10 Tips For Starting Kingdoms Of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
We should all thank THQ Nordic and their efforts to bring Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning back to life and on more consoles than ever. This fantastical RPG was saved after its initial company went bankrupt. You play as the Fateless One, the only person in the entire world whose destiny is not bound by the literal threads of fate.
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Since the game was primarily written by author R.A. Salvatore, you can get lost for hours exploring all of the characters and stories it has to offer. The game centers on solving the mystery to your fateless status, but before you get going, there are things you should do first that will make your journey even easier to begin.
10/10 Explore The Area
Okay, this one may be a little obvious, but you need to explore to get the most loot. Loot is needed to not only upgrade your gear but to also get gold in the game. The amount of loot that can only be found in chests, from enemies, or by blind luck is significant.
For instance, bodies of water can have lots of loot in them. Any spot where some good treasure might be is indicated with ripples and they are usually not visible from the main road.
9/10 Find Lorestones
Once you really begin exploring Amalur you will notice the landscape is dotted with Lorestones. These stones are records of history for the Fae, the powerful and ancient natives of Amalur. Some stones are easy to find, while others are meticulously hidden.
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Lorestones offer you glimpses into the deeper mythology of Amalur. Each stone belongs in its own set and a complete set tells a story. You will want to find as many as you can because once you complete a set you get a permanent boost in your abilities.
8/10 Experiment With Destinies
Since the game revolves around the character not having a set destiny, you get to choose yours.
In a gameplay sense, this means you are free to pick a set archetype that will boost your abilities and even give you unique powers. Basically, destinies act as the class system in-game.
You unlock destinies by investing in points in the skill trees of Sorcery, Finesse, and Might. You can focus on whichever branch you want. The great thing about this class system is that you can change your destiny as often as you like, making it easy to try all the different classes.
7/10 Complete the Quests in Gorhart
The first village you come across is Gorhart. A tiny hamlet with a predictable amount of problems only you can help resolve. If you want to level up faster and earn some gold, you really should help out.
The first problem you come across is a wounded Fae in the village square. This quest, aptly named Building Bridges, deals with the growing hostility between the village and the nearby Fae.
The other quest deals with Nanne Hanri, the owner of Golden Age Alchemy. Help her out and you will be rewarded with lots of potions you’ll find useful in the future.
6/10 Buy A Backpack
As you can imagine you can get a lot of loot, particularly weapons and armor. Almost everything you pick up will be a new item to equip. Thankfully, the game’s inventory system is based on the number of items you can carry, rather than weight. That being said, you can only hold 70 items initially. While this may sound like a lot, it will fill up very quickly.
Related: Kingdoms of Amalur: How To Increase Your Inventory
Buying a backpack increases your inventory count by 10, making a big difference when you are out exploring. The first backpack you come across is at the shop in Gorhart and you can buy it for 7,500 gold.
5/10 Join A Faction
Joining a faction is a great way to level up while earning new gear and skills.
It also gives you a whole new questline to play with each faction having its own unique story. There are five joinable factions in the base game and you can either join one or all of them during your playthrough.
-
The
House of Ballads
is a Fae-based faction that you can
join by visiting the House of Ballads location in Odarath
, a section of Dalentarth. -
If you like to steal,
the Travelers
are always looking for new members.
Talk to Grim Onwig outside the south entrance of Star Camp near Ysa
in the Dalentarh region. -
Like all good fantasy games, the
Scholia Arcana
is a school of magic you can become a part of. You can join this school by
visiting the embassy in the Garden of Ysa.
You will have access to the garden once you hit a certain point in the main quest. -
Mercenary work is good money and joining the
Warsworn
gives you access to this lucrative trade.
To join them
you’ll need a commendation which can be obtained by talking to Ost Ordura at the Gorhart Inn. -
Probably the last faction you will encounter, the
House of Sorrows
isn’t available till the second act of the main quest. You can begin this quest line
by speaking to Bisarane in Klurikon
.
4/10 Try All The Weapons
You may think you only want to swing a sword or wield a staff, but one of the great things the Kingdom of Amalur has to offer is its diversity of weapons. From hammers to daggers, this game has all the best fantasy weapons.
There are even a few weapons you won’t recognize, like the intimidating Faeblades you can wield at alarming speeds or the ranged chakrams which you can hurl at your enemies. Make sure you try all the weapons so you can decide which ones work for you.
3/10 Find the Special Delivery Chest
With the addition of DLC items in the newer version, the special delivery chest in Gorhart will have way better gear than the torn robes and rusty greaves you are probably sporting.
There may also be weapon upgrades for you to pick up, as well. This chest is also your payout for any extra equipment you downloaded in the game.
