| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poe2_2.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Hunt a god. Save your soul.]] |
| 3 | ->''"To live is a choice, and you yet draw breath. Drink deep of the air, Watcher. We have work yet to do."'' |
| 4 | -->'''-- Berath''' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire'' is a [[WesternRPG computer roleplaying game]] by Creator/ObsidianEntertainment and the sequel to ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity''. The game was announced in January 2017, and launched [[https://www.fig.co/campaigns/deadfire a Fig campaign]] that reached its initial goal in the first day, and raised up to $4.4 million by the Fig campaign's end. It was released on May 8, 2018. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | It's been five years since the Hollowborn Crisis ended. Since you and your companions parted ways. But a Watcher's work is never done. Eothas has returned. The god of light and rebirth was thought dead, but he now inhabits the stone titan that sat buried under your keep, Caed Nua, for millennia. Taking place in the Deadfire Isles, the game once again stars the Watcher, who must now track down Eothas after he destroys Caed Nua, nearly killing you in the process. To save your soul, you must track down the wayward god and demand answers -- answers which could throw mortals and the gods themselves into chaos. The Watcher's search brings them to the Deadfire Archipelago, where four factions struggle against one another for full control of the region, and legends abound of a lost city surrounded by magical storms, filled with riches for anyone capable of plundering it. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The gameplay is largely the same as the original, with the addition of multiclassing. The world is also be more dynamic, with weather and {{NPC}}s moving around carrying their own business. The game director, Josh Sawyer, has also stated that one focus of ''Deadfire'' was to address criticisms raised over the abundance of filler combat encounters in the original game. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | In addition, Obsidian released three pieces of story DLC throughout the latter half of 2018: |
| 13 | * ''The Beast of Winter'', released on August 2, 2018, features the Watcher and crew going up against a mysterious doomsday cult, with Rymrgand, god of entropy and death, in a major role. |
| 14 | * ''Seeker, Slayer, Survivor'', released on September 25, 2018, focuses on tactics and combat, set against the backdrop of an undiscovered island as the Watcher attempts to wrest back forgotten relics from some of the region's most savage foes. |
| 15 | * ''The Forgotten Sanctum'', released on December 13th, 2018, tests the morality and loyalty of the Watcher and crew as they aid (or obstruct) some of the great archmages of Eora in uncovering some of the deepest secrets of the ancient world. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | In 2020, Obsidian announced ''Avowed'', a first person action RPG set in the world of ''Pillars of Eternity''. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!The game provides examples of: |
| 21 | |
| 22 | * AddictionPowered: Now you too can join Zahua's path of hallucinogenic enlightenment, as Nalpazca is one of the monk subclasses available to the Watcher at character creation. Drug effects last twice as long for the Nalpazca monk and grant a bonus Wound every three seconds, but while subject to the crash effect of a given drug, they lose a Wound every three seconds and all healing is reduced by 100%. |
| 23 | * AllDeathsFinal: Much like its predecessor, resurrection of the dead is flat-out impossible but reincarnation is a process that happens naturally to everyone, even animals. [[spoiler:The reincarnation bit ends by the end of the story, however; regardless of the arguments you make to Eothas in Ukaizo, he will break the adra construct that powers Berath's Wheel, putting an end to the cycle of souls and denying the gods the power they have held over mortals since the Engwithans created them. What happens next is ultimately up to the argument you present to Eothas; he can either empower Berath to be the TopGod and keep all the others in line, use the adra colossus he is inhabiting to make an artificial afterlife for the dead, or he can consign the world to oblivion as everything slowly withers away and suffers FinalDeath due to the lack of reincarnation, even the gods themselves eventually. Eothas believes that kith will be able to figure out a solution to the problem his breaking of the Wheel presents (provided you don't convince him that kith aren't worth the effort he's going to to protect and preserve them), but until a solution is found Eora is now a world where the dead stay dead no matter what.]] |
| 24 | * AllianceMeter: As in the first game and most of Obsidian's catalog, the game keeps track of the Watcher's relationship with the factions you meet and the various settlements you pass through, affecting events in-game [[FactionSpecificEndings and beyond]]. |
| 25 | * AlreadyUndoneForYou: Repeatedly the case in the game's dungeons, where you can find previous parties in the depths, such as a group of Steel Garrote paladins in Oathbinder's Sanctum and the lost Vailian expedition at Poko Kahara. Possibly justified in both cases as the Steel Garrote are paladins of Woedica and actually might have cause to reset the traps, while Beza and her surviving men barricaded the door into the Engwithan Waystation behind them to escape the pursuing [[{{Golem}} titan]], and their DwindlingParty did spring several traps, when they weren't busy [[AHouseDivided killing each other out of paranoia]]. |
| 26 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: Seems a bit silly calling the Rathun fire ''giants'' when the adra colossus is just one room over. Lampshaded by Eder. |
| 27 | -->'''Eder:''' You go your whole life thinking you're a giant. Then one day ''that'' fella shows up at your fortress. |
| 28 | * AnAdventurerIsYou: As in the first game, ''Deadfire'' uses a ClassAndLevelSystem, with most classes biased toward certain party archetypes. This time around, multiclassing is also a choice, allowing a character to further customize their role at the cost of getting both class' abilities late and never getting their top level abilities at all. |
| 29 | ** [[PlayerCharacter The Watcher]] is fully customizable, including [[OldSaveBonus importing them from a ''Pillars of Eternity'' save]]. |
| 30 | ** Companions and sidekicks now have three options for their class, of which one will always be single class, one will be multiclass, and one will vary by character. |
| 31 | ** You can also recruit adventures at most taverns by paying an amount of money based on their level. They have no storylines and only basic voice acting (ex. screaming when hit in combat) and can usually only be recruited at one level ''below'' the watcher's, but are as customizable as the watcher (minus, you know, their watcher abilities). |
| 32 | * AndroclesLion: If you free [[spoiler:Scyorielaphas, the sea dragon who has been kept bound by the Huana's watershapers for the past 300 years]], he returns to help you [[spoiler:fight off the Guardian of Ukaizo just before you enter Ondra's Mortar.]] |
| 33 | * AndTheAdventureContinues: The game ends with the Watcher deciding to head [[spoiler:back to the Dyrwood]] to see what the future brings, hoping for calm weather on their way there. |
| 34 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: They listened to the feedback they got from the first game and cut back on a lot of the micromanagement held over from the game's Infinity Engine roots. |
| 35 | ** Among other things, the vast majority of resources are per encounter rather than per rest, food bonuses last much longer (but can only be taken advantage of while resting), Health/Endurance as two separate pools have been done away with in favor of a three-strikes-and-you're-out injury system, and more. |
| 36 | ** In the previous game bounty enemies only spawned after receiving their respective bounties from the Warden of Caed Nua. This meant a lot of backtracking to previously cleared areas, and most of the bounties weren't available until the tail-end of the main quest. Now you can fight bounty enemies as soon as you meet them on the world map, and you can turn in bounties to the quest-giver the moment they give them to you. |
| 37 | ** The game allows you to retarget spells without interrupting casting, which is useful for sparing your allies from [=AOEs=] as well as retargeting buffs and heals to where they're most needed. |
| 38 | ** The game now allows for extensive if/then customization of party members' AI, which carries over between games. It can be daunting and there's a fair number of decision points which aren't covered, but it can still streamline battles considerably. |
| 39 | ** You also have the ability to hire "adventurers" at inns. These are party members that you design fully, just like the player character. Is a companion getting on your nerves (or [[RelationshipValues vice versa]])? Hire an adventurer to replace them! Did you make a companion one class, but want to try having the other class around? Hire an adventurer! Do you want to experiment with party compositions? Hire adventurers! The only downside is that adventurers don't have voice acting, personal quests, or any narrative interaction. |
| 40 | * ApocalypseCult: The Harbingers of Dusk, introduced in ''Beast of Winter'', are a cult that worships Rymrgrand, the god of entropy, preying that he speed the end of Eora, or at least their own deaths. A subversion; they are almost unnervingly cheerful for people who worship the end of all things. [[HighPriest High Harbinger]] Vatnir is highly regarded for being a rare [[BlessedWithSuck endings godlike]], and, interestingly enough, a recruitable sidekick. [[spoiler:Amusingly enough he himself isn't nearly as enthusiastic about dying and going into oblivion as his followers. In fact, the whole Harbinger thing was originally a con meant to facilitate his departure from the White that Wends in search of a new life. But then others started joining up and he found himself trapped in the lie.]] |
| 41 | * AppliedPhlebotinum: Much more so than in the first game, adra (the eponymous "Pillars of Eternity") can do just about anything. Luminous adra, or just "luminous" for short, is well on its way to extending lives, curing all known disease, powering engines, and teleporting matter, to hear the Vailian Trading Company's Director Castol tell it. [[spoiler:Flaune Elette makes good on that last promise by the end of the game if you complete her sidequests in the Spire of Soul-Seers, which is how you reach Ukaizo in the VTC ending.]] |
| 42 | * ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Five characters (including the Watcher, plus any animal companions and pets), down from six in the first game. This is out of a possible seven companions and four sidekicks in the game at launch, plus the later additions of Mirke in the ''Rum Runner'' DLC and Vatnir in ''Beast of Winter'', plus the option to make a custom adventurer in most taverns (which are as customizable as [[PlayerCharacter the Watcher]], but lack their watcher abilities). On the plus side though, if you board an enemy ship all of them will be present and fighting, though only your current party will be under your control. |
| 43 | * ArtificialBrilliance: Casters will attempt to exclude teammates from AreaOfEffect spells while including as many enemies as possible... although this won't stop said teammates from [[ArtificialStupidity running into the blast zone]] after the fact. |
| 44 | * ArtificialStupidity: While it's a considerable step up from the AI in the original Infinity Engine, the AI has limited situational awareness and will still do stupid things like cast fire-based spells against a fire giant. |
| 45 | * AssholeVictim: |
| 46 | ** Tamau is accused of stealing sacred fruit from his village, Tikawara. Everyone in town believes him guilty as Tamau has repeatedly stolen from the tribe, insulted their gods, and insulted fellow tribe members. Even if you offer to prove his innocence, Tamau remains abrasive. [[spoiler:He is innocent, however. The real culprit, Rongi, seeks to use the fruit to grow a new crop to feed the village, rather than see it wasted on a likely pointless religious ritual. As Tamau has been nothing but a drain on the village -- a claim backed up by other villagers, even the ones who know him to be innocent of this crime -- Rongi sees framing Tamau as a relatively small cost. Not that he doesn't suffer some sleepless, guilty nights after the deed is done. To rub salt in the wound, the result of this quest is not a factor at all to the tribe's future on Tikawara in the endings.]] |
| 47 | ** Entire factions can fall into this as well. The entire island of Crookspur is filled with [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slavers]] and their ships are hostile by default so the player won't feel bad sacking them for money and loot. The same could apply to the Principi since they ''are'' pirates. There's also the Rathun who will [[spoiler: all be killed off by Magran in a futile attempt to stop Eothas]] but considering they're violent fanatics who attack every ship they come across and kidnap people to [[spoiler: feed to their pet pact dragon]] few tears are likely shed. |
| 48 | * AssistCharacter: No longer just cosmetic as they were in the first game, all pets now provide bonuses -- one to the Watcher, and another to the whole party. In addition to a whole host of cats, dogs, and pigs named after the pets of Kickstarter backers, there's the usual assortment of baby monsters, inexplicably miniaturized creatures, and [[spoiler:[[VillainDecay Concelhaut again]] -- and this time, he keeps talking after his defeat.]] |
| 49 | * AsteroidsMonster: [[{{Superboss}} Megaboss]] Hauani O Whe the Voracious Mountain is a giant BlobMonster who, like other blobs, splits into two smaller (but still gigantic) oozes when brought to zero hit points. Then those oozes split into two more... Then two more... then two ''more''... The smaller oozes are considerably weaker, but each instance has the ability to merge back with other oozes into the next size up... at full health. [[spoiler:Once you realize the merging ability can be interrupted, however, the fight becomes more of a PuzzleBoss, which is easy with a monk or two, or just a few characters with the crossbow proficiency modal.]] |
| 50 | * AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: |
| 51 | ** A truly enormous statue made of living rock burst up from under your castle, destroying it in the process, and is now striding across the land, crushing towns and villages in his wake. In-game dialogue states its height as 700 feet. |
| 52 | ** Nowhere near the same scale, but two of the game's bosses, the Giant Cave Grub and Nemnok the Devourer, are, respectively, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a giant cave grub]] and [[spoiler:an imp the size of an ogre, which grew in size and intelligence by absorbing the knowledge contained in magical tomes.]] |
| 53 | ** Of the four [[{{Superboss}} megabosses]], one is a BlobMonster the size of an average two-story house, one is a GiantSpider the size of a small parking lot, and a third is a tower-sized suit of AnimatedArmor. |
| 54 | ** On the island of Kazuwari featured in ''Seeker, Slayer, Survivor'', a good chunk of the wildlife is considerably larger than the fauna in the rest of Eora. [[spoiler:This is due to the Crucible harvesting the souls of the contestants and channeling them into the island's ecosystem.]] The island's boars are particularly huge compared to regular boars. |
| 55 | * AwesomeButImpractical: The galleon and junk are extremely expensive to acquire; while they do pack a bigger wallop and look more impressive, it's entirely possible there's nobody left to battle at sea by the time you can afford them. A sufficiently tricked out dhow or voyager will be more than enough to take on anything you encounter. |
| 56 | * BackFromTheDead: Many examples. |
| 57 | ** Eothas, whose death played a major role in the first game's backstory, has returned. |
| 58 | ** The Watcher, too, comes back from a comatose state, after having a piece of their soul sucked out during Eothas' awakening. The game opens with Berath her and himself (The Pallid Knight and the Usher) offering to restore your soul to your body with the understanding that you will act as their Herald and find out the truth of Eothas' rebirth. |
| 59 | ** The various forms of undead, such as potential sidekick Ydwin [[spoiler:and, surprising no one, [[{{Lich}} Concelhaut]].]] |
| 60 | * BadBoss: Captain Aeldys is accused of having sacrificed an entire Principe crew as bait to lure out the Floating Hangman, and there's no indication that she didn't do it. Her deed still pales in comparison to how the setting's JerkassGods treat their followers, though. Every time you deal with some cult and get to ask the respective god about it, the answer lies somewhere between "they did their job and now they're expendable" and "I never cared about them in the first place, so they're expendable". |
| 61 | * BadGuyBar: Quite a few of them, because pirates. |
| 62 | ** The Hole, which is in [[IDontLikeTheSoundofThatPlace the Gullet]], Neketaka's undercity. |
| 63 | ** The King's Coffin in [[OutlawTown Dunnage]]. |
| 64 | ** Fort Deadlight has its court, although there isn't actually a shop or place to rest there. |
| 65 | * TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Though how bad [[AntiVillain Eothas actually is]] is up for debate. But no matter what you do, he completes his objective of destroying the Wheel that reincarnates souls at the end of the game. The most you are able to do is convince him to use his remaining power to either empower Berath to make them TopGod to keep the others in line, resurface Engwithan ruins that kith will be able to advance technology with, or let him use the last of his power to create what is essentially an afterlife.]] |
| 66 | ** A straighter example would be [[spoiler:if you choose to follow the plan of Rymrgand, one of the most sinister gods, to convince Eothas that kith aren't worth saving. If successfully done, Eora will quickly begin to die out, from plants and animals, to finally the kith themselves. Even the gods themselves disappear from existence until all that is left is a barren husk floating through the cosmos. Which is exactly what Rymrgand wants.]] |
| 67 | * BagOfSpilling: Eothas's attack at the start of the game does something nasty to the Watcher's soul, which depowers the Watcher to level 1. This also applies to any returning companions, with [[https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/162677457181/im-a-huge-fan-of-the-first-pillars-game-and-im Josh Sawyer claiming there's no lore reason behind it]]. That said, the in-game justification is that it's been five years since the events of the first game and the meta justification is that not only were the classes updated, the addition of multiclassing necessitates restarting from level 1. |
| 68 | * BearsAreBadNews: Not many of these in the isles apart from ranger companions and wildshifted druids (possibly including the Watcher), until you venture to the wandering iceberg of the Dead Floe, with its colony of giant snow bears. |
| 69 | * {{BFS}}: The Whispers of the Endless Paths [[spoiler:forged from the fragments of the Whispers of Yenwood and Blade of the Endless Paths which you will have if you imported a save in which you had obtained said weapons]] is massive even compared to other greatswords. This is reflected in its special abilities: it has Increased Reach which lets it hit enemies without needing to be right next to them, and it has the unique ability to strike multiple enemies (and allies unfortunately) multiple times in a cone. It even does partial Crush damage since it's just that big and heavy. It's massive size is justified since it was forged [[spoiler:using the fragments of two magical weapons, one of which was a BFS in its own right being an Estoc.]] |
| 70 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Not quite as many spiders this time around, but there are scarabs and grubs aplenty [[spoiler:including a massive Giant Cave Grub which acts as the boss for Neketaka's Old City.]] |
| 71 | * BigHeadMode: As in the first game and ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', this is a basic option in the settings menu. Thanks, Josh. |
| 72 | * BittersweetEnding: |
