Burn It! - an Imperial Guard achievement walkthrough

The point of this guide is to get the "Burn it" and "The First Sword" achievements, neither of which is possible on the pure combat builds typically used for the Imperial Guard. It's also a thorough guide for the Imperial Guard faction quests on a combat heavy hybrid that can get all of the faction-specific achievements.

While not the most complete of completionist guides, this character can do most of the tasks in the game. That said, the guide is mostly aimed at getting the faction achievements.

Spoilers everywhere.

Character Build

Loremaster background - this allows us to skip the Charisma requirement for Feng's tip on the Abyss and some training which frees up a little bit on stats and the early game skill point crunch.

****Stats****

Str 7 - it's all we can afford, drop to 6 if you want to do ascension ending
Dex 8 - enough for 10 AP in armor and for some convenient checks
Con 6 - minimum to survive Abyss explosion
Per 7 - minimum for abyss with Feng's tip, need 8 if you want ascension ending
Int 8 - for dialogue options, specifically making Antidas king
Cha 4 - dump stat, would need 7 for Feng's tip/training if we weren't a Loremaster

****Skills****

Combat:

Sword 3
Dodge 4
Critical Strike 2

These can easily be changed around to any combat setup of your choice; crossbows are the only dubious choice since we actually have some Strength. The guide assumes the character uses a scimitar (two handed sword) as main weapon with a khopesh in the belt for lightly armored enemies or just when it's a way not to leave AP unspent. Carry a dagger for the first chapter as you'll need it to use critical strike in "conversation."

Civil:

Persuasion 2
Lore 2
Trading 3

We will never have any traps skill, so if you find a trap when looting (inn rooms or in Hellgate) just reload and ignore that chest. Save often, obviously.

Teron - Preparatory Work

1a. Use the lore book in the room where you start to raise your Lore to 3.
1b. Do Feng's initial job, using your skills. When he asks about the second item you can haggle the price with trading, but it's worthless to this character anyway. Hold off on Cassius.

******Raise Lockpick ->4****** (needed for stealing, almost pays for itself in SP)
******Raise Sneak ->3****** (needed for stealing)

1c. Go in the blacksmith's window, get the ingots from the side room, the crafting training (Crafting will increase to 2), and open the locked chest. Do not sell anything yet. Go up on Feng's roof using the vines and pick the lock.

******Raise Sneak ->4****** (needed for stealing and skill checks)

1d. Go to the inn, use Trading to pay 50g for a room, sneak and lockpick everything. During this process you should get enough skill points to pay for Steal 3, use that on the sleepers. One room requires sneak 5, you can still steal from people in the room if you open the door and get a running start. Ignore the chest with the trap in the far back of the 2nd floor.

******Raise Steal ->3****** (needed for stealing skill checks, almost pays for itself)

1e. Go around the left behind the tavern and use Steal 3 to avoid being pickpocketed. Chase the thief, and leave the house instead of fighting (we'll be back later).
1f. Just north of the barracks is a graveyard. Search the graves to find some climbing gear.
1g. Go to the palace. There's a house on the right (Camilla's). Interact with the door, choose the option to wait until night time, and either climb or throwing 3 and the hook to steal everything (table, closet, nightstand). On the other side of the palace is a house with an open window, sneak in and steal from the cabinets; further exploration would require sneak 5 and we won't get it.

******Raise Crafting ->3****** (for a skill check in the palace)

1h. Go to the palace itself, choose to find another way in. Climb a wall, sneak in, go in the guard house and explore the back, opening the chest for some armor, go back outside to the right, climb the roof, lockpick a window (if you don't see this option go back down and go to the other side), drop down, dining room, display room (search and be caught by the trap, use perception and crafting to escape, we'll read the scroll later), show Antidas the map.
1i. Go back in the palace and get quests from Dellar. Visit the bandit camp, negotiate and leave. Visit the outpost, sneak in, take all of the reagents from the boxes, don't pick the chest, return to Teron.

******Raise Crafting ->4****** (to make gear)
******Raise Critical Strike ->3****** (for interactions)

1j. Talk to Cassius at inn, kill him with critical strike, return to Feng to be trained in Streetwise (->3), bring the ring to Antidas (use streetwise).

