Progression
Act II – First Steps
Act II – First Steps is the second chapter of The Exalted Path and the biggest act in the quest book. Its goal is to open the Nether. Soulrend keeps the Nether closed until a player has used the Seal Of The Underworld, which is crafted from four seal shards, a Nether Crystal and four Bottled Nether Essence. Each shard comes from a different group of bosses, so the act sends the player through most of the Overworld’s boss content.
The goal: the Seal of the Underworld#
| Piece | Quest | Main source | Other sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mysterious Shard (Top-Left) | Dread Citadel | Ice and Fire branch: the Top-Left Shard quest, after an Ancient Sapphire | Abandoned mineshaft chests (10%) |
| Mysterious Shard (Top-Right) | Frostmaw Shard | Frostmaw (The Frostmaw quest in Fallen Myths) | Witches |
| Mysterious Shard (Bottom-Left) | Dungeons and Combat Bosses | Sunleia and Kamath | Evokers |
| Mysterious Shard (Bottom-Right) | Bosses' Rise | Two of Infernal Dragon, Sandworm and Yeti | Pillager outpost chests (10%) |
| Nether Crystal | The Warden | Warden (50%) | — |
| 4 Bottled Nether Essence | Bottled Nether Essence | Undead kills with an Obsidian Infused Bottle in the off hand | — |
All of these come together in The Seal of the Underworld, which leads to Act II Completed and Act III.
Branches#
The act starts at The Real Journey Begins, which opens six branches:
| Branch | First quest | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Bosses’ Rise | Estus Flask | Estus Flasks, then the Infernal Dragon, Sandworm and Yeti and the Dead King |
| Dungeons and Combat | Dungeons and Combat | Sunleia, Kamath, The GraveWatcher and Ernos, plus links to Fallen Myths, Soulslike Champions and Aquamirae |
| Ice and Fire | Ice and Fire | The Dread Citadel and Summoning Crystals, dragon bones, and optional Ice and Fire monsters |
| Nether essence | Crying Obsidian | The bottles and essence, then the Warden and the Otherside |
| Dungeon Crawl | Dungeon Crawl | A first dungeon, a free steel weapon, and the Dark Iron Ingot that the Otherside needs |
| Magical Eyes | Magical Eyes | A link to the Legendary Eyes chapter, which is needed for Act IV |
Optional parts#
- The Otherside opens the optional Act III-b – Deeper and Darker.
- Several quests only link to side chapters: Fallen Myth, Soulslike Champions, Aquamirae (from the Dungeons and Combat branch), Sky Arena (after the Warden), Dragonslayer (after a Dragon Bone) and Magical Eyes.
- The quests marked “(optional)” in their subtitle, such as Ernos, Cyclops and Hydra, are not needed for anything.
Bosses in this act#
See Act II Bosses for every boss page. The quest descriptions give Sunleia and Kamath as level 30 and Frostmaw as level 60.