Related: Kingdoms of Amalur: Special Delivery Chests Explained
You can find the chest right outside the inn in Gorhart. It will be located on the left side beside the wall. If it’s glowing gold, that means you have goodies to pick up.
2/10 Get A House
As you can imagine, you will get a lot of gear during your playthrough, and depending on how frequently you change destinies, you will want a place to store your loot for a later date. Thankfully, there are player homes scattered throughout Amalur where you can keep your things and even change parts of your appearance.
These homes are rewards upon completing quests. The first one you will have access to is Gossamer End in Webwood upon completing A Tangled Web.
1/10 Dismantle Your Gear
One of the great things about Kingdoms of Amalur is the ability to craft your own gear to suit your needs, and it’s really easy to get parts.
While you can buy the items you need, you can also dismantle your own armor and weapons to get the materials.
Dismantling your gear also saves space if you don’t have a house and don’t want to pay for a backpack. If you are set on making your own gear, just find a blacksmithing forge that is located in almost every settlement in the game.
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Kingdoms Of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Tips And Tricks
Diego Arguello
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning presents a vast open-world filled with tasks, questlines, dungeons, and so much more to find and discover. It’s all a bit daunting at first, but sticking to the main story without experiencing everything around it would have you missing much of what makes it stand out. Luckily, we have you covered with these Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning tips and tricks you should know in both the short and long term.
It’s easy to find missions pretty much everywhere you go, as well as different enemies and an endless list of skills, Destinies, and crafting systems. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning invites you to take upon its world as you see fit, but there are some things you should keep in mind before going full throttle. As a bit of general advice, always look for the nooks and crannies, and you shall be rewarded.
Loot your personal stash as soon as possible
This remaster brings not only updated visuals and both previous expansions, but also the Weapons and Armor DLC. You can access all of this shortly after starting the game, just keep progressing through the main story until the map opens and you’re tasked with visiting a town nearby. Once you arrive, keep an eye on your minimap and look for the sack icon.
You will see a chest filled with equipment, including full armour sets and unique weapons. Regardless of which skill tree you want to invest points into, there’s something for each three of the categories, as well as some interesting additions that got lost in time, such as an armour set inspired on Mass Effect’s Shepard and the Omniblades, which were only obtainable if you had previously played Mass Effect 3’s demo back in the day.
As an additional tip, yes, you can sell everything for a couple of hundred gold, but I highly recommend saving some sets for the early levels, since they’re really helpful.
Reckoning mode is key for survival
During your first steps in the outside world, you’ll be introduced to Fate energy, which is an additional meter just in between your health and mana. This allows you to unleash Reckoning mode, which slows down time and allows you to attack big groups of enemies or even bosses with sheer strength. Once you have lowered all of their health, a button prompt will appear followed by a button smashing sequence – the more you can fill up the bar, the more additional experience you will gain, and everyone else will also die after the execution.
It’s a great way of dealing with challenging folks, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of holding onto the “best moment” in order to use it. I’ve spent entire dungeons with my Fate bar full just because I was waiting for the final boss, but in reality, I could have used it at least twice before getting to them and still have enough room for a third recharge.
It will depend on a case by case basis, of course, but don’t be afraid of using it often – it can easily turn the tides of combat. And it lasts for a surprisingly long time, too.
There’s experience to be earned in exploration
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning accepts the fact that its map is huge by adding some cool rewards if you feel keen on exploring it. Each new location you visit will grant you experience points, and the same applies to Lorestones, which are these flashy interactive items scattered throughout the world. You will learn more about the civilizations and stories behind it, too, so it’s a win-win scenario.
Experiment with Destinies
There’s no such thing as a bad decision in terms of character progression, and the game is definitely at its best when you embrace its uniqueness when it comes to Destinies. There’s a lot of these classes that you can unlock, and (almost all of them) are available to look at from the get-go, so you can plan ahead when it comes to levelling up and spending skill points in any of the skill trees.
Whether you’d like a rather traditional experience or to exit your comfort zone, there’s a class for everyone, and you should definitely switch between them during your playthrough. If anything, you can pay an NPC a small fee to reset your skill points, and start anew.
Drink your potions
Seriously, there’s more to find out there than just health and mana potions. They are admittedly my go-to as well, but Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning has some really interesting potions. Some will grant you an experience boost for a limited time, which should always be in your inventory if you’re planning on taking down a boss or exploring a dungeon for the first time. Others will boost specific attacks and elemental distances, add health or mana regeneration temporarily, and even increase skills like Persuasion or Blacksmithing for a period of time, in case you needed a little pick me up. Alchemy can be a really powerful tool, so loot as many herbs and minerals as possible to experiment with them later on.
