Daggerknight

Thanks for the replies folks! Well I'm not gearing this guy up to dual wield, and would rather just focus on one blade. The coolness factor of the Watchers blade is nearly winning out though.... hm... Huh, I forgot about that one entirely... thanks for the reminder!

So, like many before me, I find myself struggling with the choice of what to do with Modwyr, both from a plot and mechanical perspective. I'll save story musings for the story thread though, and just focus on the mechanical issue; stick with a fully upgraded Modwyr, or a fully upgraded Watchers Blade? My character is a Psyblade (Soulblade/ standard fighter) wielding one sword (but capable of going great sword or war bow). The advantages/ disadvantages for me between the blades are: Watchers Blade Pros: Raw damage will be difficult for anything to withstand. Solid damage output overall. Looks epic as heck. Cons: Possibly slower recovery? Modwyr Pros: Attack speed buff, does the same amount of bonus damage as Watchers Blade, except it's an energy type depending on your health at the time. Cons: Bonus energy damage might not be as universally applicable as raw damage? Any suggestion for which one to go with?

On my first run, I went with the VTC. Royal Deadfire Co. came across as exceptionally arrogant and far more imperialistic than the Valians. In fact, I almost felt like they were -more- hostile to the native culture than the VTC, which is made worse by the fact that between the two, the RDC SHOULD find some common ground with the Huana. Instead, they almost seem to be doing everything in their power to prove themselves better. VTC on the other hand vary in their response to the locals between either tolerating them, or just being indifferent either way. Not that the VTC are angels, they just seem less cruel between the two. Also, I wanted to punch Atsura the second I met him... god that guy is a slime ball if there ever was one in all of Eora. And another thing; RDC is way quicker to resort to sabotage and assassination against outside forces than the VTC were. VTC only ended up directly launching an outright black ops by the end AFTER being very directly provoked. Before that, they were just fine negotiating and making (admittedly skeevy) deals. Final note....and for anyone who has not finished the game but is still reading this forum..... ---!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!!!SPOILER!!!------!! This is perhaps a little meta, but ultimately, VTC is also the "in the right". Eothas breaks the Wheel, with the intent that Kith will study Animancy some more and figure out a way to remake it themselves. Well, RDC plainly states that they are not really concerned with researching Animancy, and the Huana don't even possess the means to do so at this point. VTC is the one that might actually make progress on that front out of literally every faction in the world we know of (including everyone inthe Dyrwood).

Galawain and Bereth, because the both directly help you. Galawain gives you an edge in the fire dragon fight, largely in thanks to you actually doing as he asked in the first game. I don't know if this has any real stats behind it, but just the fact that he marks the prey at all and in an almost friendly way tells you not to become complacent won me over. Also; even back in Pillars 1, he seemed to be one of the few gods who really gave a crap about the world, not his personal power. In fact, he seems to be one of the only ones to really remember your loyalty in POE 1. I was left wondering why Abydon never so much as said thanks for that whole White March thing.... Bereth too directly helps by giving you super powers. I had a big grin when I reached the Nekitaka docks. She sees some random jerks harassing my party, and so gives us the power to spook the living crap out of them. Not a power I -needed- by a long shot, but it was a sign that she was watching over, and actually interested in our well being to an extent.

Yeah, I was a bit surprised at how utterly inconsequential the main plot felt. I kept having flashbacks of Elder scrolls 4: Oblivion. Heck, Pillars 1 sometimes fell into this, but the nature of its plot was such that it could afford to be a little in the background till things got serious (council hearing). Here, I honestly did just stop caring about Eothas or any of it because I was so busy chasing bounties and running other quests. Mind, I ENJOYED IT ALL. The story was also interesting (by the mid and late point, not the first half), but it's interesting more for its implications than the actual going-ons of the moment. Personally, I think the bigger problem is that the critical path doesn't end with you doing or finding as much as the side quests. I keep thinking back to Icewind Dale 1 and 2 when this comes up. While those games didn't exactly have much in the way of side quests, they never felt lacking, because the main quest had enough points of interest in them. Here, the main quest feels like the side show.

Just finished the game. I'm not a huge fan of the ending forcing you to either way allow the wheel to be broken, given that that was the impetus for the whole campaign. What I do like, however, is the clearly cyclical state of the world the plot implies. Back in Pillars 1, we learn that the Engwithans, at the height of their power, were master animancers, among other things. They got so powerful in just about every imaginable walk of life that one day, when they said "Hey, lets look for god!", it was a perfectly viable thing to do. Only, they didn't find god. We're told that they found either god(s) was dead, or left a long while ago, which drew their attention to the need to "fix" the cycle of life. Interestingly, fast forward several millennium later, we are in a world where animancy is on the rise. Perhaps not super advanced, but definitely catching up. The gods notice this. Somme are afraid of where it might go, some shrug indifferently, and some want to encourage it. Eothas in particularly wants to see it thrive and see Kith arise to the responsability of running their own world without the current cast of gods, up to and including destroying the current machines of soul control. Which is going to lead to a dark age in which the gods weaken, possibly die or simply go away, not being needed any longer. Which might lead to a time when Animancy is at its zenith, but so far removed from these events that the mere memory of the gods or what transpired in Deadfire is long forgotten. In turn, Kith ask the same question the Engwithins did, and learn that the gods are gone. And so the cycle repeats itself.