What should you do first in the Old Camp in Gothic 1 Remake?

Find Diego near the North Gate district, then make a loop of the outer ring meeting the merchants and trainers. Diego handles early Strength and Dexterity training and is your main contact for joining. Spend your first ore on stats and a weapon mastery, not loot.

Who runs the Old Camp in Gothic 1 Remake?

Gomez, the ore baron, rules from the castle. Thorus commands the guards and gates the castle entrance. Diego leads the Shadows, the spies and traders, and is the friendly face who recruits you. Corristo leads the Fire Mages, who sit outside the normal hierarchy.

How does ore work in the Old Camp?

Magic ore is the Colony's currency. The Old Camp controls the Old Mine output and trades it to the king for supplies. You pay trainers, merchants, and map sellers in ore, so even as an Old Camp member you spend nuggets constantly.

Gothic 1 Remake Old Camp Guide: Layout, Key NPCs, and What to Do First

The Old Camp is the easiest place to start, and it acts like it

If this is your first time in the Colony, the Old Camp is where the game nudges you. It is the largest settlement, it has the cleanest layout, and its joining route is the most forgiving. It is also a protection racket dressed up as a kingdom, run by an ore baron who taxes everyone below him. Knowing the shape of the place and who matters saves you a lot of aimless wandering.

This is not the join walkthrough, that lives in the Old Camp admission guide. This is the orientation: where things are, who to talk to, and what to do with your first hour and your first ore.

How the camp is laid out

The Old Camp splits into two rings. The castle is the inner core, restricted to Gomez’s inner circle and guarded at the gate by Thorus. You do not just stroll in. The outer ring is where you live early, and it breaks into three districts:

North Gate district. Run by Bloodwyn, and home to Diego’s operations plus Graham’s map service. This is your landing zone.
Arena district. Overseen by Fletcher, with Scatty running the fights and Huno’s smithy nearby.
Marketplace and South Gate. Controlled by Jackal, and the merchant hub with Dexter, Fisk, and Whistler.

Think of it as a working town. Diggers and Shadows in the outer ring, guards and the ruling class behind the castle gate, and the Fire Mages off in their own tower answering to no one but themselves.

The NPCs that actually matter

You will meet dozens of named characters, but a handful drive your early game:

Diego. Your earliest real ally. He meets you near the start, points you toward the camps, and back in the Old Camp he handles early Strength and Dexterity training and your path to membership. Treat him as your home base.
Gomez. The ore baron at the top. You do not deal with him until late in the joining process, and the relationship sours later in the story no matter what you do.
Thorus. Guard commander and castle gatekeeper. Stay on his good side.
Scatty. Runs the arena and teaches one-handed mastery, which is the single best early purchase for a melee character.
Corristo. Master of the Fire Mages. If you want to walk the fire magic path, he is the name to remember, though that road opens later.
Fisk, Dexter, Whistler, Huno. Your merchants and smith. Fisk in particular is the one most players sell to and buy gear from.

The ore economy, and why you are always broke

Magic ore is the Colony’s currency, full stop. The Old Camp controls the Old Mine and trades that ore to the king’s guard for food and supplies, which is the whole basis of its power. The social order follows the ore: barons at the top, guards under Thorus, Shadows under Diego doing the spying and trading and hunting, and diggers at the bottom doing the mining.

For you, the practical fact is that ore is money. You pay it to trainers on top of Learning Points, you pay it to merchants, you pay it for maps. Even after you join, you spend nuggets constantly. So an income skill matters from the start, and the ore farming guide shows how to bank a real stack early.

What to do first

Here is the order that works:

Find Diego in the North Gate district and talk to him. He sets your direction and is your training contact.
Loop the outer ring once. Meet the merchants, find Scatty at the arena, locate Graham for maps. You are building a mental map and a list of who teaches what. The full list is in the skill trainers guide.
Spend your first ore on a stat and a weapon mastery, not on loot. One-handed mastery from Scatty changes how every hit lands. Diego’s early Strength points keep the better swords in reach. Read the best builds guide before you spend, because there is no respec.
Start an ore income before training drains you dry. Training is the big money sink, so get the nuggets flowing.

A heads-up before you get comfortable

The Old Camp is the comfortable choice and there is nothing wrong with that for a first run. Just know the comfort is temporary. The story turns on the Old Camp later, and your cozy arrangement with Gomez does not last. That is scripted, not a mistake you made. So enjoy the easy start, but do not over-invest your identity in being a loyal Old Camp soldier, because the game has other plans. If you want to compare that fate against the New Camp or the Swamp before you settle in, do it now while you are still neutral.

Districts, NPC roles, and the ore hierarchy here are drawn from post-launch coverage of the 2026 remake. Some NPCs move or open up only after story milestones, so if a trainer or merchant is missing, check whether you have hit the chapter gate that brings them in.