Wulbren does not deserve the hate

[Tumppe]

I constantly keep seeing people hating on him and I just dont get it. He isn’t the best but who really is, I know he cares about Barcus but he just doesn’t want to show it

[ahsanford]

OR he's a douchey bigot thug who totally deserves it

[seeker1]

Well... JMHO ...


The best way to resolve the conflict between the Iron Hand Gnomes and the Gondians is to have Barcus replace Wulbren as leader of the Iron Hands. Which you can convince him to do.

Otherwise, the only way to get the Iron Hands support for the endgame is to help Wulbren kill the Gondians. Barcus is the only way you can secure the help of both, AND end the feud between the two factions.

Wulbren is just a douche on this. He blames the Gondians for building the Steel Watch, but just won't accept that Gortash enslaved them into doing this by kidnapping family members and sending them off to Iron Throne, and putting the "Motivator" collars on them that will kill them if they don't obey.

I also don't like that when you rescue him from Moonrise, he acts like a douche towards you, though he will pay you a reward.

[GriffinPilgrim]

Wulbren seems an odd one to champion. I mean yeah, he's obviously not as evil as the story's main villains or even some side villains like Ethel but he still wants to murder people on a mistaken concept of their guilt and will not, under any circumstances, listen to reason.

[seeker1]

JMHO: Wulbren is jealous of the Gondians and views them as rivals (as they are basically two different clans of tinkerers/artificers/Faerun's "tech support") which is why, of course, he won't listen to reason.

[ahsanford]

Wulbren is just a caricature of our political times:

'He did his own research': wants to believe alternate facts despite all evidence to the contrary; completely doubles down when you present him with proof that he was wrong

Created an 'other' group of people to blame for why the world is unfair; the Gondians are the WORST

The cruelty is the point: his people thrive while his enemies suffer.

Originally posted by ahsanford:

OR he's a douchey bigot thug who totally deserves it

[pivots to Millionaire host (if that's even still on)] You're damn right ^^^ that's my final answer.

- A

[Brian_the_Brute]

back by the windmill you didn't realize that was a red pill / blue pill moment, should have pulled the other lever...now you know

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Tumppe:

Wulbren does not deserve the hate
I constantly keep seeing people hating on him and I just dont get it. He isn’t the best but who really is, I know he cares about Barcus but he just doesn’t want to show it

He is a terrorist who wants to blow up a big portion of the city. What do you expect?

[Lani]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Originally posted by Tumppe:

Wulbren does not deserve the hate
I constantly keep seeing people hating on him and I just dont get it. He isn’t the best but who really is, I know he cares about Barcus but he just doesn’t want to show it

He is a terrorist who wants to blow up a big portion of the city. What do you expect?

A big boom?

[brendan_in_china]

I like the Wulbrun/Barcus subplot. Wulbrun has got well delivered lines and a plan. On my first play through he helped my party at the south bridge check point. It was cool seeing his gnome rebels grenading a steel watcher; sells the idea that factions are in play.

[ChuckyDontCare]

You just can't save him. I like both him and Barcus, they are like brothers with very different views of the world.

[seeker1]

Spoilers?

Can't call him a terrorist (derisively) when the player is (often) blowing up the same part of the city he wanted to blow up. Often with the means (runepowder bomb) he provides you with to do so. I personally appreciated his Iron Hands disabling a steel watcher for me (when I first met those things, I was scared to crap of them, little did I know get them down to low HP and they blow themselves up, just make sure you're far away when they blow). We had a nice chat in his cave near Wyrm's Crossing. Yep, we both agree that Gortash is a tyrant, and using the Steel Watch to dominate and control the city. And his people will sell me explosives AND bot blinders to help disable the killer robots. What's to complain?

No, no, it's that he is obviously JEALOUS of the Gondians - which is why at the end of taking out the Foundry I either tell him to sod off, or have Barcus replace him. Because he just refuses to see the Gondians were blackmailed into making the Steel Watchers, probably again, because jealousy.

[The Sultan of Salt]

Originally posted by Tumppe:

I constantly keep seeing people hating on him and I just dont get it. He isn’t the best but who really is, I know he cares about Barcus but he just doesn’t want to show it

He's basically Gnome IRA, pretty contentious.

[Scheneighnay]

Releasing the brake on the windmill is funny, and the goblins will react to it if they're still alive

[EricHVela]

In my first completed playthrough, I stumbled around blindly trying to be good but ended up killing all the Gondians without understanding what was happening. I didn't recognize Barcus in the Underdark and never spoke to him. The only Iron Throne stuff I encountered was historic information and not what it was doing in the game's timeline. So, I never thought to go looking for it. I never met the wavemasters (who are just down the way past the foundry). I thought the Gondians would run free when I killed their taskmasters. I didn't get (or I missed) the dialog why their heads were popping and assumed I had to disable something further in. Everyone except one person died in the blast, and I had no choice but to either let Wulbren kill that remaining person (with a disability) or kill the Ironhands. (I killed the Ironhands.)

It was a cluster of a series of unfortunate events leading to widespread murder and destruction.

Given that playthrough, I have no grounds to persecute Wulbren, but he's still a right prick.

[Sir_Baldur]

Barcus should be a companion - it's a great hero journey's arc. He goes from reluctant adventurer trying to rescue his ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ friend into a leader of his people.

I hope Barcus gets a real place in my camp in the future.