| 73 | ** The endings that aren't outright [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]] are this. How bitter or how sweet the ending is for different characters depends upon who you allied with and what quests you completed. |
| 74 | ** The best ending for ''Seeker, Slayer, Survivor'' [[spoiler: is to keep the status quo, which results in the Crucible becoming an ever-deadlier proving ground for those who seek it out. But trying to improve the Crucible will result in pain for the rest of the world, while shutting it down will lead to significant death as Galawain withdraws from the world, the island's jungle dies to blight and his godlike die]]. |
| 75 | * BlackComedy: The Critter Cleaver, a feature added in ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' which essentially allows you to cosmetically change your pet by applying a specific pet's bonuses to another pet. It does this [[https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/eternitywiki/c/ce/Deadfire-tfs-pet-cleaver-action.gif?version=b609379c0df0b31943647e8601e19281 by mulching up the pet whose bonuses' you want]]. It's not exactly fun for the pet whose bonuses you're changing either, judging by their new description: |
| 76 | -->''Your pet has changed. While they still follow in your step with an air of loyalty and cheer, something about their sharp, jerking movements seems unusual. Unnatural. Maybe they're still groggy from the recent 'adjustments' to their form. Or maybe they've just seen too much.'' |
| 77 | * BlackMarketProduce: In their desperation to present a strong front to the trading companies, the traditional Huana system of prize-share has broken down, with the Roparu labor caste having nothing to eat but rotten, half-eaten garbage carted down into the Gullet. One of the actual options the Watcher has for fixing this is to actually call in favors from the city's Principi black marketeers, since the Mataru warrior caste views it as a sign of weakness to admit that they lack the means to feed their own people. |
| 78 | * BloodSport: Stripped of its glorification, this is what the Crucible is: an illegal bloodsport where people fight and die for ultimately pointless reasons. Konstanten, a former participant who left the Crucible when he realized how pointless and addictive it was, is very jaded about it and tries to discourage the Watcher from participating. Though even he still feels the pull of the Crucible, judging by the way he looks at the Crucible Token with a mix of longing and disgust. The Watcher can outright call out the Crucible as an illegal bloodsport, with one arena warden feebly defending it as [[CultureJustifiesAnything tradition.]] |
| 79 | * BoardingParty: Closing to board is one way of ending ship battles quickly. One way or another, depending on your relative levels. |
| 80 | * BlobMonster: An old standby of the CRPG genre, blobs are a relatively minor, low-level threat, barring the moderately tougher bog oozes... and the towering, NighInvulnerable megaboss Hauani O Whe, the Voracious Mountain. |
| 81 | * BodyHorror: |
| 82 | ** The Lovecraftian horror elements of ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' means it's full of this. The Librarians are deathly pale and have no facial features above their gash-like mouths. Scavengers of Visions are fleshy Mothman-like humanoids with winglike flaps covered in eyeballs which wouldn't look out of place in ''Franchise/SilentHill''. [[spoiler:Archmage Maura]] is a zombie infested with glowing blue spores, the Memory Hoarder is a towering [[BodyOfBodies conglomeration of corpses]], some of which beg you for death before the fight even begins, dreambeasts are pony-sized dogs made of intestines, and the Oracle is [[spoiler:definitely [[{{Oculothorax}} not a beholder]].]] |
| 83 | ** Among the wonderful new diseases you can catch by approaching plagued ships is bone frost, the scourge of the White That Wends, which causes [[spoiler:jagged spurs of bone to grow from infected bone, eventually piercing the skin. The cure? If you have enough medical supplies, your ship surgeon can apply holistic worms, which eat away at the infected marrow.]] |
| 84 | * BonusDungeon: Lots of smaller dungeons, instead of the Endless Paths megadungeon of the first game -- with ''Deadfire'', rather than adding an extra floor at each funding level, the devs added another purely optional island. Some of the larger areas include Oathbinder's Sanctum, Arkemyr's manor home in Neketaka, Drowned Barrows, and Splintered Reef, but there are plenty of nooks and crannies in the far corners of the map which house some of the [[OptionalBoss toughest encounters]] in the game. |
| 85 | * BoozeBasedBuff: Booze comes with a variety of buffs upon rest, but reduces Dexterity and is also followed by a [[HangoverSensitivity significant debuff]]. Booze is also one of the cheaper ways to maintain and increase your crew's Morale, with rum giving a +3 Morale boost while costing much less than comparable food items. The free ''Rum Runner'' DLC seeds still more booze items throughout the game, with buffs that can even compete with higher-value craftable food items. |
| 86 | * BossSubtitles: PlayedStraight with the [[{{Superboss}} Megabosses]]: Belranga, the Crystal Empress, Hauani O Whe, the Voracious Mountain, Auranic, the Sigilmaster, and Dorudugan, the Helfire Colossus. |
| 87 | * BrainUploading: |
| 88 | ** [[spoiler:The Guardian of Ukaizo was created when the Engwithans transferred the souls of three guardian dragons into a mighty construct.]] |
| 89 | ** In ''Beast of Winter'', one sidequest has you searching for the older sister of one of the Harbingers. You find her sister in the temple, attempting to transfer her own soul into one of the temple's constructs. She claims she's doing this because she thinks it's the best way to serve Rymrgrand and wait for oblivion. [[spoiler:You can find out that she's actually suffering body image issues and would rather be a golem than be "trapped" in what she sees as a hideous form. You can either help her become a golem or convince her to reunite with her sister. If she does join the Harbingers, [[INeedAFreakingDrink she remarks that it's a good thing they make good beer.]]]] |
| 90 | * BuriedTreasure: Not as often as you might think, but at least one BountyHunter questline ends with you assembling a TreasureMap to the treasure they buried. You can also stumble upon another pirate crew attempting to bury their "treasure" -- [[spoiler:[[JokeWeapon Pukestabber]], a [[EvilWeapon cursed dagger]] which increases the effects of alcohol on the wielder -- both [[LethalJokeWeapon the positive effects]] ''and'' [[HangoverSensitivity the resulting hangover]].]] |
| 91 | * ButForMeItWasTuesday: When you confront Benweth, the Principi pirate who attacked you at the start of the game, he genuinely doesn't remember you, since he raids ships all the time. Unless you go FlippingTheBird at him again, that makes him recall you. |
| 92 | * CallBack: |
| 93 | ** [[NewGamePlus Berath's Blessing]] "Can I Pet Him Anyway?" allows Eder to equip a pet of his very own, unlocking his pet slot in addition to the Watcher's. It's named after his [[HeroesLoveDogs immediate response]] to Sagani's snow fox companion Itumaak in the first game -- ''after'' being specifically told that he bites. |
| 94 | ** The stacks of the [[spoiler:Halls Obscured]] are filled with all manner of curios and secret lore of Eora, including paraphernalia recovered from the Watcher's adventures, like a cannon from Durgan's Battery or the lower body of the Steward of Caed Nua. They've been ''watching'' you all this time. |
| 95 | * TheCameo: Many companions and other characters from the first game just happen to be in the Deadfire during your visit. |
| 96 | ** If Maneha's memory was erased per her wishes and she continued on as a mercenary, you can find her in the King's Coffin in Dunnage. She's happy to see you, but she also takes the Watcher's presence as a sign she should get out of Deadfire before things really start heating up. |
| 97 | ** Maia's brother Kana appears among the elite Rauataian soldiers (as the Ranga Nui's favorite chanter) after you clear out Crookspur. |
| 98 | ** On a decidedly unhappy note, if the Devil of Caroc was torn apart by an angry mob, you can find a breastplate made out of her construct body in Marihi's Metalwork. As a Watcher you can sense some of her soul still clinging to it. It's a pretty good piece of armor, but still, even if she was a murderer... |
| 99 | ** If Durance's sidequest was never resolved and he [[spoiler:threw himself on a pyre]] in his ending, a burning skeletal priest appears in one of Xoti's dreams. |
| 100 | ** If Hiravias was persuaded to follow Wael, the book [[spoiler:''Notes on a Vanished Orlan'']] appears in the Halls Obscured's Restricted Section. [[spoiler:While the orlan -- one-eyed, one-eared, smallish even for an orlan -- is never named, it's pretty clear who it is. A box his exact height was gifted to the Waelites for safekeeping, and when opened, revealed an extradimensional staircase. Hiravias, in his driving curiosity, gave the box's keeper a peck on the cheek, descended at once, and hasn't been seen since.]] |
| 101 | ** Adaryc Cendamyr, leader of the Readceran crusaders of the Iron Flail and a fellow Watcher, appears in the Temple of Gaun in Neketaka if you spared and allied with him in ''The White March''. |
| 102 | ** ''Beast of Winter'' calls back to the main campaign by giving you the same four dialogue options for greeting/interrupting Harbinger Leksi in the centre of the village as when the Watcher first meets Ydwin in the Spire of Soul-Seers, including clearing your throat and yelling "Hey!" |
| 103 | * CaptainColorbeard: Backer captain Rafiq the Red Beard, one of the OptionalBoss encounters prowling the world map. |
| 104 | * CataclysmBackstory: The ancient Huana tell stories of the ancient, advanced civilization they once possessed before it was all washed way. Not mere folklore, either -- the evidence is clearly visible in the ancient city of Neketaka. [[spoiler:They were [[AndManGrewProud struck down]] by the same waves and fragments of [[ColonyDrop Ionni Brathr]] Ondra called down to wipe out the ancient Engwithans.]] |
| 105 | * ChallengeRun: Tracked in-game with the Magran's Fires challenge modes which can be toggled on at the beginning of a new game. |
| 106 | ** Triple Crown ([[FinalDeathMode Trial of Iron]] on, Expert Mode on, all help and tutorial features, mods, and [[NewGamePlus Blessings]] off) and [[SoloCharacterRun Solo mode]] make their official return, mercifully no longer linked to any official achievements but [[BraggingRightsReward still tracked]] in Magran's Fires. |
| 107 | ** Each god provides their own unique challenge mode: |
| 108 | *** Eothas turns the game into a TimedMission, requiring each critical path quest to be completed by a specific date. |
| 109 | *** Galawain grants an assortment of buffs to all Beast-type enemies (which, bear in mind, includes dragons). |
| 110 | *** Hylea requires that the Watcher keep CheerfulChild Vela with the party at all times and [[EscortMission protect her at all costs]]. |
| 111 | *** Berath enables permadeath for [=KOed=] party members if they're not resurrected within 6 seconds of falling, and blocks the ability to run out the timer on combat by moving far enough away from any active opponents. |
| 112 | *** Magran prevents pausing and slow time in combat. |
| 113 | *** Abydon causes weapons and armor to [[BreakableWeapons wear out over time]] so that they must be repaired through the Enchanting menu. |
| 114 | *** Skaen causes the FogOfWar to be much more oppressive indoors and at night, encouraging characters to make use of torch items and/or Xoti's lantern. |
| 115 | *** Ondra increases the number of respawning ships in the Deadfire, increases the strength of storms, and causes both to move more quickly. |
| 116 | *** Rymrgand causes food to spoil over time. |
| 117 | *** Woedica makes it so that powers and resources only refresh after resting rather than after each encounter, including hit points. In addition, wounds and resources are only restored when the player eats a prepared/crafted meal, not just any food item. |
| 118 | *** Wael conceals the majority of in-game numbers, including stats, damage, armor rating, and even amount of gold the player has. |
| 119 | * CharacterClass: Almost completely overhauled from the first game. All the original classes return, but ''Deadfire'' adds a new wrinkle by further differentiating each class with three subclasses in addition to the vanilla class (or retaining the original subclasses in the case of priests, paladins, and wizards). They also introduced multiclassing, which works by choosing two base classes at first level and combining them (with each combination having its own unique name). Multiclass characters require more levels to unlock new abilities and their abilities will be weaker than if they were single class, but they can choose their abilities and talents from both classes. |
| 120 | * CharacterDevelopment: Edér and Aloth's personalities' heavily reflect the influence the Watcher had on them from the first game, changing how they react to various events. For example, if Edér is still a worshipper of Eothas, he's very welcoming and supportive of Xoti. If he's turned from his faith, he's far more critical of her, as he sees her making the same mistakes as he once did. |
| 121 | * ChekhovsGun: |
| 122 | ** The massive statue of Maros Nua in the Endless Paths returns with a vengeance when Eothas possesses it and destroys Caed Nua. |
| 123 | ** During the "Mapping the Archipelago" quest chain, you visit a strange island with a bizarre encounter with an eyeless kith and a Temple to Wael that doesn't have any story content to it. This island turns out to be the location of the "Forgotten Sanctum" DLC. |
| 124 | * ChekhovsVolcano: The Deadfire is named after the chain of dormant volcanos scattered throughout the Archipelago. Acknowledged in-game. [[spoiler:Magran erupts the lake of magma at Ashen Maw in a bid to destroy Eothas as he passes through to Ondra's mortar.]] |
| 125 | * CitadelCity: [[HubCity Neketaka]] is a mostly vertical, multi-tiered city of high walls and bridges perched precariously on the sides of two mountains, with the royal palace at the summit of the western peak. |
| 126 | * TheCityNarrows: Even the harbor in Neketaka is [[ShiningCity bright and sunny]] -- the city's dregs and undesirables are kept carefully hemmed in within the aptly-named Gullet, a district built above Neketaka's collapsed Old City. It adjoins a series of tunnels and caverns actually called the Narrows, which riddle the interior of the mountain and are home to the city's thriving BlackMarket, in places with names like Delver's Row and the Undercroft. |
| 127 | * CommonCharacterClasses: Zigzagged. Classic archetypes like the Fighter, Wizard, Priest, and Rogue are all available, along with common wrinkles to those formulas like the Barbarian, Paladin, and Ranger. But then there are unique classes that aren't quite so common; Chanters who cast spells using stories and songs and Ciphers who cast predominantly mind-affecting magic that they charge by attacking. Multiclassing also allows for nontraditional combinations, like Paladin/Druid or Fighter/Wizard. Most interestingly, the affect of stats on combat is more esoteric than in most [=RPGs=], so, for example, a Wizard wants lots of Might, meaning combinations that have schizophrenic requirements in other games will thrive here and vice-versa. |
| 128 | * CoolShip: But of course. In addition to the various ships you can buy and kit out to your liking, there's also [[spoiler:[[GhostShip the Floating Hangman]], a galleon of the dead which can control the weather and which you can take as your own; a submarine which you'll have helped the Royal Deadfire Company build if you followed their questline; and on the Vailian Trading Company questline, Flaune Elette outfits your ship with a special device which allows it to create portals through the adra.]] |
| 129 | * CorruptCorporateExecutive: Despite Director Castol's idealism, most of the Company is OnlyInItForTheMoney. [[spoiler:Knowing achieving his long-term hopes ForScience hinge on showing an immediate profit means he's willing to work with Captain Furrante and the Crookspur slavers as a means to an end -- slavery is legal outside of the Deadfire, and the kind of long-term goals he has in mind for animancy require an operating budget. Of course, this puts him in a perfect position for Governor Alvari to make a grab for his job.]] |
| 130 | * CreatorCameo: |
| 131 | ** The game's director, Josh Sawyer, is one of the backup singers in the sea shanties. |
| 132 | ** Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart lends his likeness to Captain Fyrgist of the backer-designed Heaving Harlot, crewed by the Black Isle Bastards (named after Creator/BlackIsle, the division of Interplay many of the founding staffers of Obsidian worked for before the company folded). |
| 133 | * {{Crossover}}: Free launch DLC for the game includes portraits and voice lines for the members of Vox Machina [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and Gilmore)]] from ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', all performed by the characters' respective actors. |
| 134 | * CuttingOffTheBranches: {{Downplayed| Trope}} example, as it only affects one possible ending from the first game. [[spoiler:For practicality reasons, importing a end-game where the player didn't finish ''The White March -- Part II'', which results in a SuddenDownerEnding where the Watcher thwarts Thaos' plans, only to have the Eyeless show up and rain doom down upon Caed Nua and all of the Eastern Reach, will just lead to ''Deadfire'' quietly ignoring that ending.]] |
| 135 | ** There are a few choices that were cut from the History Editor due to the devs not planning on reacting to them in-game. These include [[spoiler:finding the Well with Maneha but convincing her to make peace with her memories (which the game nevertheless ''does'' track), and restoring the Eyeless to Abydon after tempering them.]] |
| 136 | * {{Cult}}: Aloth is out hunting for minor sects of the Leaden Key. [[spoiler:He ends up finding them among the ancient Huana. Though they have no idea that they are furthering the cause of the Leaden Key, they think they are just isolationists.]] A separate cult has sprung up in [[spoiler:Junvik Village, a boreal dwarf settlement to the far north of the map, worshipping a new god named [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever Nemnok]].]] |
| 137 | * CultureChopSuey: Three of the four main factions do this. |
| 138 | ** The Vailians are a human culture whose names language sound Italian, physical features are African, and whose main political entity in the Deadfire--the Vailian Trading Company--is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of the Dutch East India Company. |
| 139 | ** The Rauatai are an amaua people from the continental coast. Their names and language are based on Pacific islander first nations, their appearances are also quite African (though they stand about a foot taller than humans and have dark orange stripes), and they operate a different trading company, also in the mold of the British or Dutch East India Company. |
| 140 | ** The Principi sen Patrena are a coalition of pirates. Sarafen is the one we see most, but they're a combination of pirate tropes from a dozen sources. |
| 141 | ** The Huana are a pretty straight FantasyCounterpartCulture for Pacific islander or Hawaiian first nations. Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaii's reign seems particularly relevant, as they are an island nation led by a queen, beset by imperialist outsiders. |
| 142 | ** As in the first game, Dyrwoodians use Celtic naming conventions, UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents, and have a culture similar to Ireland or Scotland, owing to their history of colonization and resistance with the much larger Aedyr. |
| 143 | * DarkSecret: One quest in the Huana questline, "The Shadow Under Neketaka", deals with the dark secret of the Huana Watershaper Guild. [[spoiler:They have not been able to draw power from Ondra for generations. For a long time, the true source of their power has been the soul of a guardian dragon their founder Periki betrayed and imprisoned under the guild. And the dragon wants out.]] |
