[Quick Tutorial] How to change the WM2 Ending!

skywyze · January 4, 2017

I made a choice hundreds of hours ago which prevented me from getting the best ending (aka the "tempered" Abydon ending). After a crazy amount of searching, I figured out how to get the ending I wanted without have to re-do all of that.

1) Open your game folder, then open the Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_Data\data\conversations\px2_04_eyeless_stronghold folder.

2) Using Notepad or a similar program (I prefer Notepad++), open the following file: "px2_04_cv_abydon_finale.conversation"

3) Locate the following segment (for me this was around line 7676):

<Data>

<FullName>Boolean IsGlobalValue(String, Operator, Int32)</FullName>

<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>

<string>EqualTo</string>

</Parameters>

</Data>

<Not>false</Not>

</ExpressionComponent>

Change the "Not" section from "false" to "true" (I also changed "And" to "Or", but I don't think that's strictly necessary)

          <ExpressionComponent xsi:type="ConditionalCall">
            <Data>
              <FullName>Boolean IsGlobalValue(String, Operator, Int32)</FullName>
              <Parameters>
                <string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>
                <string>EqualTo</string>
                <string>3</string>
              </Parameters>
            </Data>
            <Not>true</Not>
            <Operator>Or</Operator>
          </ExpressionComponent>

4) Save the file. It's good bookkeeping to keep a backup of the original file too.

5) Load to any point before you tell the Eyeless whether they should reconstruct Abydon or not.

6) Choose a few conversation options and you'll see the new choice "Then return to Abydon with perspective as well as memory". Choose this option to get the best ending. This bypasses all other requirements by the way: You can leave the Readcerans alive, you can permit animancy, do whatever you want. As long as you choose that conversation option, you'll get the good ending.

Hopefully this will help others. Good luck!

Supercorvax · January 27, 2017

Thanks, you saved me. I try to make only good choices (Saving animancy, blowing up the machine in Heritage Hill e.t.c.) and because of that I couldn't convince them.

crawlkill · February 14, 2017

THANK YOU. I finally finished the game after never mustering the energy (and I was a backer, too!) and did E V E R Y T H I N G, really wrangling for an optimistic ending. was super bummed to find I couldn't get the golden ending for Stalwart because I'd spoken up for animancy or something? this worked great, although when I set the "or" I got kicked out after the adventure scene at the crystal to the entrance of the zone without talking to the Eyeless. changed the or back to an and and it all went great.

...now maybe I need to change the Devil's personal quest state and pretend I let her murder that dude...

Edited February 14, 2017 by crawlkill

Messier-31 · September 17, 2017

*deleted as things seem to be different*

Edited October 17, 2017 by Messier-31

signalvoid · May 14, 2018

I'd love for this to work, but it doesn't. Any time my party is brought back into the area map after going through the crystal destruction sequence, the conversation with the Eyeless never starts, and the game journal wants me to redo the sequence all over again. I've even tried redoing the entire area from start to finish with these edits, and as soon as I would expect the Eyeless conversation to start, nothing happens.

Anyone run into this issue as well?

EDIT - Doesn't work using "And" or "Or", either.

Edited May 14, 2018 by heliontide

Skylock · May 20, 2018

You just need to change the parameters for the argument, nothing else.

<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>
<string>EqualTo</string>
<string>3</string> <------This needs to be changed to 3

Don't bother doing anything else. It tells the game that you won 3 of the arguments needed to unlock the dialogue choice. I did it right before using the crystal, after talking with them for a bit and winning 1 argument normally, the option appeared. Just tested this and it worked fine for me.

skywyze · May 20, 2018

I'd love for this to work, but it doesn't. Any time my party is brought back into the area map after going through the crystal destruction sequence, the conversation with the Eyeless never starts, and the game journal wants me to redo the sequence all over again. I've even tried redoing the entire area from start to finish with these edits, and as soon as I would expect the Eyeless conversation to start, nothing happens.

Anyone run into this issue as well?

EDIT - Doesn't work using "And" or "Or", either.

It's possible that a patch came out which changed this, or maybe one of the expansions. Or it could simply be a bug in the original game. The easiest solution I can think of would be to search through the game's files (including patch files) for the string "n_abydon_arguments_won". You can use a program like Fileseek (the free version is fine) to do it. Undo my changes to the original file, do the search and try to edit other locations where that string occurs in a similar way to what I did. It's possible they simply moved the check to a new file for example, in which case you just need to do the same thing in a different file.