******Raise Persuade ->3****** (for skill check)
******Raise Trading ->4****** (Sell junk after this but hang on to steel and better metal items)

1k. Convince Dellar using Intelligence and Persuade to hire the raiders, go back to Esbenus at the Raider Camp, pay him when done for Word of Honor.
1l. Go to the Teron main gate and use trading to pay for the refugees, then go see Aemolas in the merchant square (he's off in a side alley to the left as you face the main building). Talk to him twice for some armor you can just sell and a quest that we'll do later. Visit the location for the SP and return to Teron.
1m. Past the graveyard opposite the barracks is an unmarked tower on the wall. Go in and go down, using perception and then using crafting on the pump for the Jellyfish artifact, on leaving use trading and streetwise instead of fighting to get some additional loot.
1n. Go to the inn and talk to the alchemist in the common room, pay 50g for reagents.

******Raise Alchemy->2****** (make two poisons with kadura leaves)
******Raise Dodge->5***** (combat soon)
******Raise Sword->5***** (if for some reason you're behind on points, skimp here not dodge)

***PROGRESS CHECK***
This completes most of the non-combat exploration for Teron. For gear you should have or make a poisoned crafted iron scimitar (to hit chance and effect chance bonuses), a crafted legionnaire's helmet (penalty reduction, critical chance protection), and iron Praetor armor (from the palace thievery). If you have the iron to spare it also helps to have a crafted iron khopesh in your belt (to hit chance and effect chance bonuses) as it has a lower AP cost and it'll avoid wasting AP when you can't use your big sword.

At this point you should have Lockpick 4, Sneak 4, Steal 3, Traps 1, Impersonate 1, Etiquette 1, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 3, Alchemy 2, Crafting 4, Lore 3, Trading 4 for civil skills and Sword 5, Dodge 5, Critical Hit 3.

Teron - Violence and Shopping

2a. Go to the blacksmith and buy all of his whetstones. Use one on your scimitar, then stash everything in the inn if you're not immediately using it. Try and keep one whetstone in your inventory so that you have a backup when one wears off.
2b. To the right of the tavern is a street gang. Approach them, kill the leader with critical strike, finish them off. Make salve using cassava to heal. You can get more cassava from bushes in the forum and the shanty town or buy it from the alchemist in the merchant square.
2c. Join the Imperial Guard at the barracks, do their first quest, be sure to loot the merchant and guards. Sell and dump at inn as needed. If the AP 9 limit on the praetor armor annoys you or that armor is damaged, switch to using the bronze lorica segmentata.

******Raise Alchemy->4****** (upgrades poison and salve, allows several new items)

2d. Find Miltiades near the merchant square, south side of path leading toward forum. Do his quest, be sure to loot the chest in the locked room after the first fight and heal up with salve.
2e. Go back to the house where we left the thief from 1e above behind the tavern, kill the thief and her two escorts, heal up.
2f. Go to the kebab vendor in the slums, catch the thief, and use body count to scare away the guard.
2g. Buy as much of the following as possible, as we're coming to a point of no return:
-All whetstones (Guard merchant or blacksmith)
-Black powder and bombs (Inn merchant, alchemist at merchant square)
-Oil and fire (Inn merchant, alchemist at Commercium building)
-Bolas and nets (Inn merchant, merchant on left at Commercium building)
-Other reagents (alchemist at merchant square)
2h. If you want, make a hard save before proceeding in case you forgot something. Once you start the next legion quest you won't be able to go back and won't have access to your stash for a while, so carry all of your reagents, alchemy products, nets, and bolas. Don't worry about carrying loot, there isn't any until you can get to your stash again.
2i. Do the assault on the tower legion quest. After it, you will be taken to the fort and can only proceed to the third quest.

^^^^^^^Put a hard save ("End of Teron") after the tower mission^^^^^^^

***PROGRESS CHECK***
For gear you should have the same as before (crafted iron scimitar/khopesh, crafted helmet, praetor or lorica armor). You should also have your consumables such as nets in your inventory.

Lockpick 4, Sneak 4, Steal 3, Traps 1, Impersonate 1, Etiquette 1, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 3, Alchemy 4, Crafting 4, Lore 3, Trading 4, Sword 5, Dodge 5, Critical Hit 3.

Shorter Fork - the Path to Burn It

There are only three real fights in this path. None of them are trivial, so be generous with consumable items. This path is intentionally short since we'll reload back to the Teron hard save once the achievement is done and use that other fork for most of the content.

