Help with ascension (spoilers inside)

[Gay-Lussac]

I'm planning a second playthrough and google has so far not yielded reliable results on two specific points, so I'd appreciate some help:

1 - What backgrounds have access to the sphere?

In particular, I saw two comments from VD dating back to 2014 saying they'd let praetors loot it off of Bass's dead body in the pass instead of automatically going into a vignette, but I'm guessing this idea was dropped for some reason as, after countless reloads, I beat the encounter only to get launched straight into the vignette anyway.

2 - What are the requirements for reaching Al'akkir in order to have access to the machinery necessary for the ritual?

One thread had an answer from one of the developers stating Al'akkir was only accessible to praetors, merchants and the imperial guard. So if I rolled, say, a thief or assassin, there's no way I could reach it? If so, does that mean that thieves and assassin's have access to the sphere but aren't able to get real use out of it?

3 - Bonus question: how on earth do I get to Meru's secret star chamber?

All threads about it just mentioned "playing your cards right" or being on good terms with him. As a praetor, I saved his preacher in Madoraan (got mentioned in the city epilogue of consequences, but never anywhere else) and played along with all of his zealots that I encountered in Ganezzar only to get cockblocked by a random charisma check when I probe him further about his revelations, with no further opportunities to get in his good graces. This got me pretty miffed, because I thougth keeping the helm of destiny would allow me to perfectly live out my character fantasy of being a cultured yet ruthless praetor, being loyal to his lord(s) only to discover and abuse these ancient artifacts in order to ultimately seize power for himself.

Not being able to complete the ascension on this character wasn't that big of a deal, as the bittersweet ending I got maybe was an even better fit for how much of an arrogant prick he was (basically shat himself and kneeled when he was confronted with an actual god - Balzaar - after being led to Al'Akir in the hopes of furthering his goals and then took Agathoth's offer and sort of reached his dreams of power, while in fact becoming a glorified sock puppet). Not being able to use the helm at all was a pretty big letdown, though, specially when the Madoraan epilogue teased me by saying I kept it in order to claim the destiny for myself; very frustrating that I "wasted" probably the only playthrough I'll do where I'd keep the helm and then not being able to use it just for not investing in a single specific stat.

(Loved the game overall by the way, it's been the sole focus of my attention for this entire past week.)

 

[Stompa]

1 - Any background that ends up dealing with the merchant's loot (assassin, mercenary, thief, loremaster, not sure about drifter or grifter). Bass's body was unlootable for me when I was a praetor, but I already had the sphere, so I dunno.
2 - Yes. To get to Al-Akia as a thief, you have to betray your guild at some point so that you get hired by Gaelius and start praetor's questline. Same with assassin, only you need to do your betrayal early in Teron, either to Aurelians or IG. There's also a way available to all characters - fix the outpost's smelter (around 4 lore and 3 streetwise) and you'll get hired by House Aurelian.
3 - Merchant can access it willy-nilly.

 

[Darth Roxor]

only to get cockblocked by a random charisma check when I probe him further about his revelations

It's a persuasion/charisma check and it's not particularly big. IIRC you can pass it with just 7 persuasion + 4 cha.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

1 - Any background that ends up dealing with the merchant's loot (assassin, mercenary, thief, loremaster, not sure about drifter or grifter). Bass's body was unlootable for me when I was a praetor, but I already had the sphere, so I dunno.
2 - Yes. To get to Al-Akia as a thief, you have to betray your guild at some point so that you get hired by Gaelius and start praetor's questline. Same with assassin, only you need to do your betrayal early in Teron, either to Aurelians or IG. There's also a way available to all characters - fix the outpost's smelter (around 4 lore and 3 streetwise) and you'll get hired by House Aurelian.
3 - Merchant can access it willy-nilly.

1 - But how did you already have the sphere as a Praetor prior to meeting Bass?
2 - So basically any background can reach Al-Akia, but not if they continue with their faction's quests. You necessarily have to serve either IG or house Aurelian (and from what I gathered, the Commercium quest line leads you there too?)
3 - Well, I'll keep it in mind, but I was looking for a solution that didn't require another character. Mine was effective enough to gain Aurelius and Daratan trust (and full access to their facilities) on virtue of me being an effective praetor, but Meru never gives you any chance to prove yourself, you either sweet talk him or it's straight into Al'Akir to watch him kill himself. Wish I could've at least shown him the helm and gotten some kind of reaction (it was whispering his city's name, after all).

It's a persuasion/charisma check and it's not particularly big. IIRC you can pass it with just 7 persuasion + 4 cha.

