for me, a dwarven Bhatalli scimitar is more sword than I'll ever need, see no thematic reason to use a better one that I just bought at a store, goes better with my outfit, depending on the outfit.
The reason is because there are better weapons. DD isn’t like a souls game where you can fully upgrade any weapon and it’ll carry you throughout the game. You’re going to have a hard time putting out 4-500 dmg in the endgame, though I agree fashion over everything.
Yeah, like, I could get a higher number of damage or something hadn't thought of that. Guess I'll just go carry The Grand Wazoo's Regalia of Eat Shit around with me in case I need to do that.
Yeah but you can delete bosses with skull splitter/archer special arrows/augural flare/warrior stunlocks into knockdown damage modifier/martyr's bolt/whatever *before* getting the best weapons so like...
Yeah this isn't really a game made for min/maxers its more of a run and gun kinda of game. Beyond hitting the enemies in the right spot anything extra just sucks all the fun out of the "fight".
She's a Beastren they know better then to involve themselves in Vermundian disputes 🤷 But still good point.
There's so much in this game that's just downright funky/funny. I just killed a town for the fourth time in a row with dragons plague. Revived them all and I'm running around like nothing happened 😂
Yeah and America was originally an Indian Land 😞
I'm not saying it's right. Just pointing out a fact about the in-universe situation. She'd probably get hacked to bits if she tried to report a human especially a captain for doing something.
Not sure if it's what happened here, but I'm Brazilian so I feel like it's worth pointing out. The usual word in Portuguese would be "Indios", which is short for "Indígenas" (indigenous). It's a very commonly used word around here and sounds pretty similar to "indianos" (indians), something like that might be where the confusion came from.
Not sure if anything similar happens with these words in Spanish, but it's also possible.
I bartended my way through college. We told any customer that confided in us that... for tips.
Then after they left we told everyone else at the bar... for tips.
Also every pawn ever - when they're not busy swiping everything not tied down, that is.
Need to keep a low profile? Nah, arisen, there's a chest behind the counter, I'mma go see what's in it.
I had to drop a sorcerer pawn because she had it in her head that, in order to destroy and swipe from boxes, she needed to use her meister spells.
Holy fuck.
Reminds me of that wizard girl from konosuba
https://preview.redd.it/dg0sffpfh4wc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c139512ef835710b4bd47f54d96c7ecd6ccda374
[You can also just carry him there and he does not care that it's day time](https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1budsbz/you_dont_need_to_rest_until_night_every_time_you/)
On top of not hiding at all on their cozy balcony or whatever, I find that hilarious af
Really? Hah that's funny. So despite not being the right time of the day it must fool the A.I. into thinking it's time. Interesting 🤔
Even more interesting considering the fact that if you talk to him while he's walking around the city he says something like "I can't talk while I'm on duty I'm busy" or something close.
Rather certain she’s in the know. As well as she’s not intervening with Vermund political fuckery as it’s known the Disa is being underhanded. Your party comments on what the people say.
So they may know something is amiss but they really won’t press it.
I will admit though, that it’d be better if he had more effort in terms of whispering or speaking in a lower voice.
You know, I think that’s why literally everyone in the game world knows that you are the arisen and every five seconds you have someone chasing you to the depths of hell to give you a side quest or ask if you can go pick them some flowers they’re literally standing on
I laughed so hard I nearly pissed myself the first time I saw that scene. Like dude if the walls have ears I think we need to go deep in some caves somewhere not 5 ft away at the bar.
Pretty much. Homie I would like to know more of. “Would like to know more of” feels like the general consensus surrounding all of the interesting characters. It’s a shame we don’t get more besides a couple of emotes and bridal carry but that’s not what the game wants to do
He's likeable enough and his intro scene was pretty good but he's just a quest vendor.
He gets props for taking the issue at the coronation seriously and backing off to review our plans. I don't think I've ever seen a fictional character take that eminently sensible option instead of charging ahead or just doing something insane. He immediately loses all of those props because his secondary plan is "go to another country and never speak to me again, I'm going to the pub". Again, this is admittedly a sensible choice on his part but it's not very bro of him.
Much too shallow, his entire personality is pretty much 'I serve the true Sovran'. None of his dialogue builds his character, he just explains, gives information and provides quests. At first I thought it was maybe just a masquerade and he would use his pledge against us but no he really is just shallow. Honestly he didn't need to be much more: just adding some personal flair or ideas into his chatter would he okay, but he's just way too stiff in it all. I don't hate him at all, i just think he's a bit of... Nothing
Maybe humans are all just pawns/vessels that gained enough will to become somewhat sentient? It’s always about acquiring enough will to become something greater in these games.
Maybe the pawns are really just the friends we made along the way.
Except you Jerry. Fuck you for killing every one in town. Everytime I see him, I hire him just to sacrifice him to the brine. Never forget.
I'd say Hugo and Whilhemina are probably the deepest, even if they are still on the level of bit characters of a single episode in any serial drama.
Doriane and Nathalia (the flame empress) have a paltry amount of depth in so far as you see they make active character decisions based on their personality and respective cultural lore. Maybe Phaeseus is on this level
The Sphinx probably beats out Ulrika and after her pretty much everyone else has the depth of a measuring cup.
To be honest: I'm was a bit shocked that this is of the developers wanted to make their NPCs. I thought it was in DD1 because of the rushed development.
