Wrath of the Righteous: The Video Game

[DeTess]

How big of a deal is it if I don't finish "Middlegame" (Where you have to get all four stats to 5 by the end of act 3? I've run out of ways to get leadership from 4 to 5. I mean is it a dealbreaker in terms of finishing the game or secret ending?

I'm almost 100% sure it isn't a requirement for the secret ending. I'm fairly sure I didn't get that milestone while going for the secret ending, anyway, but depending on some other choices and your opinions on a certain character, it might leave you in a position where you have to make a somewhat distasteful choice to get that ending.

[Tome]

It does nothing for the secret ending, but it does affect most of the other endings.

[Sloanzilla]

well crud, I'm like 70K shy on leadership points and there's nothing left that I can reach.

[Tome]

well crud, I'm like 70K shy on leadership points and there's nothing left that I can reach.

Okay, so I did some investigation. There's two unlisted sources of leadership exp.

The first is leveling your generals (or, more specifically, them receiving exp). If there's any battles left to do, they might get you what you need.

The second is any leadership decree, even if it isn't listed as giving leadership exp. They all give a baseline level of exp before any listed completion bonus. I'm fairly certain there's at least one repeatable decree you can use.

If there's nothing left, you can stall things out a little while and wait for some new events to pop up. Not the best idea if you want to go for the secret ending though.

[Sloanzilla]

ok thanks, I may try that. A few L7 demon armies are spawning and I think there's a repeatable that declares you get 1K leadership.

I've got the Queen coming in a couple weeks now- but as I understand- that means you have to start the Fane, not complete it? Otherwise, looks like another reload.

[LibraryOgre]

So, because of a month-long loss of computer, I haven't gotten very far, but I kind of think the "path" stuff in the early game is kinda wild because I have NO ****ing idea what it's talking about. Like, I get the edges from reading this thread, but if I wasn't?

"This option requires the aeon path."
"...what is that?"

[Sloanzilla]

No, I don't think this game will win any awards in the "explaining stuff to you" category.

[DeTess]

ok thanks, I may try that. A few L7 demon armies are spawning and I think there's a repeatable that declares you get 1K leadership.

I've got the Queen coming in a couple weeks now- but as I understand- that means you have to start the Fane, not complete it? Otherwise, looks like another reload.

Her arrival opens up the option to start it, but as far as I know it doesn't force you to start it immediately.

edit: though, keep in mind, you need to finish the campaign in a very specific week to get the secret ending if you're aiming for that, so keep that in mind if you're considering doing a long grind. Though when I got that ending on my second playthrough I had quite a bit of time left over at the end, so it's not like there's a super tight time-limit.

[Gyro89]

IIRC its only the week that matters, not the year.
So if you miss the date, you could theorically just grind out until that week comes up again next year.

[tonberrian]

I think specifically it's a week but only in two years. You COULD make the first one if you hurry, but the second one is very hard to miss. But there is a timeskip involved.

[lord_khaine]

So, because of a month-long loss of computer, I haven't gotten very far, but I kind of think the "path" stuff in the early game is kinda wild because I have NO ****ing idea what it's talking about. Like, I get the edges from reading this thread, but if I wasn't?

"This option requires the aeon path."
"...what is that?"

Something you pick after retaking Dresden. (or however its spelled)
Would rather not spoiler anything more.

[Sloanzilla]

Developer “Did you finish the eastern portion of the Midnight Fane yet?”
Designer “No sir I’ve been busy writing backstories for very specifically situational magical bardiche.”
Developer “Good, good, but we need to finish the Fane. I’ve got it. How about we add a ghoul pit?”
Designer “Ghoul pit?”
Developer “Yeah, where waves of ghouls climb out of a pit. It’s a great combination of tedious and repetitive.”
Designer “Didn’t we have a ghoul pit at the end of the second chapter?”
Developer “People LOVE ghoul pits. Add another. And after that, I want some random death blob thing that regenerates and has 65 armor class.”
Designer “On it”

[Sloanzilla]

I owned the immortal death blob guy with creeping doom and some lucky dispel magic rolls.

