1) Follow the coast -> kill Hillock -> loot things -> enter town
Talk to Tarkleigh -> get gem (or if you do not have what you want there, check Nessa)
Buy gem links that you want (if available) on Tarkleigh

2) Proceed through The Coast -> follow along the water until you get to the waypoint -> choose where to go (OPTIONAL Tidal Island for flask & support gem reward or MANDATORY Mud Flats for main quest objective)

2a) OPTIONAL: Tidal island -> follow along the path (edge) to get to Hailrake. Kill him, loot Medicine Chest, then go back to town either via Portal Scroll or Logout and give it to Nessa. She will reward you with a Flask (life/mana/quicksilver) and a support gem. This will also unlock more gems from her as a vendor!

3) Go to Mud Flats -> In here, loot “Rhoa Nests” for quest items (marked in green), total 3 of them (They are “!” on the map!) -> Once you have all 3, follow the wall (usually northern side) until you find a “Strange Glyph Wall”. Click it and the next zone will open (Submerged Passage). Enter it and take the waypoint close by, then, portal to town to get your reward from Tarkleigh (Skill Gem and Movement Skill). Once you get the reward, portal back to Submerged Passage and then walk back to Mud Flats for an Optional Area.

3a) OPTIONAL: Walk along the wall in Mud Flats until you find an area called “Fetid Pool”. Inside of Fetid Pool, we have to clear/kill all enemies (including Kadavrus, unique enemy). Reward is 2 passive respec points once you go back to town to talk to Tarkleigh.

4) Portal back through Waypoint system to The Submerged Passage and explore the area until you find a bridge. If you have a portal scroll, place it here.
Continue along the bridge and explore the area until you get to the next region, called “The Ledge”. Enter it.

4a) Passive Point Reward: Either explore the area before the bridge until you find a new zone called “The Flooded Depths” or do step 5, then come back via portal through town (opened via portal scroll). Explore the zone until you get to a monster that is trapped in Blue Stones (Essences), click it a few times to release it, then defeat it and loot the Essence. You can use this crafting material on a normal (white) piece of equipment to grant the stats (+more!) from the essence. Read it. Once you are done here, go back to town either via Portal scroll or Logout, then talk to Tarkleigh and get your Book of Skill which grants 1 passive skill point.

7) Once you enter The Lower Prison, this is the first area where we have to explore both ways, to find a mandatory mechanic called (The Lord’s Labyrinth) which in turn will give us “One of the keys” to enter the separate mechanic in order to get the character specialization (Ascendancy).
First, go north after the waypoint at the start of the zone. If you find the next zone, go the other way, however if you find A book icon and a door next to it, it will say “Trial of Ascendancy”. Open the door and proceed through the gauntlet until you see a “Trial of Ascendancy Plaque”. Click it, then a mini-portal will appear, click that and it will teleport you to the door of this Trial. This is a first of many trials that need to be completed in the campaign (They are all listed via image and Legend at the top of the page).
After you’re done with the trial, explore the area further until you get to the zone called “The Upper Prison”.

8) In The Upper Prison, your goal is to get to the end of it and defeat first “Big Boss” of the campaign. Explore the area and get to “The Warden’s Quarters”. Follow the path until you get to the boss: “Brutus”. Defeat him and proceed through the door to “The Prisoner’s Gate”.

9) First thing to do in Prisoner’s Gate is to use the Waypoint to get to town to pick up the rewards from quests. Nessa gives support gems for reward and Tarkleigh gives skill gems as a reward. Once you pick up your rewards, go back to Prisoner’s gate.
Follow the road until the end where you’ll see Piety that has closed the road off. Then, hug any wall side (left/right/up/down) and follow it until you reach the next area “The Ship Graveyard”.

10) In The Ship Graveyard, we have a few things to do. Hug one side of the area until you get to either the ocean, waypoint, new area or Fairgraves. If you follow the water, you should be getting to a waypoint, which is close to an NPC Fairgraves. Continue by following the water first until you reach the new zone: “The Cavern of Wrath. Enter it and take the waypoint at the start of the zone, then come back to the Ship Graveyard. Follow along the wall and you will reach “The Ship Graveyard Cave”. Enter it.

11) In The Ship Graveyard Cave, we want to get to the end, defeat (or skip) the unique monster “Stranglecharm” and then click on “Slave Girl” to loot the quest item “Allflame”. Once you do that, click the area that opened behind (The Ship Graveyard) which will teleport you directly to Fairgraves. Talk to him, kill him, then either use Portal Scroll or logout to get to town for the rewards.
Nessa rewards a skill gem, Bestel gives a book of skill (+1 passive point) and Tarkleigh should be checked for new inventory at this point in time. Once you’re done, use the waypoint to teleport yourself to “The Cavern of Wrath” (Merveil’s Caverns).

13) In The Cavern of Anger, do the same thing as in Cavern of Wrath until you reach “Merveil’s Lair”. She is the final boss of Act 1, defeating her we open a way to Act 2 “The Southern Forest”.