Avowed Lore and Gameplay Primer: Things to know before you begin

Avowed will be the first foray into the fantastic world of Eora for many players. Eora is a setting exclusive to the Pillars of Eternity duology, and Avowed works as a sort of spinoff to them. However, it does have a lot of story hooks that feel much more prominent if you're aware of certain things that happened during the first two games.

In this guide, we'll explain some things about both the story and gameplay of Avowed. These are important things that may dispel some initial questions and let you enjoy an overall smoother experience.

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Wait, why is there fungal growth on my face?

It's canonically coherent (Image via Sportskeeda || Xbox Game Studios)

After a brief cutscene, Avowed will directly put you in the character creation menu, where you might be shocked to see you can get some corals, fungi, plants, or such on your face and hair. This is because you are a Godlike in this game, and this is an important plot point, so you can't opt to not be a Godlike.

In short, being a Godlike means you were touched by a God when you were born, marking you as their herald. Functionally, Godlike is not a separate race in Avowed or the Pillars games, it simply means you bear some beauty marks imparted unto you by one of the Gods.

You can opt to visually hide your Godlike features, but they're just cosmetically hidden. Characters in the game will still address you as if you were a Godlike, and sometimes comment on these features. Other than this, the only other functional thing to know about is that you can't wear helmets in Avowed. Godlikes canonically cannot wear helmets in any Pillars game, presumably because helmets are simply not produced to custom-fit the very individualized growths on their head).

Also Check Out: All Backgrounds in Avowed || Best Attributes to take

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Upgrade materials are incredibly important in Avowed

I have played Avowed for over 100 hours now, and if there is a single beginner tip I could give you, it's about how important upgrade materials are. These are your iron chunks, pelts, branches, Paradisan Ladders, and so on. You can come by plenty of them if you comb all the areas you explore, but Avowed has a big crafting resource scarcity problem.

You can respec your entire build quite cheaply from very early on, but trying to swap your gear is what really kneecaps your progress. The main thing I'm trying to say is: be conservative with your upgrade materials unless you're sure of your build.

The de-leveld world of Avowed does enemy scaling through enemy "Quality." meaning you'll need to get higher-tier weapons through upgrading if you want to keep up with them.

The +1 upgrade is cheap enough for common weapons, but don't put any more into them until you are certain you want to continue playing with it. There's another catch: Uniques you pick up in the world always match the upgrade level of your currently equipped weapon when you found them first, so that's your chance to swap to a better weapon.

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What happened before Avowed? (Spoiler-free, only what is needed)

Really, no spoilers ahead (Image via Obsidian Entertainment)

Avowed doesn't require you to play the Pillars of Eternity games. However, it does throw some light into the world state if you know certain things. Avowed begins just three years after the events of the second game, and they will be referenced at specific points. So here are some lore hooks to know about.

Adra and The Wheel

The metaphysics of the Pillars universe centers around (for the most part) the concept of cyclical death and rebirth. Once a mortal dies, their soul is channeled through pillars of Adra (a mystical crystalline material found all over Eora) and sent to 'the beyond,' whereafter their soul is then reincarnated as a newborn back in Eora. This circle is called The Wheel, overwatched by the god Berath.

Aedyr

Aedyr is the big bad Empire at the time of Avowed (and also in the Pillars games). They are not the only dominant empire in the world of Eora, but the biggest one at the time the game starts.

Ruled by a joint royal lineage between humans and elves, Aedyr is a feudal monarchy similar to the medieval English empire. Except, instead of the church, there are various religious orders of Woedica — which happens to be the most powerful God.

Speaking of Gods, Both Pillars of Eternity I and II puts some emphasis on a power struggle between different divine entities, as well as various crises to do with the soul. The main crisis of Avowed is a soul plague, so it definitely sticks to one of these two themes at the outset.

There's a particularly massive spoiler revelation that happens at the end of Pillars of Eternity I. I am not going to disclose it here, but even if you intend to never play the Pillars games, it's worthwhile to revisit Avowed after you learn about this.

Thankfully, we won't have to spoil much about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire for the sake of necessary lore continuity with Avowed. There are mainly two things you need to know.

Firstly, the premise is that Eothas, one of the gods, rampages through the Deadfire archipelago as a hulking colossus, leaving a physical and metaphysical cataclysm in his wake. Your main quest in the first game is actually to follow Eothas and discover what he meant by this.

Secondly, this Deadfire crisis basically heightened an opportunity for the ongoing power struggle between four factions trying to gain political control of the Archipelago. This includes The Royal Deadfire Company, a naval force backed and manned by the Rauatai empire of the Aumua fish-people. Your first companion, Kai, was a veteran of the Company during the events of Deadfire.

Check out our review of Avowed if you are still on the fence about playing it, or some of our beginner guides if you're waiting for it to install:

• Avowed Beginner tips
• How does Second Wind work?
• Avowed Magic system guide
• Normal Attacks vs Power Attacks
• All Companions in Avowed