| 144 | * DeaderThanDead: As with the first game, this is Rymrgand's MO. He seeks the end of all things. He can destroy ''your'' soul if you mouth off to him too much (or if [[TooDumbToLive you ask him to]]), and he warns that if you die within his realm during the Beast of Winter DLC, that this fate awaits you. [[spoiler:He also sees Eothas's trek as an opportunity to achieve this on a ''global'' scale. Eothas's plan to destroy the Wheel means that there will be no more reincarnation of souls, which speeds along the end of the world if kith are not able to find an alternate solution. He also tries to convince the Watcher to convince Eothas that kith are not worthy, which will cause Eothas to cause the end of all things when he destroys the Wheel, which causes ''all'' life on Eora to wither and die, kith, plants, even the gods themselves, leaving Eora a barren husk.]] |
| 145 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: 'Friendship' might be a stretch, but defeating bonus bosses Concelhaut and [[spoiler:Nemnok]] mean they can be brought along on the Watcher's travels... as pets. Concelhaut is decapitated (again) and reduced to an endlessly snarky floating skull; [[spoiler:Nemnok is BroughtDownToNormal, and is small even for an imp. Initially reluctant to go from would-be god to housepet, Nemnok adjusts quickly enough after finding a pile of money in your backpack that makes for a decent bed.]] |
| 146 | * DemBones: One of the most common types of undead vessels, and notable for being completely ImmuneToBullets. |
| 147 | * DerelictGraveyard: Splintered Reef, a town built out of wrecked ships [[spoiler:inhabited by skeletons, guls, and fampyrs.]] |
| 148 | * DesertedIsland: All over the place, and more than the map actually lets you visit. The Huana are nomadic, and the Vailians build company towns which are inhabited only until whatever local resource they're harvesting dries up. The most prominent of these is probably Poko Kahara, a barren island covered in actual desert, plagued by constant storms. It's also home to a lost Engwithan temple and [[spoiler:a foully corrupted pillar of adra. The "temple" is actually a damaged waystation in the Engwithans' artificial soul network, with the souls of the dead having become trapped inside and rotting there for who knows how long.]] |
| 149 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 150 | ** Like the first game, the dialogue is very responsive to the Watcher's background, profession, and personality, with the added bonus of dialogue that reflects your choices from the first game. |
| 151 | ** If you don't have a save from the first game, or don't want to use it, you can pick a premade legacy that generally reflects a personality archetype... or you can pick one where the Watcher made every possible mistake in the first game, such as reneging on your bargain with every god, getting every companion killed, and getting the worst outcome to every quest (while still ending the Hollowborn Crisis). |
| 152 | ** When Arkemyr summons you to his manor, if you show up in the robes [[spoiler:you [[DressingAsTheEnemy stole from inside his wardrobe]] in the previous quest]], the archmage will notice. You have the option of telling him [[spoiler:[[RefugeInAudacity they're very comfortable]]]]. He knows. |
| 153 | ** Ydwin has a few extra branches of dialogue if you recruit her after the mercenary attack on the Spire, mostly concerning the Watcher suspecting she's a spy, with little proof other than her being [[VanHelsingHateCrimes a fampyr]]. |
| 154 | ** The lead singer of the sea shanties on the ship changes depending on whether the helmsman is a man or woman. Unfortunately, all the best helmsmen are men so it's a detail many players will miss. |
| 155 | ** The number of possible ending states is staggering. There's even a slide for [[spoiler:seeing Aloth at the Engwithan dig site near Port Maje and not recruiting him.]] |
| 156 | ** The final major update, 5.0, amends a number of cases where this was not the case, in particular adding new dialogue for Priests of Eothas and Woedica (and Woedica's Steel Garrote paladins), and additional dialogue for both gods in general based on your actions in the previous game (i.e. if you chose to funnel the Hollowborn souls back to Woedica, completing Thaos's plans and empowering her). |
| 157 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In "The Beast of Winter", [[spoiler:if you refuse to pledge your soul to Rymrgand in exchange for being allowed to leave the White Void, he attacks you with his divine avatar, the Beast of Winter. You can then defeat the Beast in combat. Rymrgand regenerates all of his wounds after the fight, but he is so amused by your audacity that he lets you go with no strings attatched.]] |
| 158 | * DiscOneNuke: There are quite a few good weapons that can be obtained quite early in the game if you know what you're doing: |
| 159 | ** The earliest example (and the weakest) is the Gladiator Sword. This can be found in the first real dungeon (which you have to visit as part of the story) behind a puzzle. This sword has properties that make it a very good weapon for a sword and shield character build (such as Edér), and the one downside it has (-1 Armor Penetration) can be removed for a rather trivial cost (the ingredients are even found in the same dungeon) and replaced with a property that makes its Armor Penetration even better than normal (+1 Armor Penetration). |
| 160 | ** The Old City of Neketaka can be visited fairly early. While there are several challenging encounters for an early game party, it is also home to several good unique weapons and one of the very useful summoning items. The Old City is difficult but doable as early as level 6. |
| 161 | ** Peacefully resolving the family feud between the Bardattos and the Valeras requires very little actual combat and a few rather easy skill and stat checks. It's even easier if you have Pallegina in your party. The head of the Bardatto family will reward you with a unique mace while the head of the Valera family will reward you with a unique sword. Finishing the quests each family gives you prior to this will also reward you with sail and hull upgrades for your ship that will serve you well for a while until you have enough extra gold to afford better. |
| 162 | ** [[spoiler:If you imported a save with the Whispers of Yenwood and the Blade of the Endless Paths (or created a history in which you reforged the Blade)]], you can obtain the Whispers of the Endless Paths as soon as you get 3000 pires, which can be easily obtained after just a few quests. The Whispers of the Endless Paths is arguably ''the'' best greatsword in the game which will serve a two-handed weapon wielding character well all the way to the end. |
| 163 | * DivineDate: "A Very Good Farmer" is an in-universe slash fic that pairs [[spoiler:Waidwen and his god.]] The Hand Occult considered it [[TheWorldIsNotReady too spicy for mass publication]] and confiscated all copies. |
| 164 | * DoomedHometown: Caed Nua, the fortress from the first game, gets destroyed by Eothas as he reawakens. |
| 165 | * DoNotTauntCthulhu: Word to the wise: best not to mouth off to the gods this game... [[spoiler:Unless you ''want'' a NonStandardGameOver.]] |
| 166 | * {{Dracolich}}: [[spoiler:The boss of the ''Beast of Winter'' DLC, Neriscyrlas, is a dragon who has achieved functional immortality by binding her soul to an ancient relic.]] |
| 167 | * DrawAggro: Still based on the engagement and disengagement rules of the first game. The Hold the Line talent (+1 to engagement) is now exclusive to fighters, but all shields now increase engagement by +1, and anyone who's proficient with spears or two-handed pollaxes gains access to modal abilities which also increases engagement by +1. They still can't match the Fighter (with their Defender modal, +2 to engagement), but it does let any character add to your party's shield wall in a pinch. |
| 168 | * DressingAsTheEnemy: One quest will have you [[spoiler:dressing up in Arkemyr's old clothes and pretending to be the archmage himself]] -- a PaperThinDisguise that only works because [[spoiler:Arkemyr is a powerful illusionist who apparently ''does'' in fact regularly disguise himself as other people while he's at home]]... and because his servants are idiots. |
| 169 | * DualWielding: Now you can dual wield one-handed ranged weapons as well, going SwordAndGun or GunsAkimbo with pistols or blunderbusses. The same is also true of [[MagicKnight mage implements]], though sadly you can't do the full Gandalf with a sword and staff, since staves can only be wielded as two-handed quarterstaffs in the game. |
| 170 | * DumbMuscle: Imps aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, but they make for decent laborers if you know how to control them. Infamous misanthrope [[TheArchmage Arkemyr]] prefers imps over kith for this reason, with security being handled by suits of AnimatedArmor, which are much stronger while being even dumber. |
| 171 | * DungeonCrawling: While most of the game's dungeons are comparatively short compared to the Endless Paths from the first game, the Halls Obscured, the main dungeon from ''The Forgotten Sanctum'', is considerably meatier. [[WombLevel In more ways than one.]] |
| 172 | * EldritchAbomination: Years in hibernation seem to have mutated [[spoiler:Wael's titan body into a tentacled monstrosity that looks a lot like one of these.]] |
| 173 | * TheEmpire: In full effect for Rauatai in this game, with characterization drawn from the British, Aztec, and Japanese empires, to say nothing of US military adventurism. Despite having risen from the ashes of the old empire of Grand Vailia, the Vailian Trading Company operates more along the lines of a MegaCorp |
| 174 | * EndOfAnAge: The story ends with [[spoiler:Eothas smashing the wheel. While this means that the gods won't be able to be powered by the souls of kith anymore, it also means the cycle of reincarnation comes to an end, possibly meaning the end of mankind. Eothas is confident that mankind can figure out a solution to this problem, and if the Watcher doesn't try to convince him of a better option, he creates what is essentially an afterlife for all souls, which will be a final haven in case mankind is unable to create an alternate solution.]] |
| 175 | * EnemyMine: Averted. After Ashen Maw, the situation gets bad enough that the fate of Eora seems to hang in the balance. You'd think that'd be enough to get the four squabbling factions to come together, right? Haha, no. The Watcher can try to negotiate an alliance between them, but the effort falls apart before it begins, because each of the factions have mutually exclusive goals and are in direct competition with each other. Also, as detailed under MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers, don't expect the soldiers and patriots in your party to change their loyalties for your benefit. |
| 176 | * EquipmentUpgrade: Upgrading equipment works somewhat differently from the previous game. In this game, only unique weapons and armor and shields are upgradeable. You can upgrade the quality of unique weapons (improving their base stats) all the way to Legendary, though this can be ''very'' expensive both in terms of money and resources. Unique weapons also have unique special abilities you can spend money and resources on to obtain. With certain gear, some upgrades are actually mutually exclusive meaning if you pick one you are locked out of getting another. This means that the same piece of gear you obtained and upgraded in one playthrough can turn out very differently in your next playthrough. |
| 177 | * EscortMission: The [[SelfImposedChallenge Magran's Fire]] challenge for Hylea puts [[TagalongKid orlan orphan]] Vela in the Watcher's active party at all times. She has a various (unvoiced) quips for when you bring her along, and while she doesn't take up a slot, she can't fight and can't be controlled, instead cowering in fear when battle breaks out, and if you [[ImprobableInfantSurvival fail to protect her]], it's an immediate game over. |
| 178 | * EveryoneIsBi: Downplayed with the companion characters. Aloth, Maia, Serafen, Tekēhu, and Xoti are all possible love interests for Watchers of both genders. Edér, meanwhile, is exclusively heterosexual (though the fact he develops a crush on [[{{Elfeminate}} Aloth's]] female SplitPersonality makes it at least a little ambiguous) but is uninterested in a romantic relationship for reasons that are explained through his personal quest, while Pallegina is AmbiguouslyGay but will also reject any ideas of romance because she remains firmly MarriedToTheJob. |
| 179 | * EveryoneJoinTheParty: If you close to board in ship-to-ship combat, all the Watcher's companions and sidekicks join the resulting fight, even though you still only control the active party. |
| 180 | * EvilColonialist: Deconstructed by both Trading Companies. A big part of this is that all four major factions are written with various viewpoints that emphasize different aspects of each organization, producing conflicting motivations between different members of the same faction. |
| 181 | ** The Royal Deadfire Company takes on many of the worst traits of the East India Company, including the CondescendingCompassion of believing they're doing the Huana a favor by dragging them "into the present" with them. At the same time, many of its members have a genuine desire to reunite the long-separated Amaua people. Just about everyone in the Royal Deadfire Company agrees that inaction won't help the Huana, as the Vailian Trading Company will continue to encroach across the islands, one contract at a time. |
| 182 | ** For their part, the Vailians are interested in whatever brings their directors the most money and their animancers the most knowledge. This cuts both ways. We see the directors unscrupulously backing those who get results and making a point of not investing ''how'' those results were achieved, up to and including slavery. By the same token, the directors have plans that will increase the prosperity of everyone in the Deadfire, with a rising tide lifting all boats. We also see the Animancers conducting dangerous experiments (including one that can lead to a NonStandardGameOver at Rymrgand's hands). But at the same time, the Vailian Animancers are make the first steps towards the great heights of Engwith, unseen for thousands of years, and access to the Deadfire's great quantity of luminous adra is the reason why. |
| 183 | ** This is all complicated by the general incompetence of the Huana. Their caste system is dysfunctional, with nearly every settlement showing the Roparu, the lowest caste, struggling with starvation...including in Nekataka, a city swollen with foreign wealth. The Huana tribes are scattered, including isolationists who murder indiscriminately. Slavery is legal; it's illegal to enslave people native to the Deadfire, but it's also very difficult for an enslaved person to ''prove'' they're a native, assuming they can find anyone who'd do anything if convinced. The Huana have no plan for dealing with the Principi, nor the equipment to carry one out. Rauatai's arguments about unity for the Amaua people are more difficult to resist when the Huana already seem on the brink of ruin, even as their leadership insists the foreign encroachment leads to wealth that is enriching the Deadfire, even as its people struggle against starvation and slavery. |
| 184 | * EvilVsEvil: All over the place. [[AristocratsAreEvil Captain Furrante]] and [[SmugSnake Grand Secretary Atsura]] probably stand out above the rest. The Principi's pirates and Rauatai's open warmongering are the most blatantly villainous, but [[MegaCorp the Vailian Trading Company]] pays for results and tends not to look all that closely at where those results come from [[spoiler:including [[HonestCorporateExecutive Director Castol's]] tacit endorsement, however reluctant, of Crookspur's slavers]]. Similarly, the Kahanga royal family are so desperate for a win that they'll generally take the easy road, for fear of what sentiment or idealism might cost them. |
| 185 | ** The central plot of the Principi sen Patrena questline boils down to this (or Evil VS Chaotic Neutral, if you prefer). Furrante's Old Blood are willing to do dirty work [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil like slavery]] if it gets results. Aeldys' New Blood are still a bunch of murderers and thieves with no respect for property laws, but draw a hard line that people aren't property, no matter what royals say. |
| 186 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Watcher lives up to their title in the literal sense in this game. They're mostly a passive observer to the main conflict of the gods, though they are active and influential in the faction quests. Lampshaded at the end of the game when [[spoiler:you even have the option to tell Eothas you just showed up to watch him destroy the Wheel.]] |
| 187 | * ExposedToTheElements: Characters tend to be (over)dressed for the tropical climate of the Deadfire, but are also completely ''under''dressed for the frigid temperatures of the Dead Floe, much like in the first game's ''White March'' DLC. |
| 188 | * {{Expy}}: While significantly altered in terms of how sympathetic they are or aren't, the four factions of the Deadfire map loosely to the four major factions of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'''s Mojave Wasteland. |
| 189 | ** The Royal Deadfire Company are an expansionist military force like the NCR while the Vailian Trading Company are a merchant-minded and scientifically-savvy corporation like House. |
| 190 | ** The Huana and Principi are less straightforward -- while the Huana are the natives, they also represent a more sympathetic view of the Legion's regressive values, and the tribes are much more unified than the equivalent settlers and tribes of Vegas. The Principi seemingly champion freedom and independence, but they're also exactly the bloodthirsty marauders others make them out to be. The Legion's role as a ruthless, brutal occupying force, meanwhile, goes to the RDC, but they are genuinely more well-intentioned and nuanced than Caesar and his army ever were. |
| 191 | ** The Children of the Dawnstars, meanwhile, as a minor faction providing foreign aid and medical care, but with limited influence or military power on their own, are loosely equivalent to the Followers of the Apocalypse. The Dawnstars are explicitly religious missionaries, however, as opposed to the the Followers' secular mission to preserve and rediscover knowledge otherwise lost to the apocalypse. |
| 192 | * FactionSpecificEndings: The choice which affects the bulk of most endings is which faction you choose to work with: the native Huana through the traditionalist Kahanga Royal Family, the warmongering Royal Deadfire Company who want to colonize the Deadfire for themselves, the profit-driven Vailian Trading Company who's out to exploit the [[AppliedPhlebotinum luminous adra]] trade for as long as they can, and the pirates of the Principi sen Patrena. Each choice has its own repercussions for the Archipelago, some positive, some negative. You can also opt out of supporting any of the four main factions and sail into TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon on your own. |
| 193 | ** The Vailian Trading Company [[spoiler:requires you to either defend or indict Director Castol in front of the Sengretta mea Compresa (Congress of the Company). You then sabotage the Rauataians' powderhouse, vastly diminishing the threat they present to the region, and are given you a time bomb to help pull it off. Since Flaune Elette's missions are required on the Vailian track, her teleportation technology is also available during your infiltration, as well as being used to create a stable portal through Ondra's Mortar.]] Under Castol, [[spoiler:the Vailians focus on further research into animancy and largely leave the other factions to their own devices: Onekaza's power wanes but the Huana culture continues, the constant storms over Rauatai come to an end and, suspicious though they might be, the Royal Deadfire Company continues to operate at a distant second-best in the region, and meanwhile the Principi have plenty of rich Vailian ships to rob, which the Vailians can afford to write off. Under Alvari, however, as soon as the Deadfire's supply of luminous adra is tapped out, they leave the Archipelago entirely, meaning that, in all likelihood, the Huana get Ukaizo after all, even if the Kahanga's power has waned in the meantime.]] |
| 194 | ** The Royal Deadfire Company [[spoiler:orders you to assassinate Queen Onekaza II, formalizing their takeover of the Archipelago. They then unveil the submarine they've had Iverra building at Sayuka, which will allow you to bypass Ondra's Mortar (as well as most of the battle at Ofecchia Channel, if you so choose). If the Rauataians take Rauatai, then, as promised, they bring stability and prosperity to the Archipelago... and Huana culture is more or less erased. The Vailians are, of course, ejected from the region.]] |