Game only said something along the lines of "Charisma failure", no mention of persuasion, are you sure?

 

[Stompa]

But how did you already have the sphere as a Praetor prior to meeting Bass?

By starting as a loremaster, obviously.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Oh, I didn't know you could become an actual praetor down the line if you started a different background other than praetor itself. I assumed that if you eventually entered the service of Daratan or Aurelian from another background you'd just serve them in a different, less prestigious, capacity.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Game only said something along the lines of "Charisma failure", no mention of persuasion, are you sure?

The persuasion/charisma check comes after Meru introduces you to his prophet. Passing this leads you to the star chamber, and I passed it with charisma 4.

I guess the 'charisma failure' you mention is when you take Meru to Al-Akia and ask why did he decide that bringing Satan into the world was a good idea. This is not the star chamber check.

 

[Lexxx20]

1. I got the sphere from Bass's body as an Aurelian Praetor. I believe it's impossible to get it any other way starting as Praetor.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Who is Bass?

 

[t]

Who is Bass?

Dude at the Harran Pass.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Never been there.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

1. I got the sphere from Bass's body as an Aurelian Praetor. I believe it's impossible to get it any other way starting as Praetor.

Do you recall at which point you killed him? I'm guessing the problem might be that I did it while trying to set off that explosion for the ordu, going back to the pass ahead of them, and when you're about to loot the bodies they interrupt you (vignette).

The persuasion/charisma check comes after Meru introduces you to his prophet. Passing this leads you to the star chamber, and I passed it with charisma 4.

I guess the 'charisma failure' you mention is when you take Meru to Al-Akia and ask why did he decide that bringing Satan into the world was a good idea. This is not the star chamber check.

Quite the opposite, I actually managed to make the checks in Al-Akia by using a save file that had skill points saved up, just to see what would happen (you can then sabotage the ritual and kill meru). This interaction requires some amount of lore and a streetwise+persuasion combination of 10 (besides one or two solo streetwise checks).

The charisma failure that I'm mentioning I'm pretty positive is the exact same interaction you're talking about, happening after he introduces me to his prophet and whatnot. What happened was the same as when I tried to get more info out of the old lady at inferiae by mentioning she seemed to be from the city, or that the raider leader at the bandit camp near Teron used to serve at the imperial guard: it just says charisma failure, with no mention of persuasion. There may be a hidden persuasion check in there, but the game certainly doesn't make it clear.

 

[Lexxx20]

Never been there.

Should have seen him as a member of IG, that's their main quest. You go there to meet with Ordu later.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Still need to do that. My recent playthrough, mercenary background, I was ready to join. First mission, attack some merchants pretending to be raiders. I said, fuck that, and they threw me out.

Fuck the IG.

 

[Lexxx20]

1. I got the sphere from Bass's body as an Aurelian Praetor. I believe it's impossible to get it any other way starting as Praetor.

Do you recall at which point you killed him? I'm guessing the problem might be that I did it while trying to set off that explosion for the ordu, going back to the pass ahead of them, and when you're about to loot the bodies they interrupt you (vignette).

Oh, I didn't kill him! I returned with Ordu and they battled IG. After that there were some corpses laying on the ground, Bass's included.

 

[Lexxx20]

Still need to do that. My recent playthrough, mercenary background, I was ready to join. First mission, attack some merchants pretending to be raiders. I said, fuck that, and they threw me out.

Fuck the IG.

I actually like their storyline a lot. It's very fleshed out, one of my most favorite in the game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Quite the opposite, I actually managed to make the checks in Al-Akia by using a save file that had skill points saved up, just to see what would happen (you can then sabotage the ritual and kill meru). This interaction requires some amount of lore and a streetwise+persuasion combination of 10 (besides one or two solo streetwise checks).

The charisma failure that I'm mentioning I'm pretty positive is the exact same interaction you're talking about, happening after he introduces me to his prophet and whatnot. What happened was the same as when I tried to get more info out of the old lady at inferiae by mentioning she seemed to be from the city, or that the raider leader at the bandit camp near Teron used to serve at the imperial guard: it just says charisma failure, with no mention of persuasion. There may be a hidden persuasion check in there, but the game certainly doesn't make it clear.

Well, all I can say is I got to see the star chamber with charisma 4. Soooooooo

 

[Irenaeus II]

Charisma is great for getting those backstories from NPCs.

 

[Saduj]

Charisma can also make the difference between getting a good or bad ending due to its effect on reputation.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Tell me about it. Check the Best moments thread