******Raise Critical Strike->5****** (it makes the Antidas fight much easier)

BI-1. Go to the palace and provoke Antidas, kill him with critical strike. You'll fail one check on the way, don't worry about it. As soon as the fight starts, retreat back to the middle of the group of guards. Use bolas and nets and fire in this fight and focus more on supporting the other guards, especially the one with the two handed axe, than dealing damage yourself.
BI-2. You'll head to Gaelius and Maadoran afterwards, fail the skill checks and use a sword for the trial by combat. Use the stim as soon as you're closed in melee and they should go down easily enough.
BI-3. Walk to the fort, ignoring the event on the way to the arena (it's a hard fight and we don't need it), talk to Pavola and then Vitus to reclaim your gear.
BI-4. Inn room for 100 with trading, steal what you can at the inn, using running starts to bypass sneak when needed.
BI-5. Talk to Domitius, his house is to the right of the fallen minaret (grab the sulfur reagent from the minaret), don't fight the Aurelians, don't promise Gaelius anything.
BI-6. Head to the trade district, buy the armor from the Ordu trader (far side of the watchtower from the blacksmith), get the location of Saross by talking to Abukar, head to palace district and steal oil from the back room in the baths.
BI-7. Sell everything except for reagents, Ordu armor, crafted scimitar, crafted helmet, bolas, nets, one whetstone. Buy all of the black powder and oil from the Commercium alchemist in the trade district and the merchant just to the right of the arena master, make sure you have 200g left.

******Lore->4****** (skill check below)

BI-8. Near the entrance to the slums on the left of the Arena district, save a preacher from a mob using legal nonsense (lore).
BI-9. Head to the slums. Don't pay Leon at the start, walk a little bit forward and leave Miltiades to his fate at the event. Down a path on the side of the slums headed towards the abyss you'll see a well, talk to the man by it.
BI-10. Go down the well, go right, go right again, grab the body, click on everything in the area for reagents and a locked box with a respirator and power tubes. Interact with the respirator and power it up.
BI-11. Head back, pay off the well man for Word of Honor, pay Mehrab on the way to the Abyss and head to the Abyss.

******Lore->6****** (skill check below)

BI-12. Explore the Abyss, when given option use the respirator device.

******Lore->8****** (skill check below)

BI-13. At the bottom of the Abyss, use the console to activate all of the machines and watch Maadoran go boom.
BI-14. Buy the amulet from the trader, head up to the top and claim allegiance to Meru. Walk into town, talking to the guard that says "plague" on your way to the stairs. Use Alchemy 4 twice to treat the man.
BI-15. At the Ganezzar Inn, go to the second floor immediately and steal from the rooms as possible (not much you can do), then go talk to Laevinius on the patio. Travel to Saross, Old Facility, and then Dead River for the SP, then return to Ganezzar.

******Alchemy ->7****** (make better bombs and fire)

BI-16. Buy out the alchemist near the Ganezzar blacksmith, and produce as many bombs (powder+balls) and fire (oil+sulfur) as you can, using the remaining powder and oil to make inferior bombs and fire. Make at least two extended neurostimulants (quicksilver + emoryl). Grab the bolas from your stash too.
BI-17. Talk to Meru at the castle, go to Al-Akia, talk to the loremaster for a big fight. Last opportunity, so go crazy with fire and bolas and bombs but save at least two bombs.
BI-18. Go back to Ganezzar, bring Meru to Al-Akia, inside tell him you'll do it, sabotage the ritual when you do, killing Meru. If you want the Kingdom of God ending instead of Burn It, save first and instead of sabotaging the ritual, let it complete normally.

******Persuasion ->6****** (skill check below)

BI-19. Go to Hellgate, use remaining bombs on the construct,, then give Bennie word of honor and persuade so that he gives you amulet. Put that amulet on, grab the key from the back of the area, and take the elevator to the temple.

******Lore ->9****** (skill check below)

BI-20. At the temple, go down stairs and elevator, then go through door (fail the conversation with the husk on the way) and use terminal with lore to open the last elevator. At bottom floor, press the button to raise the tomb and kneel before Agathoth. Follow through and you'll get the Burn It achievement and a very depressing ending screen.

Longer Fork - the King and the Abyss

Reload the save at the end of Teron before killing Antidas. This path will lead to the rest of the achievements on the Imperial Guard faction quest line.