| 195 | ** Queen Onekaza II of the Huana's influential Kahanga tribe [[spoiler:actually has the same plan as Director Castol, but with the rider that she's going to pin the sabotage on the Vailians with your testimony, pitting the Vailians and Rauataians against each other for years to come. She has the Wahaki bolster her naval forces at Ofecchia, and if the watershapers still have [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Scyorielaphas' power]], they can create a tunnel of stable water through the worst of the storm on the way to Ukaizo.]] |
| 196 | ** The Principi [[spoiler:require you to end the standoff between the ambitious but underhanded Captain Furrante and the freedom-loving but brutal anarchist Captain Aeldys. You have to fight Aeldys, but you can actually provide evidence of Captain Furrante's ties to the Crookspur slavers, which gets him hanged and saves you having to battle the whole rest of the Consuaglo mes Casitàs in Balefire Beacon. The surviving captain then has you capture the [[FlyingDutchman Floating Hangman]] and use it to navigate through the storms of Ondra's Mortar. Under Furrante, the Principi fulfill their original goal of establishing a new homeland to succeed Old Vailia and make an uneasy peace with the other three factions. Under Aeldys, the Principi reactivate the storms of Ukaizo, so that no faction will be able to use the island to rule the Deadfire and to ensure that the Deadfire remains a pirate's paradise.]] |
| 197 | ** As mentioned, you can also go it alone, [[spoiler:either upgrading your ship with the game's best hull and sails, or by stealing the Floating Hangman and never returning to the Principi. Doing so, however, leaves the region in turmoil for years to come, with the companies at each others throats leaving the Principi free to attack the Huana with impunity.]] |
| 198 | ** To make it more complicated, which faction is the second-most powerful (as influenced by how you complete the game's various quests) will ''also'' affects the endgame and ending, and in the right circumstances Onekaza II's final quest can be skipped entirely while still aligning with her. [[spoiler:Whichever faction is the most powerful non-allied faction confronts you at Ukaizo, and subsequently suffers worse consequences -- the Principi is crippled and collapses, the RDC is kicked out of Deadfire entirely, etc. Onekaza's quest, for example, can be skipped if the RDC's Hazanui Karu has already been killed prior to the mission to destroy the powderhouse, which can leave Castol still in charge of the VTC with multiple knock-on effects.]] |
| 199 | * FalseFlagOperation: During the late game, as the last quest for the faction, [[spoiler:both Queen Onekaza and the director of the Vailian Trading Company will order you on the same mission: blow up the Royal Deadfire Company's gunpowder supply. Both happened to have had the same idea of cutting the RDC's legs out from under them, but they're not working together: the Vailian plan ends there, but Onekaza wants to pin the attack on the Vailian Trading Company, thus setting the companies against each other and getting both of the Royal Family's biggest enemies out of the way at once.]] |
| 200 | * {{Fanservice}}: The Luminous Bathhouse is designed for this, featuring full male and female nudity, front and back. |
| 201 | * FantasticCasteSystem: The Huana are divided into castes and believe they will reincarnate into a higher caste upon death. It's the responsibility of the higher castes to look take care of the lower castes, and and food and resources are shared with the highest caste picking what they want and giving what they do not want to the lower castes who "survive on the scraps". The system works fine when dealing with small island villages where the population is low and everyone knows everyone else personally and no one falls through the cracks. It falls apart in a large Huana metropolis like Neketaka where the Roparu population is too huge to be easily provided for, and the higher castes more prone to keep more for themselves. This is not helped by the fact that the higher castes see charity towards the Roparu as a personal insult, as it carries the implication that the higher castes are failing in their duties and thus outsiders need to step in. The castes are, in order of elevation: |
| 202 | ** Ranga: Tribal chieftains, typically elevated from the Mataru caste. |
| 203 | ** Mataru: Warriors and priests. |
| 204 | ** Kuaru: Artisans and craftsmen. |
| 205 | ** Roparu: Laborers who form the bottom rung of the caste system. In Nekataka they live in the Gullet, the core of the city, and suffer from lack of access to food and resources. |
| 206 | ** Unworthy: Casteless, usually criminals who have been stripped of their caste. |
| 207 | * FantasticNuke: The Godhammer, as the weapon that killed Eothas when he took the form of Waidwen, remains a major piece of the setting's background. More conspicuous by its absence, interestingly -- the sheer destructive power of it seems to have genuinely deterred Eorans from building more, rather than sparking a Cold War. One wonders how the lack of such a weapon when Eothas ''returned'' will affect developments in the future of the setting -- more than one of the faction leaders notes how they could really use another one right now. [[spoiler:During ''Beast of Winter'', you can travel to a realm in the Beyond formed from the recollections of Saint Waidwen's soul as he was destroyed by the Godhammer. You get to see the moment of its activation and its aftermath frozen in time. The horrifying and awe-inspiring spectacle lives up to a weapon that killed an incarnated god. At one point you even see the Godhammer itself and discover that it was partly powered by a piece of Eothas' own divine essence...which explains why no more have been made.]] |
| 208 | * FantasticRacism: The view of some Vailians towards the Aumaua (or more specifically, the Huana) qualifies, as one of the first people you can help in Port Maje not only lied about how a fight had started, but [[NeverMyFault refuses to take any responsibility]] for having gambled his savings away if you help him, instead blaming the "savage" for losing her temper (a bit of CultureClash happened as well since the Huana beat him after he called her a cheater, but she also kept his savings that she has no want for and was unaware that he really does need it). The best he has to say is that the chieftain of the local tribe [[YouAreACreditToYourRace is one of the good ones]]. |
| 209 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Huana bear a strong resemblance to the first nations of Hawaii, particularly during the colonial period. The other main factions are more of a CulturalChopSuey. |
| 210 | * FeudingFamilies: The ship-building Bardatto family and the sail-making pirate-hunting Valera family have been feuding for years. By the time you arrive the conflict has reached a boiling point -- you are introduced to it when you discover the sons of the two families about to engage in a duel to the death. You can then join in a few quests from the heads of each family which culminate in you ending the feud one way or another. Pallegina supports a peaceful resolution since both families are valuable assets to the Vailian Republics. The relative ease with which you can achieve said peaceful resolution implies that, deep down, both families wanted to de-escalate hostilities but were worried about losing face (though [[spoiler:a failed negotiation will have one of the families there try to murder everyone else in the room, including you]]). |
| 211 | * FinalBoss: [[spoiler:The Guardian of Ukaizo, a huge and powerful TransformingMecha,]] provides a suitably epic roadblock on the way to the ending... unless [[spoiler:you made a pact with the imprisoned dragon underneath the Watershapers' Guild, in which case it will battle the Guardian offscreen while your party only faces two standard Engwithan titans instead, plus whoever's leading the opposing faction as a comparatively disappointing stand-in a bit later]]. [[GuideDangIt The "unless" condition has little to no relation to the final boss when it happens]] and may in fact be a quite unwelcome side effect, considering how much action and interesting exposition it ultimately costs the player. It's not every day that a game's final boss [[SkippableBoss can be skipped]] ''by accident''. |
| 212 | * FinalDeathMode: If you activate the Path of Iron challenge, anyone who would normally be knocked out in combat stays down, and there's no SaveScumming in this case. |
| 213 | * FirstTown: Port Maje, where you'll need to go in order to repair the Defiant before you GetOnTheBoat and start OpeningTheSandbox. It's considerably more welcoming than Gilded Vale ever was, despite having just been hit by storms and flooding. |
| 214 | * FlamingSkulls: The St. Drogga's Skull preorder bonus is the skull and spinal column of a Magranite saint, the vertebrae of which are coiled around the blade of a cutlass, with the skull glowing with [[TechnicolorFire green fire]]. It's wielded as a torch, meaning it can only be equipped to your off hand, but also has the Sabre proficiency and can be enchanted to keep it relevant throughout the game. According to the flavor text, the Magranites donated it to the chapel at Caed Nua in gratitude for the Watcher saving the Dyrwood. Um... Thanks? |
| 215 | * FlunkyBoss: Most of them, just as a result of the game's action economy. It's difficult for a single enemy to keep a whole party busy especially if the player judiciously employs crowd control effects. |
| 216 | ** Notably averted by the Engwithan Titan (and the Engwithan Fire Titan from ''Seeker, Slayer, Survivor''), which can simply tank damage and hit hard, although once it's outleveled this means it can simply be damage-raced to death. |
| 217 | ** Megaboss Belranga's lair continuously spawns crystal-eater spiders over the course of the fight. [[spoiler:It would be a mistake to try and kill them all, however, since their mother [[MamaBear gets a stacking damage boost]] for every spiderling that dies, and if you kill enough of her children before noticing this she quickly reaches the point where she can one-shot a tank from full health.]] |
| 218 | * ForDoomTheBellTolls: Bells are a significant recurring motif in the game, with an image of eleven bells -- each a different shape and tone, one for each of the gods -- appearing each time Berath summons the Watcher before a council of the various other gods, minus Eothas. [[spoiler:Berath begins the game by creating a "knot" in the Watcher's soul and body, which takes the form of a small, black chime, of the same sort apparently contained within each of the godlike. This connection allows the gods to keep watch over each of their "children", as well as spying through their eyes and, if need be, possess them or call back their essence back into themselves for an emergency power-up -- the latter of which [[JerkassGods kills the chime-bearer]].]] |
| 219 | * ForScience: Director Castol is trying to steer the Vailian Trading Company in this direction, believing that animancy can change the world, extending life, ending disease, powering machines, and unlocking the secrets of [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation]] [[spoiler:which Flaune Elette ends up actually doing]]. He spends much of his time convincing the rest of the company that [[OnlyInItForTheMoney the long-term profits will be worth it.]] |
| 220 | * FreudianTrio: The Faces of Toamowhai: the Seeking Face is the superego, a cunning trickster represented by the spider and her web; the bloodthirsty, savage Slaying Face is the id, depicted as a snarling [[PantheraAwesome stelgaer]] (a sabertoothed cat); and the Surviving Face is the ego, the patient boar who endures all that comes their way. [[spoiler:To hammer it home, the Faces are actually three different incarnations of the ''same'' soul.]] |
| 221 | * FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Recruitable cipher/rogue Ydwin, a mild-mannered pale elf animancer who has managed to separate her soul from her body, removing it from the cycle of the Wheel and turning herself into one of the undead. |
| 222 | * FromStrayToPet: While the Watcher could take in the occasional lost dog or cat or adopt the occasional piglet or [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe wurm hatchling]], in ''Deadfire'' you stumble onto lost, orphaned, abandoned pets everywhere you go, many of them ordinary housepets which seem to end up in the strangest places: on rooftops, on far-flung uninhabited islands, and deep inside ancient ruins. |
| 223 | * FunetikAksent: Iselmyr and various minor characters with her Hylspeak accent. TruthInTelevision, as Old and Middle English likewise had no standardized spelling and were simply written the way the writer heard them. |
| 224 | ** Udyne in the Luminous Bathhouse is an elderly elf who fought on Aedyr's side during the War of Defiance. She has quite a long story to tell, so she's one of the better examples of how spoken Hylspeak is actually meant to sound. |
| 225 | ** Yseyr the Berathian is a priest of Berath [[spoiler:who was made into a Death Guard by Berath in order to stand watch over the sword of his nemesis, Lucia Rivan, captain of the Floating Hangman.]] |
| 226 | * GambitPileup: Between the four factions, with Eothas and the other gods thrown into the mix. The Watcher, meanwhile, is stated to be an important pawn in everyone's plans, [[DragonWithAnAgenda though they may have]] [[SpannerInTheWorks their own ideas.]] |
| 227 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: |
| 228 | ** As with the first game, there are multiple times that the skills you know can help with story segments. A house is on fire? Someone with water spells can put the fire out. Someone has been knocked off your ship? If your wizard can summon tentacles generally used for combat, they can summon a tentacle to lift said crewmember out of the water. |
| 229 | ** If you save Pallegina's friend during her quest, he gives you an amulet that resonates with the magic bell inside the Godlike, giving them special abilities. Normally it ''only'' works for the Godlike, as normal kith do not have such bells in them. However, as the Herald of Berath, the Watcher has her bell within them, allowing them access to the same power as Death Godlike regardless of whether they are Godlike or normal kith. |
| 230 | ** In ''Forgotten Sanctum'', forgotten [[TheArchmage archmage]] Fyonlecg claims to have invented several spells and named them after himself, as is typical for archmages. The spells he mentions do exist, but they don't have his name in the title -- which makes sense, [[spoiler:with TheReveal that the Hand Occult [[UnPerson erased any record of his existence]].]] |
| 231 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Understandable given all the variations possible, but sometimes the ending slides don't quite make sense given your previous actions. For instance, with Tekehu, [[spoiler:if you side with the Royal Deadfire Company which involves assassinating his queen, he'll abandon your party with a tear-stained letter. But during the ending slides, his ending is the same as if he had been on good conditions (but not romanced), saying that you said your farewells and he disembarked the ship one final time.]] |
| 232 | ** Whenever you speak with the gods, the Watcher is always depicted as wearing a long cloak with a round shield on their back, whether they actually use (or are proficient with) a shield or not. |
| 233 | * GargleBlaster: The Harbingers' alcohol brewer is trying to perfect his beer...''using the fluids that animate the ancient iron constructs'' that patrol the Dead Floe's temple. He thinks the resulting brew will be the perfect drink that gives people a taste of oblivion. [[spoiler:The first person he offers it to gets a lot more than a ''taste'' of oblivion.]] |
| 234 | * GetOnTheBoat: Technically you do this after completing the critical path on Maje Island, which is a bit larger and has more unique encounters than most other islands other than Neketaka. Since you boat you get on is your own, however, you'll be able to visit the other islands of the Deadfire in any order you please. |
| 235 | * GhostShip: The Floating Hangman, originally known as the Fonferrus, captained by the Death Guard Lucia Rivan and crewed by the living dead. Splintered Reef, meanwhile, is a town made up of countless shipwrecks, overseen by Rivan's second-in-command. Its inhabitants, placed under a powerful illusion, don't know they're dead. The Principi ending (and possibly the independent ending) has the Watcher slay Death Guard Lucia Rivan and take her ghostly ship as their own. |
| 236 | * GiantFootprintReveal: The reborn god of light, Eothas, possesses a colossal statue and begins a trek across the surface and beneath the seas of Eora. The player follows in Eothas' wake as he leaves trail of destruction behind him, including colossal footprints many feet deep and big enough to leave permanent tracks on the world map. |
| 237 | * GiantSpider: Par for the course in any fantasy RPG. Megaboss Belranga the Crystal Empress is a crystal-eater spider the size of a house. |
| 238 | * GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath: Aeldys' credo, as a slave-hunter and Principi captain who rebels against Furrante's superficial sense of honor and the amoral greed that lies underneath. [[spoiler:She tells the pirates who follow her that they're going to sack Ukaizo and live like kings, but the first thing she actually does in her ending if you supported her is to turn the storms back ''on'', meaning nobody gets Ukaizo, there's no reason to go to war over the Deadfire anymore, and the pirates remain free.]] |
| 239 | * GoldenEnding: Averted. Though it may sound like a good plan to say "Screw you" to all the factions and [[spoiler:reach Ondra's Mortar]] all by yourself without any assistance by souping up your ship as much as possible, especially spurred on by the fact that this is the only path that every faction related character will happily work together, but ultimately [[spoiler:it will leave the Deadfire in utter chaos as the Huana and the Rautians enter all out war with each other, with the Vailians and the Principi using the resulting chaos to mine as much Adra as possible and attack and loot any ship they see with impunity.]] If you want to bring any form of peace to the Deadfire, you must pick a faction to side with, which will likely alienate at least someone in your party. |
| 240 | * {{Golem}}: Eothas is a truly massive one of these. It seems that the Crucible Knights, or someone connected to them, have begun marketing and selling their ironclad constructs as well. |
| 241 | * GoodVersusGood: Often and poignantly. |
| 242 | ** Eothas sincerely believes what he is doing will ultimately be for the benefit of all kith, [[NecessarilyEvil but he's fully aware of his sins and the harm he's doing along the way]]. The god of forgiveness does not ask any for himself, and one of the major themes of the game is that, no matter how good your intentions, no matter how hard you try, there are no perfect solutions. You ''will'' have to make compromises, and good people will get hurt because of your actions... or because of your inaction, [[NeutralityBacklash as much if not more so]]. |
| 243 | ** A handful of examples of this appearing in-game: do you free an imprisoned dragon, who gave his magic willingly and yet was trapped and kept in secret, knowing that doing so will endanger the populace? Or do you let him there? Do you let a man get unfairly judged as guilty of stealing so that the missing goods are put to better use for the village, or do you accuse the criminal, despite him having nothing but the best intentions for the tribe? |
| 244 | ** Edér alludes to this trope [[{{Foreshadowing}} at the very beginning of the game]], when talking about what he did after you defeated Thaos (no matter which of his MultipleEndings you ended up with): |
| 245 | --->'''Edér:''' I think I made a difference, but plenty of folks got hurt along the way. And I don't know if that was something we could've avoided, or if it was the cost of trying to fix things. |
| 246 | * GrailInTheGarbage: |
| 247 | ** Modwyr, a [[TalkingWeapon talking,]] Soulbound sword with an [[{{Tsundere}} alternately clingy and standoffish]] personality, is found abandoned in a pile of trash, jammed in a corpse surrounded by mounds of garbage in Neketaka's Old City Ruins. She's an {{Expy}} of Lilarcor from ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', a talking greatsword who, similarly, was found in a SewerLevel and just loved him some killing. |
