Chapter 1 - Detour

Find Jacob's Letter and Admittance Policy near Ella's Truck in No Rest for the Wicked. Learn about early game combat and item locations.

After watching the opening cutscene (a non-interactive cinematic the game plays automatically) (a non-interactive scene that advances the story), you'll be standing next to Ella's truck. In the backseat on the driver's side is Jacob's Letter. Grab that before walking towards the grassy area. There are several notes scattered throughout the game, and each one will give a certain amount of experience points. It's recommended to collect as many as possible for an extra edge in combat, especially in the early parts. There are also several Challenges and an Achievement (Expert Investigator) for collecting them.

On a table next to a lantern is Admittance Policy. Continue left down the road towards the red fog.

Roadblock

After the cutscene, backtrack a bit, and on the right you'll see a pile of logs. Jump over them and continue down the path. Keep going down the trail for a cutscene.

South Breck Trail

Continue on until there's a branch in the path. Looking at the fence, take the right path. On the front of the tent is You Were Right. Return to the branch and take the other path.

At the bottom of the rocky trail you'll find a wall has collapsed and blocked most of the exit. Interact with it to go to the next area.

Vacant Cabin

As you approach the gated house you'll see a large sign with pink text. From there go left, following the gate, to find a bag of Scrap and a Health Drink. Occasionally, while collecting scrap off the ground, "LUCKY!" will display over Ella's head. This indicates that the amount of scrap collected from the bag has been doubled. Return to the sign and go through the gate next to it. As you approach the house there's One Star Review on the ground to the left of path.

Go inside and immediately turn right into the bathroom for a Health Elixir next to the sink. Exit that room and go down the hall. On the right, across from the fireplace is a Save Point. In the kitchen, open the right door of the fridge for a Beer. These will permanently increase your offense by three. Go through the back door, opposite the kitchen.

On the back porch is a Health Drink on the bench. Go down the stairs and left. On the wall of the house is the breaker switch. Hit it for a cutscene. From there follow the fence to a small dock. At the end of it, on the toolbox, is a Lockpick. Grab it and head back inside.

To open the door next to the fireplace, use the Lockpick. Inside the dresser is the Jogger costume, and there's some Scrap under the wall shelves opposite the door. Go out the front door for your first fight.

Combat Tutorial

Combat consists of running around the arena to approach or flee from enemies, and selecting one or several options from the action menu to be completed sequentially. The actions you're able to take are, from top to bottom:

1. Change the current target
2. Attacking with your equipped gun at a varying cost of stamina
3. Using a skill at a varying cost of stamina, energy, and scrap - Skills are only obtained through leveling up
4. Using an item at a cost of 500 stamina
5. Switching your equipped gun with another in your inventory at a cost of 150 stamina (currently unavailable) - By default, switching guns requires reloading
6. Confirming and executing the action(s)

Your action queue has a maximum length of ten. While it is open, time will slow to less than a crawl, and you can still take damage. If you force a reload during the queue, you will not be able to move, but reloading outside of the queue will allow movement, albeit at a slower walking speed.

Most enemies are vulnerable to being shot on either their flanks or their rear (more information can be found in the Beastiary). There is a special type of attack called a "Counter". This can be done simply by firing on an enemy that is in attack mode. Where the enemy is positioned or facing doesn't matter. As long as they are actively intent on inflicting damage on you (aka moving), your attacks will be considered counters and will do slightly more damage.

Your distance from an enemy affects both your damage and accuracy. You'll know if you're in your equipped gun's range by either the green checkmark (in range) or red X (not in range) under the enemy's name.

Each encounter will reward you with experience points and scrap when cleared, with bonuses to each being applied based on your performance as well as any special bonuses given by equipment.

After killing the enemy, notice the large pile of leaves on the ground near the front of the house. Around the middle of the pile is a spot that, when you run over it, will kick up several leaves. Do this ten times, getting entirely off of the pile and letting all the leaves fall back down before kicking them up again, to unlock the "Unbe-leaf-able" achievement and some easy Challenge points. This can be finicky, and spinning in circles doesn't seem effective, though it does sometimes work.

Go through the other metal gate in the yard.

Sea Spray Trail

Run forward until you reach another battle.

Afterwards you'll notice there are four branching paths. Facing the Vacant Cabin, go left for some Scrap, then take the path opposite that one.

After this battle are two more paths. Take each of them for some Scrap next to a trashcan, and Blueberries in a bush next to a box. Blueberries permanently increase your stamina by ten points. Now return to the original junction and go left.

Campsite #1

At the top of a hill is a campsite. On the table with the yellow cooler is a Rusty Coin (1/23) and It's Not A Deer. Next to the left tent is a Health Drink and some Scrap.

Continue on the path to the next battle.

When it's done you'll see three new paths to take. First, jump over the pile of logs blocking the path to another campsite.

Campsite #2

There are some Blueberries to the left of the tent, and Missing Glasses is [text cut off].