Kankan is the point in GRIME II where a lot of runs fall apart. Not because the area is unfair, but because it throws merchants, NPCs, side rooms, bosses, and a whole underground layer at you simultaneously and expects you to figure out which of those things actually matters. The answer is: fewer of them than you think. This guide cuts through the noise and gives you the cleanest path from city entry to Greatblade Preacher and back out again.
What should you do first after entering Kankan?
The single most useful thing you can do the moment you arrive in Kankan is activate the city Surrogate. That is not optional busywork. Kankan is exactly the kind of area where you will die mid-exploration or leave to restock and then completely lose your bearings on return. A solid anchor point fixes that.
Once the Surrogate is active, your practical priorities narrow down to three things:
- Stabilize the city route by following the smith-related progression line
- Locate Breathsmith and Firstsmith through the correct NPC chain
- Resist the urge to treat every locked door or interesting side room as something you must solve immediately
Kankan deliberately presents itself as larger and more chaotic than it really is. The market layer, the NPCs, the optional conversations, the blocked paths — most of that is texture, not the route. The route is the smith thread, and everything else should wait until that thread is secured.
info
Do not try to solve all of Kankan at once. Get the Surrogate active, then follow the smith-related route forward. That alone will stop the city from feeling random.
Activate the Surrogate first
How do you find Breathsmith and Firstsmith in Kankan?
This is where most players lose time. You know you are supposed to find these two characters, but the city does not draw a straight line to either of them.
Starting in the Merchant's Area
Head into the main city and merchant layer once you are properly inside Kankan. The key NPC here is Heimar, located on the right side of the Merchant's Area. Talk to him and tell him you are looking for the Breathsmith. That conversation is the trigger that actually moves the route forward.
Using the ladder beside Lak
After speaking with Heimar, find the ladder beside Lak and climb to the upper floor. From there, go left. You will find the Breathsmith's assistant, who gives you the information that actually matters: Breathsmith is being held in the Porcelain Court, on the far right side of Kankan.
That is the detail most players miss. The objective text says "find Breathsmith" and players assume that means wander until something clicks. It does not. It means follow the Heimar conversation, climb the ladder, talk to the assistant, and then head right toward the Porcelain Court.
Where Firstsmith fits in
Firstsmith is not resolved just by walking into the city. The game wants you to deal with Kankan's disorder first, which means pushing through the route that leads toward Greatblade Preacher before the Firstsmith line fully opens up. Firstsmith Malik will direct you toward Lower Kankan once the right conditions are met.
info
If your objective still reads "ask around to find the Breathsmith," you are still in the city setup phase. That is normal. It just means the NPC chain has not been followed far enough yet.
GRIME II Kankan core route overview
Here is the cleanest version of the full Kankan progression, stripped of distractions:
The shape of Kankan is: city setup, route downward, Greatblade Preacher, return to the smith thread. Every detour that does not serve that shape can wait.
Where does Tankard Warden fit into the Kankan route?
Tankard Warden is the first real pressure point in Kankan, and it has a reputation for stopping runs cold. The frustrating part is that most players are not actually losing to the boss itself. They are arriving at the fight already drained.
Why the approach matters more than the fight
The section leading into Tankard Warden will eat your health, Force, and focus if you let it. By the time the actual boss starts, you are already playing from behind. That is the real problem, not the boss's moveset.
Common mistakes that hurt you before the fight even begins:
- Burning healing resources too early in the approach
- Rushing through enemies instead of managing them cleanly
- Arriving at the arena with depleted resources and no cushion
Practical tips for the Tankard Warden section
- Keep the pre-fight section as clean as possible. Every hit you avoid before the boss is a resource you keep for the fight.
- Stay at a controlled mid-range during the boss. Drifting into panic distance and getting clipped repeatedly is how the fight snowballs against you.
- Use Tankard Warden's larger, more committed attacks as your primary learning windows for parries and punish opportunities.
- Avoid trying to out-trade it face-to-face. Patient pressure beats aggressive trading here.
warning
If Tankard Warden keeps stopping your run, check the approach first, not the boss. Arriving in poor shape is the more common problem, and fixing the route into the fight will often solve what felt like a boss difficulty issue.
How do you reach Greatblade Preacher in Lower Kankan?
Once Firstsmith Malik tells you to deal with the Greatblade Preacher in Lower Kankan, the route becomes much more linear if you know where to look. Here is the step-by-step path:
- After the Tankard Warden section, return to the Ground Floor and head right until you find the elevator leading down into Lower Kankan.
- At the bottom, go left. There are small pickups on the right worth grabbing, but the progression continues leftward through the lower route.
- Before pushing deep, go up and left to activate the Savior Shrine Surrogate. This is your reset point for everything that follows.
- From the Surrogate, head right and drop down to the lower path. Push through the enemy-heavy section until you reach the first Depth Traversal door at the far end and go through it.
- After the Depth Traversal section and the following climb, keep moving until you meet Ver. She confirms the direction: go left and up to reach Greatblade Preacher.
- Go left past Ver and enter the second Depth Traversal door. Clear the enemies on the other side, then take the route on the right to begin the upward climb.
- Climb to the top-right, then continue pushing through the route until you reach the Greatblade Preacher arena.
What is a Depth Traversal door?
A Depth Traversal door is a special progression gate that looks distinct from normal walls or side passages. If you reach one and cannot pass through it, that typically means you are missing a required progression state or traversal condition for that specific door, not that you are on the wrong route entirely.
danger
If you feel lost in Lower Kankan, simplify the question. Stop asking what you can do in the whole lower area and instead ask whether you are still following the leftward route toward the second Depth Traversal door and the climb after it.
What do you do if Kankan feels confusing or locked?
Three specific situations cause most of the confusion players report in Kankan.
The city entry interaction: If you die, leave, or return later, the route back into Kankan can feel less obvious than it should. Walk back to the major entry interaction point and re-establish the route directly rather than relying on the map alone to guide you.
Lower Kankan feeling too open: This is where players start checking every side room, lose the main thread, and convince themselves they missed a required step. The safer answer is almost always simpler: keep following the route that trends toward the boss objective.
Treating every blocked path as an immediate priority: Kankan presents many interesting-looking routes simultaneously. A blocked path or gated opening does not automatically mean you must solve it right now. Most of the time, the real route is the one that keeps the city storyline moving forward.
When Kankan starts feeling messy, reduce the question. Do not ask what you can do across the whole city. Ask what the next thing is that actually moves the main route forward.
Where do you go after Kankan in GRIME II?
After beating Greatblade Preacher, return to the smith-related progression line and follow the next story push from there. Kankan stops being a "where am I supposed to go?" area and becomes a normal route handoff.
In practical terms: return with your Kankan progress, continue the Firstsmith and Breathsmith line, and follow the next story beat instead of lingering in the city as if something is still unresolved. Greatblade Preacher is what unties the Kankan knot. Once it is done, the direction forward is clear.
For more GRIME II content and other gaming guides, browse more guides on GAMES.GG to keep your runs moving forward.