Your First Hour

This guide walks you through your first hour of play, from the moment you arrive in Yomi Town to the moment you’re level 5 and ready to push into the Mist-Shrouded Shrine. It assumes you’ve already read Welcome to Yomi and have a character created.

Minute 0–10: Settle into town

When you spawn in Yomi Town, you have no gold, no gear, and no quests. Walk over to the three NPCs and talk to each of them in turn:

1. Ronin Ghost — talk to him first. He gives you the “Whispers of Yomi” quest, which asks you to go speak to the Bamboo Watchman in zone 1. Reward: 50 gold. This is the start of the game’s 7-quest chain, and you cannot progress any other quest until you’ve accepted this one.
2. Shrine Maiden — talk to her to learn how healing works. You don’t need healing yet (you’re at full HP), but it’s useful to know she’s there. Her heal cost is 2 gold per HP — cheap at low levels, painful at high levels when your max HP is 500+.
3. Kitsune Merchant — browse her shop. You can’t afford anything yet (everything costs 20–65 gold and you have 0), but you’ll see the common-rarity starter gear on offer. Note the prices: a Rusty Katana is 40 gold, a Bamboo Blade is 65 gold, a Woven Robe is 40 gold.

You cannot fight in Yomi Town — there are no enemies. To start combat, you need to travel to zone 1 (Withered Bamboo Grove).

Minute 10–20: First combat in the Bamboo Grove

Open your map and travel to Zone 1: Withered Bamboo Grove (枯れ竹林). This is the first combat zone, designed for levels 1–5. Two enemy types spawn here:

• Kodama (木霊, 🎋) — 60 HP, 8 ATK, 2 DEF, 9 SPD, 3% crit. The weaker of the two. Worth ~25 XP and ~15 gold per kill.
• Bakemono (化け物, 👹) — 80 HP, 10 ATK, 4 DEF, 7 SPD, 4% crit. Slightly tankier, slightly more rewarding.

Each combat is a turn-based fight that resolves automatically based on your stats and skills. Your signature skill (Iaido Strike for Samurai, Shikigami Barrage for Onmyoji, Shadowstep Flurry for Shinobi, Vajra Smite for Sohei) will fire automatically when its cooldown is ready and you have enough MP. You don’t need to do anything — just watch the combat log.

You will win these fights comfortably at level 1. Each victory gives you XP, gold, and a 20% chance to roll an item drop. The dropped item will be from the common or rare pool (epic and legendary drops are gated behind higher zones — see Drop Rates).

After 4–5 fights you’ll hit level 2. Each level-up grants +5 stat points and +1 skill point, and full-heals you. Spend your stat points immediately — see Stat Allocation for recommendations, but the short version is: Samurai → STR, Onmyoji → INT, Shinobi → AGI, Sohei → VIT.

Minute 20–30: Talk to the Bamboo Watchman

After your first few kills, you’ll notice the Bamboo Watchman (竹守) standing near the entrance to zone 1. Talk to him — this completes the “Whispers of Yomi” quest objective. Return to town and talk to the Ronin Ghost to claim your 50 gold.

Now you can afford starter gear. Recommended purchases:

• Bamboo Blade (65 gold) — for Samurai/Shinobi. +6 ATK, +2 SPD. Better than the Rusty Katana for the same purpose.
• Woven Robe (40 gold) — for everyone. +3 DEF, +15 HP. Cheap and effective.
• Wooden Rosary (25 gold) — for casters (Onmyoji). +8 MP, +1 SPD.

You don’t need to buy all of these — pick based on your class. A Samurai wants the Bamboo Blade and the Woven Robe (105 gold total). An Onmyoji wants the Woven Robe and the Wooden Rosary (65 gold total). Save the rest of your gold for healing costs.

The Bamboo Watchman also offers two more quests once you’ve completed “Whispers of Yomi”:

• “Kodama Purge” — kill 5 enemies in zone 1. Reward: 100 gold + 50 XP.
• “Reach Level 5” — reach level 5. Reward: 80 gold.

