Yria

Did you pass the Insight check to express romantic interest in him in his first conversation? I know I did, but the result was basically the same: "Errr I thought you were joking, but apparently you aren't, and it's now really awkward, it's been 5 bloody years ok?".

To people who say that Pallegina's personality has changed a lot, what was she like to you in the first game? I'm genuinely curious because to me her personality there was almost non-existent. She was the only character I never really figured out. And yes, she was sort of bitchy, at least in companion banter. A lot of her conversations with others opened with "Companion_name! Why do you do this or that?! How is it that you something something?!" in a very demanding tone of voice. I winced every time I heard it.

Hmm. Then why does saying that you wouldn't stop the execution stop them from killing him? You are basically telling them "Unfair executions are ok if it's your enemy, proceed as planned", but instead they let him go.

What I didn't quite understand in the Giacolo quiz, what did the question about interfering/not interfering with an unfair execution of your enemy have to do with the godlike research? Three other questions all make sense, but this one left me a bit puzzled. That's the whole point of the situation. The godlike wanted your unbiased opinion.

At least to make Xoti end up a serial killer you need to push her in some grim direction first. Durance was a fanatical murderer long before you even met him. Nobody's forcing you to say that. Yes, Giacolo might not survive the quest (you can still save him during the fight btw, it's not easy, but it's manageable), but that's consequences for you.

There is no order to dismantling the machines. You just break them and flood the place (if that is what you want to do). There is certain order to solving the puzzle to the secret door in that dungeon though, but it's entirely optional iirc.

He openly brags about killing his share of innocent people during the Purges (well, they weren't innocent in his eyes, obviously, but objectively their only fault was following a wrong god). It's bad from any perspective, not just pro-Eothas. And unlike Devil, he didn't really have a somewhat justified reason to do all that killing.

I voted Konstanten for least favorite (dwarf companion recovery front, please don't shoot me, Sagani was one of my absolute favorites!) because of all the sidekicks he seemed to have the fewest reasons to come along with us, and we didn't even have any interactions with him prior to his recruitment to let us get to know him better, unlike, say, Fassina. With that out of the way, I didn't really dislike any of the companions this time around. At worst I was just meh about them. And it's the three returning companions I'm not excited about. Eder appears to be his same old self on the surface, but while I never dropped him from my party in the first game, here I found no problem with leaving him on the ship for most of the time. Maybe I missed some interesting interactions because of that, but his remarks felt deeper and more meaningful to me in PoE 1. Everything seems to be there, but I can't help feeling that something is missing. So I find him okay, but I honestly wouldn't notice if he was missing. Pallegina I liked better this time, though that wasn't really hard because I didn't like her at all in the first game. She felt so disjointed there, I couldn't even grasp what her character was about. Now, at least, I feel like I somewhat know her as a person. My scientist Watcher who supported the VTC the whole way went along great with her, but her agressive anti-religious attitude was almost a bit too much for me at times. I don't like the gods too, but come on. Aloth... I find it very difficult to judge Aloth right now because he was the Mister Bug-A-Lot of my first playthrough and gave a lot of bizarre reactions that I know for a fact were not supposed to be there. Overall he seemed like himself from PoE 1, only more uptight and judgemental. If not for the bugs, I would have probably liked him more. His quest was nice though, if a bit short. I didn't realise how much I missed that one guy from the first game, you know who I'm talking about, until I saw him. Overall, those three felt like they were kinda shoehorned for the old times sake, with only Pallegina having more or less solid reason to be here. The remaining four I all liked to some extent. Maia was probably the most interesting to me. I wanted to punch her in the face more than once, but I like characters who give me controversial feelings. I felt her disdain for the huana was psychologically believable due to the circumstances in which she grew up and, for this reason, interesting to deal with. And surprisingly we managed to part ways in a very polite, almost warm manner when I sided with VTC. Also, she sort of saved me from Xoti's hungry advances when they ended up together, which was an act of true heroism in my eyes. Tekehu takes the cake for giving the worst first impression possible lol. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the people who considered him their least favorite just benched him right after his recruitment and never actually saw his development. He turns out to be not even nearly as self-centered and shallow as he might appear at first. He also gets lots and lots of reactions from various npc all over the game which were fun to observe. I liked Tekehu and Maia equally but voted Tekehu because his voice was a love at first sound for me. Xoti I had every reason to hate - her over zealous nature, her thick accent, her constant attempts to hit on me that wouldn't stop till the very end of the game - but somehow ended up liking anyway. I'm still trying to figure out why. Her combat barks are quite funny, and I love her idle lantern animation, but I doubt those are the reasons. Serafen was likeable overall, and I had him in my party for most of the game since he was our chief lockpicker, but I kept hoping there would be more to him than just a pirate who used to be a slave and has warm memories of his adopted father (which was cute, but not terribly deep). Still, the crazy pirate uncle was fun to have around.

