'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
After creating your character in Avowed, you’ll begin the main story quest On Strange Shores. The player washes up in a mysterious area, instead of in Dawnshore as they were supposed to. They’ll meet a few characters along the way, and while it’s primarily a tutorial/introduction quest, there is something important that could impact your gameplay: The NPC Ilora.
You’ll come across this smuggler in the jail of the outpost in Avowed’s On Strange Shores quest. However, you don’t have to help her — you could just leave her in jail. She’s a criminal after all, right? We’ll cover that, as well as if you should help her here.
Note: This features spoilers for On Strange Shores in Avowed.
Looking for Crossword hints & solutions? Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and Atlantic Crossword Answers
How to complete On Strange Shores in Avowed
There are so many objectives to complete On Strange Shores in Avowed, but many of them are quite simple, and the game will show you exactly what to do. We’ll cover the most important parts.
Trending
A lot of the objectives are pretty self-explanatory, like finding a way to burn the brambles. You’ll do this a few times on the island, and it will be something you’ll do to uncover secrets throughout the game.
- Talk to the Survivor
- Find a weapon
- Reach the Outpost
- Defeat the Xaurip
- Escape the Outpost
- Defeat the other Xaurips
- Find a way to burn the brambles
- [Optional] Speak to the Stranger
- [Optional] Search for the key to Ilora’s Cell
- [Optional] Return to Ilora
- Use your bow to shoot down Magran’s Fury
- Reach the Smuggler’s boat
- Defeat the Xaurips
- Find a way to burn the brambles
- Defeat the Xaurips
- Defeat the Aedyran Commander
- Speak to Garryck
- Sail to Dawnshore
Reach the Outpost in Avowed’s On Strange Shores
Once the opening cutscene is over in Avowed, On Strange Shores begins, and you’ll find a mysterious, blue-furred creature to talk to. Interact with them, and answer however you’d like — I chose to be cordial and helpful. Once that’s over with, you’ll need to find a weapon. There’s a sword right nearby for you to pick up. There’s also a Health Potion among the rubble to pick up.
The next step is to Reach the Outpost. Head towards the quest marker, looting the nearby body, and then break through the simple wooden wall with your sword. This next section teaches climbing, so climb up the wooden platforms ahead.
Crawl through the hole in the wall, loot the item in the river (Krakenhorn), and then hop back onto land, following the quest marker in Avowed’s On Strange Shores. Climb up the nearby rocks and pass through a brief tunnel, which will dump you out near the Outpost, which is on fire. You get your first real fight, once you get on the ground.
Defeating the Xaurips is a pretty simple affair. There are a pair of them you fight. It’s also a good time to learn to dodge, which the game prompts you to do. Slash through these enemies and you’ll be ready to move on. That said, be careful as you’re also about to learn about traps.
Follow the path again, climbing up rocky platforms when you can. There’s a tripwire that fires darts at you nearby. If you look at the ground or image above, you’ll see it. Get close and interact with one of the wooden poles to disable it. There’s another up ahead too, which has a health potion next to it. This makes it much easier to spot.
Grab the nearby Springberries, then climb the ladder to get back on the path to the Outpost. This brings you to Fort Northreach, and it’s a really grim scene with dead soldiers littered everywhere.
As you explore this first area, you’ll find the Fort Northreach Storage key on one of the bodies in the fort. Look for glowing orange floating off the corpse. This leads you to a Common Breastplate found in a treasure chest.
Follow the quest marker out of this building, and you’ll drop down into another clearing, with more Xaurips. This one has a spear and shield, which is where the game teaches you about blocking incoming attacks. It’s not a hard fight at all. Overcome these foes and move on. Inside the nearby cave, there’s also a health potion for you to grab.
Follow the path again and open the huge doors to go back into Fort Northreach. Now, you’ll see some brambles you need to burn, but first, you’ll meet Ilora after opening the next door.
[Optional] Dealing with Ilora in the Outpost Jail
You don’t have to deal with Ilora at all - you can certainly leave her here for Avowed’s On Strange Shores. If you decide to help her, go speak with her, and be sympathetic to her plight. Garryck, your furred friend, does not trust her at all but ignore them and agree to help.
You’ll find a door that’s barred but there’s another way. The first step is to get the key to help her out. Next to that door, you’ll see some wooden platforms to climb. Climb these up and jump across the nearby gap. There’s an opening nearby to enter, so head that way.