Accept both immediately. They’ll progress automatically as you fight.

Minute 30–50: Grind to level 5

Now it’s a matter of grinding. Stay in zone 1 (the Bamboo Grove) until you’re level 5. Each level takes roughly:

• Level 1 → 2: ~4 fights (~1 minute of active play)
• Level 2 → 3: ~6 fights (~2 minutes)
• Level 3 → 4: ~9 fights (~3 minutes)
• Level 4 → 5: ~13 fights (~5 minutes)

Total: ~30 fights, ~12 minutes of active play. You’ll earn roughly 450 gold and 380 XP from these fights, plus whatever items drop. By level 5 you should be able to afford a full set of common-rarity starter gear (weapon + armor + 1–2 accessories).

At level 5, three things happen:

1. You unlock your class’s second skill (Moonlit Slash for Samurai, Ofuda Seal for Onmyoji, Poison Needle for Shinobi, Sutra Chant for Sohei). See Skills for what each does.
2. You unlock the Meditation skill (generic, all classes) — a 30% max-HP heal on a 4-turn cooldown. Useful for long fights.
3. The “Reach Level 5” quest completes, and the next quest in the chain (“Crimson Cleansing”) becomes available from the Torii Keeper in zone 3.

Minute 50–60: Push into zone 2

At level 5 you’re ready for Zone 2: Mist-Shrouded Shrine (霧の社), designed for levels 4–10. The enemies here are noticeably tougher:

• Yurei (幽霊, 👻) — 95 HP, 13 ATK, 4 DEF, 11 SPD, 6% crit. Faster than you, hits harder than the Bamboo Grove enemies.
• Onibi (鬼火, 🔥) — 70 HP, 16 ATK, 2 DEF, 13 SPD, 8% crit. Very fast, very hard-hitting, but fragile. The most dangerous trash mob in the zone.

You’ll take real damage here. Expect to need healing after every 3–4 fights. The Shrine Maiden’s heal cost (2 gold per HP) starts to add up — if you’re losing 50 HP per fight and fighting 10 times between town visits, that’s 1000 gold in healing alone.

This is the moment where the game’s economy starts to matter. You need to:

• Sell loot you don’t need to the Kitsune Merchant (she pays 50% of item value).
• Buy better gear when you can afford it — by level 5 you should be looking at rare-rarity gear (Shrine Talisman Sword, Monk’s Cassock, etc.) which costs 110–150 gold per piece.
• Watch your MP — skills cost MP, and running out means you fall back to basic attacks, which are much weaker. Visit the Shrine Maiden to restore MP (5 gold per point) when you’re low.

What to do at level 5

Once you hit level 5, before pushing deeper into zone 2:

1. Return to Yomi Town. Talk to the Bamboo Watchman to claim your “Reach Level 5” reward (80 gold).
2. Visit the Shrine Maiden. Top up your HP and MP.
3. Visit the Kitsune Merchant. Sell any duplicate or worse-than-equipped loot. Buy at least one rare-rarity piece (the Shrine Talisman Sword for melee classes, the Monk’s Cassock for casters).
4. Check your quests. You should have completed “Kodama Purge” (5 kills in zone 1) — claim the 100 gold + 50 XP reward from the Bamboo Watchman.
5. Allocate your stat points. You should have ~20 stat points saved up (5 per level × 4 levels). Spend them on your class’s primary stat.
6. Allocate your skill points. You should have 4 skill points (1 per level). Your level-5 skill is already unlocked — consider spending points on upgrades to your signature skill, or save them for the level-10 unlock.

Where to go next

• The Idle Loop — what happens when you log off, and how to set up your character for efficient overnight farming.
• Combat Mechanics — the actual damage formula, so you understand why your attacks hit for the numbers they do.
• Zones — full details on every zone, including the ones you haven’t unlocked yet.
• Quests — the full 7-quest chain, with prerequisites and rewards.