Pillars of Eternity 1 - Rath Playthrough

[Rath Darkblade]

OK ... that's confusing. Why does the game tell me about a guest, if I can't do anything about him? Seems a bit daft.

I've seen a few guests show up in my "throne room". I also had one or two announcements like this, telling me "a prestigious guest has arrived!" ... so I rush back, and he's either not there or he's already gone. *shrug* Some people have no patience. Maybe they could sit and read a magazine or something?

[Tawmis]

No problem. Rhetic? *thinks* I guess you mean the castle that eventually becomes your stronghold (and that you can buy stuff for) -- Caed Nua, I think its name is?

No, it's the quest line that takes you into Raedric's Hold. (Which ye should DEFINITELY already have - it comes before the Stronghold).

And you have to make your way to the throne room to confront Raedric.

I am guessing you may not have done it if ye didn't recognize the mispelling of the name and mentioning making my way through and slaughtering in a castle.

Also because the fight against Raedric himself can be a bit tough (I did it with 4 people).

But it's his guards - down near the entrance that swarm.

But there's an easy way through a lot of it - if you find something inside. I'd done that the first time I played.

So this time, I had made a female barbarian and was just going to slaughter my way through.

[Rath Darkblade]

*loads game again and checks* Oh, that guy! Yeah, I remember him ... vaguely. I did that quest (climbing the walls, talking to some priest guy, rescuing the priest guy's disciple from the dungeons, getting to Raedric and killing him) before I went to Caed Nua.

But I've done so many little side-quests (and other quests) in Defiance Bay since then, I just forgot about him. Here, I took screenshots of everything I've done so far:

Sheesh. The more quests I do, the more of them pop up ... so many that I often forget where some of them (e.g. a "go-there-and-kill-that-and-bring-this-back" quest) even began.

And now that I've done the Temple of Woedica quest, I have to go up to The White March and get into some guy's battery before the Woedica people do ... and all the people in the village want me to do something for them too.

Not to mention, some band of mercenaries (the Bannertorn?) are sieging some archmage's tower, and I have to rescue him too ... and these mercenaries have "exceptional" equipment, so if I fight them, my party ends up as rissoles. Good luck to the bloody archmage, then -- I'm not putting my party through this.

I thought NWN: Hordes of the Underdark was large. This ... is ... huge.

[Tawmis]

Also, I found I can't haha - sorry, Icantha. But there's no option to ask her about the Engwithan language ... not even a quest or anything. All I can do is ask her what she's doing here and what's happened to Heritage Hill. So ... is there a way to move the quest forward? I've done everything else in Heritage Hill - i.e. found (and killed) the missing recruits, rescued Saeda, investigated Valta Manor ... and found (but haven't entered) the Tower, since I can't find any way to do it.
Spoilers are welcome ...

Catching up - and I know why.

So If you talk to her after you've already talked to Aldhelm during Undying Heritage, you can convince her to teach you the Engwithan language.

[Rath Darkblade]

Aha! Yes, I got that ... and finally, finally played through that last night. (I also did some other quests for House Dominos (sp? the rich house of thieves), reported back to Lady Webb (twice - I finally found who's behind everything! ), and went back to the Endless Dungeon of Ad Avis Ad Nua ( ), where I got as far as level 12 ...

... and then I had to stop, since it was 2:45 am and I was exhausted.

I have some general impressions of this game so far. It reminds me, in a way, of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Here's why:

1. Lots of running everywhere, and tons of minor side-quests. (But on the bright side, at least no collecting of 2,583 pieces of some key to some dungeon somewhere, like DA:I) I saw Obsidian had 77,000 backers or so ... and it seems like Obsidian wrote and programmed a minor side-quest for each one of them.
2. You start in a village early on, and you win your own stronghold as a base.
3. Lots of companions, lots of banter, each one has their own quest. Some of them (like the Grieving Mother and DA:I's Sera) are annoying.
4. You can enchant armour/weapons (but at least you can do it, rather than go to Dagna in DA:I), and you can make potions/food. (You can do all that in Skyrim, too).
5. There's a huge, long dungeon -- Endless Paths of Ad Nua (sp?) here, the Deep Roads in DA:O. In both dungeons, you can find three pieces of a sword that you can reforge.
6. Some shadowy ~EVIL~ guy wants to take over the world!!!

