Avowed Guide: Everything You Should Do Before Leaving Dawnshore
A checklist for Avowed’s picturesque first region.
Avowed may be a game that makes the most of its 20-plus hour runtime, but there are still plenty of ways to miss some crucial content on your quest to save the Living Lands from the deadly Dreamscourge.
The game’s first area, the idyllic island province of Dawnshore, has many secrets, quests, and items that may be easy to bypass on the first run through. For those who’d like to avoid returning to Dawnshore in the late game, we recommend players check complete each of the tasks on this list.
Collect Resources Wherever You Can Get ‘Em
Collect crafting materials from every source you can find, including shopkeepers.
Avowed’s early game includes a side quest that encourages players to upgrade their equipment. What this early quest doesn’t tell you is just how crucial armor and weapon upgrades are to the progression of the game. Its why it’s important to collect loot from every enemy you defeat. The sooner you upgrade your common items to the Fine tier, the better prepared you’ll be for tougher enemies. The surplus of these items can be combined and converted into more valuable resources used to upgrade weapons in the higher tiers, so you can never have enough of these early crafting materials.
It’s also worth checking in with vendors in Paradis and throughout the other settlements in Dawnshore. Don’t horde gold as purchasing upgrade materials will be just as necessary throughout your playthrough. Resource management will be a priority in each of the four regions you visit, so you’re better off making this a habit now.
Collect Bounties For Quick Cash
Collecting bounties is one of the quickest ways to earn cash in the early game.
Money can be fairly tough to come by at the start of Avowed. And there are few better ways to get scratch than completing bounties. The Bounty Board in Paradis’ Market District holds five bounties to collect. To ere on the safe side, tackle these once you’ve upgraded your weapons to the Finer tier. These wanted enemies can put up a tough fight for new players.
Completing all five bounties in Dawnshore will grant players the Kithwarder amulet. This special wearable grants players a 3% reduction in damage from Kith enemies. However, they’ll receive +10% damage from other sources.
Get Your Second Companion
You’ll want to add Marius to your party as soon as possible as having a second companion will make fights a lot easier.
Kai is an excellent first companion. But you’ll be at a deep disadvantage without a second partner rounding out your party. Be sure to follow the main questline “An Untimely End” until Kai suggests getting some help from an old acquaintance at a bar called the Grinning Balarok.
The Dwarven tracker has special abilities that can stop more nimble enemies in their tracks, lending a critical hand to squishier builds in the early game. You’ll also have some additional company at your camp, who can eventually provide players a buff of either +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, or +1 Dexterity and +1 Constitution.
Find The Scales Of The Oathbinder Totem
The first Totem in Avowed is waiting on the altar the Shrine to Woedica, just northeast of Paradis.
Totems are some of the most valuable finds you’ll come across in the Living Lands. Each of these statues will grant the player substantial boosts to their character’s attributes and abilities when slotted with six elusive fragments.
In Dawnshore, the totem you’ll be looking for is the Scales Of The Oathbinder. It can be found at the Shrine Of Woedica located northeast of Paradis. When you arrive, you’ll find members of the Steel Garrote guarding the holy site. The totem resting on the altar of the shrine.
Side Quests
While it’s not mandatory that you complete all of Dawnshore’s available side quests before moving on to Emerald Stair, it may be helpful to know that there are just a dozen of these missions (not including the five bounties available in Paradis) scattered throughout the region.
Without spoiling each of its contents, here are the names and general starting locations where applicable:
- Totem Of Rightful Rulership - Paradis
- Forge of Star-Stuff - Godless Altar
- Precious Light - Southern Paradis
- Dawntreader - Southern Paradis
- Mapping the Living Lands: Dawnshore - Starts in Claviger's Landing
- Lost Suoles - Shantytown
- Escape Plan - Southern Paradis
- A Lady Never Tells - Southern Paradis
- The Call of the Past - Watcher’s Mirror
- Cabin Fever - Claviger's Landing
- Armor Fit For The Wilds - Claviger's Landing
- Finer Things In Battle - (optional, tied to a major decision in the main quest “An Untimely End”)