I don't have access to the game from where I currently am, but I hope you can find what you're looking for. And if you do, please come back and tell us how you did it. Good luck!

Right0us_man · May 27, 2018

I just tried this, multiple times and it doesn't seem to work for me.

Right0us_man · May 27, 2018

Sorry for double posting.

So I searched the Folder: px2_04_eyeless_stronghold

The File: px2_04_cv_abydon_finale.conversation , is there and I opened that with standard notepad.

I made the adjustments mentioned in the first post, I didn't get the desired Tempered Ending dialog option though.

So next I just copied and pasted it from the first post into the file itself, overwriting the original text. I still didn't get the dialog option for Tempered Abydon ending.

Finally i searched the file for all mentions of this text, "<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>".

I found like 3 or 4 more entry's of that text in the same file and adjusted all, "<string>1</string>" into "<string>3<string>", that came immediately after or after a, "<string>EqualTo</string>".

Still didn't get the desired ending. At this point I began to examine my save files. I deleted a full 2 hrs of game data, by deleting the saves for the latest 2 hours. I turned off and restarted the game and loaded my new most recent save. Then I ran around for a bit, fighting stuff and what have you. Turned in a quest that was related to the Eyeless - current quest line and then saved again.

I went back to the File and noted that nothing of the changes I made were at all different. So I don't really understand how the coding works here, but it seems to me like these changes are not really working at all?

Also i should note that after i changed all the 1's to 3's that came after "<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>" the games Eyeless dialog doesn't actually play. and there is no way to finish the quest. I've reloaded several saves and couldn't get it to work. I then deleted the edited file and placed my original back in, which only had the first posts edit applied to it. I reloaded a save in stalwart, before going to the lake and then was able to complete the quest, but i still didn't get the Tempered Abydon ending dialog option.

At this point.. this has kinda become to much work for me, lol. As much as I hate the narrowed options that this DLC's ending gives you I think i'm just going to settle for Abydon restored. Hopefully PoE 2 DF lets me mod my ending before starting a new game?

Tsunami1313 · June 4, 2018

This still works fine, just did it a minute ago. Notepad++ Line 8207- switch to true, and after a couple successful arguments the proper dialog option popped up.

Kircher · August 15, 2018

In case somebody is still struggling with this, someone in Reddit suggested changing "n_abydon_arguments_won" not to "3" but to "2".

Worked like a charm at least in my playthrough.

Madpleasure · September 10, 2018

Sorry for double posting.

So I searched the Folder: px2_04_eyeless_stronghold

The File: px2_04_cv_abydon_finale.conversation , is there and I opened that with standard notepad.

I made the adjustments mentioned in the first post, I didn't get the desired Tempered Ending dialog option though.

So next I just copied and pasted it from the first post into the file itself, overwriting the original text. I still didn't get the dialog option for Tempered Abydon ending.

Finally i searched the file for all mentions of this text, "<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>".

I found like 3 or 4 more entry's of that text in the same file and adjusted all, "<string>1</string>" into "<string>3<string>", that came immediately after or after a, "<string>EqualTo</string>".

Still didn't get the desired ending. At this point I began to examine my save files. I deleted a full 2 hrs of game data, by deleting the saves for the latest 2 hours. I turned off and restarted the game and loaded my new most recent save. Then I ran around for a bit, fighting stuff and what have you. Turned in a quest that was related to the Eyeless - current quest line and then saved again.

I went back to the File and noted that nothing of the changes I made were at all different. So I don't really understand how the coding works here, but it seems to me like these changes are not really working at all?

Also i should note that after i changed all the 1's to 3's that came after "<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>" the games Eyeless dialog doesn't actually play. and there is no way to finish the quest. I've reloaded several saves and couldn't get it to work. I then deleted the edited file and placed my original back in, which only had the first posts edit applied to it. I reloaded a save in stalwart, before going to the lake and then was able to complete the quest, but i still didn't get the Tempered Abydon ending dialog option.

At this point.. this has kinda become to much work for me, lol. As much as I hate the narrowed options that this DLC's ending gives you I think i'm just going to settle for Abydon restored. Hopefully PoE 2 DF lets me mod my ending before starting a new game?