Turn right, grab the Essence Potion, and swing your sword at the wooden floor to break through. Jump down twice to get into the room you couldn’t enter. There’s a key on the wall and a treasure chest to open, which contains 40 Copper Skeyt, Essence Potion, Iron Chunk, Pelt, and Common Robe.
Unbear the door and free Ilora from her jail cell. She’ll agree to go with you and be able to use her boat to get off the island. You could have used it anyway, but it helps to be a good person.
Reach the boat in Avowed’s On Strange Shores
You’re now faced with some brambles that you need to burn, using the Magran’s Fury high above. Go back into the room you just left, and climb up the wooden platforms you just used. Jump across again and instead of going right, head left for this part of Avowed’s On Strange Shores.
You’ll loot a bow from a corpse here. Equip it, aim at the Magran’s Fury plant, and shoot. That will clear away the brambles and let you proceed. The next room has a few Xaurips to deal with; this might be a good time to practice using the bow to deal with them from a distance. Try to dodge the javelins they throw as well, to avoid taking damage.
Take the nearby platforms to jump across a series of rocks. Drop down, crawl through the hole, and then climb up the rocks in this area. This gives you yet another series of rocks to jump across, this time, to where the Xaurips were. Loot the corpses, grab the Springberries, and go through the cave, to squat down into the tall grass, to learn about Stealth.
Sneak attack the Xaurip and then dip back into the tall grass to stealth once again. You can choose to fight, or sneak, but the combat felt inevitable to me. There’s quite a few Xaurips in here, but you have two allies to help you fight, making things much easier.
Resume following the path after combat’s over and you should level up at this point. You’ll get to pick your first ability — Charge, Tanglefoot, or Minor Missiles; pick whichever suits your playstyle.
Move on when you’re ready, and follow the path over the river and up the nearby rocks. You’ll find a corpse here with an Essence Potion, Grimoire, and Magic Wand, in case you want to go the magical route.
This teaches you another way to burn the brambles - casting fire magic. Do so and you can proceed in Avowed’s On Strange Shores. It’s now time to fight even more Xaurips - this is also a great time to practice magic and see if it’s right for you. I didn’t swap until after this, but I’m glad I did. Magic is powerful.
There are three or four Xaurips in this area, but it’s wide open, with grass to crouch in and a large rock pillar to hide behind. Take these monsters out as you have been.
Proceed forward, into the Crumbling Ruins along the path. Pick up the Health Potion and keep going down the only route you can - into the water. Make sure you take the time to save here because you’re about to fight a boss - Steadman Ralke. He’s overcome with a mysterious illness, which is what you’re here to look into.
There’s no way to avoid this fight that we could see. This was when I realized how powerful magic is. Steadman Ralke uses a devastating two-handed hammer. If you dodge and simply zap him with magic, he’s easy to beat.
He has a dash swing that hits incredibly hard, which he follows up with a secondary attack. Steadman Ralke has another hammer attack that can knock you down and a large AOE stomp you must avoid standing in.
Take this time to practice dodging, to avoid his leap stomp, regular stomp, and various hammer strikes. When almost dead, he’ll start doing a charging hammer smash that also has a large AOE around it. It’s quite important to dodge these or just be nowhere near them. Stay out of his reach, zap him with magic, and he’ll go down quickly.
Before you go, there are a few treasures you can loot - a treasure chest directly ahead. Furthermore, if you dive into the nearby water, you can jump across some rocks to loot a backpack. Go through the door whenever you’re ready to proceed.
Sail to Dawnshore in Avowed’s On Strange Shores
Before sailing to Dawnshore in Avowed’s On Strange Shores, you’ll find a huge piece of green Adra in the nearby room that you can interact with. After that, all you have to do is go outside and sail to Dawnshore.
Should you save Ilora in Avowed? Discussing the impact of this choice
The real question is — should you save Ilora in Avowed’s On Strange Shores? You can leave without her, and there’s no real penalty in the main story for doing so. However, there’s a side quest she makes much easier in Dawnshore - Escape Plan.
She’ll convince the smugglers to not rip off the NPCs you’re helping as a one-time favor. This will make the task so much easier, so you’re better off just helping her.
Avowed launches on February 18, 2025, on PC and Xbox Series X|S. Those who purchase the Premium Edition can play earlier on February 13, 2025.
Are you stuck on today's Wordle? Our Wordle Solver will help you find the answer.