LF-1. When arriving at Antidas, talk to him, propose a truce. On return to Carrinas, use the Intelligence option to propose making Antidas king.
LF-2. At Maadoran, Trading for 100g for a room, clean out the inn as much as you can, using running starts to bypass sneak checks where needed.
LF-3. Fast travel to the fort to avoid the event on the path between the inn and the arena (if it triggers, load a save, we'll do it later in LF-6). Pick up the quest from the fort.
LF-4. Talk to Domitius in an unmarked house at the back of the area to the right of the minaret, don't fight the Aurelians or promise Gaelius anything, grab the sulfur from the minaret, save the preacher at the back left of the arena district from the mob using lore (or just kill them).

******Raise Crafting->6****** (making gear, also can make gear to sell if you need the money)

LF-5. In trade district, buy the armor from the Ordu trader on the far side of the watchtower from the blacksmith. Buy steel from the blacksmith if needed and make yourself a steel scimitar (to hit chance, effect chance). We won't have enough steel for a set of armor for a while, and the Ordu armor is arguably better than the steel options anyway since it has no dodge penalty. Make a steel helmet and khopesh if you have the steel. Once you hit steel, use whetstones on your weapon constantly as you'll get 30 swings per stone and you'll run out of fights before you run out of stones.

******Raise Dodge->7****** (defense)

LF-6. Go to the arena, and walk towards the gate for an event, kill the attackers. When done, do all of the arena fights that you can until the master sends you to Basil, who's right across the street. Do Basil's fight, go to the back right of the district for Quintus (he's on the second floor), return to Basil. Use the healer between fights instead of using alchemy to heal as you'll need to be healed three times to pick up a later quest.
LF-7. Clear out your inventory of everything but the bare minimum. Talk to Kenmebi by the gate, take his quest, do his quest and bring home the loot you can. Talk to him again after the quest for training.
LF-8. Travel to Abukar in the trade district, get Saross location, then head to the palace district and steal the oil from the back room in the baths. Still in palace, talk to Caius Amerius by the palace fast travel location, take his quest and agree to retrieve the armor.
LF-9. Do arena until fights until the Butcher; Mack can wait. Go to the Commercium and do the Imperial Guard bodyguard quest. Don't use the speech options and you'll fight Hamza - he can be a real pain, bolas to the head and antidotes help but the fight is often very luck-dependent.
LF-10. Go to Saross, kill the prospector, move the stones in the back of the library, head downstairs, search the shelves to unlock all three locations, and examine the generator. Head to the Arch and Zamedi for the SP leave immediately.

******Raise Lore->7****** (skill check below, you can also read the scroll from Teron's palace)

LF-11. Head to Inferiae, get tossed down the pit using dialogue options. Sneak past the demon, use lore and intelligence to kill the demon using the panel, head back up and loot the demon. Go through the portal, grab the large module from the "lamp" to close the portal and the glove from the floor, leave.
LF-12. Head to Abukar in Maadoran, use Int/Streetwise to get the part, return to Saross and install the parts, then head back to the way up and search the back wall for a secret passage and a secret room. If you have Per 8 you can use the sphere to find the medical kit for the ascension ending here; this guide if strictly followed won't get it, we're just doing this secret room for the skill points.

******Raise Lore->8****** (skill check below)

LF-13. Return to Arena in Maadoran, at the left of the district is the entrance to the slums, talk to the youth by the entrance and take his quest before going on. When you enter you'll get an event with Leon, pay him and follow him for an easy fight.
LF-14. Fast travel to the slums entrance, as there's an event we'll do later that triggers part of the way down that path. From there, head down the alley to find a well with a man standing by it. Talk to the man, go in the well and at intersections go right, right, grab the body with strength, and explore the room for reagents in the two piles of rubble and a locked box with a respirator and power tubes. Interact with the respirator to put in a tube.
LF-15. Put the large module from LF-11 above in the receptacle to open a portal, go through and search the room for a locked chest with a jar, some expired anesthetic (check shelves for lore first and then examine the canisters), and the healing machine. Use the machine to raise a physical statistic - I did Str but Dex is also a good option.

******Raise Dodge->8****** (defense)

LF-16. Return to the surface, paying the man for Word of Honor. Fight Mehrab on the way to the Abyss, explore the Abyss using the respirator option when it comes up, power down the machines.

