, alternatively use the tracker. Press LALT+PGDNa couple times to find the Utorian crossbowman. Then, press LALT+Fkey to follow him or LALT+Bto start an audio beacon. After you arrive the tutorial teaches you about interaction. Use the tracker to find the crossbowman again and press the LALT+Eshortcut to open the interact menu. Select the Attack button to start your second combat.

After the combat begins, you will be taught about defending. Your first goal is to set skills in the first 3 action circles, giving 4 AP to each. Do it and end the turn. After the scene plays out you will have to remove the 4 AP from the third action circle and give 4 to the ranged defense. Do it exactly as the tutorial tells you, using the shortcuts we have learned previously. After submitting the turn you will learn a new skill, select the Ranged attack in the required action circles and end the turn. After killing the Utorian, dismiss the tutorial's message as well as the combat summary screen. After dismissing the dialog will open, allowing you to speak to an NPC, a dog in this case. Use the arrow keys and the Enterkey to choose your responses. If you accidentally close the dialog, find the dog using the tracker and speak to him using the action menu. After the dialog finishes, you will have to speak to the highlighted character. If you find him using the tracker and press the LALT+Ekey you will find out it is not available. This is because you have to perform the so called basic action now. It can be invoked by selecting the highlighted character from the tracker and pressing the Enterkey. After the dialog plays out, you will be given a couple potions. Open the Potions interface as the tutorial tells you. Use the Tabkey to find the list of potions. Press Enterkey on the health potion, and after the cooldown finishes, do it again for the constitution potion. After you do it, close the Potions interface with the Close button and open the Equipment interface as the tutorial tells you. Find the Weapons tab and focus the Backpack items list. You will have to drag it to the selected slot. Use the Spacekey to drag the weapon, use your arrow keys to find the Weapon slot and press the Spacekey again to drop the weapon in the designated slot. Its worth knowing that in the normal game you can do it in an easier way by pressing the Enterkey to open the actions menu and selecting the Equip action. After the equipment is closed, a cutscene will play. Play out the dialog and begin another combat. Its the first battle where you fight all on your own. Use what you have learned to kill the utorian and his dog. Its worth knowing that you can press the letter keys to focus your skills while the picker is open. You can also use the LALT+PGDNshortcut to change your target.

After dismissing the combat victory screen, a cutscene will play out. Wait till the soldiers suround you and play out the dialog. You will enounter a multipage dialog. You can skip to the next page either by pressing the Next page button or pressing the PGDNkey on the dialog's text box. After the dialog plays out you have to follow the soldiers. You can either do it by finding Adam Kuzman in the tracker and pressing the LALT+F shortcut to follow him, or better yet follow the path to the west. You can use the wall detector, the tracker and the beacon to find your way. After you come closer, the dialog will play out. After the dialog, use the tracker to find Adam kuzman and follow him. After coming closer the dialog will Todar plays out. After the dialogyou will be given your first real choice. Will you rescue Alice or not? If you decide to rescue her, quickly find her in the tracker and follow her. A cutscene will play out where your character grabs her and carries her from the bridge. After the scene ends you have to foollow the soldiers again. Either use the tracker or do it manually by going to the northeast. After a while, a cutscene will play out. Part of the bridge collapses, cutting your way to the fort. After the dialog you will receive your first quest. A compass chime will start playing, you can follow it by ear, press LALT+Qto listen to the description or, if you wish to mute it press LALT+LSHIFT+Q. There are a few lootables here. Since it a small map, all of them can be found by a tracker. Use the LALT+HOMEshortcut to find the Mechanisms category, then use the standard tracker commands to find the lootables. If finding a way by the beacon alone is difficult, you can press LALT+LSHIFT+Bto to start a guiding beacon which will guide you to the target. After you come close enough, press the Enterkey to grab the gold. If you get stuck on a path, you can press LALT+Wto listen to the path description. After collecting everything and coming to the fort's gate, a cutscene will play out. Choose your responses and enjoy fighting with the more powerful enemy! AFter the tutorial message, select the Utorian scout by pressing the LALT+PGDNshortcut. Play the tutorial as you're told. After debuffing the mage with the Warcry, you can press LALT+Sto view his debuffs. Finish the combat as you're told. After dismissing the summary screen, play out the dialog and find the fort with the tracker. Press Enterto enter it.

After you enter Thalia, you are taught about the resting mechanic. During your rest, you may hear different lines spoken by the soldiers. If this is too much chatter for you, you can use the LALT+LSHIFT+Backspacehotkey to mute it. After a good rest you will be taught about leveling. Open the statistics screen as you are told. After the tutorial ends, increase your stats according to your preferences. After spending 4 stat points you will be able to close the screen. Open the Skills interface and choose the first skill in the list according to the tutorial prompts. After upgrading the skill you will be taught about tactics. Choose the Tactics tab and follow the tutorial prompt. When the tutorial tells you that its going to set a tactic for you, wait for the system to finish the operation, then select the Save tactic button. After the tutorial ends you are free to explore the fort. There are a few lootables as well as some mini quests you can do for the rewards. You know everything you need to know to finish everything Thalia offers. After you are ready, speak to Kuzman to continue the plot. AFter the dialog Utorians break into the fort. Continue with another dialog and begin the combat. Choose the tactic with a button, but in the normal game you can use the keys 1to 4to select a tactic. Play out the combat until the cutscene plays. Even the best heroes have to give up sometimes! Choose Escape in an action circle and arrange the action points according to the tutorial prompt.

After the combat is finished, follow the quest compass to find the ship. Unfortunately the Utorians are faster and the ship is blown up. Find Bogdan in the tracker and speak to him. Find the masked man and start the final tutorial combat. You are on your own now! The combat is pretty ordinary except the fact that Zito will die, and there's nothing you can do about it as its scripted :( When you defeat the Utorian and dismiss the summary screen you can say farewell to your four-legged friend and speak to Bogdan to continue. Sleep on the bed and… you're done with the prologue. Welcome to Haligard!