Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s “Merciful Achievement” has a 0.6% player completion rate on Steam as of writing this guide. This low completion rate is because of the challenging and hair-pulling experience that KCD can give to its players.

Additionally, the game’s narrative format can make it impossible for players to recognize that you can do a pacifist run. In all honesty, you cannot really do a “no-kill” run since Henry will kill a particular character during the main quest. Thus, the achievement’s description–“Don’t kill anyone during main quest line (except Runt)”.

If you are reading this guide, then you are aware of the “Merciful Achievement” and probably trying to figure out the best approach. Lucky for you, I am here to help! So read on!

The game will only count kills from the main quest line for the Merciful Achievement. So in theory, players can do side quests and kill NPCs. However, one of the most important tips for this run is to check your character statistics. Killing NPCs during side quests can make it difficult to track whether you killed an NPC during the main quest or not.

In the Player Menu, you can check how many people you have killed. You want to check this number after every fight encounter, whether you run away or let an NPC kill an enemy. Also, take note that YOU CAN KILL ANIMALS. The achievement only counts People/Cumans Killed


Personally, I refrained from doing any side quests that involved killing because I was afraid that a bug may occur and count a side quest kill against the achievement. So I ended up doing minimal side quests and rushing the main story. Make use of the waiting mechanic (press T)!

Additionally, if you plan on rushing through the main quests, it is a good idea to aim for the following achievements:
Hardcore Henry - Finish the game in hardcore mode
‘Tis but a scratch - Finish the game in hardcore mode with all negative perks
Virgin - Stay celibate and complete the entire game as a virgin

This is what I did for my playthrough since I wanted to try out hardcore mode. It took me about 50+ hours to finish the game.



An important note: If you have the “The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon”, you need to finish the “Honeyed Words” quest to complete the Epilogue. I suggest doing it in the middle of your playthrough since you have to go from Rattay to Sasau and back.

I missed this detail during my run and I was so annoyed that I could not finish the main quest when I was at the camp near Neuhof with Hans. Hope this saves anyone the trouble!

Since no killing means minimal-to-no-combat, you do not need high Strength or Agility for weapon requirements. Focus on the Speech Skill to succeed in persuading NPCs and avoid potential combat. Sometimes, Speech can save you time by letting you skip certain tasks.

Pick Speech related perks, such as Golden Tongue. The Burgher Perk is also helpful for additional boost since most quests are inside or around villages.

Alcohol can also be useful. I preferred drinking any type of wine since one drink allows you to get the temporary +2 on Speech without suffering from hangovers.

The Lock Picking Skill helps get through doors that keep quest items. But you do not need to focus much on this skill. I finished the game with a Lock Picking Skill of 7 and never used a potion to boost it.

Other stats and skills will naturally increase as you progress through the game. I also picked a lot of herbs to make money and got the Leg Day perk, thus my Strength increased more.

Here are my stats after finishing the game:

Once you have access to the Training Arena and can practice with Bernard, spend time training. I like to train with him after talking with the Rattay Bailiff but before meeting Nightingale at the church.

Get your Strength up for extra carry weight as well as progress for your Main Level. Many recommend spending 2 real-life hours training. But for me, I stop once I learn parry. I just go back from time to time if I want to boost Strength a bit or just want to experience combat. A “no-kill” run can become boring!

I like to learn parry from Bernand early since I can use it in the Rattay Tournament as well as during the encounter with Runt.

Additionally, you may want to train the Unarmed Skill a bit to make it easier to land punches. Punches only knock enemies out and do not kill them. While it may be viable to win fights unarmed, fights will be too long, especially against armored enemies. It will also be very difficult since fighting with your fists is never advisable against an armed opponent.

If you are just going for the achievement and not trying to role-play as a Pacifist, then you will be glad to know that you can still kill.

Brewed poisons can kill and not count against the achievement as long as the enemies die from the poison and not the arrow hit or melee hit. This can be useful during big battles where you are helping soldiers fight enemies. Just tap them with your poison-coated weapons and make sure not to get the last hit. If you are going to do this, MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR “PEOPLE KILLED” STAT AFTER EVERY BATTLE!

Mutt, the dog from the Woman’s Lot DLC, can learn the “Sic” command which allows him to kill enemies. You need to level the Houndmaster Skill to 5 to get this command. Mutt’s kills will not count against the achievement.

Lastly, you can trample enemies with your Horse and it will not count against the achievement. However, your Horse will do little damage at a time and is not a viable alternative to the other methods.

Please note that I found these methods from various online posts and forums. Since I like to role-play in RPGs (even when I am achievement hunting), my Henry refrained from killing anyone through any method, except for Runt, of course.

