Pillars of Eternity 2: Hell in Hasongo, Sayonara in Sayuka

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having heard of statue sightings at the isle of Hasongo, the crew set sail there immediately to find the now destroyed fort overrun by nagas! Sagani and her pet Itumaak are bowed down by the snakes as others drown Grieving Mother. Tekehu also meets his end as he lures a large group into the powder storage and detonates it, turning all of them into soup. Both forces vacate the island with the team taking refuge at nearby Sayuka - another Royal Deadfire Company fort.

So many things go boom in this game.

However it isn't safe there either as local druids send an attack while the team is docked, and they lose Alias and Serafen to the wave of werebeasts before escaping to sea again. This time Ydwin leads them to a seemingly uninhabited island to recover, but in truth it is the lair of her ancient fampyr masters who drain Symm Haximus and Zahua dry before Gerrod and Arzang can put them all down. For her treachery, Arzang uses his magic to make Ydwin's head explode.

Luck seems to finally swing their way as they spot the giant statue upon exiting the cave and give chase to the land of fire giants and after sneaking past them Xoti manages to commune with it as it refuels with a massive adra crystal - learning it plans to destroy "the wheel", the very fabric of death and rebirth. Communication is cut short as the volcano they are standing in erupts, the lava melting Xoti into goo. Luckily the remaining survivors make it back to the ship for a quick evacuation back to Nekateka.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Caed Nua Crushed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

By the time Arzang, Gerrod, Alias, Hort, Maneha, Mercy, Sagani, Symm, Zahua and Grieving Mother return from Defiance Bay they find their home of Caed Nua destroyed by the gigantic statue that it was built on top of! Hearing reports that said statue then simply "walked away" into the sea leads them to give chase on ship into the Deadfire Archipelago but lose it in a storm.

That's not how statues work as they lack flexibility but ok, its "magic"!

At Port Maje they learn from priestess Xoti that the god she worships has possessed that statue and so let her join the team. Also joining is a short and furry pirate named Serafen who tasks us with taking out a rival which both easy and humorous, involving an exploding harpsichord. He then directs the ship to Neketaka, the capital of these isles to restock, gain bearings and gain more crew including fampyr animancer Ydwin, masseur Konstanten, Royal Deadfire Company riflewoman Maia (sister of Kana Rua) and princely water shaper wereshark Tekehu.

Unfortunately they also lose Mercy and Hort to some random arsonists in the city. The pair are captured and burned alive.

Pillars of Eternity: Dulf Demented

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The first stop for Dulf, Aloth, Sagani, Zahua, Maneha and the Grieving Mother is the Leaden Key hideout in the sewers where they murder everyone. Then it's onto the Ducal Palace to try get into the hearings but are unable to without an invitation. The only group left that may have one are the Dozens, but again they refuse to help.

Aloth convinces Dulf this is because they are on the Leaden Key payroll so they too are all killed and as the violence spills out onto the street - more guards and more brave citizens meet their end against the enraged Dulf. Eventually, when the streets run red with blood, Aloth points the attack towards Hadreth House, the local intelligence facility who again are not forthcoming with an invitation. "They must be on the take too," whispers Aloth.

So Dulf slays them all while Aloth watches with glee. In truth, only Hadreth House had the capacity to stop the Leaden Key and with them out of the way his mission was complete. With a flick of his wrist Aloth vanished, leaving the Dulf to face the justice about to befall them from his own friends as Symm, Hort, Alias, Mercy, Gerrod and Arzang arrive to stop the blood bath.

Out numbered and shaken by what they were doing, Dulf's team just stood aside as Arzang and Gerrod broke through the old wizards magical defences and then burned his mind, leaving him a stuttering and incoherent shell of a man.

Then they abandoned him there as he deserved - unrecognized, unloved and doomed to wander the streets of Defiance for the rest of his days.

The end.

