This guide assumes you've completed the game at least once. If you haven't, go back and play it already! Don't you like plants?!



The intent of this guide is to provide a basic overview of every obtainable item and story component in the game (i.e. instincts, memories, expressions and other particulars). The guide will be divided by area starting with Nearbarrow Camp, going into and in counter-clockwise order around the main hub: Fort Holgrove.

Boss Trophies and Notebook entries will be excluded, but key story items will be preserved.

Every instance of Oak Knight, Pearl Knight, Botanist and Scholar will be referenced (even if they don't always grant rewards) for continuity and related achievements.

Anything pertaining to Inner Sanctuary (the ending) will be omitted as it isn't critical (nothing to miss and it's best players experience that story bit for themselves).

Emojis are used to indicate "point of interest" followed by "reward," with any additional notes after an asterisk.

Sample:
🎯 dart board for bosses
👋 wave for simply walking by NPCs (no interaction)
💬 speech bubble for NPC dialogue interactions
🌿 herb for Botanist interactions
🍄 mushroom for Kinoko Trials
🍁 autumn leaf for Dyrad Doors
🍤 shrimp for Fossilized Cordyceps
♊ Gemini icon for vestiges (co-op)

To search for anything specific, just Ctrl+F.

Lastly, we will refer to "expressions" as "emotes" for simplicity.

💬 Oak Knight: N/A *first meeting; optional
🎯 Arboreal Terror: Thorn Bloom (instinct)

💬 Captain: Rage (emote)
💬 Scholar: Notebook (menu); Clap (emote)
💬 Scholar: Thumbs Up (emote); Thumbs Down (emote) *ask about "You" after after turning in any second boss trophy
🗺️ Exploration: Luminary (instinct) *just walk into center of camp
💬 Bonsai Knight: Out of Time (instinct) *after defeating Fallen Rider
💬 Bonsai Knight: Sit (emote) *ask about "You" after above
💬 Bridge Giant: N/A *first chat; prerequisite
💬 Bridge Giant: Impatient (emote)
🍁 Dryad Door: Nimble (instinct) *northwest of bridge, after defeating all area bosses
👋 Camp NPC: High-Five (emote) *walk by high-fiving knights, center of camp; after defeating all area bosses
♊ Bonded Knight: Iron Bond (vestige) *meets you at bridge after defeating all area bosses

🎯 Fallen Rider: Fallen Strike (instinct)

🎯 The Hivemind: Kinship (instinct)

🌿 Botanist: N/A *first encounter
🍁 Dryad Door: Familiar (instinct) *straight east from area entrance; come back with your name after Perennial Council
🍄 Kinoko Trial: Memory *hard to miss, past large "shield" roadblock
🎯 Towering Dyad: Double Dash (instinct)
🌿 Botanist: N/A *after defeating area boss

👋 Oak Knight: Wave (emote) *approach Oak Knight by Shrine after defeating any area boss
💬 Oak Knight: Point Up (emote); Point Down (emote) *just talk again right after above
💬 Oak Knight: Stinger Check (emote) *waiting for you right after defeating next area boss
💬 Oak Knight: N/A *in pain; after defeating all area bosses, on the way to bridge
♊ Bonded Knight: Phantom Strike (vestige) *meets you before any second area boss

💬 Pumpkin Kids: Hands In (emote); Sprint (instinct) *agree to play hide-and-seek
💬 Pumpkin Kids: Rock (emote); Paper (emote); Scissors (emote) *after finding all 3 kids and meeting them again in center of town
💬 Pearl Knight: Flourish (emote); Crude Map 1 *from center of town head right
💬 Pearl Knight: quest completion *after meeting in all 5 locations in order
🎁 Pickup: Elongated Blade (instinct) *plant bulb behind skeletal blacksmith
💬 Disciple: The Plague (instinct) *by the altar before northern gate
🍁 Dryad Door: Worship the Moon (emote) *southeast of town, before Misty Foothills
🍁 Dryad Door: Ghost Dash (instinct) *after using above emote in specific location in Primeval Jungle

🦊 Milton the Dog: N/A *northwest by fruit trees, shows up after defeating Eldritch Hornet
👋 Fort NPC: Happy Dance (emote) *west of town, before Felled Lands, pass by dancing knight
👋 Fort NPC: Squat (emote) *south of town, just pass by knight squatting on barrel
💬 Captain: Old King's Technique (instinct) *south of town, agree to knock off his trainee
👋 Fort NPC: Fencing Salute (emote) *just a bit further south, approach 2 fencing knights
💬 Dancing Archer: Bold Dance (emote) *south of town, this is the drunken archer that you'd recruit to fight Bridge Crawler; shows up after recruiting this archer and defeating said boss
👋 Fort NPC: Objection! (emote) *northwest of town, pass by 2 arguing knights; they show up after defeating either boss in Primeval Jungle
🎶 Minstrels (Full Gang): Orchestra (instinct) *after finding remaining 4 band members
🌿 Botanist: quest completion *after meeting in every possible location
💬 Throwing Giant: Love Letter *northeast of town going into Primordial Jungle
💬 Throwing Giant: Cheer (emote) *after receiving Love Letter Response

💬 Pearl Knight: Crude Map 2
🌿 Botanist: Give Up (emote)
🍤 Pickup: Fossilized Cordyceps *plant bulb by burning building, close to entrance
🍁 Dryad Door: Infection (instinct) *past spikes section, turn right; use any Dance (Happy, Bold, Kinoko)
🍄 Kinoko Trial: Memory *past destructible roots, before boss
🎯 Scourged Lamplighter: Stinger Burst (instinct)

