Where to find Bran to complete Up to His Neck in Gothic Remake

Joining the New Camp is a very long-winded process in Gothic Remake. Alongside handing out a bunch of swampweed for cash, you also need to help the Rice Lord. And after completing the A Few Drops Too Much quest, this so-called lord of rice will set you the task of finding Bran in the Up to His Neck quest.

Take note that while this quest will earn you the trust of the Rice Lord, a major step in joining the New Camp, you'll make that decision with Lares later. In other words, it won't lock you out of joining the other camp factions. Before you start this quest, I also recommend grabbing some armour, especially the free Digger's Dress.

How to complete Up to His Neck in Gothic Remake

The Rice Lord needs you to find Bran, his missing foreman, and tells you to speak to the farmers to find out more. Only the named farmers will comment on Bran, but, at least for me, Malon told me where he saw him disappear to. You need to speak to Malon kindly.

Malon explains that Bran went to a cave near the pond where Jacko and his crew hang around. To save you from running around the camp for ages like I did (there's a pond and lake in there, after all), to find the correct cave:

1. Exit the New Camp through the main gates
2. Go towards the pond and the small settlement ahead of you.
3. Turn right, where you'll see a bandit guarding a cave entrance. I recommend saving your game here so you have a convenient point to load back to.
4. Go inside the cave and up the stairs, where you'll find Jacko. Speak to Jacko, and he'll threaten you, starting a one-on-one fight.
5. Beat Jacko in combat (you can use weapons, don't worry), and he'll explain that he sent Bran to rob the tavern's basement in order to repay his debts.

Jacko is a strong opponent early on, and if he beats you, he'll steal your gear and you won't be able to find out more. If you're struggling to beat him, I recommend getting a better weapon (such as buying one from Fisk in the Old Camp marketplace) and some armour, like the free Digger's Dress from the Free Mine. You could also unlock the fire bolt rune for more offensive power in The Price of Magic quest.

You can also speak to Cord by the training dummies overlooking the lake tavern in the New Camp to level up your one-handed weapons. However, if you really can't beat him, you can likely skip this step, but you'll miss out on the powerful Bloodfly Sting mace that he drops.

Next, you need to go to the tavern by the lake up the hill in the New Camp, near the entrance to the main cave, to find out how to get into the basement. You have two options: lockpick the door behind Silas, or, my preferred method, swim underneath the tavern. You can discover this secret entrance by persuading Rayk, but you can likely skip this step—if you beat him up in the previous quest, then it'll save you from bribing him with ore.

Here's where you need to go to find Bran:

1. Go behind the tavern, close to the fishing rod on the pier and the chimney stack.
2. Dive into the water, where you'll see a cave entrance with a strong current.
3. Swim inside the basement and continue through the flooded cellar. You can actually surface here if you need more air.
4. Walk up the stairs, where you'll see Bran's body ahead of you, left of the door. It's very dark, so it's easy to miss.
5. Loot Bran's body and read the note. You can also lockpick the chests in this room to find out more, if you can be bothered to struggle with the lockpicking minigame.
6. Swim back out the way you came and return to Silas to confront him about what happened to Bran.

Once you've spoken to Silas, return to the Rice Lord to finish the Up to His Neck quest. Your most important reward for completing this quest is that you'll get the Rice Lord's backing in terms of joining the camp. You'll also get 300 XP, which is a pretty hefty amount early on.

The Gothic Remake is a classic RPG, sure, but mostly it's really a game about getting your ass kicked in a hundred different ways. When I waltzed up to the gate of the Old Camp and tried to crack a joke with the guard like I was some cocky protagonist in any other fantasy adventure, he beat me up and took all my stuff.

It was a memorable lesson, though not enough to prevent the exact same thing happening at the next gate I came to. I like sassing guards, what can I say? Over the proceeding hours I found myself using every trick in the book to get by, killing "meat" bugs for food, filching whatever wasn't nailed down, but frequently getting murdered by wolves, scavengers, and even molerats.

Combat in Gothic is so hard because there's so little room for error. Enemies deal a ton of damage, so any mistake is fatal until you find some armor. Since this gear is so valuable in the Valley of the Mines, you're not just going to wander into some cave Elder Scrolls-style and find a full suit in a random chest—it's mainly tied to quests and faction progress.

The same goes for weaponry—if you want a really good weapon you'll most likely have to take it from someone else, something I realised when I drew a bunch of Minecrawlers to attack and down a Paladin in the Old Mine so I could nick his extremely good sword.

Instead of suffering through the early death treadmill for marginally better gear, you can get a much faster leg up in combat by learning magic in The Price of Magic quest.

This one is really easy to complete as soon as you arrive in the Old Camp—you just need to head to the southern cloth-covered market area and find the mage Torrez. Finishing it will let you choose either a healing or a fire bolt rune (I'd suggest taking the fire). Runes are permanent spells you can use, and unlike single-use scrolls, or bows which require arrows, the fire bolt rune gives you a high-damage DoT you can spam on enemies at range as long as you have a way to get mana back.