| 248 | ** The [[GuideDangIt easy-to-miss]] Watcher's Sword can also be found early in the game [[spoiler:on another dead body in Oathbinder's Sanctum. It looks like all the various other Fine+ Swords you'll probably be picking up at that point, but is conspicuously labeled (on mouseover) as "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Ordinary Sword]]". If you bring up the description window, you're given the option to examine it more closely, at which point it's placed back in your inventory, now labeled Watcher's Sword.]] This is a [[MythologyGag reference]] to Pale Justice from ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'', a similarly innocuous longsword picked up along with a huge quantity of identical-looking ordinary swords [[ShopFodder and other weapons]]. |
| 249 | * GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: The lower level of Bekarna's Observatory is a huge library, ransacked by the [[HiredGuns Torn Bannermen]]. The Hand Occult's Scriptorium is one of these on a truly massive scale, but made up of banned material not meant for the eyes of kith. |
| 250 | * GreyAndGreyMorality: The factions all believe they're doing what's right to one degree or another, but all have crimes to answer for. |
| 251 | ** Queen Onekaza II is trying to keep the peace while maintaining her people's traditions. However, the injustices of the Huana caste system cannot be denied (though Onekaza is a cautious reformer), and she's happy to engage in DirtyBusiness for her people. |
| 252 | ** Director Castol believes that luminous adra and animancy will change the world, but he's also an agent of the profit-driven Vailian Trading Company, which tolerates slavery (all slaves must be from outside the Deadfire, as a concession to the Huana), although there's some room to change the latter. |
| 253 | ** The Royal Deadfire Company wants to peace and stability to the region, but that will likely mean war and the erasure of Huana culture -- both the good and the bad parts. |
| 254 | ** Even among the Principi, as with real world pirates, there are ideals of freedom and independence. Aeldys may be brutal, but she's been fighting against the slavers longer than anyone else. |
| 255 | * GrimUpNorth: The Dead Floe is a Grim Down South variation, thanks to Eora's inverted LeftJustifiedFantasyMap. The Floe is an expanding iceberg far to the south of the Deadfire, inhabited by permafrost-dwelling pale elves from the White That Wends and giant polar bears, with a frozen temple of Rymrgand deep within its icy caverns. |
| 256 | * GuideDangIt: |
| 257 | ** Most larger quests have MultipleEndings, often even with multiple ways to achieve each, and the obvious path is rarely the best one. Getting the GoldenEnding routinely requires performing some very specific actions at very specific points, many of which are unlikely to be discovered unless you're very thorough or consult a guide. How you handle sidequests also influences the game's ultimate ending, so if you're working toward a specific outcome, better read up on how to get there before you even start a new game. |
| 258 | ** Any crewmember that dies during [[spoiler:the battle for the Floating Hangman]] suffers their {{Permadeath}}, which is the only real example of this happening in the entire game. There's no indication of this particular encounter suddenly changing the rules, and not knowing about it beforehand ''will'' cost you potentially irreplaceable personnel even on the lowest difficulty. |
| 259 | * GunpowderFantasy: Even more so than its predecessor, discarding most of its MedievalEuropeanFantasy trappings for an Age of Discovery- based conflict. |
| 260 | * GunshipRescue: [[spoiler:Scyorielaphas]] swoops in to save the day [[spoiler:when the Guardian of Ukaizo surfaces just as you're making your approach toward the storm itself.]] |
| 261 | * HappyEndingOverride: This game renders the entire Endless Paths quest from the first game into a ShootTheShaggyDog story. The Watcher descended down into the caverns beneath the castle, dealt with the Master Below, put an end to its attacks on the surface once and for all, and in doing so, turned Caed Nua into a safe haven. Only for ''another'' threat to appear in the Endless Paths five years later in the form of the statue coming to life, which goes on to obliterate the castle. |
| 262 | * HarderThanHard: "The Ultimate" mode, added in the final patch. It sets the game to the highest difficulty level, Path of the Damned, activates [[FinalDeathMode Path of Iron]], prevents you from recruiting party members, and activates all God challenges[[note]]stat buffs to beast enemies, turning the entire game into a TimedMission, permanently kills any party member that is knocked out for more than six seconds, prevents you from escaping from battle, prevents you from pausing the game or slowing the game speed, adds equipment durability mechanics, makes it harder to see in night and dark areas, makes ship combat and exploration more difficult, causes food items to spoil over time, requires you to [[EscortMission protect the orlan child Vela]] during the entire game with failure resulting in a game over, turns "per encounter" resources into "per rest", stops party health from regenerate between combat, makes it so that only "prepared meals" result in recovery during rest, and obscures almost every number and statistic.[[/note]]. Using dialog options to [[SkippableBoss skip a major boss encounter]] results in a game over. |
| 263 | * HeroAntagonist: Eothas has many fine qualities, but he's still blazing a trail of destruction through every settlement that lies between him and his destination. [[spoiler:He also wants to free kith from the tyranny of the gods, and after seeing how his last manifestation went, he believes that giving them as little time or opportunity as possible to mount a counteroffensive will ultimately result in the least loss of life overall.]] |
| 264 | * HollywoodNatives: The Huana are treated this way by both trading companies, but the game itself handles them with a fair amount of depth and sympathy. The trope is ultimately downplayed rather than defied, though - the Huana have a few very [[FantasticCasteSystem conservative social values]] that modern observers will usually [[DeliberateValuesDissonance find distasteful]]. They also have the worst understanding of the setting's gods of any major group and sometimes end up duped into worshipping an Engwithan god masquerading as one of the Huana's ancient gods. |
| 265 | * HonestCorporateExecutive: Governor Clario and Director Castol of the Vailian Trading Company . Compromised in both cases by the need to bring in a profit and awareness that they're both easily replaced. [[spoiler:In Clario's case, this means being assassinated by the RDC, if you finished Maia's personal quest. For Castol, it ultimately means reluctantly getting into bed with Captain Furrante and the Crookspur slavers, although he seems almost halfway relieved if you tell him you reneged on the deal. Then, if you're working for the Queen, it means having the sabotage at the Brass Citadel pinned on him, being stripped of his assets, and banished to the Gullet.]] |
| 266 | * HubCity: Neketaka, the largest permanent settlement in the Deadfire and many orders of magnitude larger than any of the Huana villages and pirate or company towns scattered across the islands. All of the major factions in the game have a presence here, with all but the Principi having this as their central hub. Built by the ancient Huana, it is among the only signs of their presence left in the Archipelago, and the present-day Kahanga royal family have done their best to make it [[ShiningCity a symbol]] of unity and prosperity for the Huana as a whole -- yet it's not without a very literal crack for the lost and forgotten to fall through, in the form of [[TheCityNarrows the Gullet]]. |
| 267 | * IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Ashen Maw. Splintered Reef. Drowned Barrows. The latter is shaped like a skull, which Edér lampshades. The former is full of Rathun (fire giants) and built inside a volcano, while Splintered Reef is a DerelictGraveyard [[spoiler:which is home to GhostShip captain Lucia Rivan's army of the dead.]] |
| 268 | * IcePalace: The ancient temple in the Dead Floe at the center of ''The Beast of Winter'' was built inside an iceberg (while also apparently generating the iceberg around itself). It's been abandoned for years, now home to bears, murderous pilgrims, and ([[ContinuitySnarl somewhat oddly]]) ancient iron constructs. [[spoiler:The temple mostly serves as a shrine for the Vytmadh, a portal to the White Void, [[DomainHolder Rymrgand's realm]], where the majority of the DLC takes place.]] |
| 269 | * ImAHumanitarian: The Corpse-Eater barbarian subclass allows them to devour the corpses of most enemies for some healing and Rage. At least one stranded crew the Watcher can happen upon has also turned to cannibalism (including recruitable crewman Giordu Red-Handed), though the creepy temple and haunted island they're stuck on might have something to do with it. And if you force them to go too long without food, your starving crew will come knocking at your door with [[DwindlingParty a possible solution]]... |
| 270 | * ImmuneToBullets: A few enemy types have total immunity to Pierce damage, which happens to be the default damage type dealt by all ranged weapons. It's annoying but manageable while fighting DemBones, but can turn into a real headache when a bunch of sigil towers is blocking the path; ''especially'' if they're death sigils. Sigils should never be attacked in melee due to how they work, and the things being invulnerable to your snipers leaves only mages or characters using a scepter or rod capable of dealing with them. Hope you brought one along. |
| 271 | * InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: Even more bizarre than usual. The tentacles of the fallen god in ''Forgotten Sanctum'' are made of meat -- as in you can reach into a nodule and dig out three chickens. |
| 272 | * InstantMessengerPigeon: The messenger parrots of the Deadfire will track down your ship no matter where you are. You don't even have to be in a port. |
| 273 | * InterfaceSpoiler: Completing Xoti's personal quest before a certain point in the main story [[spoiler: by convincing her to give her lantern's souls to the animancers]] will spoil Eothas's motivations early. |
| 274 | * InternalRetcon: The Hand Occult's stock in trade. [[spoiler:Taken up to nightmarish levels in the Hand Occult -- tentacle horror might be old hat, but the idea of an organization hamfistedly rewriting history -- in some cases apparently before it happened, and thus having to scramble to rewrite it ''again'' -- is frighteningly plausible. It doesn't matter if everyone believes the lies, if the truth gets lost in the noise.]] |
| 275 | * IntrepidMerchant: |
| 276 | ** Deadfire merchants till the seas of the archipelago and can be approached to fill up on the necessities, like food, water, and common potions and scrolls... or you can, of course, prey on them like a proper pirate. |
| 277 | ** The free DLC "Deck of Many Things" adds a unique junk called the Deck of Many Things that patrols the seas of the Deadfire. The junk is home to a crew of merchants and their mercenary bodyguards, and carries a cargo of unique magical items. You can either do business with them or attack them for their stuff. They're no pushovers, however, and as with other shops there are certain items that can only be bought, not stolen or looted. |
| 278 | * IslandOfMystery: The Deadfire Archipelago is full of them. While being heavily contested by colonial powers and thus fairly well-charted, still has plenty of blank spots on the map, and terrain which includes lush jungles, barren desert isles, ancient ruins, pirates, sea monsters, and volcanoes. |
| 279 | * ItsPersonal: |
| 280 | -->'''The Watcher:''' You destroyed my castle and ate my soul, jackass. |
| 281 | * JerkassGods: Much like in the first game -- any of the gods, really. Take your pick. Knowing that the Watcher already knows their deepest secret seems to mean they're free to dispense with the attempts at inspiring awe or wonder, and to be just as petty and callous as the worst mortal. |
| 282 | * TheJuggernaut: A towering adra colossus heading in a straight line to the northeast, regardless of oceans or islands or settlements in his path. |
| 283 | * KingMook: Megabosses Belranga, Hauani O Whe and Dorudugan are a giant crystal-eater spider, a massive ooze and an enormous ironclad construct, respectively. |
| 284 | * KingOfThieves: Captain Furrante, [[RedBaron the Last Marceso]], the (not-uncontested) first chair of the Principi sen Patrena. |
| 285 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Upon getting reunited with Edér after the intro, you can state that you can't quite remember him. In response, Edér jokes that he is actually a very famous Watcher and that you are his trusty sidekick who is there to take most of the punches whenever the two of you get into fights. This of course, is a reference to how Edér is a very popular choice for being the main tank character in the first game. |
| 286 | * LethalLavaLand: Ashen Maw, a fire giant fortress inside a "dormant" volcano, and basically the Eoran equivalent of Mount Doom, complete with spiky MalevolentArchitecture. Despite appearances, it's not TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. |
| 287 | * LightIsNotGood: The game starts with the God of Light grabbing and crushing your chapel, stomping another building flat, (almost) killing your main character, and eating the souls of over three hundred people. How "good" his ultimate motivations are or aren't, he doesn't make a positive first impression on the player. |
| 288 | * LighterAndSofter: Far less somber and nowhere near as bleak as the first game, set in a tropical paradise rather than the grubby alleys of Defiance Bay or the haunted, undead-infested surroundings of Gilded Vale. Eothas is also a HeroAntagonist, who operates entirely out in the open (not that he has much choice, being a giant green statue), rather than the ancient SecretCircleOfSecrets that was the Leaden Key under Thaos. All the vying factions have their [[GoodVersusGood good points]] as well their darker sides. [[spoiler:Even the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of Ukaizo has a kind of serene beauty to it, as opposed to the [[EldritchLocation stifling and bizarre architecture of Sun-in-Shadow]]. Given what Eothas's motives for what he's doing end up being, this is entirely deliberate.]] |
| 289 | * LostWorld: The lost Huana city of Ukaizo. |
| 290 | -->'''Tekēhu:''' An island, a city, a dream. The best of our people before cataclysm buried it under ash and waves. |
| 291 | * LovecraftLite: ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' DLC has many of the trappings of a CosmicHorrorStory, including ancient cultists, mutated cultists, tentacled horrors, mind-controlling spores, and otherworldly entities from beyond the stars. Much of this is consciously deconstructed and often PlayedForLaughs, however. [[spoiler:The real horror, as always, is seeing once again how the gods and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Engwithans]] have continuously manipulated kith without their knowledge over the course of thousands of years.]] |
| 292 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In addition to the deflection bonus, all shields now increase the wielder's engagement by +1, letting them more effectively lock down multiple enemies. Among others, there's a big tortoiseshell shield which sits on your back when not in use.[[note]]Combine it with the dragon-like Mask of the Grotto Deep and you can basically cosplay as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]].[[/note]] |
| 293 | * MacheteMayhem: Cutlasses and sabres abound. |
| 294 | * MadnessMantra: Tell them, Watcher. [[spoiler:''Eothas is going to Ukaizo. He's going to stop the Wheel.'']] |
| 295 | * MalevolentArchitecture: Ashen Maw is one giant hovering eye away from being the actual {{Mordor}}, and One Ring away from being Mount Doom, all jutting spikes and [[ConvectionSchmonvection rivers of magma]] pouring into deep chasms. [[spoiler:It's not the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, however, and depending on the route you take and dialogue options and skills you choose, it's entirely possible to go through it without fighting any of the residents apart from some oozes and drakes.]] |
| 296 | * ManOfWealthAndTaste: Down on his luck Vailian nobleman-turned-pirate Captain Furrante has immaculate fashion sense and manners [[spoiler:apart from the whole slavery thing.]] |
| 297 | * MakingASplash: The Deadfire is home to a few powerful and unique forms of magic, one of which is watershaping, the practitioners of which have the power to hold back Rauataian warships almost singlehandedly. During the Huana ending, [[spoiler:the Watcher passes through Ondra's Mortar with the help of watershapers creating a tunnel of water through the storm.]] |
| 298 | * MedievalStasis: Defied and conversed. While the Godhammer and animancy both inspired great technological progress and the fear of it in the Dyrwood, Rauatai and the Vailian Republics have no such reservations, and are both motivated by their competing ideas for how the world should change and whom it should most benefit -- the Huana, meanwhile, are just trying to stay afloat while holding onto traditional Huana culture. The Principi are divided between Aeldys and her desire to hold onto the freedom she and her anarchists have carved out, and Furrante, who for all his ruthlessness wants to restore Old Vailian culture to its former glory. The gods, meanwhile, recognize that they are losing their grip over Eora -- some of them, like Galawain, welcome this, seeing in it kith finally attaining their true potential. Most of the others are unnerved by it, with Woedica and Ondra in particular wanting to bring them to heel, while Magran and Wael tend to flipflop. [[spoiler:And then breaking the millennia-long status quo imposed by the Great Wheel turns out to have been Eothas' plan all along, with Berath and Rymrgand coming to support it -- albeit for very different reasons.]] |
| 299 | * MegaCorp: The Vailian Trading Company in a nutshell, a huge, purely profit-driven company with outposts around the globe. While naturally closely tied to the Republics, several of its most prominent shareholders are from other countries, and while they're not above exploiting cheap labor or enforcing leonine contracts, they're not interested in out-and-out war or conquest. This is in contrast to the Royal Deadfire Company, which is basically just a wing of the Rauataian navy at this point. |
| 300 | * MercyKill: |
| 301 | ** In Ashen Maw, one of the first [=NPCs=] the Watcher runs into is a [[PlayingWithFire fire giant]] on the brink of death. With the Alchemy skill, this is only help you can give him. The game treats it as unambiguously the merciful thing to do, since the giant's inner fire is [[BizarreAlienBiology burning him alive due to his injuries]], and [[spoiler: he was going to die when the mountain blew up anyway.]] |
| 302 | ** In ''The Forgotten Sanctum'', this is [[spoiler:Llengrath's]] option for dealing with the kith imprisoned [[spoiler:and stripped of their memories]] in Collections. |
| 303 | * MiracleGroMonster: Nemnok the Devourer [[spoiler:is an example of what happens if you let an imp chow down on all the arcane tomes they can get their claws on. He's about the size of an ogre, and much smarter than a normal imp.]] |
| 304 | * [[MirrorCharacter Mirror Characters]]: St. Waidwen himself and lovable bumpkin Edér led similar lives, right down to even sounding kind of similar [[spoiler:when you speak with Waidwen's imprisoned soul in Rymrgand's realm during ''Beast of Winter'']], but of course they diverged completely when Waidwen was chosen as Eothas' earthly avatar. Then in ''The Forgotten Sanctum'', along comes a [[FictionalDocument little book]] called ''A True and Accurate Account of [[spoiler:the [[InternalRetcon Ten]]'s]] Final Stand'': |
| 305 | -->''"Such were the last words of [[spoiler:Saint [[MindScrew Edér]]]] before the Godhammer Bomb [[ForWantOfANail cauterized him from the world]]."'' |
| 306 | * MissionFromGod: Essentially what the main quest is, with Berath resurrecting the Watcher and giving them the mission to figure out what Eothas is planing. You can even chose to play it completely straight through certain dialogue choice, where it is possible to portray the Watcher as being deadly and (over-)dramatically serious about the importance of being chosen for task by a divine being (of course these choices also drop many a sly wink and nod to ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''). |
