Imperial Knights three-route split

Imperial Knights is sold on the idea that you can play it at least three times. Circle Poison meant that literally: the guild-fee prompt plus the bandit hideout produce three campaigns with different maps, bosses, and allies. Kagura’s English page calls them the high road versus borrowed money; Japanese charts number them Route 1, Route 2, and Route 3. This wiki uses the numbers because they match every walkthrough you will find next to a recollection list.

Read this before you talk to the guild receptionist. The split is not a late New Game+ menu. It is an early dialogue, and the hideout half is decided by escapes and a boss named Butts.

If you want a compact flowchart, open the route planner. If you already locked Route 1 and just need rooms in order, use the walkthrough.

The only two questions that matter

1. How do you pay the Adventurers’ Guild fee?

• Prepare it yourself → Route 1. Home → used dress → weapon shop → guild certificate → Maldonia North Road.
• Let Sting cover it → you are walked into a bandit ambush and taken to the hideout. Routes 2 and 3 share this opening.

There is no secret third fee option. Winning or losing the west-road ambush does not skip the hideout; even a lucky first-file win still dumps you in the cage. The ambush is a story funnel, not a skill check.

2. What happens inside the hideout?

You need your equipment back and a way out. Getting spotted, losing fights, or challenging the boss changes flags.

• Route 2 — after borrowing the fee, fail to escape three or more times, or challenge Butts and lose.
• Route 3 — after borrowing the fee, escape cleanly, or challenge Butts and win.

Butts is tuned as a New Game+ gate. First-file Diana usually cannot take him. If you want Route 3 on purpose, clear Route 1, keep your levels into NG+, then borrow the fee and fight him. If you want Route 2, you can simply fail the stealth section three times; you do not have to throw the boss.

Japanese charts note that Route 2 forces a specific early adult flag (the hideout scenes). Players who want a first-file “clean” Diana should stay on Route 1.

Full route-branch chart covering all three stories

What each route actually is

Route 1 — imperial and church road

Tone: guild ranks, holy capital politics, Ether Knight loyalty, then a late twist in the castle basement.

Join. Lysithea from the North Road rescue. Tear Lamley after Robust Fort and Silved events. Lea after the Protea cathedral sequence.

Map spine. Maldonia North Road → Silved → Robust Fort → Holy Capital Protea (cathedral underground, catacombs) → Seikuri Village → Spirit Cave → revolutionary hideout → Svalt Kingdom → Maldonia castle basement.

Signature systems. Crest flag for endings. Ether Knight ritual after Mud Poison. Tear leaves and returns. Lysithea and Lea convert to mercenaries after the catacombs so you can still hire them.

Endings (Route 1). Defeat ending if you lose to Sati or the final boss. Crest ending if you win while the crest is still on. Normal ending if you win with the crest cleansed. Details sit on the checklist and Ether Knight pages.

Play this first. It teaches combat, economy, and the Ether Knight fantasy Kagura puts on the store page.

Route 2 — underside and captivity

Tone: you already owe Sting, the hideout goes badly, and the empire’s slave facilities and mountain ruins become the spine.

Join. Different crew, including Tania during facility sections. Tear and Lea still appear, but not on Route 1’s timetable.

Map spine. Bandit hideout → slave facility (Tania control segments, Bio Worm boss) → Sera’s theater district → Jupiter Mountain ruins (bandits, a machine boss, Butts again) → Seikuri overrun by orcs → Spirit Cave with High Orcs → imperial research facility → Nugawa → castle basement versus the mage Norakura.

Why it is harder. You spend longer under-equipped. Bio Worm’s delayed “Dyson Breath” is a forced loss if you let the wind-up finish, even on NG+. Facility stealth with Tania is a different skill than Diana’s North Road fights.

Route 3 — mercenary and frontier road

Tone: you walk out of the hideout (or beat Butts) and the game treats you as a sharper operator: merchant towns, elf woods, volcano, casino, fortress.

Join. Ellis in the mines after you find her stuck in a wall, later hireable with a partner from Hertzots’ northwest manor. Lysithea can still show up on certain guild jobs.

Map spine. Hideout escape → Machant (merchant side jobs) → mines (Big Earth, giant rats, Puremite Golem) → elf forest and cave (Ariel fight, plant bosses) → Hertzots (casino, VIP cards) → Olim volcano → monster park → prison → Fortress Eraser → castle basement.

Why people save it for last. The casino and card battles tie into the card tier list. Fortress Eraser is the “strike against the empire’s darkness” promise on Kagura’s page. First-file stats make the golem and Ariel miserable.

Shared systems across all three

• Ether Knight. Every route still lets Diana take the ritual after the relevant mid-game dungeon. Hair color (gold or silver) is cosmetic; some CGs recolor, the plot does not branch on it. See Ether Knight.
• Guild ranks and costumes. Rank-ups change Diana’s field outfit. That is true on every path.
• Mercenary board. Temporary allies become hires. Strip gear when they leave.
• Day/night. Town investigations, optional jobs, and some NPCs.
• Cards. Gacha machines in item shops. Useful on every route; Route 3’s casino is the extra loop.
• New Game+. Clear (including some defeat endings) unlocks carry-over. Routes 2 and 3 are balanced around that.

Which route should you play first?

Play Route 1. You get Lysithea’s heals, a readable town loop, and the Ether Knight scene that the trailer sells. Use the beginner guide and walkthrough together.

Play Route 3 second if you like winning. You already have levels; Butts is a trophy; Ellis and the frontier maps are the new content.

Play Route 2 when you specifically want the facility/Tania material or you are filling recollection flags. It is the meanest of the three on combat fairness.

If you only have time for one campaign, Route 1 is the complete “become an imperial knight” pitch. The other two exist to show the empire’s other faces, not to replace that pitch.

Do not mix walkthroughs

A Protea cathedral step does not exist on Route 3. A Machant merchant job does not exist on Route 1. When a Japanese chart says “same as Route 1 until X,” believe the “until.” This wiki keeps Route 1 rooms on the walkthrough and only summarizes 2/3 here and on the planner. DLC adds one high-difficulty guild quest per route; those do not change the opening split.

Party identity is also per-route. Tear is the Route 1 face of the Ether Knights; she is not glued to Diana on every file. Check party before you donate your best spear to someone who is about to leave.