Proper mana potions are expensive, but drugs are much cheaper. You can get three Northern Dark to smoke for free from Fortuno at his store in the Swamp Camp every day, even if you join another faction. If you want an easy way to get here, try taking on The Cult's Recipe quest and speaking to Baal Parvez in the market. You can also buy cheap drugs like Green Novice from Dexter, the same person who gives the above quest.

Most of my challenging early fights I basically spent kiting enemies, blasting them with fire balls, and then blazing one when I ran out of mana. These drugs do temporarily reduce dexterity, but they let you do so much damage (and add a DoT to enemies) that they often just die while trying to chase you. It'll prove a little less effective later, but if you're struggling with a specific encounter or just want a bit more firepower, definitely grab magic as soon as you can.

Wander around Gothic Remake's iconic Old Camp and you'll soon run into Snaf, the town cook. He'll give you the quest Snaf's Recipe, which requires you to track down meatbugs and hellcap mushrooms for his ragout. He promises it's tastier than it sounds, but I'm not convinced.

Even though Snaf gives you an idea of where to look—which is included in your journal—finding these ingredients is far from straightforward when you barely know your way around. That said, having a map to both the Colony and the Old Camp is helpful.

How to complete Snaf's Recipe in Gothic Remake

Snaf asks you to find three bugmeat and five hellcaps for his ragout recipe, and here's where I recommend you look:

• You can find several meatbugs (like large maggots) by the eastern wall of the Old Camp, past your shack and the arena. However, you might already have some bugmeat if you killed some near the abandoned mine at the start of the game.
• Hellcaps grow inside caves and open fields. You can find five inside the cave where you find Nek in The Vanished Warder quest, just outside the south gate of the Old Camp. You can also find two in the small molerat cave by the bridge at the north gate, and three in the molerat cave to the west of town, by the guarded path to the orcs. These caves also contain Solanaceae, which are required for The Forgotten Recipe quest, so collect these while you're here.

Return to Snaf with the ingredients and he'll cook you a portion of his meatbug ragout—delicious, apparently. More importantly, you'll also get 100 XP, the recipe to cook it yourself, and you can speak to Snaf each day to claim free food. Unfortunately this quest doesn't count towards the main Casting Shadows quest though, so you'll still need to do more busywork in the Old Camp.

The New Camp is one of the three factions you can join in the Gothic Remake. Like joining the Old Camp, it's a very long-winded process. In fact, I'd say it's even more arduous, given all the running back and forth and busywork you have to do.

Be warned that you can only join one camp. But if you've got your heart set on this band of thieves and mercs who rule over farmers and miners, touting freedom, then this is what you need to do to join them.

How to join the New Camp in Gothic Remake

The first step in joining this thieves' guild is to locate them. You can find the New Camp in the hills on the west side of The Colony. Head out the south gate of the Old Camp and go west towards the large body of water you can see on the upper left side of the map—the New Camp is right by this.

However, the journey over there is dangerous, so I recommend completing a few of the Casting Shadows quests and then bugging Thorus in the Old Camp for work. Eventually, he'll give you the Out of Sight quest, in which he asks you to get rid of Mordrag. Ask Mordrag about his job as a messenger for the New Camp, and he'll offer to take you there, which starts the Admission to the New Camp quest.

Follow him to the New Camp and he'll kill all the enemies on the way, giving you a quest item—a ring—that'll let you speak to Lares, the leader of the camp. Once you arrive in the New Camp:

1. Head up the hill past the farm, across the dam/bridge, and into the large cave on your left.
2. Hug the left side of the cave and go up the hill to find Lares' house.

You'll need to convince the guards to let you in by mentioning the ring Mordrag gave you. Speak to Lares, and he'll explain what you need to do to join the New Camp, specifically mentioning Swamp Camper Baal Isidro and his swampweed supply. Basically, you need to get the favour of Lares and the Rice Lord, so complete the following sub-quests:

1. A Piece of the Pie

Lares wants 400 ore nuggets and suggests you speak to Baal Isidro in the lake tavern to get them. I recommend speaking to Baal Kagan by the camp at the base of the hill to Lares' house to get the Canvassing Customers quest, and sell ten Green Novice to any bandits in the camp, giving you ten ore each. You can then use this money to bribe the guards at the tavern.

Once inside, speak to Baal Isidro and suggest helping him sell the swampweed. He'll refuse, so buy him some rice schnapps (his favourite drink) from bartender Silas, at which point he'll give in, starting The Herb Merchant quest. Sell the Green Novice, Northern Dark, and Dreamcall he gives you to mercenaries and bandits, or to merchants like Sharky, Cronos, Malon, and Silas in bulk. Give the 400 nuggs earned to Lares, instead of returning to Isidro.

2. A Few Drops Too Much

Acquired by speaking to the Rice Lord by the gates, he'll ask you to go to the lake tavern to help Silas. All you need to do is speak to Silas, and then either beat up Rayk or convince him to simmer down.

3. Up to His Neck

After completing A Few Drops Too Much, the Rice Lord will give you a quest to find Bran, his missing foreman. Speak to farmer Malon nicely (that's important), and you'll discover he headed out of the camp towards a cave by a pond used by Jacko and Renyu:

1. Exit the New Camp and head towards the large pond settlement ahead of you.
2. To your right, you'll find a cave entrance guarded by Renyu.

