Evil playthrough as first playthrough?

[Commancho]

I read somewhere that its not fully polished and that it lacks the quality when compared to good playthrough. Is this still a thing or they patched it out at some point? I'm usually bored fast with being savior of the world again and again in every game, but I want to learn the lore as its my first game from Owlcat and I heard that evil dialogues are lacking content, which would be a hard pass to me.

[Schlumpsha]

Evil playthroughs in the form of Lich and Demon mythic paths are very polished and content rich for a couple of years by now. The late mythic paths do have noticable less content to them. But that's not limited to evil playthroughs: Legend and Gold Dragon suffer from it just as well.

As a rule of thumb, it makes little difference if you focus on good, law, chaos or evil in your first playthrough.

[Gentlest Giant]

You only miss content if you tell people you do not like them.

[kotor_fan]

Paths I wouldn't do on 1st playthrough:
- Swarm - Lots of requirements for it anyway, but probably terrible for 1st playthrough
- Devil - Available VERY late game, I personally never did it, but mostly people say it's very barebones
- Trickster - Before people here tear me apart for this one, let me explain:
Trickster is available at the same time as other "default" paths (providing you selected right options).
Reason why I wouldn't recommend it as first playthrough is because it takes itself very, very, VERY un-seriously. Lots of late game content will play out like a joke.
Mythic path itself is tons of fun and amazing, but I think it really lowers quality of the story when everything's a joke. Great for subsequent playthroughs, poor choice for 1st one.

Demon, Lich (evil), Angel, Azata (good) or Aeon (neutral) are all perfectly good choices for 1st playthrough.
And just fyi, just because something's evil/good, doesn't mean you need to 100% zoom on it. Game allows and rewards experimentation, so just play and enjoy.

[Teemo]

I'm currently in my first playthrough, as a Lich, and it all seems great to me. Lots of content, lots of story around the Lich path. I plan on doing Angel for playthrough 2 and I'm excited to see what is going to change.

[Razer]

Lich seems interesting although being a skeleton is kinda lame. Devil seems interesting though, but it's required to play either Azata or Aeon first to unlock the opion. I've never played Lich or Devil.

I found Demon rather boring and offputting. It's all silly evil or stupid evil. It's not cool. Nothing about actually being strong or demonic really. The story gives you stuff that is all meaningless and flat. And it makes no sense for the Crusade whatsoever either. I found it the least interesting path thus far.

Aeon can be played Good or Evil. But you will not get True Aeon ending if you do. There's also Corrupted Gold Dragon, but honestly I don't know if that's interesting to do.

My personal favorite is Azata path. It's obviously a "good" path, but there's lots of chaos in it to have fun with people. Plus Azata path has lots of cool options and interactions in dialogue. Many unique NPCs. It feels to me like a better version of Trickster path. Trickster isn't particularly interesting except for Shyka. Azata is the polar opposite of Angel path in terms of law and chaos. And you definitely don't feel like a righteous crusader. I also enjoyed Gold Dragon, I even played it before they updated it and it was still pretty cool. Gold Dragon is pretty OP even though people say it's the weakest path. By far it is not.

[MeldinX2]

I really enjoyed Demon. I think the writing is pretty solid and yeah it does sound silly for a demon to lead a crusade against demons. But again the writers make it work. Most of the paths you don't become a true Angel or Demon or Lich at the start it's something that happens much later. So you can roleplay it abit how you want. You don't have to pick every Evil option. Even though it's better to just lean into the roleplay.

[Commancho]

Originally posted by MeldinX2:

I think the writing is pretty solid and yeah it does sound silly for a demon to lead a crusade against demons.

Is it possible to change the way NPCs perceive us? It would suck to roleplay evil and still to be labeled as savior and hero to the very late game. Is there any reputation system?

[Irx]

Originally posted by Commancho:

Originally posted by MeldinX2:

I think the writing is pretty solid and yeah it does sound silly for a demon to lead a crusade against demons.

Is it possible to change the way NPCs perceive us? It would suck to roleplay evil and still to be labeled as savior and hero to the very late game. Is there any reputation system?

No, but many of the reactions are hardcoded into specific paths, so though you can try to roleplay a "good" demon for example, you will still be viewed as a demon no matter what and many things happen just because you are one.

