Andraste

But Tekehu, Aloth, Maia, Xoti and Serafen are just as meaningful and well-defined as Éder and Pallegina. (Well, we've had more time to get to know those two than the new companions, but the same goes for Aloth. They're certainly just as fleshed out as the POE1 companions we got to spend a single game with.) They all have a purpose in the story - each of them is tied to a faction and gives us insight into particular bits of the world building, as well as having their own personality and character arc. It's not like they're just there for boning.

To be honest, while I would love another companion with the DLC, I don't one. Obsidian haven't said anything about adding companions, and given how much voice acting there is in Deadfire integrating someone new into the plot would be difficult at this point. Plus, they'd have to redo the relationship interface, which currently has no room for an extra person. I would settle for another sidekick who can be a Priest. Or a Paladin. Better still, someone who can be a Paladin, Priest or Templar.

My main goal for this game is to collect as many weirdos as possible and put them on my ship, and it's going pretty well so far! Not only do I have an imp navigating, but ... If I find many more excellent weirdos like these, I may need to upgrade my ship again.

I'd say this is unlikely to happen because integrating new companions into the relationship system seems overly difficult. Not only would they need to get the sidekick's voice actor back into the studio, but also all the companion actors to voice knew relationship content. (Although I guess they at least know where to find all the Critical Role people in one place ...)

Thirty hours in, and the import bugs are the only significant ones I've noticed. (I occasionally spot some visual weirdness or typos, but nothing game-ruining.)

People have been datamining - neither Éder nor Pallegina are romance options. Aloth, Maia, Tekehu and Xoti are, and I think it's possible to have a fling with Serafen?

I am currently playing a Lifegiver Nature Godlike Druid. Shapeshift, cast Nature's Vigor or Nature's Balm on yourself with the shifted Lifegiver boost, then do whatever you want with Wellspring of Life active. Maybe not as good as some other Nature Godlike classes, but I'm certainly having a blast with it!

Indeed - Maia being slowed down considerably would make a lot of sense, but I hope they don't stop the pretty fishboy from flinging himself straight at you. Given the stories he tells (and the stories that apparently get told about him all over Neketaka) it's completely in character for him to basically open with 'we'll bang, OK?'

I am fine with Éder not being a romance option - even though my Watcher would have totally hit that if she could! - but I do wish that game companies would stop keeping romance options a secret. I don't think DA2 was ruined when BioWare told us about the four core romances on the Valentine's Day before release. In fact, the forms were filled with delight and speculation, and it stopped too many people getting their hopes up about Varric and Aveline. I wish they'd have done the same thing before Inquisition and told us all at once instead of letting us all stew and argue for months. Let people get any disappointment and bitterness over beforehand instead of being upset while they're actually playing the game! I know they don't want to spoil too much of the story, but given that romances are side content and they're more than willing to tell us who the companions and factions are in advance, I don't see any reason to conceal this stuff.

So it looks like it's just Edér and Pallegina who aren't available? (I can report that Maia definitely likes women. She hit on my PC, although my character didn't take her up on the offer. Good news for a completely different lady Watcher who will be into her, though!)

Nah, my Druid still rocks. Actually, in some ways she rocks a bit more, although with fewer actual rocks. (Didn't take Twin Stones this time; she's a Lifegiver and I'm mostly taking Rejuvenation and Decay spells for that life-in-death-death-in-life theme.)

OMG it's happening people!!!

So, any news on who's straight/gay/bi yet? (If Edér is not an option, I guess my first Watcher gets to pick between Maia, Serafen, and Tekehu, depending on who likes girls. I don't think she's going to get on with Xoti, being the anti-religous type.)

So that will be three in the morning on the 9th for me. ... somehow I am more tempted than ever to stay up all night. I could probably get some cleaning and food prep done.

Thank you - luckily mine are relatively rare as well as non-painful. (I just won the jackpot on aura symptoms.) These days I only get half a dozen a year or so , which could definitely be worse!