***PROGRESS CHECK***
Arbitrary break point; we have to do the Abyss in chapter 2 and might as well since we have the stats. For gear you should have the Ordu Mangutai Armor, a crafted steel scimitar/khopesh, and a crafted helmet.

Lockpick 4, Sneak 4, Steal 3, Traps 1, Impersonate 1, Etiquette 1, Persuasion 3, Streetwise 4, Alchemy 4, Crafting 6, Lore 8, Trading 4, Sword 5, Dodge 8, Critical Hit 3.

Longer Fork - the Hero of the Pass

LF-17. Head to Zamedi, use Streetwise to get past the demon, head upstairs. Loot both sides on the second floor for reagents and the nullifier, use lore at the top of the tower to understand the ring, use the ring on the demon and then trade it to him and let him go. Loot the bodies of the pilgrims outside as you leave.

******Raise Crafting->8****** (make a blue steel scimitar with to hit, effect chance, and crit chance)

LF-18. Head to Aemolos' village, kill them all, pay Aemolas.
LF-19. Head to Maadoran and fight Kadmos at the inn to get a nice helmet. Do Arena fights to the Triarii. At this point you should have enough steel for a set of crafted steel Praetor armor (AP bonus, penalty reduction, crit chance reduction).

******Raise Dodge->9****** (defense)

LF-20. Head to the Monastery. Push the lead raider off the cliff, kill the other raiders, buy out everything the Elder has for sale, kill the villagers by using the start combat button and attacking them, starting with the archer at the house in the back or at the elder (either of the "ends"). Take the extract from the temple using the elder's key and return to the healer; you can lie to him about not finding it if you want to use it, we'll eventually have enough alchemy but it's not as useful as it sounds.
LF-21. Fight Al-Sahir at the arena. He's hard, use bombs and bolas to weaken him. Break down his stuff to make a blue steel version of the Praetorian armor and a blue steel khopesh. Sell the old armor and any loot you have piled up in your stash.
LF-22. Head back to the slums, walk forward to trigger Miltiades event. Kill the thieves, accept his quest, kill the people at the house. Return to the slums and fight Hermon on the way to the temple. It helps to run away to a choke point as this is not a trivial fight.
LF-23. Past Hermon is Neros' place to hand in the package. Do so, use streetwise to get the name of the suspect (Calvus).
LF-24. Head in to the Temple district, buy the eye from the trader across from the Temple on the right, get eye installed by doctor that met you at zone entrance, buy the bolas from the trader on the left, and buy all of the black powder, oil, and bombs from Zeb. Buy the other two items (axe and club) using Trading options with the other traders if you have the cash - it's a way to turn cash into skill points, the items can just be sold after buying them. We will not be able to return to the Temple after a quest coming up, so do everything you want here while you can.
LF-25. In trade district, between the blacksmith and Abukar are Nasir, who gives you a quest to get a gem, and Tiresias across from him that sells training for 500g. Go to the palace district and the Calvus estate (take the 400g if you have <2k, otherwise kill them and run before guards arrive), go to the house between the palace and the baths for Nasir's quest, use conversation and the body count option to take the gem, hand in the gem at Nasir. Make sure you have at least 2550 gold before leaving.
LF-26. Finally hand in the Imperial Guard quest and head to the Pass. Buy the stuff from Raminus, there are more whetstones at the quartermaster if you're swimming in cash but save 1250.
LF-27. Proceed to the Ordu camp. Talk to the Keeper of Tales across from Belgutai, talk to the khan using the "nice" options, kill Belgutai.

******Raise Alchemy->7****** (skill check below)

LF-28. Talk to the khan and return to the fort at the pass. Do all three options (dodge/crafting/alchemy) to upgrade the defenders, then fight the Ordu as they come.

