How to Make Money Fast Early
TL;DR: In Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the cleanest early Groschen route is usually alchemy. Groschen is the game's coin. Gather herbs, brew simple potions, sell the extras, and treat good loot as your second income stream. Blacksmithing still matters early, but it works better as steady support than a magic faucet.
You feel the early money squeeze almost at once. Henry lurches into town loaded with cracked helmets, stale food, and one sword that looks like it lost an argument with a rock, and after all that menu wrangling you are somehow still poor. That is a very normal Kingdom Come: Deliverance II problem. The fix is simple: stop thinking like a scavenger and start thinking like a tradesman. Sell light, valuable goods. Keep your best loot. Leave junk on the ground if it only turns your inventory into a traveling scrap pile.
That fits the game, too. Early Henry is not a miracle hero. He is a capable man trying to make his way in medieval Bohemia. Herbs, steel, and careful selling will carry you farther than trying to turn every roadside brawl into a full business empire. If you have read Reddit threads or Steam guides on the early economy, that is the pattern players keep circling back to for good reason.
Best early route: alchemy first
- Use an alchemy bench in or around Troskowitz as soon as you can. An alchemy bench is the potion-making station.
- Start with brews you will actually use, especially Marigold Decoction. It heals over time, and its recipe uses water, 1 nettle, and 2 marigold.
- Sell the extra potions, but keep a few for yourself. That way your money route also covers healing.
- As your alchemy skill rises, perks such as Secret of Matter and Potion Seller make each batch more profitable by increasing output or improving sale value.
This loop works because it solves two problems at once. You keep Henry supplied with healing, and spare herbs turn into something worth selling. Once those perks unlock, each clean batch pays a little better, so the same routine starts to feel less like scraping by and more like a proper trade.
Second route: loot smarter, not heavier
- After a fight, take the best value-to-weight items first. Good weapons, helmets, gauntlets, and other compact gear are usually a better haul than every battered scrap on the ground.
- Repair high-value gear before you sell it when the cost makes sense. Better condition raises resale value, so repair kits are best saved for the pieces worth real money.
- Sell to merchants you plan to use often. Good reputation helps prices, and a blown haggle can chip away at that goodwill.
This is also the best recovery plan if you are nearly broke. Stop buying gear for a day. Run one herb-and-loot session. Repair only the best pieces, then sell those. It is not glamorous, but it usually gives you enough cash to cover food, fix your core equipment, and get a real money loop running again.
Where blacksmithing fits
Blacksmithing is still worth your time early, especially because the story introduces it through Radovan in Tachov. It is great for building Craftsmanship, but it is less plug-and-play as a cash route than alchemy. The quality of what you forge depends on how well you work the metal, and better results sell for more. Think of smithing as reliable support income, not the one trick that fixes everything.
High-risk options
Stealing, poaching, and other dirty work can pay, but new players usually do better by keeping crime opportunistic instead of building their whole economy around it. Early money is less about one miracle trick and more about discipline: brew first, sell the good loot, and smith when the materials make sense.