That lineup of ninja succubus archers with evasion wasn't fun.

[Kish]

So, because of a month-long loss of computer, I haven't gotten very far, but I kind of think the "path" stuff in the early game is kinda wild because I have NO ****ing idea what it's talking about. Like, I get the edges from reading this thread, but if I wasn't?

"This option requires the aeon path."
"...what is that?"

That's the same as for your character then, isn't it? "Huh. I have a weird feeling about this choice."

That part will make sense at the end of the chapter, in and out of character.

IIRC its only the week that matters, not the year.
So if you miss the date, you could theorically just grind out until that week comes up again next year.

Also, it needs to

Spoiler: endgame

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not be more than a year since you fought Deskari, as if his "if you kill him again he dies for real" timer is up the plan is unworkable.

[Calemyr]

This game has really taken over my life. It's not often these days that a game can consume me so totally that I pull an all-nighter without realizing it (luckily it was a holiday the next day or I would have paid for it at work). This sucker is exactly what I wanted from a modern Baldur's Gate game. Interesting characters, complex choices (but not complex enough to cause choice paralysis), and a flowing battle system that can allow for meticulous micromanagement OR "sit back and watch your party go" entertainment. I'm definitely a fan of the second, to be honest. I play far more for story and playing with builds than for strategic battles and challenge, and I love a game that lets you do both as your whim takes you.

Of course, I'm getting a bad case of alt-itis, as the story is pretty heavily modified by the mystic path you're on. So I'm building a trio of alt characters to play as well (I don't play on higher difficulties, so the game doesn't get tedious as fast for me). I'm curious what you guys might have to say about them.

Spoiler: Characters I'm considering

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Justin - Human Kinetic Knight (Azata)
Justin's only weapon is the angel sword he found in the beginning, which he summons as a blade of flame. Although by no means prepared to be a hero, he lives up to the title, trying to redeem everyone he can and not always succeeding. A true knight-in-shining-armor type, though his morals are trying to be practical as well as good. Extremely attached to just a couple of his friends.

Why - Kineticist is fun, and I've always liked energy swords. Seemed an excellent fusion of effective and easy for a first run, but not too mundane. Meanwhile, I'd heart Azata works well with kinetic knight and that Aivu was probably the single best character in the game (and I have to agree).

The Mad Scientist - (Race Uncertain) Grenadier (Lich/Swarm)
A weapons researcher with a fascination for untrod ground and a tendency to lose sight of ethics when intrigued. Happily embraces Blackwater technology, pursuing the cyborg warriors and taking the Numerian Greatsword as their favored weapon. Starts neutral, but slides down the slippery slope trying to device the ultimate weapon to end the crusade.

Why - A lich is something I want to play because it provides something unique to it in the way of units and companions, and Blackwater is a really intriguing concept that I want to make use of. Besides, I do love playing mad scientists, though playing one that loses track of their morals is somewhat new to me.

The Vampire Saint - Dhampir Oracle (Angel)
Takes Wolf-scarred curse to have a bite attack, and focuses on refining that for melee combat while favoring ranged weapons as well as fire and lightning magic to really bring the pain when angered. Extremely powerful, but completely indifferent about their own well-being. Think Ember, but more robust and trapped in a childlike mindset.

Why - I've heard angel is a powerful (particularly with a divine caster) and plot-relevant path. Plus the juxtaposition of a dhampir saint is too rich not to play in a game with a gnome hellknight, a hedonistic aasimar, a repentant succubus, and a Camillia. Self-conflicted character design for the fun! Might have to reconsider the weapon preferences, though. I greatly prefer spontaneous casters for my main characters (even before the fire ring and storm gauntlets), wolf-scarred is the only curse that didn't seem crippling for a main character. After that, it all kinda fell together.

