When you first start playing the Gothic 1 Remake, you’ll be tasked with entering the castle in the old camp and delivering a letter to a wizard. The letter is the only thing giving you any value, so your hero keeps hold of it, but that doesn’t mean the camp’s denizens are going to just let you stroll into the castle.
Before you can gain entry, you’ll need to progress in the game’s story, and that means completing quests, leveling up, and growing stronger. Simply put, there’s no getting away from this, but there are various methods of gaining entry when the time comes.
How to get into the castle in Gothic
Here’s every way to gain entry into the castle in Gothic. Remember, no matter what route you take, it’s going to take some work. So our advice is to forget about the castle, the wizard, and the letter for now, and go do some questing. But when you’re ready, consider one of the following options:
Bribe Thorus
If you choose to stray at the Old Camp, Thorus will accept you eventually, but he’s not about to let some nobody into the castle. He has a job to do. However, he can be swayed by 1000 nuggets.
Of course, this is a ludicrous amount to spend so early in the game, and it’s going to take a long time until you have this much. But it works, so if you do decide to go on a stealing spree and do manage to raise the funds, that’s one sure-fire way of progressing the story.
However, we’d strongly advise against this route. It takes a long time, and you’re better off focusing on quests, developing your character, and, more importantly, saving the money for other things.
You can gain entrance later for free, and it takes the same amount of time and will have you far better equipped for the quests to come than running around raising funds will.
Raise your reputation at the Old Camp
We did a whole guide on how to raise your reputation in Gothic, but when it comes to gaining entry into the castle, this is the natural way and it mostly just involves playing the game normally.
You see, Diego sees something in your hero and encourages you to become a Shadow like him. Not only does this involve ingratiating yourself with your fellow Old Campers, it also means earning the respect of the other Shadows.
Diego will give you a list of his colleagues and tell you to speak to them individually. Luckily, they’re all located in the Old Camp, and most will be receptive to you. They’ll also set you a quest, and if you complete it, they’ll vouch for you when the time comes.
Some of these quests are long-winded and involve going to the other camps, while some are simple and just require a little bit of work, and you parting with a few nuggets to grease the wheels.
If you continue to complete quests at the Old Camp and become a valued member of the community, you’ll eventually be invited by the wizard, and the story will progress. You’ll also not have to pay Thorus a penny.
Go to a different camp
As counterintuitive as it may sound, you can actually gain entrance to the castle by abandoning Old Camp and traveling to go and live at the New Camp or the Swamp Camp.
Just like it does if you stay in Old Camp, completing quests and following the story in any camp will eventually lead you to the wizard.
So, really, the best advice we can give you when it comes to gaining entrance to the castle is to ignore the castle and just play the game.
Remember, you’re not supposed to gain entry to the castle at the start of the game. It’s put in front of you as a goal to work towards, so players are best focusing on exploring, growing stronger, and forming bonds with NPCs in Gothic, and the rewards will follow in due course.
Wildcard method: Turn yourself into a Meatbug
There is one more way that you can enter the castle if you’re feeling adventurous.
While working through the story, you can obtain a spell scroll that allows you to turn into a Meatbug temporarily and then use your reduced size to sneak through the wooden gate bars.
This is risky, as if the guards spot you as a Meatbug, they’ll attack on sight. They should ignore you once you’re past the initial area of the castle, but only if you’re human. You should be able to get back out in one piece, but this too can be risky if the gate guards‘ AI decide to turn on you.
You can meet the wizard and progress the story this way, but honestly, due to the effort it takes to find a spell scroll, you might as well just complete the quests and enter the castle as a guest, and without worrying about danger.
