I saw it came out and was really interested. Heard good things. Im definitely going to pick this up. Does it require any back knowledge?
A little pro tip is that escort quests can be missed, they disappear after a set time or when you progress the main story. IE: I missed one that was on the notice board, I rested at an inn to progress to day before taking the quest, and it disappeared. So pick the quest then rest. You can only have one escort quest at a time, so picking one out of three, then resting, will not impact the time limit on the two that remain. Escort quests can directly impact where NPCs are and what they give you, so actually worth doing. Some of them are hard early on though, so you might need to try to run through some of them and reload if the NPC dies.
Most quests are given through notice boards (and some by just listening to dialog from NPCs, but they are really apparent when NPCs start having an actual conversation), but the notice boards are located at different spots. I usually travel between them after completing a main story quest to check if new escort quests have popped up. You do get an eternal ferrystone when you reach the main city (manage inventory at an inn with the "withdraw option"), so travelling to check is fairly quick.
You can hire pawns (two other than your own), and select higher level but they cost "rift" currency. Pawns belonging to people on your friends list are free no matter how much higher level they are. My level 36 warrior would be free, at level 2 or 3 when you get to that point, but a level 10 would be more rift points than you could afford.
In regards to pawns, you can "train" them through inclinations. This is done fairly easily as not long after you get to the main city, you can go back to the encampment where you get your pawn and an old man will be there by the rift stone. He sells inclination potions for 250 rift points each. IE: If you want your main skill to be "scather" (go after strongest enemy + climb on them) and "utalitarian" (aid people/use a lot of skills) as the second skill. You could by 10 potions of utalitarian and 15 of scather. The use the 10 utalitarian first, then use 15 scather. First 10 would overwrite any other inclination you have putting utalitarian first, then the 15 scather would push utalitarian down to number two.
EDIT: Should note that pawn inclinations change with time, so you might need to retrain them occationally. They learn from you and from being used in other parties. I heavily push mine towards "Aquisitor" (they run to loot even in fights) because I am a loot whore. The only inclination you NEVER want for your pawn or rented ones is "Pioneer". With that they run ahead of you which is something you rarely ever want no matter what class you are. You want them to react to fights, not instigate them.
EDIT2: Worth noting that if you feel your pawn talks too much, you can use the chair at the basement of the pawn guild, and the first question "I try to speak as the situation demands", pick no, and they will talk less. Can repeat that process a few times and it will talk less. Only works for your pawn though.
And as two final tips
1) One of the earliest escort quests from the main city is to "healing springs". Be sure to buy some empty bottles before going there. If you stand in those springs you can "take" and it will create a really good healing potion that affects the entire party. 1 bottle = 1 potion. Carry the bottles yourself, or the pawns might end up filling them up if they encounter water or oil pots.
2) Later you can find port crystals. First one can be found when you get the quest to go below the pawn guild. It is the only one which is missable as that location locks. It is right where you investigate to trigger the last part (you will know it, things happen). Just run up to it and take it. There are 4 I think in total, and can be placed anywhere in the open world you want for instant travel to that location. One can be nice to put next to a healing spring for easy refills.