The Fencer - Kitsune Sword Saint/Duelist (Aeon)
A devastating fencer who uses magic to tilt things in their balance (set it and forget it buffs augmented by Mythic abilities). Doesn't actually plan on going the Aeon route, it just kinda happens and they melt into the identity.

Why - I was originally going Trickster from this one, but it sounds like Trickster isn't really a game changer, just a bit of comedy. Aeon, while less fun, really turns the game on its head, much like the Lich, so that struck me as more interesting. Trying to decide between Dueling Sword and Estoc, though. Dueling swords are much more common and there is at least a feat and a background that augment it specifically in ways that are good for this build. Estoc, however, is much rarer but has a nice crit range, as well as an awesome looking weapon in early Chapter 4. Early on, Finnean can serve as a solid estoc.

[Sloanzilla]

I'm really enjoying it too. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, but the companions are the most compelling companions since Dragon Age I and then Baldur's Gate II. The writing is good and the world-building feels complete. The bugs (of the computer variety) were the only major issue- and that seems to be getting better (knock on adamantium).

I'm playing a human trickster spawn slayer who dual wields falcatas. Had to work to get the attack roll high enough to overcome the -4 penalty - but when he's on- he's on.

Next up is probably an Aeon druid.

[RayGallade]

Now that I'm on my second playthrough, I'm struck by how much easier Chapter 1 has been with a martial (future) Commander. My first playthrough was Oracle/Angel and I struggled a lot with Kenabres. This run will be Barbarian/Demon and I am breezing through the maps.

Probably going to have a harder time later on though. I get the feeling I'm going to miss my merged spellbook and all the awesome Angel spells.

[Sloanzilla]

yeah I have defaulted to martial for years in games like this, mostly due to cutscenes often bumping your main to the front line because of dialog

The Abyss isn't...super fun. I wish I could walk from the brothel to the palace of incest or whatever without 2-3 "Random" encounters.

The pathetic quasit fight was actually kind of enjoyable, since I had to think outside of the box a bit. The Woljif quest- not as fun. I tried using everyone a couple times before going with the tried and true "Ember casts a few hellfire rays" plan.

[Sloanzilla]

Trickster Rant: Some spoilers so tagged

Spoiler: Spoiler

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I actually enjoy the mechanics of the Trickster path, but I'm not feeling the RP options. I get that it is CN and that fey are capricious, but my last few options have been
1. Turn a rapist into a rape victim, more or less. I suppose that might feel like justice, but to me rape is rape.
2. Force fuse the two battlebliss guys together- even thought the LE guy never really did anything especially terrible to me that I noticed (maybe I missed it)
3. Turn a lady into furniture- who again is an awful person, but who also just gave me an amulet.

I suppose these are all demons, so whatever, but these aren't things I really want to do to another sentient being. Maybe time to jump ship to gold dragon when that becomes possible. I don't mind that these options exist in a game and I suppose I can see how they might be deemed chaotic neutral, but ew.

[Kish]

Not just "fey are capricious," but "Calistria is the goddess of vengeance."

Also

Spoiler: the Abyss

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the lady in question makes a habit of turning people into things and the most good option you have if your mythic path doesn't let you counterspell it directly in some way is to demand she turn them back and, after she refuses because it would mean LITERALLY ALL HER FURNITURE WALKED AWAY, fight her, so yeah

.

[Calemyr]

Out of curiosity, is there a list of "redeemable" characters? Characters that, in the right circumstances, can change their alignment?

So far I only know of two, Arueshalae and Wenduag, and both seem to be tied to completing their romance plots (and thus mutually exclusive). I think Ember and Woljif can be pushed toward evil if you break them, but

Reason I ask is that I'd like to make my second run an angel with preference for followers who are trying to redeem themselves, especially if the aren't part of my previous main crew (Seelah, Ember, Woljif, Lann, and Arueshalae).

