Pillars of Eternity Video-Based Walkthrough by David Milward
ABOUT THE WALKTHROUGH
This is not intended as a complete walkthrough in the sense that it doesn't explore every possible avenue, or reveal where every single item can be found. Plenty of walkthroughs, including mine that is already on here at Sorcerer's Place, do that.
There are a number of reasons for this newest guide. In addition to complete solutions that I've written for games, like Temple of Elemental Evil for example, I have sometimes written game guides from a much more subjective viewpoint, like the ones I've written for BG2 and IWD2. It affords me an opportunity to explain in considerable detail the kind of analysis, preparation, and decision making that can produce a successful campaign. I have occasionally received requests to return to that style of writing, and thus have endeavoured to write a similar guide for Pillars of Eternity 1.
Secondly, this guide assumes the installation of both Part 1 and Part 2 of the White March expansion. Further, make sure that you have unchecked the autolevel companions box in the difficulty tab, as it will allow you more control on your companions' builds.
Thirdly, I'm an avid user of Youtube, and frequently upload videos of my gameplay. I was struck by the idea of integrating some of those videos into game guides, with the earlier version of a Dragon Age: Origins walkthrough being my first one. The guide is embedded with my Youtube videos, with those videos accompanied by my explanations of what is going on and what decisions I am making.
For this guide, I do not provide general guidelines pages like I did for the NWN2 video-based guide. Instead, advice on building characters and equipping their items emerges through the character profile pages, while advice on combat emerges in the details of the guide itself. The guide itself follows the adventures of both a good Paladin Watcher and an evil Paladin watcher.
*NOTE* This guide is separate from the complete walkthrough that is available at Sorcerer's Place. However, I frequently include links to parts of that walkthrough that will open in separate tabs. Examples include pages on individual Quests or Tasks in the game, and pages for items that either party will find during their adventures. I also frequently link to character profile pages that are part of this video-based guide that will also open in separate tabs, especially when it comes to that character making a crucial decision or that character finding an especially useful item.
As a general rule of thumb, the good party does not rely on crowd-control (i.e. confining the monsters in a zone at a safe distance from the party) in comparison to the evil party. Instead, everyone is developed so that they can fight close-quarters if they have to. Spells and Powers that I frequently use will tend to emphasize harming only the enemies but leaving my characters untouched, which means that they can be used with abandon by targeting them in the thickest part of the battle. Another emphasis will be inflicting debuffs on my enemies that will leave them vulnerable to a Rogue's Sneak Attack and Death Blows powers. Also, I use abilities that inflict Damage Over Time, since my characters will be well-suited to inflict extra damage on enemies affected by such abilities. My good Watcher character is a Moon Godlike Kind Wayfarer named Alliria. Her core party members will be:
The evil party includes two spellcasters that can pack powerful spells, and yet at times can be vulnerable in close up combat. A lot of their spells can also harm party members in addition to the enemies. The emphasis therefore tends to be much more on starting combat with quick seqences of crowd-control spells that keep the enemies at a safe distance, bombarding them with offensive spells, and having my warriors pick off any that make it out. My evil Watcher character is a Fire Godlike Bleak Walker named
Zakara. Her comrades are:
The one joinable companion who doesn't get included in any party is
Pallegina, an Avian Godlike Female Paladin, for the simple reason that my main Watcher in both parties is also a Paladin. If you're interested, certainly follow the link to her page on the standard walkthrough that I just provided. Now some comments about the order in which both parties do things.
ORDER OF AREAS TO EXPLORE
The first few parts of the game both parties do in the same order, as follows:
- Encampment
- Gilded Vale
- Temple of Eothas
- Raedric's Hold
- Caed Nua, doing just enough to gain Caed Nua as a stronghold and just enough of the Endless Paths to get certain items I want for either party.
- Dyrford Village
- Copperlane, here I'm doing just enough of Defiance Bay to progress the main storyline a little, as well as a few side quests that originate in the district itself. Note that both parties avoided committing to an alliance with The Dozens faction during this part.
- Just enough of Part 1 of the White March expansion to explore the Durgan's Battery and Galvino's Workshop. The point here is that each party gets a few more items that it wants, and each party picks up a core party member or two along the way.
