Welcome to Elderfield Walkthrough — Full Quest Route and Progression Guide

A Welcome to Elderfield walkthrough does not follow numbered chapters — it follows six overlapping quest buckets that open as you gather supplies. The community task journal lists 71 tasks in total: 23 around Town, the Farm, the Mall and the Sewers, 15 in the Old Woods, 17 in the Catacombs, 8 in the Deep Woods, 5 in the Deep Catacombs, and 3 long-term investigations. This page maps that route, the rewards that unlock each region, and the few habits that keep a run moving.

How the Quest Route Is Organised

The journal separates optional requests, Job Board commissions and long-term investigations, and the wiki sorts them by progression rather than story beat. Early game covers the starting regions and introduces farming, fishing, crafting, the Mall and the Sewers. The Old Woods and Catacombs come next, each with their own general tasks and Job Board commissions, and the Deep Woods and Deep Catacombs sit behind them. Long-term tasks run across several regions and are the closest thing the game has to a main story.

Progression	Main regions	Tasks
Early game	Town, Farm, Mall, Sewers	23
Old Woods	Old Woods and connected Town requests	15
Catacombs	Catacombs, Forsaken Settlement, later Job Board requests	17
Deep Woods	Deep Woods	8
Deep Catacombs	Deep Catacombs	5
Long-term	Multiple regions	3

Nothing here has to be finished in order. The wiki notes that tasks with several milestones list each stage separately, and the Steam description calls Elderfield a place where you farm, romance the locals, investigate mysteries and fight terrifying creatures at your own pace.

The Early Game: Town, Farm, Mall and Sewers

The first requests are the ones worth finishing immediately, because each hands over a system. The Farmer's Path from Farmer Hans asks for a single harvested Wheat crop and rewards a Grinder plus two Cleansing Balm, and it unlocks Chef Elroy's recipe shop. Helping Molly needs one Copper Ore mined with the Rusty Pickaxe she supplies, and it opens the Workshop along with the Furnace and its crafting recipe. Casting Your Line from Fisherman Herb gives an Old Fishing Rod and three Worm and starts a three-stage fishing chain that ends with Baked Fish Fillet and Fog Broth.

Two more early rewards are easy to miss. Lost Gameboy asks you to search the Town homes Tanner visited and opens the gated farm-path route once you return it, while Build-A-Wife has you examine Old Man Jackson's coat rack and gather Branches, Stones, Mud, Metal Chunks and the Toy Heart, which teaches the Dark Blast ritual. By the Gods asks only that you investigate two Old God Shrines — convenient ones sit in the Mall food court and the Sewers — and teaches Ghost Blast.

• The Farmer's Path: Grinder, 2 Cleansing Balm, Chef Elroy's recipe shop.
• Helping Molly: Rusty Pickaxe at the start, Workshop access, Furnace.
• Casting Your Line: Old Fishing Rod, 3 Worm, stage recipes from Tempura to Fog Broth.
• Lost Gameboy: opens the gated farm-path route.
• Build-A-Wife: teaches the Dark Blast ritual.
• By the Gods: teaches the Ghost Blast ritual.

The Old Woods, Catacombs and Beyond

Once the farm path opens, the Old Woods becomes your next supply route, and the Mall and Sewers lead down toward the Catacombs. Early Mall requests chain together: Fishing in the Mall gives three Bug for the F1 hallway pool, and catching the Stalktopus there calls the Mall Administrator, which Tentacle Cleanup then has you defeat using the Mall F1 Hallway Key and rewards a Basic Axe. That kind of chained gate is the pattern for the rest of the game — one request opens a door and the next asks you to walk through it.

Later regions are documented more thinly by the community wiki, so treat Deep Woods and Deep Catacombs entry requirements as to confirm. What is confirmed is the shape: each region adds General Tasks and Job Board commissions, and the Job Board entries are the ones worth checking whenever you are unsure what to do next, because they pay in items rather than story progress.

Request	Giver and start	Gate it opens	Reward
Fishing in the Mall...?	Office Worker, Mall	Calls the Mall Administrator	3 Bug at the start
Tentacle Cleanup	Adrian, Town	Mall back offices access	Mall F1 Hallway Key, then a Basic Axe
An Eldritch Prank	Pumpkid, Town	—	Steel Key
A Snack for a Cat	Dave, Town	—	Preserving Barrel
Shopper-Bopper!	Abby, Town	—	Lesser Cursed Ring +2

That chaining is the safest way to read the journal: if a task feels blocked, look for the request that opens the door rather than grinding the area you are stuck in.

Difficulty and Supplies, Not Levels

The single most useful walkthrough rule comes from the developer: there is no time-based difficulty scaling. Enemies do not grow stronger because days pass; different areas simply hold different challenges. The forum post explaining this also gives the practical loop — take encounters slowly, stock up on good food, and turn around and leave when a fight looks unwinnable, then farm or fish until you are ready. Equipment matters too: several players report a run stalled until they checked their gear and picked up better weapons and armour from the Mall and Mall Mine.

• Cook and carry food before a long excursion; healing items are the real progression currency.
• Leave early and often — a retreat costs nothing, a wipe costs time.
• Re-check equipment whenever you craft or buy a new weapon or armour piece.
• Clear the easy Job Board tasks in an area for item rewards before pushing deeper.

The Deep Woods and Deep Catacombs route, the exact unlock task for each later region, and any missable long-term tasks are not documented yet, so confirm them in-game rather than trusting a fixed order. For gear, see the best weapons page, and for the food that carries a run, see the best food page.