Kingmakers Complete Walkthrough: Story Missions, Side Content & Best Approaches

I'm going to walk through the entire Kingmakers campaign as it exists in Early Access. Obviously things may change before the full release hits PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026, but the core story structure is unlikely to shift dramatically.

The campaign follows a linear mission structure with branching side missions. You play an elite operative sent from a dying future back to medieval England, specifically into the Welsh rebellion period. Your mission: change the outcome of this war to alter the timeline and prevent the apocalypse.

Campaign structure: three acts

The campaign is split into three acts. Act 1 covers missions 1-5 and establishes your foothold in medieval England. Act 2 covers missions 6-12 and escalates the conflict with larger battles and more complex officer hierarchies. Act 3 covers missions 13-18 and introduces the full scale of the war plus the story's biggest twists.

Side missions unlock as you progress through acts. They're not numbered sequentially, they just appear on the war map and you can tackle them whenever.

Act 1: Arrival and First Contact

The prologue drops you into a small skirmish. You have nothing but an assault rifle and a pistol, and you're standing in a field surrounded by medieval soldiers who have never seen a gun before. The first combat encounter is a tutorial. Follow the prompts, learn the controls, enjoy the spectacle of knights getting mowed down by automatic fire.

After the tutorial, you establish your base camp. This is where the quartermaster explains upgrades. First priority: blacksmith to tier 2, then start mission 1.

Mission 1 through 3 are field battles against small armies led by Banner Lords. These are training missions in everything but name. The enemy has one or two officers, basic infantry, and you have plenty of room to experiment with unit formations.

Key decision point in Act 1: after mission 3 you have enough resources for either the stables or blacksmith tier 3. I went stables first and stand by that choice. Cavalry unlocks transform how you approach every subsequent mission.

Mission 4 introduces your first siege scenario. You're attacking a small border fort. The enemy has a Fortress Commander directing wall archers and a single Banner Lord at the gate. Breach with a battering ram, clean up the Banner Lord with shotgun, then push into the keep for the Commander.

The siege tutorial is rough because the game doesn't explain battering ram positioning well. Your infantry pushes the ram, but they need protection from wall archers the whole time. Position your Archers to suppress the walls, and use your character to pick off archers who peek out.

Mission 5 is the Act 1 finale. Your first encounter with a Grand General. This is the difficulty spike I mentioned in the boss guide. The General commands a full army with cavalry, archers, and multiple infantry formations. You're not expected to win cleanly. Survive, kill what you can, and the mission ends with a story retreat.

After Act 1 you should have: tier 3 blacksmith, stables, fortifications tier 2, and at least one weapon blueprint found and crafted.

Act 2: The War Expands

Act 2 opens with your character regrouping after the failed assault on the Grand General. The story introduces allied NPC factions and the political layer of the war. You're not just fighting anymore, you're choosing which allied lords to support.

Mission 6 through 8 are larger field battles with Dual Banner Lords and Cavalry Marshals. You need Spearmen now. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you didn't invest in Spearmen during Act 1, do it now.

Mission 9 is a defensive siege. The enemy attacks your base camp. This is where fortification upgrades pay off. Reinforced walls, arrow towers, and boiling oil traps. You hold the walls while your RTS units man the defenses.

Mission 10 is the midpoint battle. Huge open field, enemy army with a Grand General and two Cavalry Marshals. This is the mission that tests whether you actually learned unit composition. Combined arms approach: Men-at-Arms center, Spearmen flanks, Archers on the hill, Cavalry for flanking, Berserkers held in reserve for the General push.

Mission 11 and 12 are story-heavy missions that introduce the historical figure behind the war. The campaign leans into the Owain Glyndwr rebellion history and your character starts questioning whether changing history is as simple as it seemed.

Act 3: The Endgame

I'm being vague here because Act 3 has the game's best surprises and I don't want to spoil them.

Missions 13 through 16 escalate in scale dramatically. Battles with thousands of soldiers on screen. Destructible castle walls. Attack helicopters in the full release build (Early Access hints at them but they're not fully implemented yet). The armored SUV promised in trailers should appear here too.

Mission 17 is a multi-stage siege that's the hardest content in Early Access. You attack a major fortress with three layers of defense: outer walls, inner keep, and a final throne room fight against a fortified Grand General.

Mission 18 is the current campaign finale. Story resolution that I won't spoil, but your decisions about which officers you executed versus ransomed throughout the campaign affect which allies show up and how the ending plays out.

Side missions: what's worth your time

There are four types of side missions:

Field battles give the best XP-to-time ratio. Do these whenever you need to level new units. They're quick, predictable, and you can farm them.

Siege side missions reward resources but take longer. Only worth it if you specifically need iron or stone for an upgrade.

Patrol missions are boring and the rewards are bad. Skip them unless you have a specific reason.

Raid missions are the best side content. They have unique weapon blueprints as potential rewards, they're varied in design, and they often feature interesting officer combinations you don't see in the main campaign.

How I'd do a second playthrough

If I were starting fresh tomorrow, here's what I'd change: rush Cavalry even harder than I did. Get them before blacksmith tier 3. Farm field battle side missions between every story mission instead of pushing the main quest. Execute high-ranking officers rather than ransoming them, at least in Act 1 and 2, because it makes Act 3 noticeably easier.

And I'd play the whole thing in co-op. Solo is fun but co-op is where Kingmakers becomes something special. Four players each commanding their own army in these massive battles, coordinating officer kills over voice chat. There's nothing else quite like it right now.