Cagliostro88

She just means that they are artificial. They are not real deities in the sense that they did not exist in the "natural order", their creation is the direct result of when the Engwithians found no "true" gods but only the Wheel. But they have very real powers and can manifest themselves like in the Council of the Stars, where all your party can see them (almost all the other voices and visions in the game have nothing to do with gods but only souls, and as such you're the only one who see/hear them since you are a Watcher)

Thaos wants animancy to fail because it would lead to the reveal of the nature of these deities. Animancy is basically the "infant" modern equivalent of the Souls' science the Enghwitians developed, and as such it would lead to the same conclusions about existence. He thinks that if the world discovered that the gods are the creation of a mortal race it would plunge into total chaos, and wants to prevent that.

What it's actually really curious is that some of the gods have a favorable view on animancy (Galawain in particular)...

@darthpizza said:

Plot Holes?: what does the big adra machine in the final level do?

So I get that it collects and feeds souls to Woedica, but that's what it currently does. Right after you beat Thaos, however, you look into Thao's past life for when the machine was turned on for the very first time, 2,000 years ago. What was the purpose of that? Why was Thaos collecting souls back then, and why did people seem to be willing to give them to him willingly?

Was Thaos using souls to actually create the goddess Woedica, out of nothing? Is that what the gods actually are, just manifestations of the essence/souls of people who wanted to create gods, who didn't want a godless world, so they sacrificed their lives to will gods into existence?

And if that's the case, then isn't that the interesting plot twist and reversal of traditional roles and power? Instead of the gods creating kith, it's actually kith that created the gods...?

It's not really explained in the story, or at least I didn't get it :P

If what is described in that vision is the exact moment of the creation of Woedica it's a very nice ipothesis

It's not explained which process the Enghwitians used to create these gods; that collective sacrifice could very possibly be the actual way.

The big plot twist is exactly what you are suggesting, but it's clearly stated in the various conversations in the Sun in Shadows :)

@seikenfreak: The world map is what you see from the start. It doesn't really matter because it's the number of locations you can travel to and what is in there that define the size of the game. Some have dungeons, some little caves, some basically nothing to explore beyond the area map (plus of course the two cities)

@oldirtybearon: I understand, i felt similarly about butchering the killer of the boy in Ondra's Gift. Especially since they give you insight into the kid's thoughts when you connect to his soul, and i found them touching.

@oldirtybearon: Do you mean killing the elf girl or murdering lord Harond? Because if you are talking about the former if you are a cipher or have one with you like the Grieving Mother you can just mindwipe her and then set her free.

@nardak: What do you mean? The last ending slide should tell you about your character being able to finally sleep without more visions and facing a journey ahead (with or without the infant)

Speaking of which, has anyone else taken the orlan baby from Twin Helms (without sacrificing her, of course) with them?

You will reach level cap way before the game ending, so you can swap later party for some side quest if you want to max every companion. If you are worried about some character in particular just send him/her on the adventures offered by the stronghold. I finished the game with every obsidian companion plus a full roster of 8 hired adventurers on max level and i still had a bunch of things to do after reaching the cap on everyone, so don't worry

@moonshadow101: I guess I understand and somewhat agree on your view on the companions quests, but I really think also that they are, except for Hiravias', somewhat lacking in structure and "substance".

I'm with you on Durance. The scene in the final of his quest when he lets out that scream is fantastically written, you can really feel him shattering under the realization on Magran. For a man who dedicated his entire life on a single entity like him it must have felt like being torn apart, and Chris Avellone (he's credited as his write) made an amazing job in painting it.

@anund: I can only guess it's because during her quest i convinced Grieving Mother that using her powers to cast an illusion on the mothers of hollowborns wasn't the best solution and life should keep going and let it sort by itself (and i'm a total hypocrite, during the skaen cult quest i was all "wipe the mind of the elf girl"), so in the end she came to really oppose Hylea idea of what to do with the souls. She was very very vocal in expressing her opposition. By the way Eder completely cracked me up when I found the part of the banner of the battle his brother fought in, and upon choosing to give it to the Grieving Mother he went all "I appreciate your initiative, but i doubt that asking random peasant women can help us when we need a cipher"; or when you ask Hiravias about her and he has no idea who she is or why she is with the party :D

Regarding the kid you are mistaking which one i'm talking about: there is the kid in Copperlane who wants a dagger for revealing you a secret, if you give him one when you go back to that area his father is taking the dagger away from him and scolding him. It was relieving to see that scene (and partecipate in it) because after giving him the dagger a town crier was saying "kid looses all his finger playing with a dagger! Have this be a warning to give only wooden swords to children" and i thought he was talking about him and i felt really bad.

The second kid, the one you're talking about, is the one killed and dumped in the harbor of Ondra's Gift for defending a prostitute from rapist thugs and that used the dagger of one of them to stab him in the leg. He's dead from the start, you can only choose what to do with his assassin (i slaughtered him with great pleasure) and if you want you can make his dad go back home from the brothel where he's drinking himself to death.

Apparently they are already at work on the expansion, they say they plan it to be roughly the size of Tales of The Sword Coast :)

By the way i'm curious, which of the gods' solutions did you choose for the ending?

Don't reroll, just keep your rogue and play past the introductory dungeon. What you read was correct.

Regarding shortage of classes: there is none, because If you don't like the Obsidian companions or want different classes you can just create and hire your own adventurers at the various inns (you can create 8 of them).

@seikenfreak: Is your fighter a tank or are you using him as a dps? Because you should really put him in front with your paladin, especially since the Defender modal ability grants him 2 more engagements, while the paladin is limited to the basic one plus eventually another one from a talent and possibly from unique enchantments on your weapon. As Tennmuerti already told you, I would not use the arrowhead formation, try experimenting with some custom ones.
Put a couple of points in stealth to your front-line party members, so you can directly get close enough to enemies that you can shoot with the rogue to pull without having to make her run behind.

For the feral druids and the drakes in Stormwall Gorge and Searing Falls don't worry, you're a bit underleveled for the former encounter and the latter area. Just go into Defiance Bay, there are a ton of quests in the various districts. You'll tear through those two areas when you'll come back. If you really want to still avoid Defiance Bay for now just run East in Stormwall Gorge and reach the exit there, you'll be able to travel to Dryford Village which is very much doable at lvl 5.

Regarding the Wizard, you'll get a vast array of spells leveling up and looting more grimoires, so don't worry if you don't like the ones you have now. Together with the Cipher they get the best crowd control in the game; opening an encounter with a well placed Confusion (it's a level 4 spell, so you'll get it at level 7) is extremely powerful, especially if you are properly positioned when you cast it. But even at low levels you have some good cc spells between Slicken (which apparently got nerfed to apply its effect only once, but still) and the Priest's Repulsing Seal; prone enemies are basically dead enemies

For your rogue, since i seem to understand that she's ranged, get the Penetrating Shots modal talent and give her a blunderbuss (there is a very very nice one as a reward for a side quest in Dryford Village). You'll end up oneshotting most of the enemies while Sneak Attack is in effect.

I only used a little the ranger but they seem quite weak, and the animal companion is more of an hindrance than an helpful tool. Rogues do way more dps as ranged and the cipher has some amazing spells, so unless you have a personal liking and absolutely want one in your party i would toss him/her out of the party and get someone else in (druid if you want more aoe damage, cipher for more cc, chanter for buffs/debuffs, barbarian for melee aoe, etc)

Apparently there is a patch set to go live in the next days fixing most of the issues, even retroactively. Here you can read the patch notes