It was also bugged to oblivion, I remember using cheat console a lot. When it didn't help, and the romance got borked anyway, somebody on a BioWare board told me "Well, what did you expect, it was your first try with Jaheira! Perhaps you will have better luck next time". It was hilarious and frustrating at the same time, but all the more rewarding when I finally managed to make her questline work as intended. Though I always had a minor gripe with all BG romances being very linear. In most conversations you had like three options that could be roughly summed up as 1. I'm listening and being all supportive, please continue. 2. *something mean that breaks the romance* 3. Can it wait? Let's talk later (which, in Jaheira's case, also breaks the romance lol. Nobody tells Jaheira to wait till next time, she wants your ear now!). Not much room for rp, but the romance arcs themselves were good enough to compensate for that.

It might get a bit better if they fix the rate at which the player gains reputation with him (as well as other companions). So that the whole romance arc doesn't look like "Proposes to date right after saying hi, tells all the three stories in rapid succession, shuts up for a year, than suddenly asks you out". Aloth, on the other hand... I'm not sure if having only two conversations and leaving the rest to the player's imagination can be easily fixed.

Yeah, it did feel strange that for a very long time we had, like, three romance-related conversations where he spinned stories about his previous mates, and nothing beyond that, yet the game somehow implied that we were a couple. But I think it has more to do with how unbalanced the timeline of the game is in general than with Tekehu's arc specifically. It looks even more ridiculous in relation to the main quest where Eothas tells you he'd be heading to Ashen Maw and you should follow if you want to talk, and yet you can ignore him for over a year merrily sailing across the Deadfire while he is... doing... something I guess? I feel bad for the fire giants who had to accommodate him for all that time I spent exploring the islands and completing side quests.

He isn't, there is another one described in the guidebook (a girl who looked way more fish-like than Tekehu, with a large fin and round eyes on the sides of her head). It's also mentioned that there multiple Ngati's chosen in the Deadfire, but since both moon and marine godlike get this label, it's hard to tell how many of them are marine. Tekehu can tell you a story of his, ahem, haphazardous coupling with an avian godlike from Neketaka (not Pallegina, no), and he calls her exactly that: an avian godlike. The Watcher can also refer to Tekehu himself as "marine godlike" in some dialogue. So yeah, there are "types" of godlike in lore, strange is it might be, and they do have names. But I think it was also stated in the guidebook vol. 1 that each godlike is unique in how their god's nature manifests in their appearance. Ondra is a goddess of moon and sea both, so it's not a surprise that her godlike can represent different aspects of her divine portfolio.

Woedica didn't have burned skin until she had some conflict with other gods, and Magran gave her a facial. So I don't think her godlike should have any burns, that would be like assuming that a mouse with a severed tail should give birth to tailless mice, no? I do like the idea about crown-like growths though. That sounds like a very waelit thing to do

I think the changes she was referring to when talking about her teen years were the usual puberty ones. She was born looking like an avian godlike, and then she got the standard girl stuff on top of that while surrounded exclusively by men, and that was too much for her to handle. There aren't if guidebook vol. 1 is to be believed. They always have obviously deformed heads and hands at the very least. The weirdest part of the whole chimes business to me was that if the Watcher is a Death godlike they already have Berath's chime in them. Why would she need to put an additional one in? I realise that gameplay-wise we don't choose our race until that scene is finished, but story-wise it felt off. And then Eothas goes all generous on you and says "Hey I've just removed your chime, you are no longer tied to Berath! Rejoice!". Right, yaaay. How about that one chime that I had in me since birth though?