Go inside to find Jacko and beat him up. He'll tell you he sent Bran to rob the New Camp tavern's basement. If you're struggling to beat Jacko, then you can likely skip this step, though he did drop the strong Bloodfly Sting mace that I used for a while. Getting the free Digger's Dress armour nearby helped me.

From here, go to Silas' lake tavern at the centre of the New Camp. You need to get into the basement, which is the area behind where Silas is standing, and you have two options: lockpick the door behind Silas, or, my preferred method, swim underneath the tavern. The quest will prompt you to speak to a regular customer to find this alternate entrance (it's the drunkard Rayk, who you likely beat up in the previous quest), though you can likely skip this step and go straight to diving.

1. Go outside and behind the tavern, near the fishing rod on the pier and the chimney stack.
2. Dive into the water, and you'll see a cave entrance with a strong current.
3. Swim inside and continue through the flooded cellar until you reach Silas' alchemy stations and dry land.
4. Walk up the stairs, where you'll see Bran's body ahead of you, left of the door.
5. Loot Bran's body and read the note.
6. Swim back out the way you came and return to Silas to confront him.

After you've confronted Silas, all you need to do is return to the Rice Lord to finish the Up to His Neck quest and earn his favour.

4. Something the Matter?

If you've got the Test of Faith quest from Diego in the Old Camp, go to the Old Mine in the northwest of The Colony, which is around the hill to your left when you leave the New Camp. Go almost all the way down to find Ian and speak to him to get the supply list.

Instead of returning to Diego, go to Lares, who will tamper with the list. This will start the Something the Matter? quest, where you just need to give the falsified supply list to Diego, then return to Lares.

5. The Raid

After you've completed all of the above quests, earning both Lares' and the Rice Lord's trust, speak to the former to ask if you've got what it takes to become a bandit. He'll mention a "special assignment", which you can then ask him about. This gives you The Raid quest, your final test.

All you need to do is:

1. Speak to Gorn, located on your right near the entrance to the cave, to get a free sword.
2. Walk to the road between the Old Mine and the Old Camp, where you'll find a carriage stuck in the mud.
3. Sneak up the mound overlooking the carriage to find Wedge and the other raiders, who'll explain the plan.
4. You're the distraction, so speak to the guards. I told them I was new to the Colony, and suggested we find some wood to help get the carriage out.
5. Ambush the guards—you can use your weapons (like your new sword), despite being told not to kill the guards.
6. Speak to Wedge afterwards, then return to Lares at the New Camp.

Once you've done all this, Lares will officially invite you to the crew, completing the Admission to the New Camp quest. You'll receive the Bandit's Dress armour and 1,500 XP. Be warned that you can only join one of the three camps, so accepting Lares' offer will prevent you from joining either the Old Camp or the Swamp Camp, and you will forfeit some quests. You can still visit them, though, so long as you follow the rules.

One of the most captivating parts of Gothic Remake is that you start off as a poor sod with no gear to your name, and everyone's trying to swindle you. Unlike basically every other RPG ever, you don't even start with a basic weapon, so even little critters will eat you for breakfast. Naturally, finding out how to get armour is your next milestone after grabbing a sword.

I also recommend completing The Price of Magic quest early on to unlock magic, which makes early combat (especially without armour) much more manageable.

How to get armour in Gothic Remake

Getting armour is primarily tied to your faction progression of the three main camps or sold by vendors—you generally don't find any from exploring, unlike weapons. At the start of the game, you won't have any armour, just the Nameless Hero's boring black outfit (which isn't even considered an item). New gear sets are very few and far between, but you can grab one for free relatively early on.

The first armour you'll be able to get is the Digger's Light Trousers by purchasing them from Fisk in the Old Camp marketplace for 313 ore. He's got short black hair and is wearing the recognisable red Warder attire. The Digger's Light Trousers provide ten edge and blunt protection, and five fire resistance, so it's a great upgrade from your bare black robes. I recommend hunting, stealing, and mining in the Old Mine to make a quick buck early on. However, there's an upgraded alternative in the Old Mine.

If you can hold out and save your money for a little bit longer, then I recommend going to the Old Mine in the northwest of The Colony, which is around the hill to your left when you leave the New Camp. Almost at the bottom of the mine, you'll find merchant Alberto speaking to Ian. Alberto sells the Digger's Trousers for 324 ore, which is a slightly upgraded version of the armour sold by Fisk.

You can also get the Digger's Dress for free, which has the same stats as the Light Trousers. All you need to do is go to the Free Mine, accessed by going through the New Camp in the hills on the west side of The Colony, and speak to Swiney, a digger near the entrance. In theory, you could run over here almost immediately if you're brave enough and able to dodge all the enemies on the way to the New Camp.

After this, your next armour set is most likely going to come from whatever faction you choose. Completing Casting Shadows to join the Old Camp rewards you with the Shadow's armour, which you can upgrade at merchants like Fisk as you get promoted, such as to a Warder. Likewise, joining the New Camp will give you the Bandit's Dress to start with, while the Swamp Camp offers up its culty Novice robes.