Tears of Metal Walkthrough: All Acts and Campaign Progression

The current Tears of Metal campaign contains three Acts. Each Act has branching encounters and ends with a main boss: Gilles the Hog in Act 1, Iseult the Banshee in Act 2, and Harold the Dragon in Act 3.

There is no single fixed node-by-node route. Use this walkthrough as a progression and decision guide: complete the tutorial, prepare in the village, build around a consistent combat plan, take only the detours your health and army can support, and reach each boss without turning extra rewards into unnecessary risk.

Campaign route at a glance

Before starting a campaign

Finish the tutorial and inspect every available preparation screen in the village. Confirm your hero, active weapon, commanders, companion, and troop groups before starting. An unfilled or outdated army selection can make an otherwise good route much harder.

For a first clear, Wallace is the most direct starting choice because the tutorial introduces the game through him. Brienne and Ruadh become alternative starting heroes after their unlock conditions are complete.

Use the complete hero guide if the selection screen contains locked portraits you cannot identify.

How to choose a route

The campaign map can offer battles, reward nodes, merchants, recovery, recruitment or story events, challenges, and the route toward the Act boss. The exact arrangement varies, so evaluate each fork by what the current run needs.

Choose the shorter route when:

• your hero is already low on health;
• important battalion units have been lost;
• the build can clear normal enemies but struggles against elites;
• the next detour does not solve a specific weakness;
• you are attempting a no-spending, no-chest, or no-Emblem achievement.

Take an extra encounter when its visible reward fixes a real problem: recovery before the boss, an effect that completes the current combat interaction, a persistent unlock, or resources needed for a planned village upgrade.

Understand Threat before taking detours

Threat increases the pressure placed on the run. More battles and failed objectives can make later encounters harder, so a longer path is not automatically better just because it contains more rewards.

Before selecting another node, ask whether its reward is likely to repay the health, army losses, and added Threat required to reach it. On a first clear, arriving at the boss with a stable army is usually more valuable than collecting one more unrelated effect.

Act 1: reach Gilles the Hog

Use the opening encounters to establish one reliable offensive interaction and one defensive answer. Learn which attack breaks shields or armor, keep battalion commands available for priority targets, and do not spend the entire run chasing light enemies while an objective remains active.

Brienne’s recruitment event is part of campaign progression. When it appears, complete its displayed objectives and let the event finish so she is added to the village roster. Read the Brienne unlock guide if a quest gate remains closed.

Gilles the Hog is the Act 1 boss. Defeating him awards the Butcher Steam achievement and opens the next stage of the campaign. If his running attacks or heavy strings are ending the run, use the Gilles boss strategy.

Act 2: defeat Iseult the Banshee

Act 2 punishes accumulated damage more heavily. Use recovery before a boss attempt, keep enough army strength to handle simultaneous objectives, and shorten the route when the run no longer has a dependable answer for ranged or shielded enemies.

Iseult the Banshee is the Act 2 boss. Defeating her awards Witch Hunter. On the current standard build, the same victory unlocks Ruadh Stonecrusher after the post-battle transition. Use the Iseult boss strategy for her relocations and ground hazards; if Ruadh remains locked, follow the Ruadh unlock checks.

Act 3: prepare for Harold the Dragon

Treat Act 3 as the point where every weakness in the run becomes expensive. Before the final boss route, confirm that you can:

• break or bypass durable enemies;
• clear ranged pressure without abandoning the objective;
• recover from one mistake without losing the run;
• use battalion commands deliberately rather than whenever they become available;
• enter the boss with enough time to finish the campaign.

Harold the Dragon is the Act 3 boss. Defeating him awards the Dragonslayer Steam achievement and completes the current three-Act campaign. The Harold boss strategy covers his projectile lanes, faster second half, and invincibility bug.

Boss preparation checklist

The boss guide index compares all three fights and links to the full attack-by-attack strategies.

Before committing to an Act boss, check:

1. Health: avoid entering only because the boss node is available.
2. Army: replace or protect the troop role the run depends on.
3. Defense: know whether your current answer is Block, Parry, Dodge, or positioning.
4. Damage plan: identify the action and payoff your upgrades actually support.
5. Time: the current Early Access build does not yet provide a normal mid-campaign save-and-resume flow.

What carries over after a failed run

Tears of Metal is built around repeated campaigns and village progression. Current-run route rewards and temporary combat effects should not be treated as permanent, while roster additions, available village progression, and other account unlocks can change future attempts.

After a defeat, identify one limiting factor before spending permanent resources: hero execution, healing, army losses, reward access, an unfinished unlock, or lack of boss knowledge. Upgrade the part that changes the next attempt rather than spreading resources across every available screen.

Co-op campaign advice

Complete the tutorial before trying to invite friends. In a group, agree on who handles priority targets, objectives, rescue duty, and boss pressure before the map becomes crowded. All players must use the same game branch and version.

Use the co-op setup guide for lobbies and player limits, or the co-op troubleshooting page if a run desynchronizes.

Achievements to plan during the walkthrough

Several achievements impose restrictions for an entire Act. Do not attempt them accidentally on a first clear. Once the route and bosses are familiar, plan dedicated runs for no chests, no coin spending, no paid healing, no active Emblems, or keeping every ally alive.

The Tears of Metal achievements guide groups all 89 Steam achievements and shows which restrictions can be combined.

Frequently asked questions

How many Acts are in Tears of Metal?

The current Early Access campaign has three Acts.

What is the boss order?

Gilles the Hog is the Act 1 boss, Iseult the Banshee is the Act 2 boss, and Harold the Dragon is the Act 3 boss.

Is the campaign map always the same?

No. Routes and reward positions can vary, so follow the needs of the current run rather than a fixed node list.

Can I save halfway through a campaign?

Paper Cult has identified mid-run saving as a development priority, but it is not available as a normal feature in the version covered by this page. Plan enough time for the run before starting.

Which campaign progress unlocks heroes?

Brienne joins through her recruitment event. Ruadh unlocks after defeating Iseult the Banshee on the current standard build.

Last updated August 2, 2026