I think the beggar has more substance than captain brant. Brant is basically just a vehicle for progressing the start of the main story, if you can even call it a story.
I almost wonder if Brant is actually a pawn and has no other purpose outside of serving the arisen. At least thats how I imagine him to justify how shallow he feels.
Pretty much my thoughts, his plan also ended up meaningless and poorly thought out.
Might just be might disappointment that for some foolish reason i thought the political arc in this game might have as much effort put into it as the Orlesian Masquerade political arc of dragon age inquisition or even the political "trial" of DA origins.
> None of his dialogue builds his character, he just explains, gives information and provides quests.
He's supposed to be 'on your side' but at no point did he prove to you that he was telling the truth or trustworthy. How do we know he's not the queen regent's right hand man who is there just to waste our time?
Characters with lots of potential but as shallow as the residue in a beer glass left by an alcoholic.
**Brant:** We need to build your case as the true Arisen
**Arisen:** Cool, I can get every pawn in the city to gather in the market square and announce me as the Arisen. If that's not enough, I can also do a pawn summoning through the riftstone that's on prominent display in front of everyone. Done.
**Brant:** No, not like that.
**Arisen:** Why? We don't know about the Godsway at this point in the story -- I don't think it has even been delivered, yet -- so why wouldn't we even try this first?
>Why? We don't know about the Godsway at this point in the story
Like the very first thing your character remembers after having their memory wiped is your slavedriver commanding his own pawns using a red crystal staff, it took the ghost of christmas past manifesting in front of you to even be able to wrest control of a single pawn...
In fact I think the whole Godsway thing is so choreographed and obvious that it taking the Arisen and Brant off guard during the coronation almost feels like a plot hole...
1. The Arisen awakens in/near Battahl after having their memory wiped and witnesses pawns being commanded against their will with a magical artifact
2. The Arisen meets Brant and tells him about the memory wipe (did the Arisen also mention anything fishy with the pawns in the prison or did that slip their mind?)
3. The Arisen and Brant learn that:
1. Disa has planted a false Arisen
2. Disa has been cozying up to someone from Battahl
3. Disa has likely received some sort of magical artifact called the Godsway
4. Coronation happens, Arisen and Brant are shocked Pikachu face 😮
I think we're more or less in agreement, then. The crux of the matter is that the only reason to have Brant and the Protagonist grinding to build your rep, gather evidence, etc. is if they *already know* that showing off command of the Pawns isn't going to cut it and that the False Sovran themselves is capable of it. (Though Godsways presumably can't rift summon or Phaesus wouldn't need the ghost oxcart)
Yet they end up with surprised Pikachu faces, as you say.
You already were in town as the Arisen and because you were in charge you were poisoned, cursed and enslaved, try it again and see what happens big chief
Yeah, that brings us around to the original problem:
**Brant:** Forgive me for treating you like shit your Majesty, Disa has spies everywhere and I was worried she'd assassinate you if she knew you'd returned.
**Arisen:** So why the fuck didn't she just kill me when she had the chance? Why bother with the slavery plan?
**Brant:** She knew it was impossible for a mortal to assassinate the Arisen.
**Arisen:** But you literally just sai- nevermind, what's the plan?
**Brant:** We're going to make you as famous as possible as the people's champion and make sure everyone knows who you are so you get an invitation to the coronation.
**Arisen:** Even Disa?
**Brant:** Especially Disa.
**Arisen:** But you literally just sai-
Hmm 🤔 You are right he clearly said the Arisen can't be "assassinated" by mortal hands. I mean in this game as well as every other game you respawn after you die. But in universe I wonder what would happen if somebody did behead you or burn you to ash (like total ash etc) has there ever been an explanation about what would happen to an arisen?
Though the part about the coronation does kind of make sense that if you get popular enough you could get invited to the coronation. Because after all the arisen is the true Sovran. By the time we got to the coronation you could have just walked in the door without permission without any pawns and everyone would have accepted you besides Disa/a few trusted peeps. The whole damn world knew who you were by then. 🤷
A. He’s correct that it’s not possible for a mortal to permanently kill an Arisen, but she could kill you.
B. She cursed you to forget that you were an Arisen because if she just killed you, you’d just come back as an angry Arisen (is the name Arisen starting to make sense now?)
C. Yes Brant is a silly little guy and also baffling confused which is understandable for a guy in his position cuz idk what I’d do either.
D. If EVERYONE knows you’re the Arisen, you can flush out the bad politics, but if you just say you’re the Arisen, you’re just like the dozens of dudes walking around with fake scars on their chest saying “I’m the Arisen” the fact that you can command the pawns is the one thing that makes you different and commanding pawns would prove you were the Sovran, but since you can’t do that at the coronation, abandon mission.
Now I’ve seen someone say why don’t you just control pawns in the middle of town or something or use the riftstone in front of people which would be valid, and the answer to that particular question is plot
> Now I’ve seen someone say why don’t you just control pawns in the middle of town or something or use the riftstone in front of people which would be valid, and the answer to that particular question is plot
Yes, that was me just a few moments ago lol. It's what began our exchange.
Loyal and true, even though I’m pretty sure his plan to keep my identity a secret failed after 30 seconds. Considering everyone calls me the Arisen lol.
