Imperial Knights beginner guide

Imperial Knights opens in the Ashley manor in the imperial capital Maldonia. You control Diana Ashley, a sheltered second daughter whose household cooking is better than her sword work — until the game lets her prove otherwise. Her sister Luna has already left the Ether Knights, her father Robert is politically stranded, and a sorcerer is rumored to have the emperor’s ear. Diana’s answer is practical: sneak into the Adventurers’ Guild while Robert is away, earn rank, and send money home.

This page is the first-hour checklist. It assumes the Steam English build (app 4353650, released 28 August 2026). For keyboard mapping and display size, use controls. For the philosophical “which story do I want,” skip ahead to routes after you understand the fee prompt.

Before you click New Game

• Platform. Windows only. Steam lists Steam Cloud. Kagura’s own store copy is DRM-free and does not need an internet connection after download.
• Storage. Plan about 4 GB plus room for saves. Minimum RAM is 4 GB; close extra programs if map loads hitch — the store page warns about that.
• Display. 1280×768 or better. RPG Maker UIs look sharpest at 1x or 2x integer scales.
• Maturity. The game is 18+. Combat includes armor-break and optional adult side jobs. You can finish the plot without chasing every extra scene; you cannot turn the systems off.
• Patch. Steam’s storefront build and Kagura’s patched build are not identical. Read the patch guide if you care about extra events. Install order is: buy → verify files → apply patch from Kagura, never the reverse.

Create a manual save in the manor before you talk to the guild. Route locks are save-file locks, not account locks.

Demo coverage of the prologue, guild-fee split, and Butts fight

Prologue rooms

When control returns, go upstairs first. Circle Poison put flavor and a key item path in the house instead of a long cinematic. Talk to every NPC who will still speak to you; Robert’s absence is the point, not a bug. After the house, the city of Maldonia is your hub: weapon shop, item shop, inn, guild, and later a poor quarter that only fully opens at night.

Day and night already matter. Inns and beds flip the clock. Some shops and jobs only exist after dark, including optional income that makes early equipment easier. You do not have to use those jobs on a first “clean” playthrough, but you should know the clock exists so you do not think a shop is missing.

The guild fee is the real tutorial boss

The Adventurers’ Guild will not hand Diana a license for free. You must cover the membership fee. The game offers two honest-looking options:

1. Prepare the money yourself. This is Route 1. Go home, pick up the used dress, and sell it at the weapon shop to obtain a guild certificate. Buy a real weapon and a Defense Ring if you can afford them, accept the first request, and walk Maldonia North Road.
2. Let someone cover it. A veteran named Sting offers to advance the fee if you “help with a job.” This is the on-ramp to Routes 2 and 3. He walks you toward the west road, a bandit ambush plays, and you are taken to a hideout. From there the route guide takes over.

If you want the intended first story — church allies, Lysithea, Tear Lamley, imperial facilities — pick option 1. If you want to see the bandit/assassin underside first, pick option 2 on a second file. Japanese charts and the developer slogan both treat Routes 2 and 3 as New Game+ content: Butts is a brick wall on a fresh Diana.

Route 1, first quest

After the dress sale, accept the guild request and leave through the north. Maldonia North Road becomes a forest with visible enemies. There is no surprise-from-behind extra turn; you see goblins and plant monsters wander. If three enemies cluster and your HP is low, run. Herbs grow as shaking green plants — pick them.

A woman is being attacked deeper in. Winning that fight recruits Lysithea, a Church of Proteus priest with water magic and party heals (Heal, later Mina Heal). Losing it is a defeat scene, not a game over, but you miss the healer when you need her for the Alraune boss at the end of the grove. Alraune is a two-wave plant fight; fire is the weakness, which a brand-new Diana probably cannot exploit yet. Straight Thrust from Diana and Heal from Lysithea is enough if you bought a Defense Ring and did not greed extra packs.

The grove can also apply a crest if you lose the boss. Route 1’s ending set cares about that flag. You can remove it later in Silved through a long collection quest; the walkthrough and checklist mark the steps. Many players take the crest on purpose so they can see the extra ending, then cleanse it on a later pass.

First town after the forest: Silved

Silved is the first proper quest town. A north-side NPC can force a fight with a madman — losing that one is a game over, not an adult scene, so treat it like a real battle. After you speak with Steve at the lord’s residence you are pointed at Robust Fort, where you first meet Tear in the field. Reporting the fort job back at Silved’s guild promotes Diana to junior adventurer and unlocks the lighthouse goblin request plus the road toward Holy Capital Protea.

Night jobs in Silved’s tavern pay 2,000 G the first time and more the second. That gold is how you buy Poison Rings before the Spirit Cave — do not skip economy just because the plot is moving.

Party, mercenaries, and cards

Imperial Knights lets four people fight. Story allies occupy slots, then often leave after a dungeon and register at the guild as mercenaries. Strip their equipment before they walk. Male mercenaries exist specifically so you can fill a slot when a story woman is gone. Party roles and the party tier list explain who is worth the upkeep.

Towns also hide a gacha that spits out cards — equipment-like chips with portraits from Circle Poison’s earlier games. Status-null cards and the Diana Knight version are the ones that actually change boss plans. Rank them on the card tier list. You can ignore the machine on hour one; you should not ignore it once Mud Poison starts spraying poison every four turns.

First-hour shopping list

• Weapon for Diana (anything with a thrust skill).
• Defense Ring.
• Repair Kits (armor-break recovery — see combat).
• Herbs / half potions.
• Later: Poison Rings before Spirit Cave, throat medicine before Svalt, stimulants for revival.

When the Spirit Cave is cleared and you report to the emperor, the game finally offers the Ether Knight ritual. That is not a first-hour event. Bookmark how to become an Ether Knight and keep playing Route 1 until Seikuri Village.

If a fight feels impossible, you are either under-leveled, missing a pre-quest item (Protea’s herbal medicine is the classic example), or on Route 2/3 with a level-1 file. Grind guild repeats, buy a card, or load the manor save and take the dress path instead.