[Chen]

Out of curiosity, is there a list of "redeemable" characters? Characters that, in the right circumstances, can change their alignment?

So far I only know of two, Arueshalae and Wenduag, and both seem to be tied to completing their romance plots (and thus mutually exclusive). I think Ember and Woljif can be pushed toward evil if you break them, but

Reason I ask is that I'd like to make my second run an angel with preference for followers who are trying to redeem themselves, especially if the aren't part of my previous main crew (Seelah, Ember, Woljif, Lann, and Arueshalae).

Arue can be redeemed separate from her romance I think. Wenduag I believe does need the romance to be redeemed (although Im not sure how redeemed this actually ends up I think she still stays pretty evil). Ember can be encouraged to be super good (which I believe is also necessary to get Nocticula redeemed in the ending slides) but can also be pushed towards being lawful. Pushing her evil just breaks her. Woljif can go evil or just kinda stay as is. Greybor can also be made to go back to his family which is kind of redeemed. Daeren can also be made more good through his romance I believe.

[LibraryOgre]

Got out of Kenabres and boy, are the army parts hard for me. I can manage the standard RPG parts, but getting good stats for the army, to go after some of the harder demon armies, is impossible; I wound up winning something by feeding one army to a bunch of demon bugs, just so a subsequent army could come in and win.

[tonberrian]

Got out of Kenabres and boy, are the army parts hard for me. I can manage the standard RPG parts, but getting good stats for the army, to go after some of the harder demon armies, is impossible; I wound up winning something by feeding one army to a bunch of demon bugs, just so a subsequent army could come in and win.

The key to army battles is the right general. You want a mage general, they'll have a little fireball icon. Spells are OP. I like Setsuna because he starts with scorching ray and an extra army slot.

Later, you'll get the option to pick what kind of troops you want. Marksmen is one of the archer replacements and they're essentially the best unit in the game for army mode. Glass cannon-y, but if you never let anything near them they'll wipe out basically a stack per round.

[LibraryOgre]

The key to army battles is the right general. You want a mage general, they'll have a little fireball icon. Spells are OP. I like Setsuna because he starts with scorching ray and an extra army slot.

Later, you'll get the option to pick what kind of troops you want. Marksmen is one of the archer replacements and they're essentially the best unit in the game for army mode. Glass cannon-y, but if you never let anything near them they'll wipe out basically a stack per round.

*curses in restarting*

[Anteros]

It's really not even remotely balanced. If you don't use a mage general you're looking at some battles going for like 50 rounds and troops slowly whittle away at each other. I'm someone who enjoys my games being challenging, but I cheated my way through those and I don't regret it at all. They're not difficult, they're just tedious and incredibly poorly balanced.

[Calemyr]

Agreed. Setsuna Shy dominates the crusade portion of the game, and it just gets worse as he picks up spells like Fireball and Firestorm. It gets to the point that he's almost just as effective with trash units to just tank hits while the general does the heavy lifting. If it weren't for the fact that you have an awful lot of territory to control in later chapters (and you'll hit level 20 well before endgame if you only use him), Setsuna is really all you need. Otherwise, Chief Ageboya and then any other mage general. In Chapter 2 (until you retake Drezen), however, a single Setsuna-led unit can do all the work you need with almost comical ease.

Bits of advice that worked wonders for me:
1) Archers are gods, especially the Marksmen. Cheap, easy to recruit, infinite range, and hit like a truck. Seriously, enough of them gathered and you might be better served splitting them into multiple stacks because they can one-shot anything pretty darn quickly and the overkill is wasted. They need to be protected, however, because if something gets into melee range they'll be stuck using a dagger and lose a lot of range and damage. Positioning durable things like Shield Bearers around them is a very effective way to keep your archers safe while they and the general do all the damage. Mercenary archers, such as Rangers, don't have to switch to melee when the enemy gets close, but you'll have a lot of trouble amassing enough to do significant damage. Useful, yes, but mainly as support. One exception to this, particularly in Chapter 3, is the Mongrel Marksmen. They do good damage, but they make great cleanup because they get an extra attack if they destroy a unit and this stacks with extra moves for high morale.