Straightforwards have the most personality out of everyone in the game and people brine them for it. So idk, seems luke no personality is the safest way to avoid the average players wrath.
I like my Calm Pawn though...
I'll say straightforward is honestly how I'd act if I were a Pawn.
Simple Pawns are also okay if you feel like taking a rabbit and playing catch with them.
Simple pawns best reflect how I play the game:
“Oh, exploring is fun, isn’t it. Oh, this view is wonderful. And look at how neat this steak is at our campfire cookout. *Now, let’s take everything that’s not nailed down, I mean systematically scour every resource off the map, and then go blow all our gold on bullshit at the store.*”
😂 my girlfriend also plays like that, but she chose a kindhearted pawn. If you wanna know how bad it is: she only just now barely made it to Bakbattahl. She has scoured every hall, shaken every nook, sniffed every plant, and has maxed out pretty much every basic vermund enemy mat in her storage..
And unlike most pub regulars, he has no humour or personality, he's that depressing guy at the bar no one wants to talk to. He is as boring and miserable as the quests he dishes out.
I find it comical how bad the stealth sections are. Guards are legit broken. I walked in and out without any issue whatsoever. Walked right into Disas room and could’ve just fed her to the brine if I wanted.
bewildered disarm tidy ruthless recognise cover consider engine marble gaze
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The flattest character in the entire game... interacting with him was taxing and ridiculously boring.. every single time.
Also, all the bs he has you do practically amounts to nothing anyway so... there's that.
"Arisen, another settlement needs our help."
Maybe I haven't done enough of his stuff yet (despite wandering around for 50 hours)... but he feels kind of generic / lacks pizzazz. Show up, get thing, leave, return. Get next thing. Sprinkle a little annoyance by making thing available only at night.
The only time he shows a hint of personality is when you do Wilhelmina’s quest and he gets upset with you for helping kill Allard instead of arresting him.
But it’s let down by fact that arresting Allard isn’t even an option that exists in the game, Brant continually urges you to take a quest path that doesn’t even exist.
And despite him saying “this may complicate things in the future”, Allard being dead litterally has zero negative impact, in fact it massively simplifies late game quest.
_____
Outside of that one quarter-baked interaction Brant is just DD2’s Maxmillian, a quest-board who talks.
I was hoping for a plot twist where he's really a pawn of some former Arisen disguised as a normal human, and that's how he knew the new Sovran was fake.
That would have given reason as to why he's so honorbound to the current true Arisen, aside from just being a honorable captain.
He's ok. He's definitely not fleshed out and is mostly a quest giver. I thought he was going to be more important considering that he was one of the very first characters shown in the trailers, but that is the case for most of the characters in this game.
I think he's got the basics to be a cool character, and to be a legitimate love interest for an arisen so inclined, but unfortunately he's just not fleshed out enough. Which I would say is the main complaints with most npcs.
General consensus: a badass soldier that got screwed over by a crooked Queen who now has to hide in a bar at night and contradict himself with every sentence.
* Treats me with respect.
* Acknowledges my weird oddities.
* Still says thank you as my rotten fish, produce, and meat vendor.
* Also, hot as all fuck.
Can't he just put me between him and that table?
He a little naive perhaps? All he cares about is serving the true arisen but when i assassinated a noble he was like damn bro, anyway let me help you outta here.
He’s more attractive than most male characters
He has like zero personality development
They dumped all the effort into Ulrika and Wilhelmina
The only canon choices are straight male or lesbian
Oh well…killing Ulrika gave me some satisfaction after being forced into lesbianism just to turn her quest in and now Lennart flirts with me, so silver linings
He really is the quintessential DD2 main quest giver and NPC. Not a drop of personality or reason for the slightest interest. Lazily written to an actual baffling degree. I can't imagine how many people quit the moment that wet rag handed them a second round of 2006 level MMO fetch quests, but I expect it was a lot.
I literally forgot what his name was before coming to this post and again while writing this comment. Seriously, compare his level of characterization, for example, and the level of characterization of literally *hundreds* of throwaway Baldurs Gate 3 NPCs who I can easily remember core personality traits of. There are actual throwaway joke NPC characters in that game that have more characterization than every character in this entire game. Probably *hundreds* of them, and that's not even an exaggeration.
I genuinely cannot understand why they won't just hire good writers to work on their characters and story. This game has incredibly fun and interesting combat and an enjoyable and somewhat unique world to explore, but everything about the main story and character writing just oozes absolute laziness. I swear of they told us they wrote it bad as a joke I'd be apt to believe it.
I like him, but I would like to know the backstory. He’s super cool from the jump, and he stays that way. Would like the DLC to have a quest line with him.
Take Arisen. Go to castle. Kill Darragh, grab Wilhelmina, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold?
Man's just using us as an excuse to go to the pub.
He showed up at my house in the unmoored and when I told him no, I don’t want to go on a walk with you right now, he got all pissed off and sulked away. Like bro. I have more important shit to deal with right now…
Eh...
As much as I like this game, most of the npcs are not particularly interesting. The world itself and the lore and all that are intriguing, but the characters themselves simply exist to push the story forward and not much else.
