Man, what the hell is up with Aloth in Deadfire?

[spardeous]

I played Deadfire partly through near launch(right past Deadlight) and just recently came back to it, with a fresh party and some Blessings... so I have to ask:

What is up with Aloth?

He was such a cool laid-back dude in the first game, but in Deadfire, he's never pleased by anything and constantly fighting with teammates. He's at 0 disposition with Eder and Eder is at +2 with him, and Eder's personality is a total mirror of his(extremely easy-going on the surface but very serious convictions down deep). You'd think they'd be getting along because of how long they've known each other. He's at 0 disposition with my Watcher, and my main gotos are Honest, Rational, and Clever.
 

Spoiler

He set out to destroy the Leaden key in the first game

, so he's anti-traditionalist, but he is far-and-above the most conservative party member I've met by a longshot. It's frankly absurd how crazy it is - he gets mad at Serafen for making stupid puns. His likes(of which he only has 2) don't make any sense. The only person he likes is Xoti, and

Spoiler

she is a fanatical religious zealot who believes she was chosen by god.

 

How is that anti-traditionalist? One of these things is not like the other...
 

His personality(or at least his likes/dislikes) make no sense in Deadfire. It seems like all the growth he made personally in the first game has been walked back, and then some.

Edited August 16, 2019 by spardeous

[Boeroer]

12 minutes ago, spardeous said:

He was such a cool laid-back dude in the first game

[Wormerine]

Many people seem to run into various problems with Aloth, though never had the same experience. He tends to sit exactly where I would expect him to, depending on what character I roleplay. He and Eder had both positive, and negative relationships, depending on my playthrough. 

And yeah, the last thing I would say about Aloth is that he was ever laid back. 

[Boeroer]

I mean he's as laid back as you can be with Llawran's Stick up your derrière.

[Wormerine]

9 hours ago, Boeroer said:

with Llawran's Stick up your derrière.

[fYNX]

That's Iselmyr who was a cool laid-back "dude", not Aloth.

[wingedchocolatecake]

He is a tad touchy, though. Same goes for Pallegina.

[spardeous]

6 hours ago, fYNX said:

That's Iselmyr who was a cool laid-back "dude", not Aloth.

Iselmyr was, by design, impulsive and unpredictable. I would not call it 'laid-back'. I don't remember a time in PoE1 when Aloth panicked about anything, even when you first meet him and he's about to get his ass kicked by those dudes at the inn.

But by the end of PoE1, he'd grown to the point that he doesn't really need her anymore and she just pops in when he's in danger. Also, in Deadfire, he talks as if he had successfully dealt with his weird family situation, so you'd think he'd be even more mentally liberated and stable than getting triggered at Serafen talking loosely about sex and puns.

I tend to go through as many dialogue options as I can that don't seem openly provocative, to get a feel for each character, and I can't be the only one who finds it weird that this strategy has led him, the most anti-religious person in the party, befriending the most hyper-religious person in the party and basically snubbing his day ones.

Also, forgot to mention that he gave me 'the talk' for going negative in relation - my Watcher's 3 highest traits are honest, rational, clever, so I really don't see how he's so pissy about traits that, based on his personality, he should cherish.

I mean, how is it that he doesn't like tradition but also has zero appreciation for non-traditional thinking? It really feels like his personality insofar as his likes/dislikes is only half-written.

[Boeroer]

Josh mentioned in a talk that the reputation system wasn't the best part of Deadfire and that Aloth's reactions are a bit too much. They were even more intense at release - I mean really over the top - and already got tuned down. But if you go through the dialogue trees a lot there might still be the impression that Aloth is super uptight.  

Edited August 18, 2019 by Boeroer

[Wormerine]

In Poe Sloth was much more timid. He wasn't relaxed by any means, by he was slow to speak his mind. In Deadfire he is far more outspoken, reflecting his growth in confidence. 

Relationship mechanics do make characters behave weirdly (Xoti laughing and clapping as you burn Dawnstar bodies)

[Boeroer]

Of course he was slow to speak his mind. If he was a Sloth.

Ah - the benefits of autocorrection.

[bugarup]

At first I was taken aback as well by that hedgehog that crawled up Aloth's exhaust pipe and died there, but eventually decided it all makes sense and is completely in character. When we met him in PoE, dude was lost in several different ways, and here this Watcher lets him to tag along and even live in his castle. So if you're desperate for company so bad you decide to travel with ghost-seeing weirdo you met at the inn's entrance, it's only natural you only show your good side and best traits to the kind stranger lest they decide to dump you somewhere, like suspicious pool in Skaen-flavoured catacombs. But by the time of Deadfire events Aloth feels secure in his and Watcher's fire(and ice, and acid, and poison, and insect swarm...)-forged friendship so he can drop the mask and be his actual dour, pedantic, no-fun-allowed-ever self.