Walkthrough

The walkthrough text refers to the normal difficulty setting. For other settings, you'll simply encounter fewer or more enemies.

The amount of xp you earn during quests will change with the number of characters you have in your party (with the per-character amount decreasing slightly with the more characters you have). As a result, we're not listing the xp gains in quest walkthroughs.

Quest walkthroughs only contain information relevant to the quests. For more information about the locations where they take place, please refer to the Locations section.

We wrote this walkthrough using a variety of versions, culminating with version 2.01.


Characters

Characters detect hidden items with the Mechanics skill, not Perception.

Unarmed classes (monks and spiritshifted druids) get bonuses from the Weapon Focus: Peasant and Two Weapon Style talents.

Only the main character is affected by the reputations of your party.

Only the skills and attributes of the main character are checked during conversations, but during environmental interactions you can use the most appropriate member of your party. So if you want as many dialogue options as possible to be available, then you should shouldn't dump any attribute scores -- except maybe Constitution, which isn't used in any dialogue checks.

It's a good idea to give all of the characters in your party at least Athletics 5. This will prevent them from getting tired all the time, and it will cut down on the number of injuries you receive during environmental interactions.

If you decide to carry three melee fighters in your party, then you should make sure that at least one of them has a reach weapon (like a pike or a staff) or a ranged weapon. You'll fight lots of battles in cramped quarters where you'll have trouble getting characters into melee range.

There are eight possible companions in the game, so you should be able to form a powerful party regardless of the class you pick for your main character. That being said, we had the most fun playing a pike rogue wielding Tall Grass.


Miscellaneous

You can only find a handful of firearms in Act I: two Pistols (one in the Main Hall of Raedric's Hold, another carried by Raolf at Dyrford Crossing), two Arquebuses (one carried by Kana at Caed Nua, another carried by one of Nyfre's companions in Dyrford Village), the unique pistol The Disappointer (hidden in the starting Encampment), and the unique blunderbuss Lead Spitter (for completing the quest A Farmer's Plight).

You'll find a variety of different kinds of coins in the game. When you pick them up, they'll simply convert to copper pieces.

The Two-Handed Style only applies to melee weapons. The One-Handed Style only applies to a single weapon without a shield.

Most maps contain hidden objects, so it's a good idea to explore in scouting mode (with the speed turned up).

The toughest traps in the game require a Mechanics skill of 12.

A "turn" at your stronghold ends when you complete a quest or a major objective in a quest.

As you play the game, you'll meet a lot of characters who have golden nameplates. These are backer-inspired characters who don't have anything to do with the plot. So you can read their stories or not as you wish.

The game includes fixed loot rewards and random loot rewards. Named weapons and armor tend to be fixed, while accessories like boots, rings, and gloves tend to be random. Random items in a map are decided when you first enter the map, but you can change what appears by leaving the map for 24 hours and then returning to it. So if you save before opening a container, and if you don't like what you find inside, then you can load your game, leave the map, and then come back later to maybe find something better.

Weapons that cause CC benefits are great to have. Examples of these include Borresaine (stuns), Godansthunyr (stuns), Rod of Pale Shades (stuns), and Tall Grass (knocks enemies prone).