However, there are quite a few bits that differentiate this from the Dragon Age games:

1. The whole "animancy" angle is interesting.
2. The Watcher angle (who can look at souls) was initially confusing, but now I figured it out and it's interesting. (OTOH, I've given up on "looking at the soul" of every single backer scattered around the place - the ones whose names are in gold).
3. I still don't understand this "biawac" thing. What's happened to your soul? Where did it go? *shrug*

[Tawmis]

Aha! Yes, I got that ... and finally, finally played through that last night. (I also did some other quests for House Dominos (sp? the rich house of thieves), reported back to Lady Webb (twice - I finally found who's behind everything! ), and went back to the Endless Dungeon of Ad Avis Ad Nua ( ), where I got as far as level 12 ...

Nice!

... and then I had to stop, since it was 2:45 am and I was exhausted.

Sign of a good game, I say!

I have some general impressions of this game so far. It reminds me, in a way, of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Here's why:
1. Lots of running everywhere, and tons of minor side-quests. (But on the bright side, at least no collecting of 2,583 pieces of some key to some dungeon somewhere, like DA:I) I saw Obsidian had 77,000 backers or so ... and it seems like Obsidian wrote and programmed a minor side-quest for each one of them.
2. You start in a village early on, and you win your own stronghold as a base.
3. Lots of companions, lots of banter, each one has their own quest. Some of them (like the Grieving Mother and DA:I's Sera) are annoying.
4. You can enchant armour/weapons (but at least you can do it, rather than go to Dagna in DA:I), and you can make potions/food. (You can do all that in Skyrim, too).
5. There's a huge, long dungeon -- Endless Paths of Ad Nua (sp?) here, the Deep Roads in DA:O. In both dungeons, you can find three pieces of a sword that you can reforge.
6. Some shadowy ~EVIL~ guy wants to take over the world!!!

I would say these are classic elements to most CRPGs.

However, there are quite a few bits that differentiate this from the Dragon Age games:
1. The whole "animancy" angle is interesting.

Agreed.

2. The Watcher angle (who can look at souls) was initially confusing, but now I figured it out and it's interesting. (OTOH, I've given up on "looking at the soul" of every single backer scattered around the place - the ones whose names are in gold).

If you looked at some graves or tombs that have a long list of names with messages; those are backers as well.

3. I still don't understand this "biawac" thing. What's happened to your soul? Where did it go? *shrug*

So it should be in your journal under bestiary, I believe.

Otherwise - from the googles -

Biawac, Biamhac (BEE-uh-waks, Glanfathan), or "spirit winds", they are storms that can rip the soul out of a person's body, often creating blights.

Biamhacs rise up in cursed ruins, shearing souls away from the bodies of their owners. They appear suddenly and without warning, leaving victims little hope of escape. Strong-souled people are not harmed by biamhacs, but affected individuals are instantly reduced to a catatonic state and eventually their bodies shutdown. Souls that are ripped free from their bodies and caught in the center of the storm, may become stuck together and bonded with any other elemental substances in the maelstrom, often creating blights. Survival, while rare, is possible, if a person has a soul sufficiently "strong" to hang on to its associated body despite the storm's attempts to tear it loose.

The discovery of numerous biamhacs in Eir Glanfath during its early exploration resulted in thousands of Aedyr deaths. The deadliness and unpredictability of these events make biamhacs the most feared phenomenon of Eir Glanfath.

[Rath Darkblade]

Huzzah! I have defeated the Adra Dragon at the end of all those Endless Paths! (Go team!) Does this mean that my castle won't be attacked by creatures again?