| 307 | * MonsterArena: The ''Seeker, Slayer, Survivor'' DLC adds the Crucible, an InevitableTournament arc set in an ancient Huana arena dedicated to Toamowhai, the Faces of the Hunt. Huana and outsiders alike come from across Eora to compete and earn Galawain's favor, doing battle under the watchful stare of the three-headed statue which looms over the central inner sea of the arena. All fights are to the death, either against beasts and monsters summoned by the arena or against those mortals who seek to become Champions of one of the three aspects of the hunt. |
| 308 | * MonsterTown: Splintered Reef, a full-blown monster port. |
| 309 | * MultipleEndings: Which faction you ally with, who leads that faction, the status of the various minor factions (the watershapers, animancers, Wahaki, and Crookspur slavers), it alll affects not just the ending you get, but what your final quest will be prior to your final voyage, [[spoiler:which fleet you battle at Ofecchia Channel and which enemy leader confronts you in the very last combat encounter of the game.]] |
| 310 | * {{Mordor}}: Despite the scenic beauty of the Deadfire on the whole, there are a few examples. |
| 311 | ** Ashen Maw is actually this, right down to the MalevolentArchitecture. [[spoiler:Obsidian being [[DeconstructorFleet the company]] [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath they are]], it's the halfway point of the critical path, and, depending on your dialogue choices, much of the combat can be skipped.]] |
| 312 | ** Compared to Ashen Maw, Rauatai is pretty mild, but it's still a rocky wasteland plagued by constant storms as an extension of [[PerpetualStorm Ondra's Mortar]], tidal waves, flooding, and landslides. It's also the home of the somewhat orc-like coastal auamaua. This makes their expansionism somewhat more justifiable -- the Deadfire is lush, abundant in food and resources, and largely uninhabited. Of course, since the Royal Deadfire Company is one big metaphor for colonial imperialism, their arguments come across as more than a little manipulative and self-serving. [[spoiler: The only ending in which Rauatai does not become more hospitable is if Aeldys' Principi capturing Ukaizo, as every other ending leads to the end of the contant storms that wrack Rauatai -- but if the Huana, VTC or Furrante's Principi control Ukaizo, the Rauataians face the leverage of the storms potentially returning at the decision of their foes, and if no-one controls Ukaizo they get drawn into a constant battle over the city.]] |
| 313 | * MusicalChores: If the Watcher's ship crew is in a good mood, they'll break out in sea shanties during sailing sections. |
| 314 | * TheMutiny: |
| 315 | ** Go too long without feeding and paying your crew and their morale will plummet, eventually knocking at your cabin door with ideas about electing a replacement captain... |
| 316 | ** Serafen's mentor Remaro is also accused of mutiny and is being hunted down by his former mates among the Principi. [[spoiler:He says it's because he found out the captain of the Sorcerer [[BrokenPedestal had been trading in slaves]] for over a decade.]] |
| 317 | * MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If you decide to side with one of the four factions to enlist their aid in reaching the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, you WILL lose party members. |
| 318 | ** [[spoiler:Pallegina will leave for sure if you side with the RDC, and may leave if you side with the Huana or the pirates depending on what you do (or rather, what you ''did''; the outcome of her personal quest in the first game is actually the greatest deciding factor in whether she stays loyal or turns her back on you).]] |
| 319 | ** [[spoiler:Tekehu will also leave if you side with the RDC as one of the final missions involves assassinating the Huana queen, something he will not stand for.]] |
| 320 | ** [[spoiler:Maia will leave if you side with the Huana or VTC, as one of their final missions involves blowing up the RDC armory. She may also leave if you side with pirates, though if your approval rating with her is high enough, you can convince her to resign from the RDC and join you, though the epilogue shows that she is clearly unhappy to have done this, and any romance between her and the Watcher will dissolve if this path is taken.]] |
| 321 | ** [[spoiler:Finally, Serafen will generally be with you no matter what faction you side with, but if you side with the Old Guard of the Principi, who support slavery, he will leave you.]] |
| 322 | ** However, if you scour the Deadfire for a number of unique and very rare ingredients for a couple of upgrades for your ship, you can set sail for the final battle with everyone by your side (provided you're on everyone's good side). [[spoiler: Party members will even help you fight their ultimate superior if you reach Ukaizo this way, believing said superior has JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope in attempting to stop the Watcher from ''saving the world''.]] |
| 323 | * MythologyGag: Obsidian has always been fond of these. |
| 324 | ** "[[VideoGame/BaldursGate You must gather your party before venturing forth]]." |
| 325 | ** Edér's class choices (Fighter, Rogue, and Swashbuckler) reference how he bounced between being a Fighter and Rogue during the development of the first game. |
| 326 | ** To ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': |
| 327 | *** Gotta wonder if someone at Obsidian had some kind of bad experience with a guy named Benny, as both games start off with a character by that name (here short for Benweth) screwing the PC over and leading them a merry chase should the player want revenge. |
| 328 | *** ColdSniper Maia's PreAsskickingOneLiner when she spots an enemy is "Can't hide from me..." Fellow ColdSniper Boone from ''FNV'' would say "Can't run from me..." upon entering combat, which usually kicked off with him blowing some previously unseen enemy's head off in VATS. |
| 329 | *** In the brothel above the Wild Mare, there's an iron construct (standing in a corner, unmarked by the tab-to-highlight feature) called Me[[PunnyName fisto]]. Click on him and he'll ([[ShoutOut still]]) ask you to [[Film/AnimalHouse "Assume the position."]] |
| 330 | ** During a random encounter in Neketaka, the PlayerCharacter will come across two of their crew planning to mug a noble. One possible response? [=[=][[VideoGame/{{Tyranny}} Glare]] [[CharacterTic silently.]][=]=] |
| 331 | ** The way the Watcher's Sword is found is almost the same as how you find (or don't find) Pale Justice in ''VideoGame/IcewindDale''. [[spoiler:That is to say, [[GrailInTheGarbage hidden]] in [[HiddenInPlainSight plain sight]] along with a bunch of [[ShopFodder junk-tier]] generic items, and easily missed, or sold off for a pittance -- you have to actually examine it up close to realize what you've got. ''Deadfire'' does you the favor of at least labeling the sword as [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Ordinary Sword]] and keeps it in a separate stack from other swords.]] |
| 332 | ** Obsidian, like Black Isle before them, have always been fond of their floating [[SnarkyNonHumanSidekick Snarky Non-Human Sidekick]]s |
| 333 | * TheNecrocracy: The Splintered Reef is an undead settlement ruled by Lucian Rivan's lieutenant Menzzago. What's startling about this place is the fact that the population is blissfully unaware of their undead nature. |
| 334 | * NerfArm: Among the enchanted weapons of the Deadfire are a broom whose sweeping enchantments and sheer absurdity make it a capable magical weapon and a shiv made from a brass beer stein. They're entirely valid and useful weapons. |
| 335 | * NeutralityBacklash: With all the GreyAndGreyMorality, it may be tempting to simply upgrade the ship to sail to Ukaizo and let the deeply flawed factions bicker among themselves rather than help them in their DirtyBusiness. But leaving all that bickering unresolved will eventually result in ''at least'' as much pain as a single faction's unambiguous triumph. |
| 336 | * NewMediaAreEvil: The gods don't like anything that puts too much power in the hands of kith, and knowledge is, as in our world, power. Driven home by the fact that out of all the bizarre artifacts in [[spoiler:the Hand Occult]]'s keeping, the most mysterious object, the one that the Watcher cannot identify and whose function they don't even begin to understand, is [[spoiler:a printing press.]] |
| 337 | * NonIndicativeName: If you thought Sanza's Map Emporium in Neketaka could prevent you from having to chart the Deadfire yourself, you're sadly mistaken. The upside is that he'll happily pay you to chart certain regions for him. |
| 338 | * NonstandardGameOver: |
| 339 | ** In the intro, it is possible to tell Berath that you do not wish to help them and instead want to take your chances with being reborn through the Wheel. This results in the Watcher being reborn as a cat and the game ending with the foreboding statement your life-expediency is entirely depending on whether whatever other Watcher Berath chooses as their champion is competent enough to complete their task. |
| 340 | ** During "A Glimpse Beyond", [[spoiler:Rymrgand]] will annihilate the party if you [[spoiler:[[TemptingFate make the mistake]] of [[DoNotTauntCthulhu daring him to try]], disintegrating your souls then and there, Herald of Berath or not.]] |
| 341 | ** Insist on "fighting" Eothas. Go ahead, try. [[spoiler:His eyes flash and he sucks your soul into the adra colossus in about two seconds flat.]] |
| 342 | ** During the final confrontation with Eothas, it is possible to [[spoiler:break his spirit by convincing him that his faith in the Kith is completely misplaced. The seed of doubt and despair that is planted in Eothas by this, carries over to his action, leading him to subconsciously perform a TakingYouWithMe on the entire world of Eora, causing his suicide to destroy the Adra network completely, which first causes an extremely damaging cataclysm as an immediate consequence, then causing all life on the planet to slowly die out]]. |
| 343 | ** Sudden death abounds in ''Beast of Winter''. If you threatened to come back for him during [[spoiler:"A Glimpse Beyond"]], Rymrgand asks if you're at Harbinger's Watch to make good on your threat. You can say yes, if you want, and charge into battle with him. [[spoiler:Which is, of course, instant death. Much like in the previous quest, you don't even get an ending out of it.]] There are numerous other dialogue choices that result in him killing the Watcher, and sometimes also their entire party, without much fanfare, and a few other lines that result in enough injuries to bring the Watcher close to death, as well. |
| 344 | *** Unless you have the Eye of Rymrgand, the Watcher projecting the party's soul through the Vytmadh shreds them all to pieces... Which is what Rymrgand just finished saying would happen. He [[NotSoStoic sighs in exasperation]] if you try it anyway. |
| 345 | ** Anytime you let your hull get to 0 in a ship battle, it counts as a TotalPartyKill and a game over. |
| 346 | * NoobCave: The smuggler's cave at Vilario's Rest is a literal example of this, but the whole surrounding island of Maje counts, introducing you to the world map, towns with multiple locations you can visit, and a proper mini-dungeon with traps and puzzles in the form of the Engwithan Digsite. |
| 347 | * NoodleIncident: Blackwash Falls, unless it's the same village the Circle sank into a bottomless sinkhole in their attempts to lay claim to the vein of silver underneath. |
| 348 | -->'''Aloth:''' Normally, the Circle's involvement ''constitutes'' the 'worst possible outcome.' Or have you already forgotten the Blackwash Falls Incident?\ |
| 349 | '''Arkemyr:''' Kalakoth [[MakingASplash replaced the water]]. What more do you desire, [[TheUnapologetic an apology]]? |
| 350 | * NotQuiteTheRightThing: Sometimes well-meaning actions can have harsh consequences: |
| 351 | ** Helping Maia deliver her missives and assisting the contacts with their problems means [[spoiler: they'll successfully assassinate innocent leaders so the RDC can swoop in and take over. You have to deliberately flub the deliveries in order to get the good endings for those areas. If you support the RDC, however, Port Maje is probably better off if you make the assassination; a peaceful Port Maje will resist the RDC and be conquered after a costly war.]] |
| 352 | ** Taking Vatnir with you after ''Beast of Winter'' means that the Harbingers will either abandon their home to monsters and madmen or their new leader turns them into violent fanatics that attack anyone who makes contact. Only under Vatnir's leadership does the village became a thriving port town and trader's stopover. |
| 353 | * NotSoSafeHarbor: [[OutlawTown Dunnage]] and Fort Deadlight. The latter all the more so at least on your first visit, when [[StarterVillain Benweth]] is still in charge. [[spoiler:Played with in [[DerelictGraveyard Splintered Reef]], where Menzzago's [[LotusEaterMachine illusory paradise]] keeps the undead citizens docile, but it doesn't take much to turn them into a bloodthirsty horde of feral guls.]] |
| 354 | * NotUsingTheZWord: As in the first game, undead are referred to as, "vessels." |
| 355 | * TheOathbreaker: [[spoiler:Jadaferlas the Ancient]] struck a bargain long ago with [[spoiler:the Rathun, the fire giants of Ashen Maw]] -- they give her food and offerings and she repays them by aiding them in battle. But when called upon to honor that pledge and attack Eothas, she refused and killed their high priestess on the spot. As far as she was concerned, she was no longer bound by a deal made long ago, she made when she was a relatively weak [[spoiler:hatchling]], and after all this time her supposed allies were no longer worthy of her. |
| 356 | ** True of [[spoiler: Eothas and Wael, as well. All the gods promised to destroy their titans and not act directly on Eora. Eothas seems to have followed through by destroying his titan, but breaks the covenant when he comes back to the world in person as Waidwen and again as the adra colossus. Wael never even destroyed his titan in the first place, though he does seem to have kept his promise to not act directly in the world until Eothas broke his oath first.]] |
| 357 | * ObliviousGuiltSlinging: It's only oblivious in-universe, as they don't know you're sneaking around intending to blow up the place, but it's very likely deliberate on the part of the developer to have the workers in the [[spoiler: RDC powderhouse]] mainly talk about [[{{Retirony}} how close they are to retirement]] or about [[FatalFamilyPhoto their family waiting at home]]. |
| 358 | * ObsessivelyOrganized: [[BunnyEarsLawyer Orron]], a [[OnlyInItForTheMoney Goldpact Knight]], has to make every meal perfectly symmetrical before he and his fellow knights can start eating, and [[spoiler:can be manipulated into giving up the berths he's already paid for if you so much as tell him that he's splitting up a family by keeping those berths -- "a family of SIX, so there'll be THREE of them. Won't that be ODD?" ...It works, though.]] |
| 359 | * AnOfferYouCantRefuse: The game begins with Berath compelling you to become her Herald, serving the gods' interests in Eothas' as-yet-unrevealed plan, knowing full well she's got you over a barrel by virtue of being the only one who can restore your soul to your body. You actually have the option to refuse, but doing so results in a NonstandardGameOver and being reincarnated as a cat. |
| 360 | * OldSaveBonus: The game will recognize the choices you made in the first ''Pillars''. For example, any companions who died in the first game, won't be returning in this one. For those without a save to import, there's six legacies that Obsidian have premade and a Legacy Creator in the title screen options menu that you can use to tailor a general legacy to use instead. |
| 361 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: Actually used in the Vailian Trading Company's defense, at one point: they have soldiers and ships, but they say their interest in the Deadfire is exploiting its resources for profit, not conquest. [[spoiler:Under Governor Alvari, they're as good as their word -- once the luminous adra is all gone, so are the Vailians, and while Castol's academics are there to say in Ukaizo, they don't interfere with Huana culture .]]The Watcher's also free to invoke this reasoning to the various faction leaders by stating they only care about the rewards they can get in exchange for assistance. |
| 362 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Even more so than before, given that the bulk of lines are now voiced, characters will call you "Watcher" rather than your given name. You've racked up a few more titles as well, such as Lord/Lady of Caed Nua, captain of the Defiant, Herald of Berath, and Hound of Eothas. |
| 363 | * OpeningTheSandbox: Once you get your ship back and sail out of Port Maje and meet Queen Onekaza in Neketaka, the whole map opens up, with the only limit being the various {{Beef Gate}}s you'll find populating the Archipelago... which are much less of an obstacle if you're playing with level scaling on. |
| 364 | * OpenSecret: The Watcher can choose to be pretty cavalier about the revelation from the first game [[spoiler:that the gods are artificial]], with the option to casually bring it up in conversation with sidekicks. |
| 365 | * OptionalBoss: |
| 366 | ** Many of the bounty sidequests and optional islands host a single tough encounter, but the most conventional, strictly optional examples of this are probably Nemnok the Devourer [[spoiler:the overgrown imp]], Concelhaut ([[OurLichesAreDifferent again]]), and Menzzago, [[spoiler:the fampyr lord of Splintered Reef]]. |
| 367 | ** The backer-created ships also count: Myrlesfen the Truly Insane, wizard captain of the Ironclad, with a crew made up entirely of ironclad constructs (his colors, the noble duck); Captain Ond and the Purple Foxes, of the Fortune; Rafiq the Red Beard, captain of the Siren's Song; and the Heaving Harlot and her crew, the Black Isle Bastards and their captain, [[CreatorCameo Fyrgist]]. |
| 368 | ** Free updates would later include {{Superboss}}es, called megabosses: [[GiantSpider Belranga]], [[BlobMonster Hauani O Whe]], [[EvilSorcerer Auranic]] and [[AnimatedArmor Dorudugan]]. Each is an extremely powerful opponent with an island all to themselves, designed to provide a challenge for even max-level characters. |
| 369 | * OptionalSexualEncounter: |
| 370 | ** One random event when sailing around has one of your crew members propositioning you late at night. Exactly how they ask varies based on the crew's personality traits, with Fearless ones [[BrutalHonesty simply explaining that they like you and wondering if you feel the same]], to Chatty ones [[MotorMouth almost nervously stumbling over their words trying to come on to you]] to Drunkard ones being absolutely hammered when they knock on your door. It's worth noting that almost ''any'' kith crew member can offer to sleep with you, up to and including ''[[DirtyOldMan Eld Engrim]]'' if he happens to be on your active crew. |
| 371 | * OrphanedPunchline: |
| 372 | -->'''Cotta:''' And so she asks him what he calls that trick, and he says "[[TheAristocrats the consuagli]]!" |
| 373 | * OutlawTown: Dunnage, the home island of the pirate republic Principi sen Patrena. The new blood, meanwhile, have taken up residence in an abandoned Vailian fortress they call Fort Deadlight. To emphasize this, Dunnage's sole listed export is "pirates". |
| 374 | * PartyOfRepresentatives: The Watcher can recruit one companion from every major faction (Maia for the RDC, Pallegina for the VTC, Tekehu for the Huana, and Serafen for the pirates), plus a number of diverse companions and sidekicks. |
| 375 | * PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:The Huana Watershapers draw their power from the soul of a very angry guardian dragon they locked up in their basement.]] |
| 376 | * {{Permadeath}}: |
| 377 | ** Your ship's crewmembers can't normally be killed during boarding actions; when they're brought to zero health they're knocked out but are available again once the battle ends, albeit maybe with an injury or two. However, anyone who falls during a mutiny battle or [[spoiler:while commandeering the Floating Hangman]] is considered dead for real, potentially depriving you of your elite crew with few possibilities to replace them. |
| 378 | ** Any companion who suffers a fourth injury while already having three dies on the spot. The only way to bring them back is to reload a prior save. |
| 379 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: |
| 380 | ** The developers have confirmed that if a companion died last game, they won't show up this game. |