Insight: So, this is the non standard ending of the game (kill Lady Webb) and one I got locked into since all the factions were dead. Supposedly, Hadreth House would also give an invitation to the hearings as a last resort but only if you personally kill all the other faction leaders. Too bad for me, this design didn't count on the Knight Crucible commander getting killed by enemy NPCs (the forge knights he so badly wanted to create). Oh well, I'll chalk that up to poor design, or is it genius design? :P

Pillars of Eternity: Devil Destroyed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The Abbey of the Fallen Moon is well guarded, but fortunately the guards are all idiots as Dulf manages to bluff his way past them AND their leader, allowing Maneha access to their salt pool which removes some bad memories for her (by getting tentacled).

And the rest of the party just watched...

Indeed, the team only end up fighting one insane monk on the lower levels which Dulf then floods as a distraction so the team can reach the frozen lake beyond. There in the center is a huge chunk of a fallen moon - and the base for those mechazoid monsters. Fighting their way in, they find a way to sink the entire thing but not before the Devil of Carroc is pulverized into pieces. Dulf too almost dies in the ensuing collapse but is saved by Aloth who finally reveals he is a Leaden Key spy, but wants out of the organization swearing allegiance to Dulf.

The group returns to Caed Nua for a trial where Aloth reveals the Leaden Key are after all things animancy and are especially targeting the animancy hearings back at Defiance Bay. While most of the Black Pit crew vote against trusting Aloth, Dulf and the others overrule them and take them with him back to the city to continue the hunt for the Leaden Key.

Insight: Monks have some amazing abilities which makes Zahua pretty awesome. It also means fighting through the abbey will be super painful as all those monks have the same moves.

Pillars of Eternity: Hiravias Halved

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having cleared the dungeon, the Caed Nua group spend most of their time keeping the peace around the stronghold - a peace disturbed by a mercenary army attacking their quiet neighbour, the archmage Concelhaut.

As the mercs are jerks they are wiped out, only for the team to discover Concelhaut is a bigger jerk - and a lich! The archmage laughs at the notion of needing help and decides to kill them for their trouble. Hiravias is cut in two by one of his ancient death guards before the others can behead Concelhaut, taking his skull as a trophy.

That table is handy in separating the lich from his guardians.

They then meet one of Concelhaut's rivals, the archmage Llengrath, who orchestrated this attack. Llengrath makes a pact with the Caed Nuan's as thanks for their service - giving them another powerful ally.

Meanwhile Dulf is dealing with powerful enemies in the White March - giant mechanized men who are resilient to damage. They seem to be coming from the direction of a remote monastery, so Dulf leads his squad there next with the help of barbarian pilgrim Maneha.

Insight: Concelhaut's skull is the best mini-pet in game, as it allows you to summon the lich to help you in battle!

Pillars of Eternity: Lea Levelled

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After the war the dive team finally reaches and clears out the last floor (15th) beneath Caed Nua, only losing Crazy Lea on the way as she was crushed by a boulder thrown by a deep spriggan. At the base was a powerful dragon who simply wanted to be free but had grown too heavy to fly so they helped it in another way: by beating down a random woman and holding her still while forcing the dragons essence inside her (that is literally in the game). The dragon was most thankful for this gift and the heroes made a powerful ally.

That's a scary looking beast.

Elsewhere, Dulf's squad headed back to the White March to continue chasing the trail of the Leaden Key into a long abandoned and haunted dwarven fortress guarded now only by spirits and automatons. One such machination, the Devil of Carroc, is friendly and self aware enough to join them - helping to disarm the more difficult dangers in the place which had pretty much wiped out their quarry's exploratory team.

At the deepest part of the fortress Dulf finds a legendary forge and decides to reignite it. Unfortunately, this also awakens a new threat in the region.

Insight: Building up Caed Nua offers some good stat boons when you rest there. Said stats (in combination with crafted food and magic gear) let you access those conversation options you wouldn't normally be able to.

