Tarlonniel

Apparently it's determined by which faction you've helped the most but didn't choose to side with. I agree that it comes off as a bit silly in some cases, but, uh, gotta have end game bosses in an RPG, I guess? Besides the dragon?

I wouldn't call it a downer ending. If you decide to abandon the factions, it's probably because you don't care all that much about what happens to them, so the fact that they keep on doing what they've been doing isn't terribly heartbreaking. I found it interesting that there wasn't a Steam achievement for going it alone.

I hope they're still planning to try and set up conversationbundles so they can go in per-mod subfolders. That would make things much tidier. I like tidy things. Another concern of mine: Is the in-game mod support system going to be able to tell when two different mods are altering the same file? Pop up a little red "mods conflict" flag? I don't know how much overlap exists out there in PoEII mod land as of yet, but I've seen it become quite an issue in other games.

I liked the Gullet quests too. I've run into people who hate, with a passion, any quest which presents you with various "imperfect" outcomes and one "perfect" outcome which requires extra time/money/effort to achieve, but those are exactly the quests I find most personally satisfying. I guess that's why I generally prefer BioWare over Obsidian.

Yeah, that's what really gets me about the end game choices. They sound all grandiose, with important and far-reaching effects, but come the (theoretical) next game, it won't matter whether you gifted the Vailians with animancy heaven or crowned Aeldys as Storm Queen or just decided to let the idiots fight it out among themselves - nothing will change except a few lines of dialogue and maybe a quest or two. Such is life in RPG land. That depends on whether an action is good or bad in and of itself, or only in relation to some ultimate goal.

If you don't share the secrets of watershaping with him, his ending slide is still about getting the Huana together but without all the "emissary of the gods" stuff. In the end, there were some things I really liked about Sharkboy and some things I really didn't like, so... I dunno. I'd take him over Durance any day

The "go it alone" ending is my default, but I always take the ghost ship first, even if I don't use it. Ghost ship!!

He's super creepy and very interesting. I would've loved to play an entire game with him as the villain. As it is, I just enjoy killing him eventually

As much as I hate Benweth, apparently he really does play a mean harpsichord, so I think it only fitting that I let him go out with a bang.

I don't mind acting as group psychologist as long as my companions are engaging. But simply being unusual is not enough for me to engage with them. Durance and GM were a "nope" on that front. Durance: I'm complicated! Don't you want to understand me? Me: Well... I suppose I... Durance: Whore! Me: GTFO. Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me. Me: What was that? Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me. Me: What's going on here? Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me. Me: I give up.

It's in your final conversation with her at Ukaizo. There are many, many versions of that talk, depending on your actions throughout the game. Xoti's dialogue trees are complicated and hard for me to follow, but this is more or less the version I managed to get once, somehow: The seeds of doubt have been planted and are starting to bear fruit, but it's far too late to really do anything with that.

Xoti can have a late - very, very late - game revelation that Eothas isn't all he was cracked up to be, but, sadly, by then it's too late for Pallegina (or Eder) to have a conversation with her about it.

I've had the queen show up at Ukaizo (which I assume is what you mean), so yes.

Apparently, if you don't have a deckhand in the crow's nest slot, Rekke's flotsam doesn't show up. Don't ask me which slot that is, though. Just fill 'em all up I guess.

I've always felt that one of the basics of wizardry was seeking out and learning new spells, perhaps by sharing knowledge with other wizards, perhaps by killing them and paging greedily through their grimoires. Expanding your own grimoire into the Ultimate Epic Spellbook of Epicness. The new system is much less fun.

Oh, man. Aloth gets better every day!

Oooh, very nice. Like it was made for him.

Or the gods can just kill off the people who rebuilt the Wheel for them. It's not like there's no precedent for that.

Right, but it seems to be more of a guess on the Steward's part than anything, based on the more-or-less coincidental fact that Berath sent you back into your body at the same time the ship got (sort of) close to Eothas. Berath doesn't mention it. It never comes up again. And you already have to chase Eothas or Berath will... uh... kill you, I guess.

Would you, though? Does anyone mention this theory besides the Steward at the beginning of the game? Does it ever matter how far you are from Eothas?

And the Watcher coming along to bear witness and open Ukaizo was Berath's (and the Watcher's) doing, not Eothas's. Without it, all anyone would've known was that a big statue stomped across the Deadfire, killing people and making the Readcerans a little more crazy than usual, then vanished into Ondra's Mortar and was never seen again. Any more information than that would have to come from the other gods - and who knows what they would say.

Yeah? Good to know. Maybe my game was bugged and it's supposed to be the same way with the Vailians.

Sorry, but creating a morally gray world means you get rid of pure white and pure black. But it's so much more fun. Apparently.

Modding forum is here. The post will probably be moved there eventually.

Yeah, if you turn down the VTC before talking to the RDC, you can't go back and say "Hey, those guys tried to kill me so I changed my mind." You can resolve the trial in Castol's favor but don't talk to him about things afterwards - not until you've visited the Brass Citadel and fought your way out again. Same thing with the Huana, I imagine.