FYI: This guide is accurate of as the time of writing/editing it. Soulash 2 is in early access and receives updates often. Features can be added or changed at any point, so this guide may not be perfectly up to date. Screenshots will be added later!

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This guide will cover some best practices for training and crafting efficiently. It will not tell you how to craft, which items are best for a given build, or which NPCs can craft which items.

(Note that *companions* refer to NPCs in your party. You can recruit companions if you have a passive that allows you to do so. These are gained in: Hunting, Leadership, and Construction.)

1. You need to improve your skill ceiling (aka potential) to gain access to better abilities. NPCs are the easiest way to do this, especially early game.

2. NPCs can create (or upgrade) amazing items that are tailored to your build and better than what you find in chests. Unless you’re making all your own stuff, you’ll need to use NPC crafters to your advantage. There’s an efficient way to do this (which I explain in ‘Building a Network of Crafters’):

• NPCs can train your potential in skills, provided they have a higher skill level than you. They can train you even if you don’t have points invested in that skill.
  
• NPCs cannot grant you abilities or passives from any skill tree (including Pyromancy, Leadership, and others). If you need access to the first ability or passive in a skill, you will need to find an item in the world to help. Skillbooks can be found in Troublesome and above Points of Interest. There are other items that grant abilities that can help you gain skill points as well.

• NPCs can’t gain skill levels faster based on how many orders they receive.
  
• NPCs can craft specific items based on their skill level, race, occupation, and work area. For example, an elven jeweler cannot create runes but dwarves can. If you learn a crafting skill on your own, you will have access to all the recipes in a tree.
  
• NPCs can upgrade items if they know the recipe. To upgrade an item, drag the ingredient you want to replace into the appropriate slot.
  
• NPCs can’t craft adamantine ingots, elemental cores, or the final item within crafting trees (unlocked at skill level 50).
  
• NPCs can’t craft/create anything housed within the ‘build’ menu, including golems.
  
• NPCs can’t craft using items that are in the inventory of a companion.

• NPCs can train you even if they don’t belong to a settlement. Try talking to NPCs in various maps.
  
• NPC companions will gain skills faster than NPCs in settlements, provided they use abilities on enemies. These companions can also train you!
  
• NPCs can gain new skills based on occupation switches and equipped items. Give an archer (companion) a sword and he will slowly gain sword fighting experience.
  
• NPCs can have high skills in a skill that isn’t related to their primary profession. Make sure to ask NPCs for training in a given skill and they’ll tell you who has the highest skill in the settlement.
  
• Use the star shaped marker to the right of an NPCs name in the Knowledge tab to save NPCs that are highly skilled in an area you want to gain potential in. These NPCs will be pinned to the top of the Known Beings list.

• Different races have different names for their crafters. Bone Etchers are the same as Jewelers.
  
• Some races do not have crafters of a certain type in their settlements. The settlement may also be too small/underdeveloped to build a certain facility.
  
• Many cities have multiple of the same crafting building. Make sure to visit both, as NPCs can have different skill levels.
  
• Consider crafting items even if you don’t have the perfect ingredients - you can always upgrade later for a small fee.

If you’re not planning on making all your own equipment, gaining information about and keeping track of crafters is an important part of the gameplay loop. You will be using the Knowledge tab (default shortcut: v) often!


If you’re planning on a hunting build with leather armor, you should identify that you will need to find Bowyer and Leatherworking NPCs, at a minimum. Keep in mind that other crafters (such as shoemakers) may also use leather. There are other crafters (such as Jewelers and Smelters) which can help you craft components for your gear. If you have a build in mind at the start of your game, do this right away. An early high tier weapon from a crafter will beat anything you find in chests from Easy/Troublesome PoIs, even if you make it with copper ingots. You can always upgrade it later.

You’re building a network of NPCs so that you will always have an option for crafting and gaining potential for your skills. NPCs die unexpectedly and switch occupations on occasion.

PSA: Entries in the Knowledge tab will update in real time, so you can keep tabs on their progress from afar.

If you aren’t sure what an NPC can make, select them in the Knowledge tab and go to the Crafting sub-menu. Don’t rely on their skill level alone (found within the Skills sub-menu). If an NPC has changed professions, their list of craftable items will likely change. Lastly, make sure the NPC isn’t dead. This can be found at the top of their Knowledge entry. If you’re interested in having them craft something, you can click the name of their location in their entry and it will center the world map on that settlement!

PSA: You can use the Crafting menu to see what racial crafts a group has access to via the Crafting sub-menu in Knowledge. In order to see which items are needed to make an item, you’ll need to go to your Skills menu and find the entry for that item.


Use the world map to identify which settlements have crafters in a given profession. When you arrive, ask any NPC for directions *to the appropriate facility*. If you ask for directions to a trainer, you might end up talking to Jim - a master in Armorsmithing who is now a mushroom farmer. Jim can train you in Armorsmithing, but he won’t be able to make you a nasal helm. Complete this step for multiple crafters. Lastly, pay attention to the z-level referenced in the directions, it’s easy to look for a crafter on the wrong floor.

PSA: If you ask for directions and don’t see a family name appended to a building, that building is unoccupied.

You don’t need to check every town and village, but keep in mind that the life cycles for villages differ. A higher tier settlement will not always have the best Armorsmith.


Now that you’ve spoken to the right people, you need to keep tabs on them. When you open the Knowledge tab, you will see a sub-menu titled: Known Beings. You can search by crafter Name or skill. For example, you can type ‘Imbu’ to see all characters with points in Imbuing. I recommend checking out the skill level, age, and craftable items of NPCs on your list. Generally, you’re looking for:

• Highly skilled, living NPCs that can make the items you want or train you in their skill.
  
• Younger crafters over older ones. Sometimes a NPC will switch professions later in life. So you might have two dwarves that have skill levels in the mid-30s. If one is 100+ years old, they might not reach the skill level you need before passing away.

If you’ve found a crafter with a high skill level or good potential for the future (in an NPC settlement or one of your own), mark them as a favorite via the icon to the right of their name. They’ll be pinned to the top of the Known Beings list for you to access quickly later. I try to pin one or two ‘experts’ of different races for each important skill. This will save you lots of time on cross-map travel.

PSA: If you don’t see a pinned NPC, make sure you don’t have any search terms active in the Knowledge tab.

Via the Knowledge tab, check on your crafters occasionally to see if they’ve hit a breakpoint to create a new item or if they’re getting old. If they are, make sure to get your crafting done ASAP! Their replacement will take a long time to achieve mastery.