I have the same problem with the dialog not showing up now, it just throws me out of the cave and at the frozen waterfall with the quest incomplete.

Does anyone have the 'original' (unedited) file that they could upload/spoiler tag it, pm me/email me? I've gone back and changed everything that I thought I edited and it still skips the whole cutscene/dialog with the eyeless. I thought I made a back up of the original last night, either I have copied over it or never saved it because I can't find it this morning. *blushing* Thank you so much for your help! <3

InsaneCommander · September 10, 2018

I have the same problem with the dialog not showing up now, it just throws me out of the cave and at the frozen waterfall with the quest incomplete.

Does anyone have the 'original' (unedited) file that they could upload/spoiler tag it, pm me/email me? I've gone back and changed everything that I thought I edited and it still skips the whole cutscene/dialog with the eyeless. I thought I made a back up of the original last night, either I have copied over it or never saved it because I can't find it this morning. *blushing* Thank you so much for your help! <3

Are you playing on Steam? If you are, try verifying the files. I heard it fix things like this. I have actually never done it myself, but I think you can find the option in the Steam Library.

Raptaur · October 21, 2018

Hey All,

There is some great advise in this but there is still a lot of uncertainty as well on this whole process. I've finally got it to work and I've a much better understanding on the whole process so hopefully this post will clear it up for those wanting to try it and help clear up if you are going to be able to get it to work for you, as some folk its just not gonna work since you can't qualify an argument.

First up, there are 3 arguments, each argument needs two 'won' point to qualify for a win of that argument. Those arguments are:

1. (conversation option 2) - Perhaps Abydon was meant to forget his past. Some knowledge is too dangerous for this world.

2. (conversation option 3) - You speak as if history were a guide. Yet it doesn't always provide a good example.

3. (conversation option 4) - Memory remains a burden, even when the events and people it recalls are long gone. It's pain with no purpose.

Check the wiki to see if you can make 2 points to any of these 3 arguments, if you can't forget about it. Your not going to be able to clear the win one argument requirement that this guide needs. - wiki: https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Lair_of_the_Eyeless#Tempering_Abydon

Okay so you can see at least one arguments of the 3 you can win, next is to edit the xml file as described by Skywayz above:

Open folders: Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_data\data\conversations\px2_04_eyeless_stronghold

Edit xml file: px2_04_cv_abydon_finale.conversation

Do a find (Ctrl+F) and look for the line: <string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>

The next line immediately under that should read: <string>EqualTo</string>

The next line immediately under that should read: <string>3</string>

If it doesn't you are on the wrong line instance of '<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>' ...do a find next and keep looking. Once you've found the right one update the values from 3 to 1, save and exit.

Okay so here is the rub the string value 3, correspondent to the 3 arguments. Changing the values from 3 to 1 means instead of the requirement being win the 3 arguments you now only have to win one to get the 'Best' option.

The only caveat being you still have to win 2 points in one of those arguments. Hence the checking first above.

Here is screenshots showing it working, notice in the last screenshot i still have argument (2,3) presented but i have the win option(5) available to me now after wining conversation argument(4).

https://imgur.com/a/4JWK1pV

To win arguments 4 i present and won two points. My own awaking (moving on) and used Maneha choosing to forget.

Hope this clears it all up and allows you to figure out if you still have a chance.

InsaneCommander · October 21, 2018

Custom party tip: you can use the Console Command "ManageParty" to include some Companions after defeating the Kraken. But if you don't want to break achievements, you'll have to edit the file.

AramJese · November 6, 2018

Hello, I was thinking on doing this but I need Abydon to be restored, Adaryc to live, Vela to live and pledge myself to Berath, how to do this?

InsaneCommander · November 6, 2018

Hello, I was thinking on doing this but I need Abydon to be restored, Adaryc to live, Vela to live and pledge myself to Berath, how to do this?

Are you saying you want to edit all of those things on the save game file? If it is, I don't know how to do it.

HORia_T · July 27, 2019

On 10/21/2018 at 1:45 PM, Raptaur said:

Hey All,

There is some great advise in this but there is still a lot of uncertainty as well on this whole process. I've finally got it to work and I've a much better understanding on the whole process so hopefully this post will clear it up for those wanting to try it and help clear up if you are going to be able to get it to work for you, as some folk its just not gonna work since you can't qualify an argument.

