The opening hours of Echoes of Aincrad funnel you through a single, linear dungeon that doubles as the tutorial and your first real combat test. Along the way you meet Iori, the companion who stays with you for the rest of the run, and you face two boss fights that hit far harder than anything before them. Clearing this stretch is what unlocks the central township and opens the game’s quest board.
Quick answer: Push through the tutorial corridor to the first junction to recruit Iori, defeat the Sentry Golem at the first resting point, then beat Illfang the Kobold Lord by depleting his health and landing a finisher three times. The exit leads to a cutscene and teleports you to the township.
Where you meet Iori in the prologue
The prologue plays out as a small, mostly straight dungeon with two main checkpoints. After you take control of your avatar, a series of short combat drills walks you through the basic controls. Once that wraps up, you reach the opening section of the dungeon, a hallway-style path with a handful of scattered enemies. Your only goal here is to keep moving toward the end.
At the first junction inside the dungeon you meet Iori. From this moment on, Iori is your permanent party member. More companions join as the wider game opens up, but in the early stretch Iori is the only ally you keep at your side.
After the introduction, you continue down a longer corridor lined with weaker enemies to find the dungeon exit. Use these fights to practice parrying. Reliable parries and counterattacks make the boss encounters ahead much more manageable.
Using Iori in combat
Combat is built around the bond between your character and your partner. The core action is fast and responsive, but Iori’s abilities are what carry the harder fights. You can swap between Switch and Free modes to control which target enemies focus on while you line up attacks and support skills.
Holding the left trigger opens access to both Sword Skills and Partner Skills, which is how you chain longer combos. Iori leans heavily on support, so keeping him active and feeding into his skills pays off during the two prologue bosses.
How to beat the Sentry Golem
The first boss waits at the first resting point. The Sentry Golem deals far more damage than the fodder enemies before it, but it is slow and its attacks are easy to read.
Watch for two moves. The first is a stomp it can repeat while you stay close. The second is a wide ground sweep that covers a large area and can knock you out of your attack animation.
- Stay behind the Golem at all times to avoid the bulk of its attacks.
- From behind, hit it with charged heavy attacks for the most damage.
- Parry the ground sweep and follow up with Iori’s charged thrust.
How to beat Illfang the Kobold Lord
A cutscene after the Golem leads straight into Illfang the Kobold Lord, the toughest fight in the opening. He hits hard, runs through three phases, and can summon waves of fodder enemies to crowd you.
Illfang has two main attacks to track. The first is a ground sweep that covers a full 360 degrees around him. The second is a charged roar that forces you and Iori into a blocking stance and calls in fodder enemies.
Finishing the prologue and reaching the township
With Illfang defeated, the rest of the dungeon is another short, linear corridor. Follow it to the exit that opens onto the outside world. A brief cutscene plays, after which you are teleported to the game’s central township.
You know the prologue is complete once you land in the township with the quest board available. From there you are free to pick your next objectives, with Iori still locked in as your companion.
