Aridea

The heart and soul of Pillars are what the writers make them out to be, hence the second game does not necessarily have to exactly mirror the first one. Dyrwood was dark medieval fantasy, very Welsh/Celtic inspired, Deadfire is more Pirates of the Caribbean in addition to British/Spanish colonization. Doesn't mean it lacks its own dark themes, difficult choices and controversial topics. It's just different environment, arguably slightly more lighthearted and pretty, but it has its own lion's share of darkness. For example, there is a temple on a remote island full of cannibals with sufficient gore, blood, and relative content galore. There is slavery which you can partake in if you so desire, even occasional torture. There is full-scale nudity and sexual references and innuendos everywhere. The quests and quest givers are usually very grey in terms of morals. None of the factions are good, everyone is working towards their own personal goals with the innocents below having to deal with poverty and starvation while their leaders perform power plays and squabble between each other. There is a lot of dirt behind the glimmer of the islands. I don't really know what you are worried about. This is Obsidian, even their most light-hearted stories have enough tragedy to keep you depressed for days, and enough visuals to support it.

Yeah one unapologetic Pale elf fan here Speaking of, that short glimpse into Rymrgand's realm was amazing, I am really looking forward to the DLC. Different strokes for different folks I don't find ice/snow covered lands boring. I think they are magical. Besides, It all depends on how good are the writers at their jobs, which I don't think we have to worry about here.

Haha yeah its White that Wends. I have a thing for arctic regions too. A lot of people hate Hoth in SWTOR but its one of my favorite planets I'd love it if the next game was set there, but not holding my breath. I think it will probably be Ixamitl planes or Old Vailia. I think Living Lands are a bit too similar to Dyrwood in terms of foresty areas? From what we saw in POE1 pale elves and their culture just feel so... surreal. Naasitaq is based on Inuit tribes so its kind of easy to imagine. Pale elves are completely unknown. I wish their reactivity in Deadfire was a bit more interesting though, other than "hardy place hardy people" thing.

Pretty sure none of the romances are long-lasting. I'd expect Aloth to stick with the PC actually. But only him. Yeah Aloth is the only one that makes sense to stick around. Others are more temporary. I guess it opens room for new stuff if the devs wanted implement it in the future. But to be honest I would not put too much stock into companion end-game slides. They look more like placeholders to me, just to see which way companions' personalities swung after traveling with the watcher. I mean everyone goes their separate ways after POE1 but then Eder is there sitting by your corpse from the beginning of the game, and it is not really explained how he got there. Pallegina and Aloth are also in Deadfire among all other places in Eora. End-game slides are fairly open so any one can be later used for expansion/next game or whatever to justify companions returning or leaving for good.

Yeah, to be honest by Kana's stories I imagined Rauatai similar to Huana islands but with more ships and lots of canons. It was a cool move to give us an idealistic companion with a skewed view and then to present a harsh reality. (now i only wish someone told me how the homes of Pale Elves looked)

Eh I adore Tekehu to bits so I agree with you OP, he is a perma companion in my party. But I thought his ending kinda fit his character. He is young, but he is also very fleeting. I didn't think those proclamations of happily-ever-after with the watcher meant anything long term. But maybe thats just my cynical heart talking

Heh, i think its more because Kana is very idealistic and very impressionable in POE1, so he saw everything is rose-tinted glasses, until a certain point in any case. Rauatai has indentured service, which is pretty much slavery no matter how you call it. And there is this little conversation with Orlan peddler mentioning that it had always been a conqueror. So you know, any nation which has that much firepower and that long history of subjucating others probably doesn't have a very noble leadership, no matter how many good people may be underneath it. I am sure not all of them are bad, but most probably are. I think what I am getting at here is the more you brainwash people into unwavering loyalty the more unethical practices you can afford because there will be no-one to keep you in check from below. PS: I still love Maia though :D

Well her good ending seems to be her complaining about Rauatai's unethical methods used in Deadfire and leader of Rauatai listening to those complaints. She is kinda weird in that she is willing to do horrible things for her country even if she doesn't like it She is a soldier loyal to her nation to a fault, so I suppose that attitude comes with the job, can't really fault her for that. Come to think of it, funny how Kana presented Rautai in the first POE, it felt almost magical, and when you get to Deadfire all you see is overbearing conqueror with heavy guns and national anthems destroying the natural beauty of Huana islands. Huana caste system is terrible and doesn't work well on a large scale, but I kinda like how the islands live in harmony with nature.

Maia is really cool actually. She is super level-headed as long as you steer away from anti-Rautai responses. Thankfully, the game gives you neutral options. The only problem I see is that Rautai is preparing an invasion and Maia is part of it. So as great as her character is you can't really shake that feeling off. I think its possible to keep Maia without siding with Rautai in some endings?

Hmm. Okay, yeah I don't get the impact one until he is at 2. Do you know the condition that triggers the secret conversation? I've already restarted the game once thinking I messed up. I don't want to restart again for this. Thank you for your help. Np I wish I knew... It triggers immediately after you reach disposition 1, but I had previous conversation with him after you get out of Port Maje, and pretty much exhausted all conversations options. I also didn't bug him with that infamous insight check (the one where you can say you are interested), the poor boy is neurotic as is. But I did trigger his quest with other insight option. I don't know if any of the above affect the later conversations. If you did the same, its probably a bug...