******Raise Persuade->4****** (skill check below)
******Sword->7****** (if you can afford it, training possibility that's not important)

LF-29. At Caer Tor, talk to Paullus, fail the checks with Raenas. You'll need to meet three centurions: Farro is in the same building and will back you because you fought the Ordu, Barnus is in the back left by a group of trainers. The dodge trainer and melee trainer will both give you bonuses to the skills (not the number, just the effect) if you already have 7. Barnus is persuaded by fighting an easy group of convicts. That's enough for two, Diocletus is in the back on the right and needs 5 pounds of Blue Steel you can buy from the quartermaster just past him with Trading/Persuade. You can either impress Raenas by getting all three or wait until after handing in two and buy the blue steel for yourself (it's not that important at this point).
LF-30. Head to Ganezzar, kill the rabble at the gate, talk to the guard saying "Plague" and heal the prospector on the way to the stairs, head to the inn in the upper town. Ignore 1st floor of inn, head to 2nd and steal the little bit you can, then head out on the patio to talk to Laevinius for three locations. Go to Dead River, head downstairs and fix the machine then leave. Afterwards, head to Teron and steal everything at the inn, using running starts and ignoring trapped chests.
LF-31. Make all of the alchemy attack items you can (powder/balls, oil/sulfur, sulfur/fool's gold), using materials from the alchemists in Teron (commercium, he restocks when the guards take over), Maadoran (trade district), and Ganezzar (by blacksmith). Also make all the good neurostims (Quicksilver with either emoryl for extended or dragon's blood for eagle eye).

***PROGRESS CHECK***
Arbitrary break point. For gear you should have crafted blue steel praetorian armor, a crafted blue steel scimitar/khopesh, and Kadmos' helmet.

Lockpick 4, Sneak 4, Steal 3, Traps 1, Impersonate 1, Etiquette 3, Persuasion 4, Streetwise 4, Alchemy 7, Crafting 8, Lore 8, Trading 4, Sword 7, Dodge 9, Critical Hit 3.

Longer Fork - the Three Options

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>NOTE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
If you just want the Imperial Legion achievements and don't care about actually finishing the game, skip to LF-34. You'll probably need to use more bombs and fire in fights as your gear will be worse.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>NOTE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

LF-32. Talk to Esdras near the blacksmith and go with him to fight the power armor guards. It helps to use fire in this fight to keep them from swarming you when you've been netted, otherwise just hit them and it'll be over soon enough. Return the power armor to the house by the blacksmith in Maadoran, take the sky metal as a reward.

******Raise Crafting->10****** (make a sky metal scimitar with all of the fixings)

LF-33. Go to Hellgate, grab the grenade from the corpse at the bottom of the elevator, use the nullifier on the first constuct. Can't convince Ben, so fight through area. May need to use a bomb or two on the last group of three defending the spear chest, and may need to return to town to repair armor. Use cassava/goldenberry to make curative items to restore constitution damaged by red rays. Loot the three unlocked chests and the spear chest as well as all of the dead constructs for sky metal. Hand in spear to Ben, use the key from the chest in the back to leave. Use the sky metal to make yourself a khopesh and a suit of sky metal praetorian armor with all of the fixings.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Possible skip to here<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

LF-34. Talk to Meru at Ganezzar castle, then explore Al-Akia. Find the locked door and go down the stairs near it. The downstairs blocked by a scolopendra that should be trivial with your new gear, kill it and then proceed to a door and stairs. In the area that follows, look for a tall metal cabinet that contains the Aegis armor. Grab it, go back and search the other path. There's a long and winding corridor from the machine area that leads to a locked door that you can open with alchemy for a trashy unique sword if you care. When done leave the ruins for a fight with some injured Aurelians.
LF-35. On return to Ganezzar, there'll be a scene. Watch the camp, follow the smugglers, kill them and accept Glabrio's deal. Fight the guards and you'll be taken back to normal Ganezzar. Talk to Meru and you'll get an assignment to go to Caer-Tor.

^^^^^^^Put a hard save ("Before the Three") before choosing an option^^^^^^^

Option #1 - Antidas supports Meru. For this option, we'll need Persuade 8. If for some reason you still need more points, do EG-1 or EG-2 below and return. Once you have the skill, head to the palace and talk to Carrinas. Persuade him to support Meru, and you'll get The First Sword achievement. Reload Before the Three.

Option #2 - Paullus supports Meru. For this option, we'll need Persuade 7. Head to Caer-Tor and talk to Paullus, using the options to persuade him to support Meru. You'll have a short fight against three enemies (Critical Strike option available), then be rewarded with the Knights of the Temple achievement. Reload Before the Three.

Option #3 - Paullus supports Gaelius. For this option, talk to Paullus and accept him supporting Gaelius. This is the default option and requires no additional work. Since we have no other use for persuade, this should be the choice used for exploring the endgame content.

