Any way for the Aurelians to KEEP the mine?

[Eyestabber]

During my Aurelian Praetor campaign I did the entire merchant questline, then left for Maadoran by fixing the mine. When I came back, however, the Aurelians were gone and House Daratan held the mine. That didn't cause me any problems, since I could still pass the reputation check (Daratan) needed to enter the mine (Charisma 10 FTW!), but part of me wishes the Aurelians would just keep the damn thing. Is there any way at all? Maybe if I find the secret Blue Steel mode, Lord Gaelius would decide that the mine is worth keeping, thus sending a bigger gaarrison? Maybe?

 

[Commissar Draco]

During my Aurelian Praetor campaign I did the entire merchant questline, then left for Maadoran by fixing the mine. When I came back, however, the Aurelians were gone and House Daratan held the mine. That didn't cause me any problems, since I could still pass the reputation check (Daratan) needed to enter the mine (Charisma 10 FTW!), but part of me wishes the Aurelians would just keep the damn thing. Is there any way at all? Maybe if I find the secret Blue Steel mode, Lord Gaelius would decide that the mine is worth keeping, thus sending a bigger gaarrison? Maybe?

Gaelius knows its Blue Steel Melter and besides its plot role has diminished since the Teron Demo its is not even mentioned in Chapter Credits after all... they are a few more questionable changes in game too like dropping INT 6 requirement for making the Antidas-Guard deal and hence making the game more AA and :incloosive: for crowd... Shame for VD and Iron Tower to go so L1brul; Shame.

 

[Eyestabber]

BTW, I did Kingmaker yesterday and found out that you still need int 8 to go for Kingmaker. Less than that results in "Diplomat" only.

 

[Commissar Draco]

BTW, I did Kingmaker yesterday and found out that you still need int 8 to go for Kingmaker. Less than that results in "Diplomat" only.

Buts its only difference in achievements in old Demo having INT below 6 resulted in being send in the elite company of bronze clad legionaries and being forced into combat; I know Attributes points are scarce here but liked the idea of stupid and not charismatic soldier being shafted presented with more occasions to show his heroism. IG line is still the best with House Aurelian being close second; both offered good mix of talky and fighty paths being Joo was fun if short CYOA and Criminal Scum was too fighty for my opinion same as Boatmen; too much bloodshed not enough assassinations (use of stealth, disguises, poisons, scoped crossbows, bribery and sex). Felt like some kind on Ninja not assassin most of the time. House of Daratan was big let down when you were not allowed to win even when you got nuclear armed flying ship under your command... and you were punished for solving problem efficient ways... Like no people no problem.

 

[Esquilax]

IG line is still the best with House Aurelian being close second; both offered good mix of talky and fighty paths being Joo was fun if short CYOA and Criminal Scum was too fighty for my opinion same as Boatmen; too much bloodshed not enough assassinations (use of stealth, disguises, poisons, scoped crossbows, bribery and sex). Felt like some kind on Ninja not assassin most of the time. House of Daratan was big let down when you were not allowed to win even when you got nuclear armed flying ship under your command... and you were punished for solving problem efficient ways... Like no people no problem.

That's about right. Imperial Guard, House Aurelian, and Merchant were probably the most interesting and well-developed paths in the game. Great fights, lots of well-done, believable political intrigue and a lot of chances to get familiar with the lore of the game (particularly as a member of House Aurelian).

The issue with the Thief path is that a lot of skills are just plain useless after Teron (Steal is awful, particularly after Teron, Traps has few uses outside of the Thief questline, and Sneak is also very "iffy" in its usefulness as well) and in general the questline goes downhill, which is why I'm very happy that Iron Tower is dedicating a month to fleshing it out in December. During Teron, I think that the Thief questline is downright brilliant, maybe the best one in the game - lots of different ways to do things, you get to use your rep with the 40 Thieves to solve quests (i.e. Bandit Camp), and in general you feel like you're part of a feared and respected criminal enterprise. It's a shame that the value of a lot of Thief-centric skills plummets after and you don't have cool little additions like the ability to break into places.