I... think that's the conversation that should trigger at 1 you are having at 2 instead... where he tells you about the impact you make right? The second one should start with something like "Aloth looks at you as though you are sharing some secret" Aloth has the romance option in the level 2 conversation. It can be easy to miss since it's only a certain response that leads to the kiss option. He does have a conversation at level one as well, but I don't remember any flirt options. Sometimes conversations seem to hang up in general. I was spammed by three in a row after reloading a save. As for Aloth, overall his dislike, likes and how conversations are flagged are horribly mismatched, at least it reflects that way in my game. Which leads to a very slow progression or weird mismatched progression. It doesn't make sense at all, to me, that Aloth would have one point with Xoti, zero with the Watcher and minus one with Eder. It's like they simply tagged something as a joke, so all characters who like a joke are going to like it, regardless of what the line is about or the context. This goes for all the different likes and dislikes not just the joke one, that was only an example. Character consistency also goes right out the window because of this. Its mismatched yep, but its def not jokes he dislikes. I am checking his responses with console and he is neutral towards jokes, its the irresponsible answers that get him. I still don't understand why he dislikes Eder... Probably likely because of traditionalism or something. The negative reactions from companions seem to take larger hit to disposition than positive.

Yup there is a conversation at 1 but its not flirty. The flirt comes up when he is at 2 approval and you didnt commit to anyone else. It's hidden and easy to miss imho.

I am still unsure how it works, but some rep hits and gains are higher than others. It seems like the approval gain for something the companions like is 10-20 points, approval loss is around 30. Tier for rep 1 is around 50 (? I think) points, and rep 2 is 170. Dialogue gives 2-4, maybe 6 points. I am still unsure on this one. For example, in the beginning I got Aloth to 8 points through the first dialog and by not telling animancers about him. Then I went to that village next to Part Maje, and when solving the beaten guy quest picked the "traditional" option. Aloth dislikes it so his approval went down to -24, which is like 34 points hit. Tekehu and Maia both trigger at rep 1, and since the tier is only 50,its so easy to get them first and so hard to get someone like Aloth. With him it seems he rarely likes anything, but if you say something he dislikes (which is more likely), you'll take an uber hit. Pls take with a grain of salt because I wasn't calculating exact number by number.

Well, this in itself looks like a bug - shouldn't he have different dispositions for pro- and anti- Leaden key? I'd think so, because if you talk to him about his trip to Aedyr he has different sentiments about which of his parents he understood better. With anti-Leaden Key and Iselmyr he saw his mom and understood that she gave him freedom to solve things on his own. With pro-Leaden Key and no Iselmyr he forgave his dad, which while cruel, still was around. Total polar opposites in terms of disposition. My states are created not imported, and I see both

Okay so I just checked my two games with (suppressed Iselmyr, Pro-Leaden Key) and (accepted Iselmyr, anti-Leaden Key) and Aloth is exactly the same in both of them. He is pro-autonomy and anti-tradition, pro-duty, and pro-benevolent stewardship whatever that means. So it must be something in the conversation options that people are picking up. I am hesitant to say its a bug, maybe more that its not clear which options correspond to what approach.

I think whether he is traditionalist or not is depend on he accepted Iselmyr or not. If he accepted than he is anti-traditionalist Ahh he sublimated Iselmyr in mine, maybe thats why...

It looks like it depends on POE1 endgame. If he becomes the leader of Leaden key he sticks to his old beliefe and stays pro-tradition, if he sets out to dismantle them he changes and becomes anti-tradition. Its kinda nice. His "going back to Aedyr" dialogue also changes accordingly and wich of his parents he forgave and was happy to see.

Haha its not bad its actually really funny. Some of his escapades are hilarious, and others are just innuendos towards other people. Come on its Tekehu, he is a walking rowdy disaster.

Are you sure? There are so many instances and innuendos, that I assume everyone in Eora is basically free to love whoever they want. Especially if you take Tekehu with you, it feels like he banged 1/2 of the city and the other half is on his to-do list. :D I can confirm that he doesn't hate ALL jokes. I literally went with open console and checked his disposition after a couple of joke-y conversations, it doesnt change, he just stays neutral to them. It depends on the type of joke you are saying, if its just making fun of people its fine, if the joke goes into irresponsible territory - like telling Tekehu to shirk his duties and go to the bathhouse, then he disapproves.

The gripe I have with Xoti is that she somehow steals the show in every conversation when she is present in the party. Somehow interjections default to her all the time, and other companions end up in the shadow. I would rather hear others speak instead of her. But that also may be because I can't identify with priests for the life of me. Tekehu does the same when you take him around Neketaka and the Gulet, but to me that is alright because he seems to be learning and growing as a character. Xoti just feels narrow-minded and goes on about her mission over and over and over and over again.