2) Check the makeup of enemy forces before engaging them and (at least at first) save before moving to engage. Auto-save will kick in at the beginning of a fight, so you can save-scum to manipulate the early bits of the fight (generally the damage done by generals and archer/mages on both sides). However, you don't get to rearrange your own unit in this save. If the enemy has a mage general or archers/mages (which are just as stupidly overpowered on their side as yours), you may want to put decoy units at upper portion of your formation. They'll target soft targets first, starting from the top of the map and working their way down. Sometimes it's far more effective to have single-member cheap units standing on the upper side of the formation than combat-effective stacks, as enemy mages will waste time picking them off instead of heavy hitters. Wasted overkill is crippling on both sides of the map.

3) Healing is REALLY good, especially early on. You see the bar just to the right of the general's portrait? This is first aid, which recovers a set value of injured units at the end of the fight. Enemy gets a hit in and kills 40 of your archers? They'll be back up and ready to party for the next fight. As long as the bar isn't completely filled, all of your casualties can be healed after the fight. More expensive units require more first aid (it doesn't heal as many Hell Knights as it does archers, for instance), but the amount of first aid you get increases as the general gains levels and certain feats. Healing magic is a great way to keep casualties low enough that first aid can recover your whole team. If your general gets Cure Light Wounds (most mages and some others get it, naturally including Setsuna), it can be rather effective on a difficult fight to leave one really weak unit free to run around while the your general uses Cure Light Wounds to top up the surviving units to keep your casualty bar low enough to recover everyone.

4) Buildings matter. Once you get to chapter 3, you can construct buildings in fort towns. Do this whenever possible. Not only does this give you Logistics experience (which can be hard to come by otherwise), it can really have an effect on the army you combine. Putting garrison archery and spell-casting buildings in as many forts as you can capture allows you to get more marksmen and assassins per week. It's always useful to put your preferred unit's recruitment building in the bottom space in each fort. If you later expand it to a bastion, you'll get additional spaces on the lower left and right, making it easy to put all four upgrade buildings around it to buff that unit as much as possible. I use archery ranges because it makes a super powerful unit even more broken. You can also put teleportation circles in bastions and fortresses, which allows for an effective fast travel network if you're clever about which outposts you upgrade.

5) Morale is huge. Crusade morale gives you bonuses to income. Unit morale, however, gives you a chance act twice in a row. Stacking unit morale can make you an unstoppable army even with a rookie general in charge, so feats and buildings that give you morale (such as monuments and the inspiration feat) can either double your offense, or give you the option to strike with a melee unit and then retreat before the enemies have a chance to act.

6) You get one free reroll on mercenaries each week, so always take advantage of that if the week's mercenaries aren't all to your liking. Grab the ones you like from the first batch, then reroll the leftovers. Odds are you won't find anything great, but you'll be glad you did when mercenaries like Mongrel Marksmen and Signifers pop up.

7) Money isn't as tight as you might think. If you grab all the magical and masterwork gear you find and sell it at a nearby merchant, you'll be racking in coin hand over fist, and a lot of your best gear is found rather than bought. As such, don't be afraid to buy finance and material points when you need them. If you're concerned about weight limits when looting (30 suits of +1 full plate weighs a lot), adding animal companions to the party is really handy for increasing your carrying capacity, and they're incredibly handy in a fight. Seelah can get a horse easily at level 5, while Camille, Daeran, and Sosiel can spend a mythic ability to get an animal companion via taking nature/animal as an additional domain/spirit/mystery without sacrificing their existing build. You also can find a jade figurine at the end of Chapter 2 (during the assault on Drezen, not hard to find if you're thorough) that summons Bismuth the Triceratops as a transferable animal companion for characters that don't already have one. Azata players also get Aivu as a free companion (doesn't use an animal companion slot OR a follower slot), and she's a delightful comic relief, an effective combatant, and a useful packhorse.