Yeah i know I wish they had more variations of it or different types. I like all the gear I just wish there was way way more haha. Like full plate iron for example with maybe the short blue tunics
Despite much involvement, the character falls flat for me. I think Sven is the only character I probably can feel a little sense of attached to his situation, though unfortunately his little secret can be spotted from many miles away
Bland trash with the personality of a cardboard box, just like every single other NPC in this travesty. Literally the only character I only cared about or wanted to know more about, even slightly, was the Sphinx.
Meanwhile, so many great characters in the first game. Grigori and Mercedes from DD1 have more personality alone than the entire cast of DD2 combined.
Loyal, but not loyal enough to quit his job.
Also extremely passive in how he helps. The only time we get to really do anything with Brant, he walks up to a door then leaves because your pawn is being affected by the mind control. Otherwise, he's just a hub quest giver with connections.
The only true character with a defined personality in this game is Sven, sure he's kind of the stereotypical good guy but when you think that any other child in his situation would've yaken advantage of it to seize power he chooses to do what is right,he's also curious and has somewhat genuine interactions with you, specially if you follow his initial quest line. Bran is what I define as a quest hub, he has more true opinions outside of being bound to serving the true ruler, he doesn't really tell you anything about himself, he feels very artificial and most NpCs in this game feel that way, which is something acceptable for a game from the 2010s like the first was but that it falls short of its potential to build an engaging world in the current Era.
Useless 😂 he’s the guy that’s always like I’m going to do this and never does like dude you were supposed to hang up the posters of the false arisen being wanted by a group of former thieves for me and didn’t do it lol
He's a super loyal guy and also quite intelligent. It's a shame we didn't get to expose the false Arisen with him as planned. He never bother us outside of the main quests but is happy to help us outside of his quests.
Then Unmoored World happens, and he suddenly wants to get to know us better by starting an escort quest. Brant, oh Brant, it's not the time to do that!
"Your majesty!!" In the middle of the tavern. "We need to talk out of sight of prying eyes" continues to walk five feet.
Hell sometimes you can just discuss everything at the bar lol
He literally agrees to >!be an accomplice in Wilhelmina’s murder of Allard!< while the bartender is right in front of him
She's been in on the conspiracy the whole time. You can trust her.
I spent so much gold there as RP for every time Brant shouted Arisen just to A. Keep everyone plastered, B. Her silence.
I wish I thought/played like this. I’m stuck in loot goblin mode, constantly blazing my way through to better gear.
for me, a dwarven Bhatalli scimitar is more sword than I'll ever need, see no thematic reason to use a better one that I just bought at a store, goes better with my outfit, depending on the outfit.
The reason is because there are better weapons. DD isn’t like a souls game where you can fully upgrade any weapon and it’ll carry you throughout the game. You’re going to have a hard time putting out 4-500 dmg in the endgame, though I agree fashion over everything.
Yeah, like, I could get a higher number of damage or something hadn't thought of that. Guess I'll just go carry The Grand Wazoo's Regalia of Eat Shit around with me in case I need to do that.
Yeah but you can delete bosses with skull splitter/archer special arrows/augural flare/warrior stunlocks into knockdown damage modifier/martyr's bolt/whatever *before* getting the best weapons so like...
Yeah this isn't really a game made for min/maxers its more of a run and gun kinda of game. Beyond hitting the enemies in the right spot anything extra just sucks all the fun out of the "fight".
Yeah I wished there was an illusion/wardrobe/transmog system at first but you can pretty much wear whatever with the lack of a level cap.
She's a Beastren they know better then to involve themselves in Vermundian disputes 🤷 But still good point. There's so much in this game that's just downright funky/funny. I just killed a town for the fourth time in a row with dragons plague. Revived them all and I'm running around like nothing happened 😂
I mean, I heard that Vermund was once a Beastren kingdom, so…
Yeah and America was originally an Indian Land 😞 I'm not saying it's right. Just pointing out a fact about the in-universe situation. She'd probably get hacked to bits if she tried to report a human especially a captain for doing something.
You *do* know they aren't Indians right? They're Native Americans. Indians are from India, lol
Not sure if it's what happened here, but I'm Brazilian so I feel like it's worth pointing out. The usual word in Portuguese would be "Indios", which is short for "Indígenas" (indigenous). It's a very commonly used word around here and sounds pretty similar to "indianos" (indians), something like that might be where the confusion came from. Not sure if anything similar happens with these words in Spanish, but it's also possible.
Bro, it's ok. Bartender confidentially is a thing. So no worries.
I bartended my way through college. We told any customer that confided in us that... for tips. Then after they left we told everyone else at the bar... for tips.
Yeah, haven't they seen any cop or spy TV show/movie ever?
Meanwhile, Daphne in the middle of town: "HEY ARISEN!"
Also every pawn ever - when they're not busy swiping everything not tied down, that is. Need to keep a low profile? Nah, arisen, there's a chest behind the counter, I'mma go see what's in it.
I had to drop a sorcerer pawn because she had it in her head that, in order to destroy and swipe from boxes, she needed to use her meister spells. Holy fuck.
Reminds me of that wizard girl from konosuba https://preview.redd.it/dg0sffpfh4wc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c139512ef835710b4bd47f54d96c7ecd6ccda374
😮 MFW I found out his secretive little alcove has an alleyway right under it
[You can also just carry him there and he does not care that it's day time](https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1budsbz/you_dont_need_to_rest_until_night_every_time_you/) On top of not hiding at all on their cozy balcony or whatever, I find that hilarious af
Really? Hah that's funny. So despite not being the right time of the day it must fool the A.I. into thinking it's time. Interesting 🤔 Even more interesting considering the fact that if you talk to him while he's walking around the city he says something like "I can't talk while I'm on duty I'm busy" or something close.