| 381 | ** If a crew member dies in the tutorial battle against a group of pirates, they remain dead. That includes Edér, since he isn't officially a party member yet by this point. |
| 382 | ** Ashen Maw is no longer accessible after [[spoiler:Magran and Ondra's combined onslaught buries it under [[GiantWallOfWateryDoom water]] and [[ChekhovsVolcano lava]] in an attempt to destroy Eothas.]] |
| 383 | * PerpetualStorm: Ondra's Mortar, which cuts off the whole of the revealed setting thus far from the world further east. Sidekick Rekke washes up in the Deadfire as the first person to ever survive crossing through the storms. [[spoiler:In each of the endgames, the Watcher turns the storm off in order to reach Eothas, and most of the victorious factions use their newfound power over the storms as a bargaining chip in maintaining their hold over both Ukaizo and the Deadfire as a whole.]] The same storm system is also directly responsible for Rauatai's blasted, barren landscape. |
| 384 | * PirateBooty: The object or impetus behind many a quest, including a map to buried treasure you assemble by hunting down the members of the crew who buried it. |
| 385 | * {{Pirates}}: A selling point of the game. It's basically about one-third (or more, depending on how you play it) pirate sim. |
| 386 | * ThePlace: ''[[TitleDrop Deadfire]]''. |
| 387 | * PlayerHeadquarters: The Steward of Caed Nua (or rather what's left of her after Eothas's attack) purchases a ship called the Defiant for you to serve as your base of operations in the Deadfire Archipelago. You can later rename it as well as upgrade to a different ship. |
| 388 | * PostFinalBoss: [[spoiler:After defeating the Guardian of Ukaizo and disabling the storm machine, you confront the leader of whichever faction tried to stop you from reaching Ukaizo. They are significantly easier than the Guardian, who was the true final combat challenge of the game.]] Unless you skipped that boss, [[spoiler: in which case the two Engwithan Titans you face where you'd have met the Guardian may still be more of a combat challenge]]. |
| 389 | * PowerUpLetdown: The ''Fonferrus'', [[spoiler:the flagship of the undead pirate Lucia Rivan]] can't have any of its parts aside from its cannons upgraded. Its only advantage over the standard galleon you can purchase at the Neketaka shipyard is that it allows you to complete the Principi questline. |
| 390 | * PreCharacterCustomizationGameplay: Downplayed (unless you consider walking to be "gameplay"), but in the beginning The Watcher walks to Berath appearing as a featureless silhouette, before she decides to ressurect them and then the character creation starts. |
| 391 | * {{Precursors}}: The Engwithans were around in the Deadfire, [[spoiler: and placed some of their most critical machinery there, such as the one that chained natural reincarnation into the god-controlled Wheel]], but were joined by the ancient Huana, by all indications a civilisation mighty enough the Engwithans had to deceive them under the guise of friendship to establish themselves in the Deadfire. [[spoiler: Wael's library has a book mentioning a rival empire the Engwithans had to crush due to its fundamentally inimical nature to Engwithan culture, but given who Wael is it isn't entirely certain the Great Orlan Empire ever actually existed.]] |
| 392 | * PrisonDimension: The Vytmadh (pronounced ''VEET-mawth'', and meaning, literally, "white mouth") opens onto a nexus within the White Void which is effectively one of these. Not everyone gets so lucky as to simply reincarnate or have their soul ripped apart, apparently. |
| 393 | * {{Privateer}}: One of the most reliable ways of making money in the Deadfire is taking the various shiphunting bounties offered by the different factions. |
| 394 | * ProudMerchantRace: The Vailian Republics have this as their (very fashionable) hat. They have a large, wealthy empire as it is, and while they have superior numbers to Rauatai on the whole, they aren't anywhere as committed to holding the Archipelago, especially not if it means open war. They're also strangely open about being OnlyInItForTheMoney -- while they're willing to play hardball and take advantage of the Huana with contracts strongly worded in the Company's favor, in their way, they're honest and abide by the rules and laws they've set for themselves. This is in rather stark contrast to their [[EvilColonialist Royal]] [[CondescendingCompassion Deadfire]] [[SpaceColdWar rivals]]. |
| 395 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Par for the course in this sort of game, especially if you recruit the various non-kith crewmates as they appear. Among the stranger crewmates, you can have [[LizardFolk a xaurip]], [[OurOgresAreHungrier an ogre]], [[SpiderPeople a vithrack]], and even [[TheUndead a gul]]. |
| 396 | * RandomEvent: While traveling within Neketaka you may occasionally run into random events. One particularly noteworthy event [[spoiler:has you coming to the aid of a young girl trying to fight off a bunch of Skuldr and Cave Grubs by herself. If you save her she will reward you with her sword, the Griffin's Blade.]] |
| 397 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The (unseen) Ranga Nui of Rauatai. [[spoiler:If the Watcher convinces Maia that Rauatai's underhanded tactics are doing more harm than good, it results in an ending, where she decides to formally complain of having been made to assassinate civilians, and the various shady actions of the Royal Deadfire Company. Her complaint reaches the Ranga Nui, who rebukes his admirals in response, reminding them that pursuing victory by any means is not acceptable if it sets poor precedents.]] |
| 398 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: Either [[spoiler:Governor Alvari or Director Castol]] can end up being exiled to the Living Lands during the Vailian Trading Company questline. |
| 399 | * RedMage: A new addition to the series' ClassAndLevelSystem is multiclassing. A multiclass character will gain abilities from two classes, but will accrue them more slowly than character of either of their classes would. They also don't gain access to either class' highest level abilities. Per usual for this trope, you're free to combine the various casting classes this way, but it also allows combining martial classes (for example, a Scout is a Ranger/Rogue multiclass that gets an animal companion to help set up Sneak Attack and lots of options for ranged combat). |
| 400 | * ReforgedBlade: The Whispers of Yenwood and the Blade of the Endless Paths were both shattered when Caed Nua was destroyed. Provided you imported a save from the first game where you obtained both weapons, their fragments will be onboard ''The Defiant'' in one of the cupboards. By taking them to a smith [[spoiler:in Peri's Outlook in Neketaka]] you can have them reforged. [[spoiler:The smith will also inform you that the two swords' fragments seem drawn to each other somehow and offer to use them all to forge a brand new sword. If you take this option you will gain the Whispers of the Endless Paths, a very good unique greatsword.]] |
| 401 | * RegimeChange: In The Final Maneuver, the last quest of the Royal Deadfire Company questline, Hazanui Karu tasks the Watcher with [[spoiler:assassinating Queen Onekaza II.]] |
| 402 | * RelationshipValues: Another new addition. The player's actions throughout the game, and reaction to confrontations between companions, affects whether they grow to love and respect you, or hate you. Play your cards right, and you can enter a more intimate relationship with a companion of your choice, although there appears to be limits: Edér and Pallegina aren't options (the former having his own reasons that you find out during and after his personal quest, the latter being MarriedToTheJob), while Serafen is opposed to getting in a serious relationship with someone he works alongside and therefore doesn't offer a "complete" romance. |
| 403 | * RetiredMonster: It's heavily implied that the bartender and owner of the King's Coffin in Dunnage is a legendary and fearsome pirate who faked his death and has taken up a relatively more peaceful occupation. |
| 404 | * TheReveal: |
| 405 | ** Magran drops one regarding the true nature of the Godlike: [[spoiler:The gods create them to serve as emergency reserves of soul energy should they have to exert themselves beyond normal limits.]] |
| 406 | ** ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' almost has too many to count. [[spoiler:It's the place where the Hand Occult works to make the whole world forget. Exaggerated, however, when it turns out that]] [[spoiler:Wael might have made ''himself'' forget about it, and her sleeping titan form, meaning the place has been operating unsupervised and with no actual purpose in mind, possibly for thousands of years. Wael finds this extremely amusing, assuming they're not just lying to you.]] |
| 407 | * RockMonster: Crystal-eater spiders are encrusted with crystals as the result of feeding on adra. They have limited powers of [[DishingOutDirt geokinesis]], and their venom can temporarily turn the blood of living creatures [[TakenForGranite to stone]]. |
| 408 | * RuinsForRuinsSake: All the better to go dungeon-crawling in. They're remnants of the lost Huana civilization, which was brought low by the great flood in the setting's CataclysmBackstory. |
| 409 | * SceneryPorn: If you thought the first game was pretty, you haven't seen anything yet. Not only is this game going to show beautiful tropical beaches and jungles and Renaissance-style port towns, the lighting effects have gotten a massive overhaul and weather effects have been added. |
| 410 | * SchmuckBait: By completing all three expansions and going through hell and back [[spoiler: literally, you are able to collect all three pieces of the crown of Woedica. Almost everyone, up to and including Galawain himself, freaks out when they realize you have even a single piece and some suspect Woedica is already controlling you through the pieces. This crown belonged to the BigBad of the first game, who has mind control powers and you've learned has constantly been forcing people and ''gods'' to serve her. It is clearly a bad idea to put it on, though one might at least be tempted by the power it could hold. If you do put it on... [[SubvertedTrope you get a neat temporary visual effect that looks like a crown as long as you wear it.]]]] |
| 411 | * SeaMonster: In concept art, [[https://fig-images.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fd3pylr1apgoxnh.cloudfront.net%2Fcampaign_images%2Fimages%2Fb21218c112034aa621cf1ef86b6d33768807c959%2Foriginal.jpg%3F1484960167?ixlib=rails-2.1.3&w=960&h=540&fit=min&auto=format%2Ccompress&s=73293c229d3e1b3c3dc559d634ffb130/ as seen here]], the party can be seen fending off enormous [[CombatTentacles tentacles]] wrapped around their ship. The second-highest funding goal would have added fishing and fighting sea monsters if it had been reached. |
| 412 | ** There is at least one event where you come across one such creature, but it transpires entirely as a scripted interaction. |
| 413 | * SequelHook: |
| 414 | ** One of the quests you can do for the animancers will have the Watcher teleported into [[spoiler:the realm of Rymrgand, albeit in mind only. Even though the Beast of Winter wants to kill the Watcher for trespassing, he cannot because the Watcher is currently under Berath's protection. Before releasing the Watcher back to Eora, Rymrgand makes it clear that this is not the end of it.]] This sets the stage for the ''Beast of Winter'' DLC. |
| 415 | ** The lines "He is coming"/"I am coming" appearing in two in-game texts, one of which first appeared in the first game, in reference to... [[VaguenessIsComing somebody?]] from the White That Wends. |
| 416 | ** Beyond the eastern sea, as the Watcher can learn from Rekke [[spoiler:after Rekke learns Aedyran]], are the Storm Folk of Yezuha, and [[spoiler:the monotheistic church of their God. With the storms gone in most of the endings, the seas east of the Deadfire can finally be traveled.]] |
| 417 | ** [[spoiler:The physical Wheel at Ukaizo has spots for 11 giant skeletons at its base, corresponding to the "titan forms" the Eoran pantheon once possessed, three of which are vacant. Abydon's skeleton is located some distance away in the White Marches, and Wael's body is encountered in the Forbidden Sanctum DLC, which leaves one mystery god who may have access to their physical form. Wael even calls the Watcher "naive" if they argue that the other gods abandoned their bodies.]] |
| 418 | ** The ending of the [[spoiler:entire main plot of chasing Eothas]] is this, being conspicuously impossible to influence in any major way and not really providing any kind of resolution to the plot. It is such a big change that the developers had to either allow only one ending or be prepared to [[CuttingOffTheBranches cut off the branches]] in a big way if a sequel was ever created. |
| 419 | * ShoutOut: Many veiled (or not-so-veiled) pop culture references. |
| 420 | ** In the Wild Mare's upstairs brothel, an unmarked construct named [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Mefisto stands in a corner and its only line of dialogue is telling customers to "assume the position".]] |
| 421 | ** One recruitable crewmember in Dunnage is named Giani Canc-Assi wearing four balls arounds his neck. His face is identical to (and his name being a Vailianized form of) Johnny Five-Aces from the notorious unreleased RPG concept ''[[Website/SomethingAwful The Zybourne Clock.]]'' Incidentally, this is the second time ''The Zybourne Clock'' gets referenced in a Josh Sawyer work after ''Fallout: New Vegas". |
| 422 | ** Maia says the strangest thing she ever saw in all her travels with the Rauataian navy was a pillar of adra [[Series/{{Lost}} carved into the shape of a giant foot.]] |
| 423 | ** To [[FortuneTeller Ifren]] in the Dark Cupboard, as an orlan or dwarf Watcher: [[Film/{{Big}} "I wish I was big."]] |
| 424 | ** [[Film/TheBluesBrothers It's 106 leagues to Neketaka]], we've got a hold full of hagfish, half a barrel of grog, it's dark, and we're wearing eyepatches. We're on a MissionFromGod. Hit it. |
| 425 | ** The young dwarf you're asked to rescue from Junvik's upstart god Nemnok is named Kaali; Nemnok's lair of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Drowned Barrows]] parodies ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' with its rivers of lava, {{Bottomless Pit}}s, and ominous drumbeat. [[spoiler:He decides to offer you up as a sacrifice instead.]] The Watcher can also take Nemnok's name in vain to sneak in a reference to ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'': |
| 426 | --->'''The Watcher:''' Watch out, a three-headed [[OptionalBoss Nemnok]]! |
| 427 | ** The names for the various possible matchups in the Crucible contain any number of references: [[Film/ClashOfTheTitans Clash of the Fire Titan]], [[VideoGame/TacticsOgre Tactical Ogres]], [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze Secrets of the Ooze]], and more. [[Creator/GustaveFlaubert Memories]] [[Creator/LeoTolstoy of a]] [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Mad Man]] involves a battle against the Watcher's own memories of Maerwald, the mad Watcher from the first game -- the others are mostly ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. |
| 428 | ** The [[CoolShip Deck]] of [[IntrepidMerchant Many]] [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday Things]], as opposed to ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]''[='s=] [[CardsOfPower Deck of Many Things]]. |
| 429 | ** "What does [[SpiderPeople Sissak]] have [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings in his pockets]]?" |
| 430 | ** An voiceline from Xoti being ordered to attack can have her say "It's time to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reap_the_whirlwind_(phrase) reap this whirlwind]]!" |
| 431 | * ShowWithinAShow: In Dunnage, Calandra needs you to gather the right people for a play. With [[spoiler: a giant green aumaua]] as Eothas and by freeing a wizard from her debt to Harker, she puts on "The Green Menace," which [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory takes some liberties]] with the story of Eothas's march through the Deadfire. It's apparently good enough that Xoti, who otherwise refuses to hear any blasphemy against Eothas, will exclaim that her temple's plays aren't half as interesting and ask to watch it again. |
| 432 | * SkillScoresAndPerks: Overhauled considerably from the first game. |
| 433 | ** At each level after the first, you gain 1 active skill point, 1 passive skill point, and 1 ability point, plus an extra ability point each time you unlock a new power level -- every odd level for single-class characters, and fourth level and every three levels thereafter for multiclass characters. |
| 434 | ** The list of skills is much longer, and divided into active skills and passive skills. The latter are only used in conversations, while active skills come up in conversation as well as affecting crafting, stealth, the Second Wind ability, the ability to cast spells from scrolls, and the accuracy of grenades. |
| 435 | ** Class abilities and passive talents are now a single tree, specific to each class, divided into nine Power Levels. Each ability point lets you choose one ability/talent from any Power Level you've unlocked Many class abilities returning from the first game are now mutually exclusive upgrades for lower-level talents, with several talents limited to certain classes. |
| 436 | * SkippableBoss: Aside from various instances of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, if you [[spoiler:freed Scyorielaphas from beneath the Watershapers' Guild, he makes good on his word during TheWarSequence and keeps the [[FinalBoss Guardian of Ukaizo]] busy while you sail through the Mortar. This prevents the Guardian from appearing in Ukaizo's harbor -- or it was meant to, but when the game was released the code didn't trigger and the Guardian still appeared. On the other hand, this did give the game a [[GoodBadBugs satisfying boss fight]] to go out on, as well as a substantial amount of [[ExpositionDump exposition]] regarding the city's [[TheReveal ancient past]] that doesn't appear if you ''don't'' encounter the Guardian.]] |
| 437 | * SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Crookspur trades in kith slaves, which is legal in many places outside of the Deadfire Archipelago and the Dyrwood. Serafen will never forgive you if you let this slide. [[spoiler:Being willing to work with slavers is yet another big warning sign that Furrante isn't nearly as [[FauxAffablyEvil pleasant]] as he lets on. It's also one of several weaknesses of character for Governor Castol (although his overarching plan for the Vailian Trading Company is still a good one, and it can work without getting into bed with Furrante), and, unsurprisingly, having already been willing to profit from human suffering, the Crookspur slavers are happy to flout the laws of the Deadfire and take Huana as slaves.]] |
| 438 | ** And yet at the same time it's somewhat averted if you look at the lore. The Vailian republics kidnap foreigners and use them as labor for their ships while the RDC practices indentured servitude, neither of which is brought up in the game. Even in the case of the Crookspur slavers most characters seem more concerned that they're breaking the laws by enslaving Deadfire locals rather than the practice of slavery in and of itself. |
| 439 | ** Among the many differences between the old and new blood of the Principi, the issue of slavery is the starkest. Old Blood Furrante will send you to make a deal with the Crookspur slavers, while New Blood Aeldys will send you to undermine them. While Aeldys is clear that sabotaging Furrante (the only captain who outranks her) is the driving force behind the mission, she makes it clear that she may be a murdering pirate, but slavery is crossing a line, even for her. [[spoiler: She'll also react positively if you kill everyone at Crookspur, thanking you in an uncharacteristically serious tone.]] |
| 440 | * SlobsVsSnobs: The Principi are divided between the former Grand Vailian nobility "old blood" and the rough-and-tumble "new blood" joining up from Readceras, the Dyrwood, and beyond. Almost as soon as you run into them, you'll be asked to choose between the two, typified by the refined, calculating Captain Furrante and the ruthless [[spoiler:but not heartless]] Captain Aeldys. |
| 441 | * SnakePeople: The Nāga are reptilian wilder native to the Deadfire Archipelago. They're frequently hostile to kith, but they can occasionally be reasoned with. [[spoiler:And unlike the Huana, they still remember the cataclysm which washed over the Deadfire Archipelago so many millennia ago.]] |
