Underkeep Guide: Start Here, Read This First
A spoiler-light Underkeep guide hub: what to do in the first hours, which systems matter, and which of our 25 pages answers your question.
Underkeep is a grid-based dungeon RPG with a four-hero party, turn-based fights, and a hand-built world that does not hold your hand. If you have just landed in Underkeep Village, start with the beginner guide, then pick a party you can actually keep alive. This hub points you to the right page instead of repeating all 25 of them.
What should you read first in Underkeep?
Read the beginner guide first, then the first-party page, then the map page. That order matches the three problems new players hit: you do not know what the game expects, you do not know which four heroes to build, and you do not know where the exits are.
The game launched on November 5, 2026 for Windows PC. Rake in Grass built it as a tribute to 90s first-person dungeon crawlers, and it shows in the small things: you map by hand, you count food, and a wrong turn can cost a whole rest cycle. The beginner guide→ covers the first two dungeons without spoiling the late game.
A balanced party beats a clever one in the first five hours. You can rebuild heroes later more cheaply than you can recover from a save with no healer.
Which Underkeep systems actually matter?
Four systems decide whether a run stalls: party composition, row placement, food, and resurrection money. Damage math matters too, but it only becomes decisive around the first named boss.
| System | Why it matters | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Party composition | Covers healing, front damage, and control | Best party |
| Row placement | Decides who gets hit and who can swing | Front and back row |
| Food and rest | Restores HP and mana, but burns a shared resource | Exploration |
| Revival statues | Death is recoverable only if you can pay | Beginner guide |
Combat is one action per hero per round. Potions are free actions, which is the single most useful rule in the game: you can drink a healing potion and still attack. That is why a party with two healers feels slower than a party with one healer and a bag of cures.
Is Underkeep hard?
Underkeep is demanding but not unfair. Most deaths come from three mistakes: pushing past a rest point with no food, standing a low-armor hero in the front row, and ignoring enemy immunities. The combat log tells you when a stun or bleed fails; read it once and you stop wasting turns.
The first real filter is the bandit chieftain, and the second is the spider boss on the road to the Orc Camp. Both are covered in the bosses page→. If a fight feels impossible, the answer is usually preparation, not level grinding: buy armor, craft cures, and rest before the door.
Where do you go after the first dungeon?
After the first dungeon, follow quest leads back to Underkeep Village, then push west into Hollowgrave Tunnels. The tunnels branch toward Fangroot, the Orc Camp, and Gravewood Crypt. The map page→ lists the confirmed areas and the routes between them, including which doors need keys.
Do not treat every locked door as a progress gate. Gravewood Crypt is optional, and the Silver Key door in Hollowgrave is a side route with a real reward but no ending requirement. If you are stuck, check whether the area is optional before you spend an evening on it.
What changes after the launch window?
As of November 6, 2026 there is no post-launch patch. The developer has said a console release is planned for 2027 and has discussed a reset lever for the Gravewood statue puzzle in a future update. We track those statements on the roadmap page→ and date every entry.
Treat patch notes as claims until they ship. Community reports about the Silver Key chest and the Gravewood gargoyles are useful, but they are reports, not confirmed fixes.
FAQ
Is there a Underkeep wiki with all classes and maps?
Yes. The Underkeep wiki page→ is a reference index: seven classes, six races, confirmed areas, bosses, and the pages that explain each one. It is not a second beginner guide.
How long is Underkeep?
The store does not list a completion time, and one day after launch there is no reliable community average. The world is partly open, with side quests and multiple endings, so a first run will be longer than a focused replay.
Does Underkeep have difficulty settings?
The store page does not advertise a difficulty slider. The practical difficulty knobs are party composition, row placement, and how much you rest and craft before a boss.
Official source: Underkeep on Steam ↗
Official source: Rake in Grass Underkeep page ↗
Community source: Steam community player guide ↗
More Underkeep Guides
All seven Underkeep classes explained: main stat, resource, front or back row, weapon requirements, and the race that fits each one.
How Underkeep combat works: one action per hero, free actions, damage and armor math, crit and evasion formulas, status effects, and turn order.
What is confirmed about Underkeep endings: multiple outcomes, the quests that matter, why special dialogue is not always best, and how to save for branches.
Underkeep equipment explained: weapon types per class, armor slots, how armor and sharpness change damage, which tools share the budget, and when to upgrade.
How Underkeep exploration works: which tools open which obstacles, how to search walls and graves, food and resting, and Waystone fast travel.
The Underkeep first party for a blind run: four heroes, race picks, early skills, gear priorities, and the first purchases that keep the run alive.
How Underkeep front row and back row positioning works: who can melee, when Reach bypasses the rule, what swapping costs, and the safest four-hero layout.
What to do when the four gargoyles get stuck in Underkeep Gravewood Crypt, why there is no reset lever yet, and how to recover without losing the run.