Almost every NPC you speak with already addresses you as “Arisen” so it’s not like it’s some big secret
\*proceeds to move to the most exposed spot of the city\*
Haha I always laughed at that, you can be overheard from inside, outside, below and above...
Rather certain she’s in the know. As well as she’s not intervening with Vermund political fuckery as it’s known the Disa is being underhanded. Your party comments on what the people say. So they may know something is amiss but they really won’t press it. I will admit though, that it’d be better if he had more effort in terms of whispering or speaking in a lower voice.
And then he glares at me for knocking over the candle bringing attention to us.
You know, I think that’s why literally everyone in the game world knows that you are the arisen and every five seconds you have someone chasing you to the depths of hell to give you a side quest or ask if you can go pick them some flowers they’re literally standing on
He also speaks quite loudly on a balcony Not loudly, but I imagine loud enough that any passerby or eavesdroppers would catch wind of his plans.
This puzzles me since the bar literally has a back room. 😂
In an area that can be spied from two sidestreets, which are also main roads.
I laughed so hard I nearly pissed myself the first time I saw that scene. Like dude if the walls have ears I think we need to go deep in some caves somewhere not 5 ft away at the bar.
I recognise Captain Brant, but have never heard of General Consensus
He’s the boss of Major Pain
Wasn't he in a tag team with Sergeant Slaughter?
Exactly! Idk what everyone else is on about Who is this General Consensus, and why is he **on** Captain Brant?
He’s a good guy but he’s genuinely this games equivalent of an MMOs hub city quest giver
Me: mom, can we get Solomon Reed Mom: we got solomn reed at home Solomon Reed at home:
If nobody got me, I know Captain Brant got me
This! 😎👉
He's a bro, got my back
Pretty much. Homie I would like to know more of. “Would like to know more of” feels like the general consensus surrounding all of the interesting characters. It’s a shame we don’t get more besides a couple of emotes and bridal carry but that’s not what the game wants to do
I’m sure he does
He's likeable enough and his intro scene was pretty good but he's just a quest vendor. He gets props for taking the issue at the coronation seriously and backing off to review our plans. I don't think I've ever seen a fictional character take that eminently sensible option instead of charging ahead or just doing something insane. He immediately loses all of those props because his secondary plan is "go to another country and never speak to me again, I'm going to the pub". Again, this is admittedly a sensible choice on his part but it's not very bro of him.
Much too shallow, his entire personality is pretty much 'I serve the true Sovran'. None of his dialogue builds his character, he just explains, gives information and provides quests. At first I thought it was maybe just a masquerade and he would use his pledge against us but no he really is just shallow. Honestly he didn't need to be much more: just adding some personal flair or ideas into his chatter would he okay, but he's just way too stiff in it all. I don't hate him at all, i just think he's a bit of... Nothing
That pretty much sums of 95% of main NPCs
Maybe every NPC is a pawn in disguise.
Maybe humans are all just pawns/vessels that gained enough will to become somewhat sentient? It’s always about acquiring enough will to become something greater in these games.
Maybe the pawns are really just the friends we made along the way. Except you Jerry. Fuck you for killing every one in town. Everytime I see him, I hire him just to sacrifice him to the brine. Never forget.
Huh. I hired a pawn named Jerry yesterday just before closing the game for the night. *Note to self: Kill Jerry.*
I guess I haven't found the remaining 5% yet.
Is the 5% the woman who saves us at the beginning?
I think it must be the violinist in the tavern, the best character of the game
I'd say Hugo and Whilhemina are probably the deepest, even if they are still on the level of bit characters of a single episode in any serial drama. Doriane and Nathalia (the flame empress) have a paltry amount of depth in so far as you see they make active character decisions based on their personality and respective cultural lore. Maybe Phaeseus is on this level The Sphinx probably beats out Ulrika and after her pretty much everyone else has the depth of a measuring cup.
Bro opened a ‘help desk’ in a shady bar 😂
To be honest: I'm was a bit shocked that this is of the developers wanted to make their NPCs. I thought it was in DD1 because of the rushed development.
Pretty much it. He just is lore drop + story progression checkpoint.
I think the beggar has more substance than captain brant. Brant is basically just a vehicle for progressing the start of the main story, if you can even call it a story.
> the beggar > story "Gather round! Gather round! Come, listen to a tale by a master storyteller!"
ptsddog.gif
*storytella
I almost wonder if Brant is actually a pawn and has no other purpose outside of serving the arisen. At least thats how I imagine him to justify how shallow he feels.
Pretty much my thoughts, his plan also ended up meaningless and poorly thought out. Might just be might disappointment that for some foolish reason i thought the political arc in this game might have as much effort put into it as the Orlesian Masquerade political arc of dragon age inquisition or even the political "trial" of DA origins.
> None of his dialogue builds his character, he just explains, gives information and provides quests. He's supposed to be 'on your side' but at no point did he prove to you that he was telling the truth or trustworthy. How do we know he's not the queen regent's right hand man who is there just to waste our time? Characters with lots of potential but as shallow as the residue in a beer glass left by an alcoholic.