Pillars of Eternity: Pallegina Pummelled

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Following the trails of the Leaden Key leads Dulf's team to the icy North of the White March where they are set upon by a wandering group of evil monks who beat Pallegina into a pulp and breaking all her bones! The paladin does not survive these injuries.

Fortunately a friendlier monk named Zahua comes to their aid to defeat these attackers, and in thanks Dulf takes him back to the stronghold so that Arzang can undo the curse on a sword bound to Zahua's hand. In doing so he learns that a neighboring lord is raising an army to claim Caed Nua for himself!

I'm just going to skip over a few other cool encounters in the White March. :P

In response, Dulf attempts to raise his own army by aiding the Crucible Knights at Defiance Bay complete their forge-knight automatons. Alas, these go crazy and slay all the knights at the base. The other two alliance options don't work out either, with the Dozens still refusing to help and the criminal House Doemenel begin wiped out due to an argument during negotiations.

And so Dulf faces the invading army with his small group of allies where he, Aloth, Arzang, and Gerrod spend most of the battle transforming enemies into piglets and then roasting them with fireballs while the others keep the enemy swarm at bay. It is an easy victory, and they celebrate with plenty of bacon afterwards.

Insight: Don't immediately shapeshift with your druids. They have some handy spells they can throw first before getting stuck into melee. Any summoning spells / items are especially good.

Pillars of Eternity: Gezzthemin Gutted

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Back at the Caed Nua stronghold, Gezzthemin has hired new guards to aid in its defense and among them are the familiar faces of Mercy, Crazy Lea, Alias and Arzang. Together with Gerrod they forge into the depths underneath the fortress once more and reach level eight and find a crazed, adra addicted fampyr looking to become king of the level by getting Gezzthemin's team to kill the rest of his kin and in exchange he will let them descend further.

Arzang's suggestion of simply killing this fampyr is outvoted and the squad ends up fighting a handful instead. They turn out to be deadly enemies due to their charms, an effect fully felt when Crazy Lea stabs Gezzthemin in the belly and carves out his insides - killing him. The team eventually slays all the other fampyrs and surprisingly the new "king" keeps his word - offering free passage downwards.

The team instead returns to the surface to rest and resupply, sending a messenger to Dulf's squad with news of their expedition. Upon hearing the news, Symm and Hort return to the stronghold to assist the dive teams while Dulf replenishes his own troop with the paladin Pallegina, werewolf druid Hiravias, and cipher (psychic) known only as the Grieving Mother.

Werewolf form is cool!

Insight: Fampyrs are faster than the other undead. This means if you have enough space to run, you can isolate them from their pawns.

Pillars of Eternity: Kana is Killed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

On the road to the city the party meets a short ranger named Sagani and her pet fox Itumaak who are looking for someone. Dulf offers to help so she comes along as the team makes a detour to scour the nearby areas first. This turns out to be a mistake as the next area is a drake breeding ground and one of the beasts has Kana for a snack!

Enraged, the team go on to hunt all the drakes including their big leader in the nearby flaming cave. Despite clearing everything in there and all the way to the ocean, there is no sign of the person Sagani is looking for so the team returns to the original plan of visiting Defiance Bay, stopping at the weapon vendors stall to purchase rifles and pistols all around.

No doorway? No problem! Narrow terrain works just fine even against "flying" creatures.

A local adventurer's guild called "The Dozens" isn't very helpful in giving out jobs so Dulf and company end up freelancing again, eliminating some drug dealers and cleaning the catacombs of monsters and scum. It turns out beneath the catacombs is the hideout of the Leaden Key! Not willing to spook them, Dulf uses an ingenious disguise to bluff his way in alone and collect intel on the shady group - leaving them none the wiser.

Insight: Firearms are slow to reload but using them as an opening salvo is a great alpha strike before switching out to your usual weapons.