💬 Pearl Knight: Crude Map 4
🌿 Botanist: N/A *up vine ledge northeast; shortly after entering area
🎯 Eldritch Hornet: Hornet Dash (instinct)
👋 Wetlands NPC: Shrug (emote) *pass by knight examining dead Eldritch Hornet later; shows up after you walk off some distance away from boss arena first
🎶 Minstrels (Clarinet): N/A *before boss, south from Shrine, turn right
🍄 Kinoko Trial: Memory *before boss, southeast from Shrine
🍁 Dryad Door: All or Nothing (instinct) *before boss, hard to miss; use Torchlight
🎯 Marassa Twins: Cosmas (instinct); Damian (instinct)
♊ Bonded Knight: Oxalis (vestige) *meets you past Eldritch Hornet arena after defeating both area bosses on the way back

💬 Pearl Knight: Crude Map 3
🏹 1st Archer: N/A *at camp entrance
🏹 2nd Archer: N/A *climb up northwest vine wall
🏹 3rd Archer: Mourn (emote) *by grave, further up
🏹 4th Archer: Meditate (emote) *mountaintop, northeast
🎶 Minstrels (Mandolin): N/A *before meditating archer, head right
🌿 Botanist: N/A *right before boss, northwest
🍤 Pickup: Fossilized Cordyceps *plant bulb behind Botanist; turn left
🎯 Bridge Crawler: Beast (instinct)

🎯 The Grandmaster: Gambit (instinct)
♊ Bonded Knight: Echo Parry (vestige) *meets you just a bit south of Shrine after defeating boss

🔥 Pickup: Torchlight (instinct) *by entrance, can't miss it
🍄 Kinoko Trial: Memory *just left of disciple
🍁 Dryad Door: Way of the Stinger (instinct) *head right from disciple; extinguish all wisps, then talk
🎯 The Abysm: Alone (instinct)

💬 Throwing Giant (Receiving): Love Letter Response *after defeating area bosses
🍤 Pickup: Fossilized Cordyceps *plant bulb, southwest, shortly after entering area
🎶 Minstrels (Brass): N/A *southeast, past flytraps and roots
🌿 Botanist: Stop! (emote) *head north shortly after entering area
🎯 Corpse Orchard: Corpse Maker (instinct)
♊ Bonded Knight: Salvo (vestige) *meets you past second sub-orchard gauntlet after defeating boss on the way back
🎯 Master of the Bloom: Riposte (instinct); Bow (emote)
🍁 Dryad Door: Spike Dash (instinct) *after boss, turn east; use either Sit, Squat or Meditate
🌿 Botanist: N/A *hiding right behind Spike Dash plant bulb
🌕 Location: Moon *head right past Dryad; use Worship the Moon

🌿 Botanist: Kinoko Dance (emote) *keep going after Master of the Bloom
🍄 Kinoko Trial: Memory *up vine ledge northwest, before Kinoko Elder
💬 Kinoko Elder: Specialist (instinct) *after completing all 5 Kinoko Trials

💬 Pearl Knight: Crude Map 5 *just talk
✨ Kinoko: Memory *by Pearl Knight
🌿 Botanist: N/A *in the woods, before open field
🍤 Pickup: Fossilized Cordyceps *plant bulb before open field, head north and turn right
🎶 Minstrels (Drum): N/A *past above, go up a vine ledge
🎯 Oak Devil: Forlorn (instinct) *appears only after defeating every other area boss

💬 Scholar: quest completion *appears only after defeating every other area boss
🎯 Perennial Council: Lord of the Fireflies (instinct) *appears only after defeating every other area boss
✨ Kinoko: Memory; Name (Aster) *after defeating Perennial Council, on the way back to Holgrove

And with that, this guide is finished. It was put together overnight. It needs cleanup, proofreading and streamlining.

Edits: heavily redacted a lot of notes as this isn't a step-by-step walkthrough. (Also, the 3 Oak Devil encounters after Felled Lands, Wetlands and King's Pass were omitted as they aren't "critical" for anything and you will go through these events regardless. Icy Slide Note and The Council's Invitation were similarly redacted. And Old Coins as well, as its only real use is "paying" the blacksmith which is purely optional and, as of this writing, has no other effect.)

👉 There's 32 instincts in the game, you get 15 from bosses, 7 from Dryads, you start with 1; that leaves 9 to find (6 from NPCs, 3 from the world): Luminary, Out of Time, Sprint, Elongated Blade, The Plague, Old King's Technique, Orchestra, Torchlight, Specialist
👉 There are 12 missable emotes currently: Rage, Impatient, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, Point Up, Point Down, Stinger Check, Mourn, Meditate, Bold Dance *as of patch 1.0.3 some of these can now be acquired later if missed the first time
🔖 Patch 1.0.3: you can get Impatient from Captain at Holgrove, then when you knock off the trainee you get Rage; and Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down from Scholar when you turn in Fallen Rider's boss trophy later
👉 Student of Nature (achievement) requires talking to Botanist in 10 locations (1 of which is hidden, last one is in Holgrove), appearing at least once in every main area (twice in Nearborrow, thrice in Primeval Jungle)
👉 You don't need to visit Misty Foothills before you need to go there (though you miss out some really cool scenes) and, surprisingly, you don't even need to pick up The Council's Invitation either
👉 Though unlikely, it is possible to miss 1 Notebook entry (that being Decayed Flora in Barrows Point before Arboreal Terror)
👉 Once the Scholar moves to Misty Foothills and you never talked before, you'll never receive The Notebook (or the Clap emote)
👉 Only real "losable" story items are: Crude Map and Gold Coins (and I guess The Council's Invitation if you didn't grab it)
👉 There's 2 killable NPCs: "Giant Skull" in Watery Shrine and Marassa Spider (You Monster)