[Super Cosmic Space Magnet]

Originally posted by Commancho:

Originally posted by MeldinX2:

I think the writing is pretty solid and yeah it does sound silly for a demon to lead a crusade against demons.

Is it possible to change the way NPCs perceive us? It would suck to roleplay evil and still to be labeled as savior and hero to the very late game. Is there any reputation system?

While there isn't a reputation system in the form of a big bar that says how much you're liked, you will notice characters react to your decisions in some minor and some major ways. As you show more evidence of being demonic, you'll find righteous crusader types leave the cause - and your armies comprise of more unscrupulous types.

I don't want to spoil as this is a game that benefits from being unspoiled, but I will say that while Demon initially is the "rarrr smash" playthrough it probably has the closest links to the antagonists of the game. If you want to play as a constantly angry meat-head, or someone incapable of (or who thrives in) their otherworldly rage, then demon is great.

If you wanted a slightly more thoughtful evil experience, Lich is fantastic. Great deals of reactivity along your path to undeath, with some allies (Regil in particular) approving of how orderly you've managed to make the army.

Also every companion can be either dismissed or betrayed/twisted in ironic and villainous ways. Good stuff for evil playthroughs.

Overall there's a great deal of freedom of player expression, and the paths system gives great replay value. I LOVE games that do the different flavours of evil rather than one moustache-twirling villain option, and this game does it in spades.

[Commancho]

Thats good. I don't like pompeus evil PC as much as good ones.

[Ammellisan]

Originally posted by Razer:

Lich seems interesting although being a skeleton is kinda lame. Devil seems interesting though, but it's required to play either Azata or Aeon first to unlock the opion. I've never played Lich or Devil.

I found Demon rather boring and offputting. It's all silly evil or stupid evil. It's not cool. Nothing about actually being strong or demonic really. The story gives you stuff that is all meaningless and flat. And it makes no sense for the Crusade whatsoever either. I found it the least interesting path thus far.

Aeon can be played Good or Evil. But you will not get True Aeon ending if you do. There's also Corrupted Gold Dragon, but honestly I don't know if that's interesting to do.

My personal favorite is Azata path. It's obviously a "good" path, but there's lots of chaos in it to have fun with people. Plus Azata path has lots of cool options and interactions in dialogue. Many unique NPCs. It feels to me like a better version of Trickster path. Trickster isn't particularly interesting except for Shyka. Azata is the polar opposite of Angel path in terms of law and chaos. And you definitely don't feel like a righteous crusader. I also enjoyed Gold Dragon, I even played it before they updated it and it was still pretty cool. Gold Dragon is pretty OP even though people say it's the weakest path. By far it is not.

LOVE how different opinions can be on this game, truly one of the reasons its good.
I've done swarm, demon and devil. Devil was indeed barebones but i hear they made it 'better' now? the other 2 were just fine. Azata i tried but the over the top 'omg everything is so cute and whymsical' quickly just annoyed me and i quit.

Lich i did for a bit but grew tired of the game itself for a lil and never continued it, but it still works just fine as evil and i saw no issues why it would be 'bad'

I did aeon for devil, wasn't a big fan

The others i've not touched yet.

Anyway, long story short (too late?) Opinions differ A LOT in this game, and thats the beauty of it, try stuff yourself, everything 'works' to some degree

[Razer]

Originally posted by Ammellisan:

Originally posted by Razer:

Lich seems interesting although being a skeleton is kinda lame. Devil seems interesting though, but it's required to play either Azata or Aeon first to unlock the opion. I've never played Lich or Devil.

I found Demon rather boring and offputting. It's all silly evil or stupid evil. It's not cool. Nothing about actually being strong or demonic really. The story gives you stuff that is all meaningless and flat. And it makes no sense for the Crusade whatsoever either. I found it the least interesting path thus far.

Aeon can be played Good or Evil. But you will not get True Aeon ending if you do. There's also Corrupted Gold Dragon, but honestly I don't know if that's interesting to do.

