Having now finished the game I’m left somewhat conflicted.
Ultimately it feels incomplete, with the final parts of the main quest seeming forced and unnaturally sparse. The Wandering Lady shrine is so expansive, while Lev is a burned husk where you can’t even deliver the spices you got in with (the entire interaction with Mya in fact feels like a placeholder), the logging yard is just an empty expanse filled with enemies, and Ista Cale is populated by no-name dock workers. It’s also annoying you can’t seem to do anything with Corem’s Shipping Guild or the Rheamus Farm area.
At the end I was level 13 (having just leveled-up following the final battle) after clearing what I believe are all the possible areas to clear. Arcane Attack ended up being a fantastic spell for physical attackers, much better than focusing on Strength and particularly amusing when combined with Strafe, while Searing Light was the only direct damage spell worth actually putting points in. I also had over 10k money because there’s little worth buying beyond the custom armor; the equipment variety is sorely lacking.
Unfortunately I got the bad ending, since warning the “natives” to not trust the Consil apparently means nothing and getting the Lele to leave peacefully somehow makes you responsible for massacring an entire village. This ending seems to be bugged, as during the final battle I couldn’t actually control the PC during it besides casting spells on myself and had to rely on the auto-attack AI to eventually kill everyone (caster MC). Not sure if I want to replay it to get the good ending (there’s a lot of empty space to traverse) or just shrug and go with this one for the upcoming expansion.
Some other things to take note of:
– Avoid using any sort of multi-attack ability around neutrals.
– Most NPC pickpocket inventories appear to be completely randomized.
– Don’t leave the Logging Camp until you have the Manor Key.
– Orf’s Bridge Consil contains the best dodge-focused armor.
– Rumin Consil contains the otherwise best armor.
– You can copy/paste text in the Incantation Book.
– Attack Speed 0 makes you unstoppable.
– Wolf Morph, Wolf Claws 8+ & Amplify 8+ with a Hunter Whip works well.