Moon godlike are Ondra's. NPC react to you both in White March and in Deadfire saying that you are lucky to have been touched by the Lady of Lament/Ngati. Death godlike are also definetely Berath's, it's openly stated in both games on multiple occasions. For example, fampyrs in Russetwood fall on their knees and ask a permission to worship "the Berath's chosen", Berathian priest in the Sacred Stair makes a huge fuss about you, you can convince Yseir to give you his sword by saying that you are Berath's blessed child, etc. I think even Raedric went full "My prayers have been answered, a Berath's chosen has blessed me with her presence, I must be doing everything right then!" on my poor Death godlike when she came to kill him on Kolsc's request.

Tekehu hated Maia (well, perhaps not hated... -2) for a very long time on my playtrough, from us finishing her quest with him in the group and right till the end. But no arguments triggered. The only ones who did fight were Pallegina and Xoti, and that was due to a bug. Why is my game so broken Although it would have been rather weird if Tekehu suddenly decided to forgive Maia for killing that one person in her quest. He was very, very mad at her after that.

Thank you, thought I was going nuts and imagining things that are not actually in the game. It was my impression, too, that Tebe is just a local greeter unaffiliated with RDC. Problem is, she clearly states that she is not their officer. Which makes me wonder why the guy is pesturing her at all.

I've checked her dialogue and she's working for the RDC Do you have a screenshot? Because the way I remember it when the undersecretary says that is no way for their employee to act she rebukes it with something like "Good thing I'm not one then", which made me think "Wait what? What's going on here then?". Or is she referring to the fact that she is just a trainee and not a real employee?

The problem with RDC is that they seek to destroy not only the bad sides of the Huana society (cast system), but also perfectly normal parts that actually make them Huana. Sayuka is actually a good example: nothing Tebe (I think that was the girl's name?) does endangers their research or the outpost's security, she just greets all the new arrivals in a traditional Huana way. The under-secretary is trying to teach her to behave differently because "an RDC employee sholdn't talk like this" or some other reason like that, to which she replies that she isn't even their employee to begin with. So.. what the hell is going on there and on what basis is he bothering her? Then there is Maia and her constant "booo, you stupid lowly locals, we will teach you the proper culture!" remarks. Now, I realise that one person doesn't normally represent the entire faction's mindset, but considering other instances of RDC-Huana interactions we see in game, Maia's behaviour seems perfectly in line with what other rauataians are doing.

How about the new companions hearing from Eothas that the gods were created by the Engwithans (he says so in Ashen Maw) and having absolutely nothing to say about it. It's especially awkward if you bring along Xoti and Tekehu who are both very religious. There was also one instanse of Aloth mentioning the same thing and nobody reacting even though they participated in the conversation just two seconds ago (so I couldn't assume that Aloth and I were discussing it privately). I'm not even sure what to make of it. Did we at some point tell them so they are not surprised when they hear it again from Eothas and/or Aloth? Do their brains just block it out because the truth is too much for them to handle? Feels like sloppy writing.

It is stated early in the game that as long as Eothas has your soul you can't stray to far from him as it would kill you.

Completely agree with OP's points 2 and 3. I liked the story a bit more than I expected from the spoilers, but it just felt too grand and not personal enough. Sure, Eothas destroyed Caed Nua, killed our entire household (still waiting for the answer how Vela survived it though) and stole a piece of our soul, but we don't even get to talk about it or about how it makes us feel for most of the time, so at times I had to remind myself that I'm chasing the statue not only because Berath told me to, but also because I need my soul back. I think I only had Adaryc and some VTC representative of all people express their sympathies regarding Caed Nua, which allowed me to say something in response, and that was it.

She keeps rambling about how the Beyond will go empty, and we will all die out after one of her nightmares. Though it might be difficult to connect those words to the Wheel being broken unless you know in advance.

Just dropping by to say that I love how Tekehu has the healthiest, most believable reaction to all the scary **** we encounter in our travels, be it ax-crazy pirates, bloodthirsty Nemnok cultists or a tavern full of undead patrons. He just tugs at your sleeve and asks "Captain, I'm scared, can we please go home now" every time. I can totally relate

I can trust what he says about his heart, but his other parts... not so much.