I do agree that the Assassin path could use a little bit of work. You generally end up feeling like someone's puppet and are really out of the loop on events (i.e. if you side with House Crassus, the ending slides imply that Meru has gone through with the ritual and there's nothing you can do to figure it out/stop him). I understand that a brutish killer type should be a puppet because you are basically only around so that people can hire you to kill others, but perhaps a smarter character should have a bit more influence. For example, after I've slain all of Gaelius' political rivals, it would be nice to be able to call in a favour or get a boon of some sort from the big man. Likewise, if I've "converted" and seen the truth of Meru's teachings as Varro did and served him well, then maybe he should be able to confide in me a bit more now that I've proven my loyalty as an Inquisitor (would require CHA and good House Crassus rep).

 

[oscar]

So far it seems like the Assassin has one of the few positive (potential) endings

Spoiler

where your character doesn't end up shafted or a pawn and gets a nice, cushy and powerful (if a little boring) post as the Inquisitor for Meru.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Liked IG low rep the most:

Spoiler

You got demoted back to centurion and send to wastelands... where half of your people die in first few weeks and months but the rest are trained and hardened into Space Marine grade bad-asses tough as nails.

Sorta logical when fellow centurions were already about you achieving Centurionship in month when they had to serve and bleed for 5 years; being Legate was too sweet deal to be true [streetwise success]

 

[oscar]

Was an alternative available if you had a higher rep?

 

[hivemind]

So far it seems like the Assassin has one of the few positive (potential) endings

Spoiler

where your character doesn't end up shafted or a pawn and gets a nice, cushy and powerful (if a little boring) post as the Inquisitor for Meru.

Aurelian and TG high rep endings are also pretty 'comfy'

 

[skaraher]

One of the most "comfy" ending is the Meru-Carrinas one, when you convince the Teron garrison to break the siege in House Crassus favor. Carrinas becomes head of Meru's Templars and makesyou his second in command. You end up as the fourth more powerful man in the new Crassus order. A large part of the Legion deserts to join arms with Carrinas, and Paullus ends up sad and alone in Caer Mor.

Also if you began as a Daratan Praetor and spared Antidas life, he isn't marked to death by the Legion and relinquish his title of Emperor peacefully to become one of Frater Meru's followers.

So all in all, a massive incline ending. Well except for all that Meru becoming Cthulhu thing.

Meanwhile, Paullus only rewards you with a legion of Aurelian canon fodder, a position as a subaltern of Legate Fagnas (But still incline, as you are First of Magister Paullus's Adepti) or even worse has you demoted and sent to die in the wastes.

 

[Lexxx20]

One of the most "comfy" ending is the Meru-Carrinas one, when you convince the Teron garrison to break the siege in House Crassus favor. Carrinas become head of Meru's Templars and make you his second in command. You end up as the fourth more powerful man in the new Crassus order. A large part of the Legion deserts to join arms with Carrinas, and Paullus ends up sad and alone

You need to kill Antidas to persuade Carrinas to join you, right?

 

[skaraher]

No, it worked after having forged a Daratan-Legion alliance with Antidas as a puppet Emperor.

 

[anus_pounder]

Was an alternative available if you had a higher rep?

I forgot what the high rep ending for IG-Meru was, but for IG-Aurelian -

Spoiler

The Aurelian legions get folded in with the IG into one big Imperial Army. The Old IG legions are given to the veteran IG officers while the Aurelian legions slowly get their pro-Aurelian commanders shifted out in favour of up-and-coming Paullus loyalists. You get the same line about how you earned your Legate title through politics rather than battlefield achievements but Paullus decides you show promise and you get to be legate of one of the new ex-Aurelian legions. The ending ends with talking about how if you can prove yourself in the future, greater things may come, etc. etc.

EDIT: Disregard that, I'm yiffing in hell. skaraher already posted what the high rep IG-Auerlian is. I still think its a relatively cushy position on the whole. Nothing says you can't turn those Aurelian whelps into proper soldiers like the handful of soldiers you get in the wasteland ending and presumeably, the Imperium may eventually start eying further expansion. A good chance to prove yourself.

Or maybe I'm just thinking in terms of your usual power-fantasy rpgs. [streetwise failure]