Now each party sets about to explore
Defiance Bay in earnest. But within this part, each party takes somewhat different paths. Both parties begin with all quests originating from within the Ondra's Gift district. It is afterwards that the pathways diverage.
*Good* The good party next does quests originating in First Fires, doing just enough for the Crucible Knights to avoid committing to an exclusive alliance with them. It is Searing Falls Bluff after that. They then head to Brackenbury to cement an alliance with House Doemenel. After that, the good party goes though a path of: the Sanitarium, Hadret House, Heritage Hill, Pearlwood Bluff, and then Cliaban Rilag. Part of the reason for delaying Pearlwood Bluff was I wanted to obtain an item that I could use during a scripted interaction there first.
*Evil* The evil party (after Ondra's Gift parts) next does just enough for House Doemenel to avoid committing to an exclusive alliance. They then head to First Fires to cement their alliance with the Crucible Knights. After that, it's an order of Searing Falls, Pearlwood Bluffs, other quests originating in Brackenbury, the Sanitarium, Hadret House, Heritage Hill and Cliaban Rilag. Eventually both parties reach the climax of Act 2 in the Ducal Palace. The evil party also does Pearlwood Bluff earlier because it wants a ring from there for
Aloth
Both parties now head for
Twin Elms. The good party does everything except quests tied to the Oldsong District. The evil party does everything except Oldsong and the Blood Sands. The reason for the difference is that
Alliria wants a powerful Sabre that can be found in the Blood Sands, whereas
Zakara already got her Sabre of choice when the evil party explored Durgan's Battery.
After that, there's another point of divergence.
*Evil* The evil party does the
rest of Endless Paths. The reason is that items available from the
Legendary Companion Adventures are more of a priority for the evil party, and not so much the good party. I therefore want the +8 stronghold prestige bonus that comes with killing the Adra Dragon sooner rather than later, so as to increase the odds of getting the Legegendary-tier Companion Adventures that I want. *Note* Additionally, the evil party takes on
Cragholdt, which is included in Part 1 of the White March expansion, before taking on the Adra Dragon. The reason is that there is a spell to be found in
Cragholdt which will be very useful against the Dragon.
*Good* The good party does everything in
Part 1 of the White March expansion, including Cragholdt but excluding Longwatch Falls, which I leave for when I get around to Part 2. It is after defeating the Adra Dragon that the evil party does the rest of Part 1, excluding the Longwatch Falls.
At this point in the respective pathways, both parties take on
Part 2 of the White March expansion. But even here the paths within Part 2 diverge.
*Evil* The evil party does the Iron Flail Fort first, because they want to obtain a certain Soulbound Sword for
Durance right away, and then the Mowrghek Ien, where the upgrades for that sword can be obtained quickly. It then becomes a pathway of the West Tower to obtain a Soulbound Medium Shield for
Eder, the Longwatch Falls, Whitestone Hollow, the Bounties, the Stalwart Mines, Stalwart Village, the Abbey of the Fallen Moon, and finally the Ionni Brathr Fragment.
*Good* The good party takes a gentler path, since its not invested in the soulbound items to quite the same extent that the evil party is. The pathway is Stalwart Mines, Stalwart Village, Longwatch Falls, the Bounties, the West Tower, the Iron Flail Fort, Mowrghek Ien, the Abbey of the Fallen Moon, and finally the Ionni Brather Fragment.
It is afterwards that the good party does
rest of Endless Paths, almost as an afterthought.
It is only after almost everything has been checked off that both parties head back to
Twin Elms for the climax.
ABOUT THE MAPS
All the maps in this solution are screen captures. Large, numbered maps, are provided on top of the relevant pages, and sometimes throughout the text as well. When you see a smaller map, simply click on the thumbnail of the map to see the full version. You’ll notice that my walkthrough provides notes in numeric order on most of the pages. The numbers on my maps correspond with the location of what is being discussed in my walkthrough notes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’ve submitted past walkthroughs to Sorcerer’s Place as Dave Milward. My alias here, however, is Beren. If there’s anything you’d like to share with me, by all means you’re welcome to send me an e-mail to beren
or contact me via PM on the SP message boards. If I find anything particularly helpful and worth mentioning specifically, I’ll give credit where credit is due in updates.
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