First up, there are 3 arguments, each argument needs two 'won' point to qualify for a win of that argument. Those arguments are:

1. (conversation option 2) - Perhaps Abydon was meant to forget his past. Some knowledge is too dangerous for this world.

2. (conversation option 3) - You speak as if history were a guide. Yet it doesn't always provide a good example.

3. (conversation option 4) - Memory remains a burden, even when the events and people it recalls are long gone. It's pain with no purpose.

Check the wiki to see if you can make 2 points to any of these 3 arguments, if you can't forget about it. Your not going to be able to clear the win one argument requirement that this guide needs. - wiki: https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Lair_of_the_Eyeless#Tempering_Abydon

Okay so you can see at least one arguments of the 3 you can win, next is to edit the xml file as described by Skywayz above:

Open folders:  Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_data\data\conversations\px2_04_eyeless_stronghold

Edit xml file:  px2_04_cv_abydon_finale.conversation

Do a find (Ctrl+F) and look for the line:  <string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>

The next line immediately under that should read:  <string>EqualTo</string>

The next line immediately under that should read:  <string>3</string>

If it doesn't you are on the wrong line instance of '<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>' ...do a find next and keep looking. Once you've found the right one update the values from 3 to 1, save and exit.

Okay so here is the rub the string value 3, correspondent to the 3 arguments. Changing the values from 3 to 1 means instead of the requirement being win the 3 arguments you now only have to win one to get the 'Best' option.

The only caveat being you still have to win 2 points in one of those arguments. Hence the checking first above.

Here is screenshots showing it working, notice in the last screenshot i still have argument (2,3) presented but i have the win option(5) available to me now after wining conversation argument(4).

https://imgur.com/a/4JWK1pV

To win arguments 4 i present and won two points. My own awaking (moving on) and used Maneha choosing to forget.

Hope this clears it all up and allows you to figure out if you still have a chance.

It works, did just as you said, thank you

Using Steam version, the current date is July 27 2019. I started Steam in offline mode, just to make sure it doesn't mess the file i edited

K_A_T · April 10, 2021

Raptaur's approach still works for me on the current steam version - fully quit the game, save the edited conversation file and then load the autosave immediately before the dialogue with the Eyeless.

If your party or your prior decisions don't allow you to win one of the argument trees, there should be other possible edits to the conversation file to get you through e.g. (untested) change the operator from EqualTo to LessThanOrEqualTo, or change the global variable from n_abydon_argument_burden to some other valid variable which has a suitable value.

Edited April 10, 2021 by K_A_T

reeron3 · January 11, 2023

I only edited the following:

<OnEnterScripts>
<ScriptCall>
<Data>
<FullName>Void IncrementGlobalValue(String, Int32)</FullName>
<Parameters>
<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>
<string>3</string> This line right here.
</Parameters>
</Data>
</ScriptCall>

Changed the 1 to a 3. This was on my line 8093. The lines everyone else is talking about modifying is after what I modified. Around line 8204 for me. So go up about 100 lines from what everyone else is saying and you will find it. I actually used notepad and did a search for "n_abydon_arguments_won" and changed the 1st one I found. Just that one number from a 1 to a 3. Nothing else. I then won the 1st argument and the tempered option became available. Went straight to it immediately without going thru all the other dialogue. I am playing Solo PoTD so using Maneha (or any other companions) and their arguments is not available to me. But this works. The game was not loaded when I altered the file, but I saved my game while standing in front of the crystal after having killed the Kraken.

TZC · March 12, 2023

Guys, thank you so much for the info you've posted here. I was sad to see it wasn't possible to get the best outcome without Devil of Caroc or Maneha in the group.

Following your instructions here and reading some of the strings used in that .conversation document, I changed only two things and it worked as intended:

Original:

<Parameters>
<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>
<string>EqualTo</string>
<string>3</string>
</Parameters>

Changed to:

<Parameters>
<string>n_abydon_arguments_won</string>
<string>GreaterThanOrEqualTo</string>
<string>2</string>
</Parameters>

If you had only changed the variable to 2, it would only work with EXACTLY 2 arguments won, meaning you'd fail by winning all arguments. That way tho, it will work with winning either 2 or 3 arguments.

[Quick Tutorial] How to change the WM2 Ending!

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