The first half of the main quest line is somewhat easy since your Speech Skill can carry you or you can do tasks for the NPCs. However, there are certain encounters where you may find that you have to fight.

This part and the proceeding parts will contain a lot of SPOILER. BE WARNED!

If you are tracking the bandits near Neuhof, you will find two bandits. One will attack you. To avoid killing, speak to Captain Bernard once you find the first set of tracks leading to the forest. Bernard will send someone with you. Just run around and let the soldier kill the bandit.

In this quest, the charcoal burners may want you to kill some bandits. You can use your Speech Skill to lie to them or bribe someone to tell you Ginger’s whereabouts. Alternatively, you may go back to Bernard and get him to kill the bandits (from Kingdom Come: Deliverance wiki).

Let Ulrich (the Knight) escape from the charcoal burner camp. When you meet him in Sasau at night (near the pool), he will attempt to kill you. Use your Speech to persuade him. Ulrich has a Speech of 11 and a Charisma of 12. Alternatively, you can fight him and just spare him when he surrenders.

Similar quests will have the same format. Either you can get the help of another character or you circumvent tasks through Speech or Charisma.

For random encounters, the best way is to avoid them. Travel between towns during the morning so you can see ambushes from far away. If you see an ambush, either look for another path or ride past through them.

However, if you have no horse or only have Peebles (The free horse), riding past through is not an option. Enemies will chase you down and eventually kill you. For Peebles, this horse has a Courage of 8 and will drop you to the ground when near an enemy. This will get you killed every time.

The best solution to this is to buy a brave horse. For my playthrough, I swapped Peebles for Schemig in Neuhof stables. Schemig has a Courage of 19 and rarely bucked me during random encounters. If I remember correctly, Schemig only bucked me once during my ~50-hour playthrough. If you have the money, you can get a horse with a higher Courage.



For a fool-proof plan, saving before traveling outside of a town can help you avoid losing progress when you die from random encounters. Still, once you get a better horse, running from random encounters should be no problem.

There are many big battles in the later parts of the main quest. This is when the challenge truly begins as you have to navigate around groups of enemies.

This is the only “big battle quest” that I had to repeat more than twice, especially because of hardcore mode’s no autosave feature. Firstly, if a significant number of allies die, you automatically lose and have to restart. This happened once when I was too far away from my allies.

So I refrained from straying and focused on distracting the enemies. I locked on to them which would force them to look at me, giving an opening to my allies. I also ran between the enemies, attempting to break their focus. I was not sure if this had any effect (note that I did not have the Boar Perk). But by doing these, Henry and the soldiers won against the bandits.



Also, sabotaging the camp before this quest can be crucial for an easy win. You can poison the camp’s pot and burn the arrows. This will significantly lower the threat. For my playthrough, I only managed to burn two arrow barrels and no poison. Still, just distracting and running to the enemies worked wonders. Make sure to wear decent armor so you can take random blows.

For the fight against Runt, I focused on parrying his strikes. Since I was in hardcore mode, there was no autosave and I died twice. So parrying was the safest way to play since parry does damage, I could block his attacks, and get another hit after he staggers.

When you have to go to the Skalitz Mines to find Jezhek, you will need to go through a lot of bandits. For my playthrough, I took Ulrich with me. He fought the bandits outside and I distracted them. I ran around the mine entrance and the group of bandits was rushing me. By this time, I had the Sprinter Perk, allowing me to run fast. I high-tailed it inside the mines, took the right-side paths, and eventually got to Jezhek.

Please note that Ulrich can die during this segment. So running past them and getting to Jezhek fast is the best method. It may take a couple of tries to complete since bandits are inside the mines and can block your path.

For other big battles, such as in Vranik and Talmberg, just follow the tips for Baptism of Fire. Remember you can punch for extra damage or use poison-coated weapons.



Some things of note though:
During the Vranik siege in “Payback”, when two soldiers are escorting you to the scorched encampment, you can run past enemies and reach the encampment. Once you are there, the next cutscene will start. If you try to go with the two soldiers, they will eventually die because of too many enemies.



In “Out of the Frying Pan”, hug the walls and eventually you will get to the portcullis. One enemy may be in your way. Just run past him and interact with the portcullis.

In “Cold Steel, Hot Blood”, distract the enemies similar to Baptism of Fire. Eventually, Divish and other soldiers will come and help make quick work of the enemies.

In “An Oath is an Oath”, just distract enemies on the battlements until your allies beat them all. It is possible to rush to the Talmberg tower where Toth is located. However, the cutscene will not start until the soldiers have defeated the enemies (at least during my playthrough).

These tips should help make getting the “Merciful Achievement” less confusing and irritating. Pacifism in a universe where death is the simplest solution is a testament to human ingenuity indeed. May your travels be merry and each life brim with excitement!