Underkeep Beginner Guide: Your First Expedition

Start with four heroes who can survive the front line, attack from the back and recover between fights. Underkeep rewards a party whose equipment and actions work together more than four isolated character ideas.

Prepare before entering

Open the settings and choose readable text, comfortable movement animations and a suitable difficulty. The developer has confirmed adjustable difficulty; you do not need to restart merely to make combat more manageable. Read each hero’s race traits as well as their class description before accepting the group.

Choose a front-line weapon user, another hero who can contribute up close, a ranged or magical attacker and a recovery option. These are useful planning roles, not mandatory class slots. Check that every character can actually use the equipment and skills you intend to give them.

A safe first exploration loop

1. Examine the visible area and collect reachable supplies.
2. Open the map and identify the route back before entering a new passage.
3. Recover health and casting resources when no enemies are nearby and food is available.
4. Save before a new encounter, an uncertain choice or a puzzle you can rearrange.
5. Position the party before attacking. Work through the round, then assess what changed.
6. Mark unfinished doors, obstacles and suspicious walls so you can return with the right tool.

This is a repeatable decision process, not a room-by-room route. The dungeon is handcrafted; this guide does not invent a mandatory opening sequence or tell you to spend quest items at an unverified location.

Know which version you are playing

The free demo is a separate application. Old demonstration routes and a preset party are not proof of the full game’s party creator or quest outcomes. Full-game guides here use the launch-period sources, with demo-specific advice labelled separately.

If progress slows down

Review your formation, resource levels and map notes before creating a new party. A reach restriction, missing tool or already-spent action can explain a problem without a bug. For a persistent blocker, record the location and installed build and consult the current fixes.