... and now I'm stuck again. I'm on the quest marked "Through Death's Gate", so I went to Dyrford Village and was told I need to go to a place called Cliaban Rilag. This is also where Eder (the fighter in Gilded Vale) wants to go.

So this place is marked on my map ... but it's grayed out. How am I supposed to go there?

[Tawmis]

Huzzah! I have defeated the Adra Dragon at the end of all those Endless Paths! (Go team!) Does this mean that my castle won't be attacked by creatures again?
... and now I'm stuck again. I'm on the quest marked "Through Death's Gate", so I went to Dyrford Village and was told I need to go to a place called Cliaban Rilag. This is also where Eder (the fighter in Gilded Vale) wants to go.
So this place is marked on my map ... but it's grayed out. How am I supposed to go there?

Congrats on the win in the Endless Paths!

As for the Dryford thing; make sure you're exiting on the right side of the map. Sort of like the bridge that was broken in half - a path wasn't made until you got your stronghold and could go around it.

Otherwise, I will need to catch up and check!

[Rath Darkblade]

Huh. I just tried, and I can't find the half-broken bridge you mean. Which map is it on - Dyrford Village? Dyrford Crossing? Stormwall Gorge? *shrug* Sorry, I can't find it.

Oh, one other thing: does beating the Endless Paths mean that monsters won't attack my stronghold any more?

[Tawmis]

Huh. I just tried, and I can't find the half-broken bridge you mean. Which map is it on - Dyrford Village? Dyrford Crossing? Stormwall Gorge? *shrug* Sorry, I can't find it.
Oh, one other thing: does beating the Endless Paths mean that monsters won't attack my stronghold any more?

Madhmr Bridge. It's one of the earliest maps ye can go to. I'd be surprised if ye didn't see it....! Because there's a quest close to there.

As for the attacks - no, I believe they keep coming. Because they don't all come from within. Other kingdoms or whatever, I think will also attack if I remember correctly.

[Rath Darkblade]

As for the Dryford thing; make sure you're exiting on the right side of the map. Sort of like the bridge that was broken in half - a path wasn't made until you got your stronghold and could go around it.

Otherwise, I will need to catch up and check!

Well. That's weird! I never saw that "Madhmr Bridge" thing - never even went there. I just went straight to Raedward's castle.

At any rate, I cleared out Madhmr Bridge, but I still can't go to Cliant Thingummy. *shrug* Here's a map:

As you can see, I've cleared out the bridge (with a yellow square around it). But I need to get to Cliant Rilag (with a red square around it). Any idea what's going on?

[Tawmis]

Do you have (you should) a quest called "Through Death's Gate" - and have you completed that? If I remember, that needs to be done first.

[Rath Darkblade]

Yes, that's the quest I'm trying to start. I was told I need to go to a place called Cliaban Rilag, but this place is grayed out.

[Tawmis]

Yes, that's the quest I'm trying to start. I was told I need to go to a place called Cliaban Rilag, but this place is grayed out.

What does your quest log say about it?

A lot of quests will say "Go to XYZ."

But when ye try to go - something's wrong (like the aforementioned broken bridge). You didn't experience it because you got the hold, which allows you to go around the bridge. But there's a quest that tells you to go to... The other town down there (broken up into several parts - has Heritage Hill and all that). And you actually can't - because ye need to get the strong hold and go AROUND the broken bridge.

So check the quest - ye may have a quest to go there - but it might say something like, "The place is hidden. I need to find someone in ABC to talk to, perhaps they know more."

I have not caught back up to where you are, to know for sure. But you're missing something.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. The quest log looks very simple and straight-forward ... here is what it says:

So ... I went to the village, went to the church, spoke to the priest. He told me how to get to the damn place ... but the place still doesn't light up on my map, consarn it!

I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall with this game, unfortunately.

*** TWO SECONDS LATER ... ***

Hold on ... I can't believe it. All I had to do was go to Dyrford Crossing (just to the south of this place) and then go north. That simple. And I missed it. @ self

Aiiiiiiiiieeeeeee ... don't mind me. I just had a massive brain fart, I guess. Oops!