| 442 | * SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: Don't expect any departing party members to unequip themselves for your convenience. [[spoiler:Maia, Pallegina, Tekēhu, and even Edér (if you don't join him for the last leg of his sidequest) can all leave the party for good.]] |
| 443 | * SoiledCityOnAHill: Neketaka, a ShiningCity built on a tropical mountainside... which is slowly being eaten alive by the two trading companies and Principi pirates, while its labor caste starves in a district which is slowly crumbling into the sea. The Huana leaders are aware of the problem, but have spent more of their time trying to conceal it rather than solve it, for fear of showing their enemies a weakness. |
| 444 | * SoundtrackDissonance: The music for the ending slideshow is [[spoiler: the very dark, foreboding, and hopeless theme music of the gods. Fitting for some part of every ending, but not so much for when you are reading about how Serafen has dedicated his ship to freeing slaves or that Tekehu has rallied and united the Huana.]] |
| 445 | * SpaceColdWar: The rivalry between the Republics and Rauatai has many of the earmarks of a Cold War-era proxy war, despite the relative difference in size between the two (and the ways in which both reflect different aspects of America more so than either does the Soviet Union). |
| 446 | * SpellBook: What with almost all class abilities now working on a per-encounter rather than per diem basis, wizards work very differently from their original POE selves. Their grimoires still give them the best spread of spells, however. Rather than having four slots which the player is free to edit as they see fit, each grimoire now comes with a set, thematic selection of eighteen spells, two for each of the nine Power Levels. The wizard's class abilities let them permanently memorize spells, which are always available regardless of which grimoire they have equipped. They have a set number of spells they can cast per encounter (usually two per level) like other caster classes, but grimoires do still give them the greater versatility which is the wizard's main advantage. In the case of multiclassing, one could also virtually put all of their ability points into the other class and still benefit from a Wizard's grimoire's worth of spells to cast. |
| 447 | * SpellLevels: All class abilities and talents are now divided into nine Power Levels, not just the spells of caster classes. The difference is still important, however, since casters gain a set number of spells per spell level, while other classes gain a pool of points which can be spent as they see fit on any ability they've unlocked. |
| 448 | * SpoilerOpening: The intro sequence before character creation basically gives away the biggest plot twist of the [[VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity first game]], the fact that [[spoiler: the gods were artificially created]]. |
| 449 | * SquishyWizard: Played with. Like most [=RPGs=], Wizards benefit from a high Intelligence score. ''Unlike'' most [=RPGs=], they also benefit from a high Might, meaning most wizards are perfectly capable of throwing down with a greatsword. However, there are only so many stat points to go around, and they also want decent Resolve to keep their buffs and debuffs active for longer, so that leaves few points for Constitution. Consequently, most Wizards will still be a GlassCannon. |
| 450 | ** Multiclassing sends this even deeper. A Battlemage (multiclass fighter/wizard) combines a Fighter's toughness with a Wizard's crowd control, making for an excellent tank. Setting Aloth as a Battlemage and Edér as a Rogue will let them switch places in the Tank/Support/Damage trinity versus the first game. |
| 451 | * StarterVillain: Benweth. He tries to steal your ship in the prologue, and he's the ArcVillain for Fort Deadlight, which must be completed if you plan to have any further dealings with the Principi. |
| 452 | * SteppingStonesInTheSky: A recurring feature of the Beyond is scattered debris forming into bridges when the Watcher and company reach the edge of a platform, adding to the dreamlike qualities of the place. |
| 453 | * SubmarinePirates: RuleOfCool, that's why. [[spoiler:[[CallBack Remember the name Iverra?]] She was a minor character in one of the random quests you could assign to your idle party members at Caed Nua, and the reward for her quest was Eora's first diving helmet. She returns in ''Deadfire'', having defected to Rauatai, who are funding her research in order to build the world's first submarine, which they give to the Watcher's crew after you complete the Royal Deadfire Company questline.]] |
| 454 | * SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: [[spoiler:Now, just because you ''can'' convince the giant adra god holding the literal fate of the world in his hands that his faith in kith is completely misplaced so that he crosses the DespairEventHorizon, [[TakingYouWithMe doesn't mean]] [[PutThemAllOutOfTheirMisery it's a]] [[NonstandardGameOver good idea]]...]] |
| 455 | * SwordAndGun: Characters can wield a melee one-handed weapon and ranged one-handed weapon in tandem. This tends to be most useful for devoted spellcasters, since it means you're prepared for combat at any range the moment you finish casting, and the reduction to weapon recovery time from [[DualWield Two Weapon Style]] doesn't hurt either. There are even two Legendary weapons, Scordeo's Edge and Scordeo's Trophy that encourage this since Scordeo's Edge has a unique property that increases the accuracy of ranged attacks and Scordeo's Trophy has a property which drastically reduces the recovery time with melee attacks (with Scordeo's Edge already having another property which grants a chance of completely negating melee recovery time). |
| 456 | * TakeYourTime: As in the first game, quests won't progress in the Watcher's absence, and the only thing stopping you from sailing away to do something else is your own suspension of disbelief. Probably the most egregious example is [[spoiler:the Nāga attack on the Watershapers' Guild, where the guild can remain silent for months in-game, but no matter when you arrive, no one else has investigated before you and you're always just in time to join in the last of the fighting in the guild's basement. The quest also finishes itself in the worst way if you leave the building at any time without first convincing the dragon that you want to help it.]] |
| 457 | ** {{Averted|Trope}} in a few {{Timed Mission}}s: [[spoiler:with the feuding Vailian families in Queen's Berth, if you wait too long[[note]]a few days at most, so even sailing to another island and back can be too much[[/note]] before you initiate the peace talks, one family will break into the other's vault, making peace between them impossible to achieve.]] |
| 458 | ** Another inversion: [[spoiler:while tracking down the Partisans of the Lighted Path, the cult who have recruited the son of Edér's old flame Elafa, if you do not immediately set off after their ship leaves Neketaka, you later come upon their ship with everyone aboard dead of poison, having committed [[SuicidePact mass suicide]] to unite their souls with Eothas that much sooner.]] |
| 459 | * TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: |
| 460 | ** As in the first game, the game often deliberately sets up misunderstandings and impossible situations to convincingly force the issue, at least when it comes to the major factions -- convincing any of them to ally with the others is all but impossible in the long run. [[spoiler:It is possible to arrange matters such that multiple factions prosper, even if only one can ultimately seize the power of the lost city of Ukaizo.]] |
| 461 | ** More significantly, [[spoiler:as Maia muses after Hasongo, there's no stopping Eothas. He does, in fact, break the Wheel of reincarnation in every ending, and there's nothing the Watcher can do to convince him otherwise. Indeed, the general consensus among most players is that Eothas has a point after all -- given all the lives the other gods are willing to sacrifice to try and stop him, this might very well be the only chance Eothas has of breaking his fellow gods' power over kith, stopping it right at the source. Despite the lives Eothas himself has taken, he maintains that any other course of actions would have only led to a far greater loss of life.]] |
| 462 | ** Invoked by name in ''Beast of Winter'' when you return to Harbinger's Watch after successfully persuading [[spoiler:Neriscyrlas to simply let go of her grudge and fade into nothingness, finding rest at last in oblivion. This can only be accomplished by already having convinced each of the other prisoners of the Vytmadh to also release their hold on life and willingly give up any hope of reincarnation along with whatever hold their past lives still held on them. You can also convince her to take the fight to Rymrgand [[DimensionLord in his own realm]], which works out [[TooDumbToLive about as well]] as you might expect. Or you can show mercy, and agree to carry her soul out of the White Maw if she'll just stop fighting you, in which case she takes up residence in her phylactery, which she gives to the Watcher for safekeeping. You can then [[IGaveMyWord keep your word]] to her... or give the phylactery to Rymrgand, per your original promise to the god of entropy.]] |
| 463 | * TeamPet: You can find lonely small animals around the Deadfire, which can then be put into your player character's pet slot (or Eder's pet slot, if you unlocked his via Berath's Blessings) to grant them a small bonus as well as a separate bonus to the rest of your party, and will follow the team around. |
| 464 | * TeleporterAccident: Neither of the first two trial runs of Flaune Elette's transporter experiment work exactly as planned. [[spoiler:The first sends the Watcher to Rymrgand's realm; the second sends the Watcher to the right location, but unfortunately the animancers didn't check to see if said place was, oh, say, infested with monsters?]] |
| 465 | * TeleportersAndTransporters: Flaune Elette believes the adra can be used for this. [[spoiler:Do all her sidequests and she turns out to be right, and the Vailian method for bypassing the storms at Ondra's Mortar is a stable gate through a pillar of adra.]] |
| 466 | * TempleOfDoom: The Engwithan temple on Poko Kahara, [[spoiler:actually an Engwithan waystation for souls on their way back to the Wheel]] -- three levels of traps, tombs, and treasure populated by undead monsters, ancient constructs, and giant bugs. The Temples of Decline and Revelation in ''The Beast of Winter'' and ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' respectively would also count, although they're not quite as intricately trapped. |
| 467 | * TimeStandsStill: The Bridge Ablaze is this for the Watcher and their party. You're only able to access frozen moments of a permanent GroundhogDayLoop immediately before, during, and after [[spoiler:the detonation of the Godhammer. The bridge, like the other pocket realms in the White Maw, serves as a kind of EpiphanicPrison for a single soul -- in this case St. Waidwen himself.]] |
| 468 | * TitleDrop: ''Deadfire'' is ThePlace, and ''The Beast of Winter'' is Rymrgand's avatar, making it [[spoiler:an AntagonistTitle]]. And then, from the second DLC: |
| 469 | -->''Now we live. We seek and we slay. We survive.'' |
| 470 | * TopGod: There isn't one in the current Eoran pantheon, which is occasionally pointed out as a problem since there's nobody who can force cooperation or break a stalemate. According to Eothas [[spoiler:the Gods all came into existence equal in power and though Woedica styled herself as one, that was just a backstory she gave herself upon creation and she never actually had more power than the others, which explains how she lost the seat so easily. You can convince Eothas to use the last of his energy to empower one of the existing Gods into this position however, in which case he picks Berath]] |
| 471 | * TransformingMecha: The [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss Guardian of (or Gates of) Ukaizo]], with its multiple heads, [[OneWingedAngel multiple stages]] and Decepticon-purple color scheme.]] Say what you will about the Engwithans, but they could build some pretty cool robots. Unfortunately, [[GuideDangIt depending on how you solved a completely unrelated quest many hours earlier]], [[SkippableBoss you might never get to see and fight it]], or even know it exists in the first place. |
| 472 | * TreasureMap: One of the bounty hunting quests involves hunting down the surviving members of a particularly notorious pirate crew (even among other pirates) and putting together the map pieces they're each holding onto. [[spoiler:You also go looking for a map to Ukaizo, which is guarded by an elaborate, mechanical puzzle in the middle of an ancient ruin.]] |
| 473 | * TrueCompanions: Played straight with the returning party members and depending on their RelationshipValues most of the party can end up gaining some level of respect for each other and are willing to follow the Watcher into almost any situation. Emphasis on almost [[spoiler: as the trio of Maia, Pallegina and Tekehu are quite loyal to their faction of choice and will leave the party no matter how high their RelationshipValues are with the Watcher if he sides with a faction whose lategame plans directly target their own. The only ways to avert this are by going the extra mile to reach Ukaizo without any of the factions' support or by siding with the principi as unlike the other three factions their plans don't involve actively sabotaging the other factions. Though in the latter case it does require some persuading to keep Maia and Pallegina on board but it is possible. If this is done it's possible for any of the three's superior to serve as the PostFinalBoss and they'll actually side with you because the fate of the world is at stake.]] |
| 474 | * TurnUndead: All Priests gain Holy Radiance at level 1, a spell-like ability that doesn't use a spell slot. It's a point-blank area of effect that heals allies and damages [[NotUsingTheZWord vessels]] as well as inflicting the Shaken Affliction on them. |
| 475 | * TheUndead: The undead in the Deadfire Archipelago seem to be more agile than many of the undead encountered in the first game, scaling walls and the sides of ships with their bare hands. This game also introduces the rotghasts, [[{{Squick}} bloated drowned corpses with bellies infested with parasitic worms]]. |
| 476 | * UnderwaterCity: Cignath Mor. [[spoiler:An Engwithan research lab off the coast of Sayuka, which experimented with adra to mutate undersea animals to monstrous size. They're the ones who created the krakens, leviathans, and other sea monsters than make the sea east of Deadfire impassable.]] |
| 477 | * TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: After TheWarSequence, you finally arrive at [[spoiler:lost Ukaizo, deep in the heart of [[PerpetualStorm Ondra's Mortar]]. In keeping with [[ContrastingSequelAntagonist Eothas himself]], it's quite scenic once you shut off the storms.]] |
| 478 | * UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: [[spoiler:Trying to fight Eothas, a being so gigantic that an average character standing straight might be about as tall as his eye and who also has the ability to manipulate souls, results in a NonstandardGameOver where he simply sucks your soul into his massive stone body, as stated higher up on this page.]] |
| 479 | ** That cool gladiator sword you got in the first dungeon also has rust on it, affecting its Penetration. Fortunately, you can restore it with a bit of care from the Enchantment menu. |
| 480 | ** If you promise the RDC that you'll help them [[spoiler: assassinate the queen]] then back out at the last second they'll [[spoiler: try to kill you.]] What did you expect would happen once they just told you [[spoiler: they planned to commit a coup and proved you had enough reservations that you might not keep your mouth shut?]] |
| 481 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: It's possible to warn the remaining Rathun about [[spoiler:Magran's intentions]] at Ashen Maw, and with a high enough Resolve or Religion, to convince them that they can better serve their goddess by [[spoiler:''not'' going extinct when the volcano erupts.]] |
| 482 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: |
| 483 | ** In a jungle on an uncharted island ([[spoiler:Wapau Jungle, to the southeast of the map]]), you run into more cultists of Skaen. They'll acknowledge the choice you made in Dyrford, and offer you the opportunity to [[spoiler:sacrifice yet ''another'' companion]], this time in exchange for a doll.[[note]]Albeit a consumable straw VoodooDoll which can summon an [[ImplacableMan Effigy of Skaen]].[[/note]] If you take them up on the offer for the second time, or attack them for the second time, they smirk and hint that either way, [[spoiler:all is proceeding [[SequelHook according to prophecy]].]] |
| 484 | ** One possible means of escaping [[spoiler:Rymrgand's clutches in ''The Beast of Winter'']] is by offering [[spoiler:Ydwin or Vatnir in exchange.]] Rymrgand refuses the latter, saying it's something he could take any time he wanted anyway, but is intrigued by the former. All of your party members are outraged, including normally silent sidekicks, and the [[TheStoic normally reserved]] Ydwin in particular is... ''[[DisappointedInYou disappointed]]'', in both you and Rymrgand. |
| 485 | ** Not only can you leave the slavers at Crookspur alive, you can strike a deal with Mezzango [[spoiler: to regularly deliver slaves to him and the other guls.]] |
| 486 | * WalkingArmory: It's possible for players to truly emulate a {{Pirate}}-y armament by having the Black Jacket subclass for Fighter and putting an ability point in an extra weapon slot so they can hold seven or eight pistols for combat. |
| 487 | * WalkThePlank: Furrante, traditional pirate that he is, [[spoiler:is made to do this [[HoistByHisOwnPetard at his hanging]], if you expose his dealings with Crookspur and the Vailian Trading Company to his fellow Principi.]] |
| 488 | * TheWarSequence: [[spoiler:Offecchia Channel]], an all-out fleet-to-fleet naval battle which immediately precedes TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, as, following the battle, [[spoiler:you still have to pass through the neverending storms of Ondra's Mortar.]] Depending on how you got to this point, however, it can be skipped entirely by letting your allies duke it out with the opposing navy while you slip past the carnage unimpeded. |
| 489 | * WeirdCurrency: The Huana use shells, pearls, and worked obsidian as currency. The Rauatai use the GoldSilverCopperStandard... with the exception of one coin that can be split in half to make a semicircular coin, which is legal tender at half the value. |
| 490 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The Deadfire is more cosmopolitan when it comes to kith, and even ogres meet with greater acceptance than we saw in the Dyrwood. The dividing line between kith and other intelligent species, called wilder, is just as strong as ever, however, whether it's Arkemyr using imps as a disposable labor force, lagufaeth being hunted down like animals on Tikawara, or death godlike having their horns ground up as seasoning for so-called "Godkiller" rum. |
| 491 | * WombLevel: The body of a god is buried under the Halls of the Unseen, which gives parts of ''The Forgotten Sanctum'' this appearance. [[spoiler:Over the centuries the god's body has turned into a vast, tentacled, many-eyed EldritchAbomination, its tentacles and eyestalks erupting from the walls of the Halls Obscured, with the god's Upper Bowels growing into the very walls.]] |
| 492 | * WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Eora is set in the equivalent of our world's Age of Sail, with sailing ships and cannons. However, the "life at sea is hell" portion of this trope is averted. It's fairly easy to keep your crew's morale high as long as you manage your money properly, and you are heavily incentivized to do so (a happy crew gets better at their jobs faster; an unhappy crew can result in a variety of negative events including TheMutiny). Justified in that you're sailing around an inhabitated archipelago, not a long voyage across open sea, and thus it's easier to resupply due to the numerous ports. |
| 493 | * WorldOfSnark: Quips are as uncommonly common in the Deadfire as they are in the Dyrwood. [[SignatureStyle Obsidian wouldn't have it any other way]]. |
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