Homestead

[BioDio]

Please, explain me, what can I do in the Homestead? What will be unlocked there?

Me and my friend are lvl 4 almost 5 party and we dunno know what is the Homestead for... we have almost no use for it. (it has a bed to regen HP... that's useful...).

[coke501(tm)]

Why spoil the surprise? There are some things you get there later in the game, that make it worthwile but nothing too special (in my opinion, haven't unlocked everything though).

[Bus Baron Boot]

its primary function for me is merchants

there's also a whetstone wheel and anvil in the hall of heroes for crafting and another room with a furnace and anvil

[bender]

It will have a storage chest and you can hire mercenaries from it, and your party companions will go there if you let them go

[BioDio]

Ok, thanks, that's enough... I thought it was just a place for plot and teleports for different regions

[Burden of Brine]

The first Star Stone you get merely unlock the place, typically this is the Star Stone you get from following the murder quest to the tavern room or the one gotten 'early' from Evelyn in the patient dilemma.

The second Star Stone you get, typically the other of those two unless you got the murder quest stone first and then progressed that quest too far and thus only get the stone from Evelyn a fair bit later, that 2nd stone unlocks the 'Hall of Heroes' which acts as your companion storage. From this place you can also hire henchmen/hirelings; unlike Madora and Jafar they got no personalities, but they are there for your perusal should you want more followers.

Another good thing about these henchmen is that you can hire one of them to be your dedicated crafter, a character you dump crafting materials onto, only skill up Crafting/Blacksmithing and maybe Loremaster on, and only ever recruit for when you want to craft but never bring along on your actual adventures. Typically, I choose 'Pholus' for the role of craftsman, but that's just a personal choice and not based on statistics.

On another note of henchmen, to make them level up to the level of your main characters just dismiss them and then re-recruit them to your party. And while you pay a fee to hire henchmen the first time there are no additional costs to them in the future.

Additional Star Stones found, or Blood Stones used(which then become a Star Stone to be consumed), unlock additional rooms in the Homestead. I could check out the room of the 3rd Star Stone on one of my saves, but from the 4th to 7th Star Stone I -think- you unlock various 'Elemental' rooms which provide you with skill book merchants. Not sure here, but I think.

Edit: Guess I was a bit late answering you! Oh well.

[BioDio]

No prob, I see that the Homestead is useful enough for me to care about in the future lol

[eidolon232]

Characters in the Main Hall:
The Weaver of Time Sells Threads, Needles and Pixie Dust
The Last Chest Opens after you have found and opened 4 special Ornated Chests that contain nothing other than a Dusty Parchment with a clue on the combination for this chest. Contains something like ~5 Level 20 Legends, a Book that gives +1 Attribute and one that gives +3 Skill points

Observatory Useless.
Inner Chamber: Store your stuff there. You can also directly send items there from your inventory (like the heavy ore).
Hall of Heroes: Recruite other partymembers (max party size is still 4)
Hall of Fire: Sells Fire and Melee skillbooks
Hall of Frost: Sells Water and Marksman skillbooks
Hall of Wind: Sells Air and Scoundrel skillbooks
Hall of Earth: Sells Earth and Witchcraft skillbooks
Hall of Secrets: Sells items that unlock the location of often hard to find stuff, including secret dungeons and rare skillbooks. More important, you can buy buy books that give the person who ready it 1 Arrtibute point / 3 Skill points. These books restock every time you level up!
Armoury: This room has everything you need for crafting except a vendor.
Hall of Darkness: Your 2 main chars can trade
-2 used Attribute points for 2 reputation(lol)
-5 unused Skill points for 1 Attribute point
-1 unused Talent for 10 Skill points (!!!)

You can also redistribute all their points and talents. This will make you lose all the skills that you have learned. There is currently no way to get back Whirlwind and Dust Devil other than with the editor.
Trader's Emporium High level Trader that sells plenty of good items.
ChapelSells 100% resistance potions.
The First Garden The final boss is located there.

[AhilE]

nice post, thx eidolon232 !

[habibi]

Originally posted by Smokefish:

The first Star Stone you get merely unlock the place, typically this is the Star Stone you get from following the murder quest to the tavern room or the one gotten 'early' from Evelyn in the patient dilemma.

The second Star Stone you get, typically the other of those two unless you got the murder quest stone first and then progressed that quest too far and thus only get the stone from Evelyn a fair bit later, that 2nd stone unlocks the 'Hall of Heroes' which acts as your companion storage. From this place you can also hire henchmen/hirelings; unlike Madora and Jafar they got no personalities, but they are there for your perusal should you want more followers.

Ah damn, I actually progressed the murder story further BEFORE talking to Evelyn and now she's gone. That means I won't get the Star Stone to unlock the henchmen before I meet her again. That's a bug if you ask me. How can I fight these battles with just 3 people when the game is also designed for 4?

[feralgal]

Originally posted by belfong:

Ah damn, I actually progressed the murder story further BEFORE talking to Evelyn and now she's gone. That means I won't get the Star Stone to unlock the henchmen before I meet her again. That's a bug if you ask me. How can I fight these battles with just 3 people when the game is also designed for 4?

There are two companions that you can recruit in Cyseal. One is at the Inn. The other is in the library (upstairs at Cecil's house).

[RestarttGaming]

Originally posted by belfong:

Ah damn, I actually progressed the murder story further BEFORE talking to Evelyn and now she's gone. That means I won't get the Star Stone to unlock the henchmen before I meet her again. That's a bug if you ask me. How can I fight these battles with just 3 people when the game is also designed for 4?

A) Not a bug. Intended functionality.
B) You can get two companions in town, so you can have 4 people without hiring any from end of time.
C) I played the entire game through on normal with three characters for roleplay reasons, and i didn't even craft the good weapons or armors. The game's entirely beatable that way, you dont need to optimize every little thing.
D) There's always easy mode if you just can't figure it out or if the style of gameplay needed on normal/hard just isn't your style.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by Restartt:

Originally posted by belfong:

Ah damn, I actually progressed the murder story further BEFORE talking to Evelyn and now she's gone. That means I won't get the Star Stone to unlock the henchmen before I meet her again. That's a bug if you ask me. How can I fight these battles with just 3 people when the game is also designed for 4?

A) Not a bug. Intended functionality.

Yeah but you should elaborate with a spoiler, I mean it's logical but if the stone is lost forever it's more a bug. I never tried so perhaps you can get it from her later. Mmm at next replay, I'll try heal the two sick men. :-)

EDIT: There's was a totally similar stuff in Divine Divinity and you could find a way to heal the two sick men. There's a clear wink to Div1 but then there's certainly a way to heal them both like in Div1. :-)

[habibi]

Ok, so I could still get a stone near the Church north of the graveyard, near the burning area. I am all good!