My personal favorite is Azata path. It's obviously a "good" path, but there's lots of chaos in it to have fun with people. Plus Azata path has lots of cool options and interactions in dialogue. Many unique NPCs. It feels to me like a better version of Trickster path. Trickster isn't particularly interesting except for Shyka. Azata is the polar opposite of Angel path in terms of law and chaos. And you definitely don't feel like a righteous crusader. I also enjoyed Gold Dragon, I even played it before they updated it and it was still pretty cool. Gold Dragon is pretty OP even though people say it's the weakest path. By far it is not.

LOVE how different opinions can be on this game, truly one of the reasons its good.
I've done swarm, demon and devil. Devil was indeed barebones but i hear they made it 'better' now? the other 2 were just fine. Azata i tried but the over the top 'omg everything is so cute and whymsical' quickly just annoyed me and i quit.

Lich i did for a bit but grew tired of the game itself for a lil and never continued it, but it still works just fine as evil and i saw no issues why it would be 'bad'

I did aeon for devil, wasn't a big fan

The others i've not touched yet.

Anyway, long story short (too late?) Opinions differ A LOT in this game, and thats the beauty of it, try stuff yourself, everything 'works' to some degree

You want whymsical? Go for trickster path. Azata isn't whymsical, in fact some of the crazy options you have there aren't good for true Azata path. There's 3 counters for Azata. True Azata, Chaotic Azata and Evil Azata.

Azata are first and foremost about freedom. Not about let's do something nutty. Not sure how far you got into the path. It's basically Angel path, but without the rigtheousness and with more content. It's about doing what's right and good rather than what the rule of law states. It's the only path that mandatory lays waste to parts of Alushinyrra. It's also the only Path next to Gold Dragon and perhaps Aeon in a way that can work on redeeming people.

I think the cute and whymsical stuff is just eye of the beholder and the choices you make yourself. I did not experience the path as cute. Far from it. You mean Aivu? That's the only thing I can think of.

Azata into Devil is the strongest way to play Devil. Although I'm not sure if I can get myself to play that...

[Ammellisan]

Originally posted by Razer:

Originally posted by Ammellisan:

LOVE how different opinions can be on this game, truly one of the reasons its good.
I've done swarm, demon and devil. Devil was indeed barebones but i hear they made it 'better' now? the other 2 were just fine. Azata i tried but the over the top 'omg everything is so cute and whymsical' quickly just annoyed me and i quit.

Lich i did for a bit but grew tired of the game itself for a lil and never continued it, but it still works just fine as evil and i saw no issues why it would be 'bad'

I did aeon for devil, wasn't a big fan

The others i've not touched yet.

Anyway, long story short (too late?) Opinions differ A LOT in this game, and thats the beauty of it, try stuff yourself, everything 'works' to some degree

You want whymsical? Go for trickster path. Azata isn't whymsical, in fact some of the crazy options you have there aren't good for true Azata path. There's 3 counters for Azata. True Azata, Chaotic Azata and Evil Azata.

Azata are first and foremost about freedom. Not about let's do something nutty. Not sure how far you got into the path. It's basically Angel path, but without the rigtheousness and with more content. It's about doing what's right and good rather than what the rule of law states. It's the only path that mandatory lays waste to parts of Alushinyrra. It's also the only Path next to Gold Dragon and perhaps Aeon in a way that can work on redeeming people.

I think the cute and whymsical stuff is just eye of the beholder and the choices you make yourself. I did not experience the path as cute. Far from it. You mean Aivu? That's the only thing I can think of.

Azata into Devil is the strongest way to play Devil. Although I'm not sure if I can get myself to play that...

Yeh Aivu is mostly what i meant, i couldnt stomach her so actually dropped azata really quickly.

Trickster is my current run, not too 'whymsical' imo, though im dropping it for legend before it becomes 'full trickster' so maybe ill miss out on that, who knows.

I've always loved the idea of Azata though, but when Aivu opens her mouth i just go SHUUT UPPP :P

[Commancho]

Which classes synergizes good with Demon? I know there are some builds on YT, but they are very long and explaining details, while I just need a brief comparision between classes that synergize with Demon.

[Schlumpsha]

Demon is one of the more flexible ones thanks to the Demonic Aspects. Bloodrager in particular works very well. But you get something out of it for virtually any class.