Pillars of Eternity: Durance's Death

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Outside the ruins of Caed Nua the party meets the bard (chanter), Kana, who is interested in the relics below the keep. Knowing people are stronger together Dulf lets him join the party as they rid the courtyard of spirits and the basement of vermin.

They also find a mad man down there who and recognizes Dulf as a "watcher" like he himself is. Alas, this ends in a one sided fight in which the mad man is slain but at least he left a hint regarding a group known as the "Leaden Key" somewhere in the city of Defiance Bay. Since the path there is blocked, Dulf decided to make Caed Nua their new base of operations, calling in Gezzthemin and Gerrod to oversee the reconstruction of the road and the stronghold itself.

Meanwhile, the team explores the vast dungeon underneath the basement finding all sorts of creatures down here such as kobold-kin, ogres and a drake. At level seven Kana finds the tablet he is looking for but is disheartened to find it in tiny pieces. Worse still, a powerful lightning bolt from a wandering elemental hits Durance right in the nuts - killing the pyromaniac.

Doorway combat, a mainstay of RPGs.

A friendly ghost warns Dulf not to proceed further ("because you are too low level dawg") so the team retreats back to the surface just in time for the road to open to allow travel to Defiance Bay.

Insight: When outnumbered (which is almost always), doorways are a great place to setup for battle. Position everyone well then just send one person (usually the tank) to lure baddies back.

Pillars of Eternity: Raederic's Removal

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having found old allies Hort, Gerrod and Symm Haximus - Gezzthemin's party finds great success in helping out the people of the Gilded Vale, to the point where they ask them to deal with the cruel Lord Raederic. His castle is pretty easy to infiltrate with Hort's athleticism getting the team up the parapet walls, but the wall guards are no joke - forcing the squad to sneak around them.

Luckily the temple priests in the upper floor are less well armored and are easy to murder. Even their high priest contact who has a key to open a shortcut to the throne room is killed when he attempts to make bargains for it.

The priests are no problem, but the temple knights are a different story...

In no time at all, the team stands before Lord Raederic's throne and in a brief but intense battle they slay the lord and his cronies, allowing the rebel forces control of the keep. They return to the Gilded Vale as heroes, where the townsfolk are already taking down the corpses that had been strung up to the central tree.

Having been injured in the fight, Gezzthemin and Gerrod opt to stay behind to recuperate, leaving the team's leadership to Dulf. A crazed, ugly pyromaniac monk named Durance in the tavern recognizes Dulf's new "condition" and speaks of a man who has a similar aura in the ruins of Caed Nua. Without anything better to do, the team decides to head there next with Durance leading the way.

Insight: The fighter's knockdown ability is very handy. Eventually ranger pets get a version of this too!

The Cursed: Not Winning

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

Alias and Arzang survey the field of the fallen and are soon joined by the survivors of the rear guard, equally amazed that the Planar Hunters have all been defeated. Even a bloodied Symm shows up from another exit and proclaims that Dennaton has been "taken care of".

Suddenly the arena scribe appears and says he is actually a sorcerer of no small power, and with Dennaton out of the way he can take them all home, away from Thay. While some are hesitant, they eventually all agree. 

Surprise!

The scribe then throws off his disguise revealing himself to be Baeloth, whom each of them has heard of from Party Girl and Sir Erland. All weakened from the fighting, they have no opportunity do anything before Baeloth opens a gate underneath each of them. As they fall in, all they can hear his evil laughter as the world goes dark.

Insight: Wow, they went with a downer ending for Black Pits 2! It's like they've been reading some of my stories! Lol.

The Cursed: Preparation is Half the Battle

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

Gerrod, crazy Lea and Voghiln head back to assist in the rear guard while the team moves on to the next arena - this one occupied by guards led by Symm Haximus! Through careful dialogue Party Girl talks him down and with him abandoning the field, the remaining guards do the same.