Longer Fork - Endgame

Since this isn't the point of this guide, this is a bit short and just here for reference for completionists that want to see what the ending screens look like. These can be done in any order until the temple itself. Depending on the path you chose you can also take the ladder near the main gate of Ganezzar to start a short series of quests and fight the guards at the Ganezzar fort in a quasi-arena setting.

EG-1 Travel to the Arch. Interact with the glove you bought from Raminus in the pass and insert three power tubes. Pay Esbenus 500g, and proceed to the arch itself. Use the eye, the powered glove, and then use slaves from Esbenus to explore the arch (you can also kill Esbenus and persuade the zealots to explore if you've upgraded Persuasion). Once done, explore the arch yourself using the Aegis armor option.
EG-2 Travel to the Old Facility. Kill the guards, head down, examine the pipe by the door for a power tube, use crafting to open the door, use a tube on the console at the bottom to open the hangar door. Use the scroll from Teron and the Jellyfish from Teron to fly the fortress to Ganezzar or Maadoran.
EG-3 There are more arena fights in Maadoran. The last one drops a crystal that can be used in Dead River.
EG-4 Basil has more work at his tavern near the arena.
EG-5 With a rope you can descend into the Dead River on the left side of the map. If you don't have a rope the bazaar merchant in Ganezzar sells one. Down there are multiple scorpions worth skill points to kill.

If you have the medical kit from Saross (requires Perception 8), you can talk to Bentagnabal at Hellgate (complete LF-33) for the ascension ending.

There are three options that this character can use to get to the final temple:
-Use the elevator at Hellgate cleared in LF-33.
-Use the crystal from the arena fight in EG-3 at the machine in the Dead River and overload the machine.
-Walk across the Dead River as discussed in EG-5.

At the temple, head down the stairs and then immediately take the elevator. On the next floor you can use crafting to deactivate the constructs and then hack away at the panels over the elevator downward.

At the bottom are the typical options for the last boss:
-Just run away using the option at the raised tomb.
-Fight him by inserting the canister from the sewer in the first pedestal and then raising the tomb. Using an extended neurostim (quicksilver/emoryl) and spamming fire to block his path, acid to reduce his armor, and bombs to kill him works just fine. Meleeing him on this build isn't likely to work.
-Blow up the temple using the console in the far back with crafting and lore.
-Raise his tomb without inserting the canister and offer to serve him.

Closing notes

As always, my guides are completely free to copy, use, or steal as you see fit. If you were to take it and claim it as your own work I would not care one bit as long as you don't sue me and claim I stole it from you.

[Lelepolele]

Civil:
Persuasion 2
Lore 2
Trading 3
There is 10 points left with 8 int.

[Deus Cinis]

Great guide! I preferred going for bodycount check with Antidas in the beginning, but other things done really well.

[Nachosamurai]

For some reason, at the arbitrary break point at end of The King and the Abyss, I have 3 etiquette. Otherwise all stats match. Nervous, lol

[NOIRE-]

Yes, It is break even if you count the 2nd part of Teron. But its still a bad investment here, for combat build in Teron. Gold is never an issue for fighter tho.

Thx for the response. I think my merchant talker build can use Steal from now on, i didnt consider it at first because my other talker build doesnt have much SP left to spend before forced to go to Maandoran

[Shinesman Khaki]

Two sets of stealing in Teron, a few in Maadoran (have to do running start trick), and the Livia interaction mean that stealing 3 should about break even - it's also junk to sell for cash which is handy.

[NOIRE-]

No offence, but there is no way SP spent into Steal gonna pay for itself, Steal 3 only get you +4sp from Inn, cant even steal from any merchant in Teron. Steal 5 in Teron, then Steal 6 in Maandoran or skip it entirely.
The chest with traps is interesting tho. In Teron, with 6 Con you can survive the bolt, then pick the lock (2 of 3 chest) (+2 CiSp). Heal at the healer to restore Con every time you tank the bolt.
+1000g, some Steel ingots and blue steel hammer with just 180g investment, plus +2 CiSp.
And there's some more in Maandoran, but need atleast 7 Con, if you aim to get God-ending, you can come later after using the healing machine, really really worth it since it only cost gold and not Sp. (Also an easier way to open up the Quest from Healer in Maandoran to reveal The Mountain Monastery, atleast +11Sp for pure non-combat build)