8) Other units to put a priority on recruiting and amassing are as follows:
1) Assassins. Spellcasting rogues that teleport around the map and deal heavy damage. They're as effective as marksmen, which is a high bar, and their movement range is simply 'the whole map'. They are 'trainable' units, which means you can reliably recruit more each week and you can buff them by putting buildings around the spellcaster's lodge. When you can recruit them (they're an option in one of the level up events for your leadership scores), put them as a priority second only to Marksmen. Good grief, are these boys nasty.
2) Signifers. I think you can only get these mercenaries while Regill is a member of your party in good standing. Their magic missile is quite effective (on archer level), but their real power is their greater fireball, which does a lot of fire damage in an even bigger AoE than the general's fireball.
3) Hedge Knights. Trainable cavalry which makes them almost as effective as Hell Knights, but much easier to amass. They can cover a lot of ground, take a fair amount of punishment, and deal a lot of damage. I'd always take marksmen, assassins, and signifiers over them, but they're a very practical melee unit.

[Sloanzilla]

I don't think you need to restart if you didn't hire the scorching ray general- gobs of archers with a cup of pudding as general would work almost as well.

It's interesting that the complaints about crusade mode are either "it's too easy" or "it's tedious" which are issues that would be resolved in a different manner. Nerfing marksmen and scorching ray guy might help a bit. I also think having less predictable paths for the demon armies would make it a little more challenging.

An auto-complete (before combat) or auto-turn (during combat) would let you skip the more awful battles. (I have to fight 1000 shield bearers).

I followed various guides and hired scorching ray guy and marksman and yeah, Chapter III at least, became pretty easy. I suppose if I'd just picked what looked interesting to me, then the combats would have been more challenging, but taken longer. As I've said before, none of this was a real deal breaker for me - it was a mildly interesting mini game that, sure, got pretty easy when my marksman stack got high enough.

[Chen]

Yeah while the mage general is easy mode I managed my first playthrough without them (since I didnt know better). Make sure you take healing at some point on your general though and just spam archers. You can split stacks and when big enough a second marksmen stack is worth it vs one big stack since they do so much damage anyways.

[Spore]

So, because of a month-long loss of computer, I haven't gotten very far, but I kind of think the "path" stuff in the early game is kinda wild because I have NO ****ing idea what it's talking about. Like, I get the edges from reading this thread, but if I wasn't?

"This option requires the aeon path."
"...what is that?"

Not sure if the request is still relevant but here goes. I will spoiler because some people are touchy about it, but even the spoiler will be vague.

Spoiler

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Paths are basically how you want your mythic path to be recognized. The adventure book has more basic archetypes like archmage, trickster, guardian and champion. The game however has a lot more flavor. You have to "unlock" your desired mythic path in Chapter 1 by doing a quest and then selecting the according dialogue option.

Examples you stumble upon are
Angel: You're given the angelic sword, and you can "attune" yourself to it.
Demon: Give into your rage when facing the prologue final boss.

There are more paths, including:

Spoiler

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Aeon (some lawful space time police), Trickster (lolrandomish fey person), Azata (chaotic good furry animal superhero), Lich (undead capital A Arcane caster), Angel (holy divine caster), demon (unholy melee brute)

Additonally at Mythic Rank 7 you unlock more specializations:

Spoiler

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Gold Dragon, Legend (remove all fluff, just become epic and gain another 20 levels of some class), Devil (when Aeon becomes evil) and Swarm That Walks (aka eat everyone and everything). Honorable mention goes toward the renegade Aeon, which is basically Dr Who (a timelord cop person that does NOT play by the rules)