Funny thing is, while Aloth and Eder are programmed to like different things they get along just fine in my game (both have +1 rep with each other). Eder jokes all the time and somehow that's OK, but if it's me, Serafen or Tekehu Aloth just can't take it. So right now the only ones who dislike me on the faction wheel are Aloth and those criminal scums in Delver's Row. I hope he is feeling cozy in their company. If you have Aloth as pro Leaden Key Eder gets -1 with him, which makes me cry a little inside. I even got a conversation with Eder about it and he got suspicious of Aloth. Come on seriously! You've been together for so long and you STILL haven't figured out that our Aloth couldn't hurt a fly? At least not intentionally. That will help a ton, thank you!

Same. Any options that are good/no violence/respectful approach work well with him. He has a good heart under all that fidgeting. I think he doesn't like jokes, seeing it being irresponsible. Unfortunately his disapproval of that is rarely shown by a tooltip. Ahh I see. I thought it depended on the joke and the situation, but you may be right. I'll have to try being more stoic. That would mean Eder will be stuck at 0 though This is so contra-intuitive. I wish Eder, Aloth, and Pallegina had some bonuses with the Watcher. It makes no sense that they would be so neutral to you after all you've been through together.

Yeah affinity or whatever they call it is super bugged. I can't get Aloth above zero. This is so weird... I am playing passionate/clever/kind character who becomes serious and takes responsibility when its required, but basically making jokes of everything. Aloth is pro Leaden Key and he is at 1 approval for me. Definitely must be a bug, or a way you pursue your conversations. I can't shake the feeling there is something hidden there beyond obvious alignment approvals. Maia was extremely quick for me as well. I found her approval goes up fast if you pass the survival checks, sometimes bribing, and dialogue options like "I can take care of myself". She likes something called "resourcefulness" but dislikes you helping and being pro-Huana. Xoti I'd assume starts if you get things like "hug her" in the dialogues, or "wipe the dirt from her face". I never clicked on those so she never hit on my char, not yet at least.

Hmm not to start bashing BW romances, but I felt like their quality progressively went downhill in the past years. Maybe its me who grew up, but I feel like the themes and nature of romance had deteriorated, Andromeda for example seemed like a bad fan fiction written by a 15-year old. I did like Morrigan, but I always play females so I stuck with Alistair/Zevran. I never finished DAI and no I did not like Solas romance, I quit after first conversation because it turned your character into spinelss and because I could not stand the guy. But I digress. I don't think there is anything wrong with companion preferences here, and I am not sure its fair to equate who they sleep with with how nuanced they are. If anything I am glad there are 4 options that can satisfy people of all preferences. Companions being attracted to either genders just makes me feel they are attracted to human/elven/orlan/dwarf/amaua beings rather than gender and race. I kinda like it. Tekehu likes everything that moves, but mostly beautiful and powerful individuals, Maia likes resourceful and someone who can get stuff done, Xoti is messed up and clings to everyone, Serafen is not picky, and Aloth is Aloth (I don't think he even considers the possibility, judging by how closed off and insecure he is). Its like they have so many things in their heads that gender/race are the least of their worries. They are all very distinct and nuanced as individuals though, with their own quirks, problems, and mental issues. As for real life. To me, sexuality always felt more fluid than what appeared on the outside. All the restrictions came mainly from restrictions in our societies than anything else. Ancient Romans were largely bisexual for example. So I would not say its that unbelievable. I think its just the matter of toning down how much approval you get from various skills. I got this with Maia. I went to the Oathbinder's sanctum after I got her, and did ONE scripted interaction that she approved of. And immediately she comes up to me "Hey Watcher" eyebrows wagging and Hylea cheering in the background. I don't mind - Maia is awesome, but turning her down was a bit of a bummer. On the other hand people that were with you the longest could use higher boosts. Eder, Aloth, Pallegina all have difficulty gaining approval. I'd think the friends that stuck with you for so long, were near death so many times before and covered each other's back, those that you helped solve their issues, would be more predisposed towards your character. To be honest I much prefer when the character's sexuality does not become their defining attribute. I'd rather explore their problems and mental states than care about who they bang. Which is why I find these romances more natural, as in they care about the being and not the outward shell. I don't need a whole line of long quests and strings to love the romance, just interesting character and their storyline. For example, Atton in KOTOR2 was my most favorite thing ever, even though he was the one trying to romance the female Exile and all you could do was be completely oblivious to it. He barely had any interactions and yet still he was more interesting to me than for example Carth (if we go into Star Wars).

So do I... He approves of a lot of things in my game, like being diplomatic with the two families in Neketaka, agreeing to help them etc. His conversation with 1 approval triggered in Fort Deadfire (i go there straight from Port Maje) after conversation with Serafen about Remaro, when you find his chest. I basically chose not to pry into Serafen's personal affairs and respect his privacy. Same with Aloth, didn't push him with the Insight options. I don't know if it matters or not. It's the same for me, I have Aloth at +1 and Eder is still sitting pretty at 0. I should probably crack a joke, but then I'd lose allegiance with Aloth... Darn. The joys of metagaming Doesn't he disapprove more of chaotic/irresponsible behavior than jokes?