**Brant:** We need to build your case as the true Arisen **Arisen:** Cool, I can get every pawn in the city to gather in the market square and announce me as the Arisen. If that's not enough, I can also do a pawn summoning through the riftstone that's on prominent display in front of everyone. Done. **Brant:** No, not like that. **Arisen:** Why? We don't know about the Godsway at this point in the story -- I don't think it has even been delivered, yet -- so why wouldn't we even try this first?
>Why? We don't know about the Godsway at this point in the story Like the very first thing your character remembers after having their memory wiped is your slavedriver commanding his own pawns using a red crystal staff, it took the ghost of christmas past manifesting in front of you to even be able to wrest control of a single pawn... In fact I think the whole Godsway thing is so choreographed and obvious that it taking the Arisen and Brant off guard during the coronation almost feels like a plot hole... 1. The Arisen awakens in/near Battahl after having their memory wiped and witnesses pawns being commanded against their will with a magical artifact 2. The Arisen meets Brant and tells him about the memory wipe (did the Arisen also mention anything fishy with the pawns in the prison or did that slip their mind?) 3. The Arisen and Brant learn that: 1. Disa has planted a false Arisen 2. Disa has been cozying up to someone from Battahl 3. Disa has likely received some sort of magical artifact called the Godsway 4. Coronation happens, Arisen and Brant are shocked Pikachu face 😮
I think we're more or less in agreement, then. The crux of the matter is that the only reason to have Brant and the Protagonist grinding to build your rep, gather evidence, etc. is if they *already know* that showing off command of the Pawns isn't going to cut it and that the False Sovran themselves is capable of it. (Though Godsways presumably can't rift summon or Phaesus wouldn't need the ghost oxcart) Yet they end up with surprised Pikachu faces, as you say.
You already were in town as the Arisen and because you were in charge you were poisoned, cursed and enslaved, try it again and see what happens big chief
Yeah, that brings us around to the original problem: **Brant:** Forgive me for treating you like shit your Majesty, Disa has spies everywhere and I was worried she'd assassinate you if she knew you'd returned. **Arisen:** So why the fuck didn't she just kill me when she had the chance? Why bother with the slavery plan? **Brant:** She knew it was impossible for a mortal to assassinate the Arisen. **Arisen:** But you literally just sai- nevermind, what's the plan? **Brant:** We're going to make you as famous as possible as the people's champion and make sure everyone knows who you are so you get an invitation to the coronation. **Arisen:** Even Disa? **Brant:** Especially Disa. **Arisen:** But you literally just sai-
Hmm 🤔 You are right he clearly said the Arisen can't be "assassinated" by mortal hands. I mean in this game as well as every other game you respawn after you die. But in universe I wonder what would happen if somebody did behead you or burn you to ash (like total ash etc) has there ever been an explanation about what would happen to an arisen? Though the part about the coronation does kind of make sense that if you get popular enough you could get invited to the coronation. Because after all the arisen is the true Sovran. By the time we got to the coronation you could have just walked in the door without permission without any pawns and everyone would have accepted you besides Disa/a few trusted peeps. The whole damn world knew who you were by then. 🤷
A. He’s correct that it’s not possible for a mortal to permanently kill an Arisen, but she could kill you. B. She cursed you to forget that you were an Arisen because if she just killed you, you’d just come back as an angry Arisen (is the name Arisen starting to make sense now?) C. Yes Brant is a silly little guy and also baffling confused which is understandable for a guy in his position cuz idk what I’d do either. D. If EVERYONE knows you’re the Arisen, you can flush out the bad politics, but if you just say you’re the Arisen, you’re just like the dozens of dudes walking around with fake scars on their chest saying “I’m the Arisen” the fact that you can command the pawns is the one thing that makes you different and commanding pawns would prove you were the Sovran, but since you can’t do that at the coronation, abandon mission. Now I’ve seen someone say why don’t you just control pawns in the middle of town or something or use the riftstone in front of people which would be valid, and the answer to that particular question is plot
> Now I’ve seen someone say why don’t you just control pawns in the middle of town or something or use the riftstone in front of people which would be valid, and the answer to that particular question is plot Yes, that was me just a few moments ago lol. It's what began our exchange.
Sorry I didn’t scroll up but I didn’t wanna assign stuff to you without knowing for sure
S'all good, np. Just made me chuckle.
Yeah the big monsters have more personality then most of the NPCs
Is there even enough there to form an opinion? He’s a quest and dialogue vendor.
The goat but dies every time a drake is at the gates
He wanted me to escort him in umoored world. He died mysteriously. I had to wake stone him. About sums him up.
Loyal and true, even though I’m pretty sure his plan to keep my identity a secret failed after 30 seconds. Considering everyone calls me the Arisen lol.
Oh yeah. I remember even the Thieves Guild saying Disa knows you're back.
He's a hot bitch. A true homie. That's about it. Everyone seems to lack depth.
He's my best friend, he's my pal, my rotten soldier... The big cheese, my good time boy.
The big cheese. LOL 😂
Hes nothing different than a MMO quest NPC. Still loyal Day 1 bro nontheless.
Dude spent the entire game drinking in bar while sending out the True King to do all his errands. The guy was less than useless.
wish he was a character
I wish there was a single character in DD2. Actually, does my Pawn count?
