Besieged ship
Your character spawns in a ship besieged by a band of pirates. Move right and talk to the very first NPC. Exhaust his dialogue and he would be killed by an enemy. Take out the enemy, climb up a ladder, and defeat the remaining enemies. Climb another ladder to the ship deck, where you would find an optional boss. You have two options.
- Fight the boss. Dying to the boss would spawn your character in the first proper area of the game, i.e. the beach of Shivering Shore. If you manage to defeat the boss your character would also spawn at the said beach, but you would also receive a large amount of salt to help you level up.
- Quit to menu. Then load your game again. Your character would spawn at the above beach, thus bypassing the boss altogether.
The Unspeakable Deep
0. The Unspeakable Deep, Salt and Sanctuary
A Cthulhu-like creature. This boss is optional and you have only one chance to fight it per character. Die to the boss and your character would spawn on the beach of the proper first area of the game. You will no longer have the option to return to the fight, even on NG+1 and beyond. Either fight this optional boss now or die to it. The boss would most likely one- or two-shot your character. Armour is irrelevant for this fight. Unequip all armour pieces and one-hand your weapon. Deal one or two hits, and roll through the boss' attacks. Move outside the range of the boss' area-of-effect attacks.
Defeat the boss and you would be rewarded with a Black Pearl, the Drowned Tome, and the Shimmering Pearl. Black Pearls allow you to upgrade your skills in the Tree of Skill. At a sanctuary, you can level up. The number of levels you can attain is the number of Black Pearls you would receive. Invest Black Pearls in various skills from the Tree of Skill to upgrade your character's stats as well as to allow you to wield more powerful weapons and equip better armour pieces. The Drowned Tome can be used to fully upgrade your weapon even before reaching late-game areas. One Drowned Tome can be found in a late-game area, while the other is dropped from The Unspeakable Deep. The Shimmering Pearl is used to upgrade your weapon to Class 5, the highest class a weapon can attain. You will require the services of an NPC called the Alchemist. The Shimmering Pearl can also be collected in a late-game area.