I really should do that - for some reason when I have aphasia, the word 'aphasia' is always the first to go. A card that says 'I am not having a stroke, I just need to lie down in a dark room until tomorrow' could come in handy for those times my vocabulary spontaneously vanishes. I take other meds that preclude any serotonin-altering drugs, and nothing else seems to work, so I just have to put up with the occasional outbreak of weird lights, temporary blindness, aphasia, photo-sensitivity and general confusion. Lucky for me mine are 'silent' migraines so the pain is pretty much the only symptom I don't get. I am also currently unemployed, so at least I will have lots of time to play Deadfire! Except I have a job network appointment on the morning of release day and I was (genuinely) sick and missed one a couple of weeks ago so I really have to go to this one. If the game releases at midnight, I am seriously contemplating just staying up all night so I can get in a few hours before I have to leave the house. (It has been nearly a year and they have not managed to find me any suitible employment yet, so the chances that this will be the week I actually need to pay attention seem slim.)

Romantic love isn't the only kind of love, so I don't think there's much of a connection. I mean, I love my family and my friends plenty, I just don't want to pair bond with anyone.

I know absolutely nothing about what you are talking about But I am going to ask questions to learn more. That's not falling on a LGBTQ spectrum is it? Like I would be straight but only interested in sex. Or homosexual but only interested in romance. That's not my sexuality it's more like a behavioral choice? Like just to me it seems like aromantic is code for someone with a form of sex addiction. And if not how would you distinguish between sex addiction and aromantic? What? Oh, no. You're jumping to pretty much the exact opposite end of things. Someone who's asexual doesn't have interest in sex. Generally when people use 'aromantic' they mean someone who isn't interested in sex OR romance. No dates or late nights cuddling on the couch or whatever, but also not mindless boning. They've friendzoned the world (if they're social) or tend to be work/project focused (if they're not) Think of it as more like the vegan/vegetarian spectrum. One is excluding more things than the other. Actually, there ARE people who are aromantic but not asexual, just like there are people who are asexual but not aromantic. (As well as people who are both, of course.) It doesn't automatically make us sex addicts. Hell, I've probably had less sex than the average woman my age. I've just never had any romantic feelings for anyone, and have no interest in pair-bonding with my sex partners. ... uh, anyway, that was kind of off-topic, I just like to remind people I exist. (I am also a Sebastian Vael fan! Maybe all us imaginary people are.) On topic: I hope my Watcher can romance Edér, but if not I am prepared to go full sharkboy.

After seeing the highest level abilities, I'm planning to keep my druid pure class. Too much fun-looking stuff up there! In fact, I may keep all my companions pure classes as well so I can try stuff out before messing around with multiclassing. I'm now debating whether to stick with the default druid or go with Lifegiver. I don't mind giving up summoning, but the penalty on rejuvenation spells after shapeshifting ends sounds annoying.

My Watcher will be either a Druid or a Druid/Ranger depending on just how cool the high level Druid spells are. I'm taking Eder and Pallegina because they were in my party in the first game and my Watcher is emotionally attached. I plan to cycle through the rest of the companions until I find the two that fit the party best, but at the moment I'm leaning towards Xoti and Tekehu. (With Tekehu as a Chanter.)

Thank you for the info! My druid was mostly a ranged caster in POE1, but she used the boar spiritshift to great effect any time something wanted to melee with her. So getting a boar pet would definitely make sense ...

I'm curious about how Druid/Ranger works - I'm seriously considering multiclassing my Druid from the first game for roleplaying reasons, but it would be nice if she were also useful in combat .

I had a good time with my Nature Godlike Druid today! (Cast Nature's Vigor on self, go to town.)

The worst thing about this update: I picked up an Abandoned Cat on the beach, but no cat appeared in my inventory. This is a totally unacceptable bug! (In all seriousness, though, I agree that this update mostly feels great and much closer to a release version. I even tried out ship combat, although I can't say I understood what was going on.)

Well, they could go with the Divinity: Original Sin 2 option, where the ubiquitous narrator calmly describes the sex your character is having in somewhat graphic detail. (Probably not, though.)