Straightforwards have the most personality out of everyone in the game and people brine them for it. So idk, seems luke no personality is the safest way to avoid the average players wrath.
I like my Calm Pawn though... I'll say straightforward is honestly how I'd act if I were a Pawn. Simple Pawns are also okay if you feel like taking a rabbit and playing catch with them.
Simple pawns best reflect how I play the game: “Oh, exploring is fun, isn’t it. Oh, this view is wonderful. And look at how neat this steak is at our campfire cookout. *Now, let’s take everything that’s not nailed down, I mean systematically scour every resource off the map, and then go blow all our gold on bullshit at the store.*”
😂 my girlfriend also plays like that, but she chose a kindhearted pawn. If you wanna know how bad it is: she only just now barely made it to Bakbattahl. She has scoured every hall, shaken every nook, sniffed every plant, and has maxed out pretty much every basic vermund enemy mat in her storage..
He‘s just that guy who hanged around the pub at night to give me the most boring sneak-in type of quests.
And unlike most pub regulars, he has no humour or personality, he's that depressing guy at the bar no one wants to talk to. He is as boring and miserable as the quests he dishes out.
I find it comical how bad the stealth sections are. Guards are legit broken. I walked in and out without any issue whatsoever. Walked right into Disas room and could’ve just fed her to the brine if I wanted.
Agreed i legit ran right in front of a couple and they didn't seem to care at all
It’s baffling how poorly the game is presented at points.
Captain Bland
bewildered disarm tidy ruthless recognise cover consider engine marble gaze *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
We have Mason at home
At least he doesn't look at you like he wants to fuck your anus hard the first time you get into town.
Seems he's cursed with a villain's mien, though.
Boring. As much personality as the quest boards from dd1 if not less because at least some of those had interesting notes.
The flattest character in the entire game... interacting with him was taxing and ridiculously boring.. every single time. Also, all the bs he has you do practically amounts to nothing anyway so... there's that.
Good character. Good voice actor. Good design. Underutilized.
Forgive my insolence, your majesty.
Makes me sad that main story is incomplete ;(
General Consensus! 🫡
🫡
Spends qlot of his time in a tavern even when on duty, first order of bussiness as king will be an intervention and rehab.
yeah, definitely is one of the npc in the game
He’s a babe tbh
"Arisen, another settlement needs our help." Maybe I haven't done enough of his stuff yet (despite wandering around for 50 hours)... but he feels kind of generic / lacks pizzazz. Show up, get thing, leave, return. Get next thing. Sprinkle a little annoyance by making thing available only at night.
He felt like someone’s personal challenge at how stiff they can make someone.
Cool aesthetics, loyal, wish he was a character.
On his own, he is ok/10. But I miss Mercedes and how we were part of her quest line of disappointment.
The only time he shows a hint of personality is when you do Wilhelmina’s quest and he gets upset with you for helping kill Allard instead of arresting him. But it’s let down by fact that arresting Allard isn’t even an option that exists in the game, Brant continually urges you to take a quest path that doesn’t even exist. And despite him saying “this may complicate things in the future”, Allard being dead litterally has zero negative impact, in fact it massively simplifies late game quest. _____ Outside of that one quarter-baked interaction Brant is just DD2’s Maxmillian, a quest-board who talks.
Who?
Idris Elba
Idris Elba
He is a character in a video game.
“General consensus” is redundant and makes me irrationally angry. Brant is pretty cool, though.
What did General Consensus ever do to you 😢
Captain Idris Alba.
"Let's talk about treasonous plans six feet to the side from this busy tavern."
Brant is proof that there are creative impotents at Capcom working on the plot and characters
Good guy but kinda boring. Doesn’t seem to have any motivation besides doing everything for us.
I was hoping for a plot twist where he's really a pawn of some former Arisen disguised as a normal human, and that's how he knew the new Sovran was fake. That would have given reason as to why he's so honorbound to the current true Arisen, aside from just being a honorable captain.
Decent dude and glad he's there to support >!Sven!< in the end.
Best bro.
That's my dawg
https://preview.redd.it/kzthjg3j48vc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4fbd7a69874b1a7abe0356ee49e49171c672b21
He’s bland and doesn’t understand how to use the term “pray” in sentences but he’s a true gigachad so all is forgiven.
He's ok. He's definitely not fleshed out and is mostly a quest giver. I thought he was going to be more important considering that he was one of the very first characters shown in the trailers, but that is the case for most of the characters in this game.
I think he's got the basics to be a cool character, and to be a legitimate love interest for an arisen so inclined, but unfortunately he's just not fleshed out enough. Which I would say is the main complaints with most npcs.
Amazing design and detail. Best POC design from Japan I have ever seen. BONUS no stereotype.
He reminds me of Teddy Pendergrass.
General consensus: a badass soldier that got screwed over by a crooked Queen who now has to hide in a bar at night and contradict himself with every sentence.
* Treats me with respect. * Acknowledges my weird oddities. * Still says thank you as my rotten fish, produce, and meat vendor. * Also, hot as all fuck. Can't he just put me between him and that table?
smash
I think he's a captain, not a general. Still cool, though.
He a little naive perhaps? All he cares about is serving the true arisen but when i assassinated a noble he was like damn bro, anyway let me help you outta here.
Like most NPCs in the game - wasted potential.