They then proceed to the last arena where Dennaton awaits... with the Planar Hunters who have just returned in time to save him! Now is the time all that prep work pays off: Najim throws off his disguise, Joker suddenly turns into a man-sized mushroom and dies due to her earlier poisoning, and Shinordium uses the spirit transference scroll to trade bodies with the adamantine golem.

He then promptly smashes his old body with his new one in a single hit. It is now 7 against 3 in the parties favor. Dennaton wisely leaves his box seat to retreat elsewhere.

"The Winged" - Dennaton's Planetar still doesn't look concerned.

Insight: While not explicitly mentioned, the other preparations include being loaded with scrolls and potions to buff before entering the big fight. Since this combat system is ultimately based on math, everything counts!

The Cursed: Slave Rebellion

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

The time to escape is now. Joined by Dulf, Hort, Mercy, Gezzthemin and that douchebag Timmoth Goodtree, the squad begins their escape but quickly finds guards in their way. Guards alerted by Symm Haximus. Luckily, the other guards they bribed come through and turn off the anti-magic field making it an even fight. Even the two sous-chefs join the melee.

Alas both of them and all the guards save one, as well as Timmoth are killed when a group of Thayan knights and wizards arrive. The survivors fight through to the market area and loot some supplies, including the vault now open thanks to Brother Elraish. Unfortunately, his corpse is found within.

Thayans have some pretty funky armor.

The extras decide to hold position while the main team goes through the arenas to get to Dennaton, the first of which has a match in progress - umberhulks versus Voghiln, crazy Lea and Gerrod. The monsters are easily killed and Gerrod hands over the spirit transference scroll he just completed.

Insight: You can use the NPCs to do the fighting for you, and while not very RP-ish you can also rest at particular spots to recover spells.

The Cursed: Symm Haximus

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

Arzang is again one of the last standing (hiding) in round sixteen facing six fallen devas (just one step down from planetar) while Symm wins it for them somehow using insta-kill moves. Not to be outdone Hort and Dragonbait get their chance to shine against twin demi liches whose penchant for mazing doesn't work on enraged berserkers.

One of the hardest fights!

Still, it is Symm who is taken for the last two fights: the first against a trio of dragons and the second against two Bhaalspawn, one of whom goes into slayer form both made really easy as he insta-kills the "boss" creatures easily. Upon returning to the pens, they learn that the Planar Hunters are out - making this the most opportune time to escape.

As the gladiators make their way to the meeting point, Party Girl asks Symm one more time if he wants to escape with them. He flatly refuses, saying they all should get used to being gladiators and returns to the training area. Why are the strongest always so stubborn?

Insight: Don't take Symm into battles where he can get charmed or confused. Obviously his axe has an equal chance to insta-kill your party members!

The Cursed: Web of Connections

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

Sir Erland and Party Girl spend some time meeting the other captives and it's clear that most are scum, even asking for gold (they were all given some to shop for equipment) to assist in each arena fight. One, a cleric named Timmoth Goodtree, even flatly refuses as he would rather spend his energy finding a way out. Not such a bad idea, but someone has to fight upstairs. Guess who.

The four prisoners they best get along with join the team permanently - Alias the warrior and her saurian companion Dragonbait as well as Shinordium the mage and his evil compatriot Arzang the sorcerer. For the first round against orcs, they also get the dwarven gladiator champion Symm Haximus who is the only fighter there voluntarily, for the pay and the glory. He has no interest in escape.

Symm sounds a bit like Crixus!

Round two is against Thayan gladiators and minotaurs, and the team picks the unliked wild mage Gerrod to assist. He is just happy to make friends and clearly wants out. The third round they are joined by Mercy the archer to kill lizardmen, and after the battle she agrees to keep an eye on the guard routines.

To face umber hulks in the fourth match they bring crazy Lea who is immune to their confusion due to her insanity. Unfortunately due to the same condition, they can't tell if she and her imaginary frenemy will assist in any escape attempt.

Insight: Web is very handy for these fights and the arenas are small enough to get some good coverage.