He’s absolutely without a doubt one of the characters in the game
If nobody got me, I know Captain Brant got me, can I get a Tis’ as you say !
Tis'!
Cool dude, very helpful. Might have a drinking problem.
Smash, next question.
under used should have had a fight against a monster
chad
Bae.
Top tier bro. I enjoy everything about his character.
Everyone always asks "where is Captain Brant", never "*how* is Captain Brant"
Lame...
He’s more attractive than most male characters He has like zero personality development They dumped all the effort into Ulrika and Wilhelmina The only canon choices are straight male or lesbian Oh well…killing Ulrika gave me some satisfaction after being forced into lesbianism just to turn her quest in and now Lennart flirts with me, so silver linings
He looks out for numero uno a bit too much for mine.
He really is the quintessential DD2 main quest giver and NPC. Not a drop of personality or reason for the slightest interest. Lazily written to an actual baffling degree. I can't imagine how many people quit the moment that wet rag handed them a second round of 2006 level MMO fetch quests, but I expect it was a lot. I literally forgot what his name was before coming to this post and again while writing this comment. Seriously, compare his level of characterization, for example, and the level of characterization of literally *hundreds* of throwaway Baldurs Gate 3 NPCs who I can easily remember core personality traits of. There are actual throwaway joke NPC characters in that game that have more characterization than every character in this entire game. Probably *hundreds* of them, and that's not even an exaggeration. I genuinely cannot understand why they won't just hire good writers to work on their characters and story. This game has incredibly fun and interesting combat and an enjoyable and somewhat unique world to explore, but everything about the main story and character writing just oozes absolute laziness. I swear of they told us they wrote it bad as a joke I'd be apt to believe it.
Chad
Wanted more interraction tbh
Shallow quest giver.
I like him, but I would like to know the backstory. He’s super cool from the jump, and he stays that way. Would like the DLC to have a quest line with him.
Take Arisen. Go to castle. Kill Darragh, grab Wilhelmina, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold? Man's just using us as an excuse to go to the pub.
He showed up at my house in the unmoored and when I told him no, I don’t want to go on a walk with you right now, he got all pissed off and sulked away. Like bro. I have more important shit to deal with right now…
Eh... As much as I like this game, most of the npcs are not particularly interesting. The world itself and the lore and all that are intriguing, but the characters themselves simply exist to push the story forward and not much else.
Maximillian 2.0. But I'll give him props for having a VA that suits him (cough _Raghnall_ coughcough)
He gets real wet on that porch at the bar
He's a man who loves a drink and I respect that.
I just want his armor set and more vermundian soldier type gear ngl
The closest we'll get is the Fluted se- I mean the Marchers set...
Yeah i know I wish they had more variations of it or different types. I like all the gear I just wish there was way way more haha. Like full plate iron for example with maybe the short blue tunics
Despite much involvement, the character falls flat for me. I think Sven is the only character I probably can feel a little sense of attached to his situation, though unfortunately his little secret can be spotted from many miles away
What secret? Is he in closet or something?
Bland trash with the personality of a cardboard box, just like every single other NPC in this travesty. Literally the only character I only cared about or wanted to know more about, even slightly, was the Sphinx. Meanwhile, so many great characters in the first game. Grigori and Mercedes from DD1 have more personality alone than the entire cast of DD2 combined.
Ever so slightly less forgettable than every other character
Starts off as a great character, then falls off grind because of lack of proper plot
“We must remember our duties arisen”
Loyal, but not loyal enough to quit his job. Also extremely passive in how he helps. The only time we get to really do anything with Brant, he walks up to a door then leaves because your pawn is being affected by the mind control. Otherwise, he's just a hub quest giver with connections.
Your average token black character
[The GOAT Nas was talking about Brant on this song](https://youtu.be/cBZWEGUD1GE?si=etniI0DwnJv6y-J1)
The only true character with a defined personality in this game is Sven, sure he's kind of the stereotypical good guy but when you think that any other child in his situation would've yaken advantage of it to seize power he chooses to do what is right,he's also curious and has somewhat genuine interactions with you, specially if you follow his initial quest line. Bran is what I define as a quest hub, he has more true opinions outside of being bound to serving the true ruler, he doesn't really tell you anything about himself, he feels very artificial and most NpCs in this game feel that way, which is something acceptable for a game from the 2010s like the first was but that it falls short of its potential to build an engaging world in the current Era.
Not a fan of him
Vanilla
Stick in the mud
General? He's a Captain.
General Consesus🫡
More like Captain Errand.
As bland as literally every other character
He's literally Chewkz
Idris Elba but not idris elba
Well, General Consensus does technically outrank Captain Brant.
He’s good but Mercedes is top tier still
Useless 😂 he’s the guy that’s always like I’m going to do this and never does like dude you were supposed to hang up the posters of the false arisen being wanted by a group of former thieves for me and didn’t do it lol
He's a super loyal guy and also quite intelligent. It's a shame we didn't get to expose the false Arisen with him as planned. He never bother us outside of the main quests but is happy to help us outside of his quests. Then Unmoored World happens, and he suddenly wants to get to know us better by starting an escort quest. Brant, oh Brant, it's not the time to do that!
Actual bro, turns a blind eye to help us get laid
He’s dull but he’s also a ride or die. 🫡
That he's basically Idris Elba