A Full Guide to the Love of Hawkins

A new and improved version of the guide I've made for Hawkins romance. Now with routes for Presence and Willpower builds.

BEFORE WE START.

Hawkins is a delight. But, like every other worthwhile thing in this world, they’re hard to impress, easy to lose and hard to romance. Laid below is the guide for MC’s pathway to their heart.

All steps below will use he/him pronouns for both Main Character and Hawkins from now on.

1. EPISODE 1. AN AMBUSH OF CHOICE! GETTING INTO ANOTHER’S HEART THREE TIMES FASTER THAN NORMAL.

During the first chapter you’ll get a lot of options to set up your character’s… character, his main skill, his main weakness and, most importantly, his reasons for joining CODEC forces.

Hawkins cannot be romanced by a character who has already started a romance with someone else or, MOST IMPORTANTLY, a character that DOESN’T HAVE WARRIOR EQUAL OR HIGHER TO 65% AND WITH RELATIONSHIP VALUE LOWER THAN 70.

Laid below is the code responsible for starting his romance.
*label hawkinsrom
*if (hawkins >= 70) and (war >= 65)
*if (asadirom < 2) and (weaverrom < 2)
*if watanaberom < 2
*set hawkinsrom 2

Thus, choices for this chapter must prioritize raising Warrior stat at least to 70% and, preferably, picking the motivation that would not lower Hawkins’s opinion of Main Character.
Below is the list of motivations and their effects on Hawkins’ approval.

POSITIVE:
1. "I fight because I like fighting, isn't that enough?". Gives +6 to Hawkins’s approval, requires picking “No, I have changed since then. I fight for a new reason now” during Chapter 3’s duel.
2. “A chance for power, fame, maybe even high office at the end of the war”. Gives +6 to Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “Yes, I still fight for the same reasons” during Chapter 3’s duel and picking this motivation in Chapter 1.
3. “My homeworld had joined the rebellion. It's my duty to defend her”. Gives +2 to Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “Yes, I still fight for the same reasons” during Chapter 3’s duel and picking this motivation in Chapter 1.

NEUTRAL:
1. “To kill people with official backing”. Does not change Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “Yes, I still fight for the same reasons” during Chapter 3’s duel and picking this motivation in Chapter 1
2. "Just shut up and fight me!". Does not change Hawkins’ approval. Available during the conversation about Main Character’s motivation in Chapter 3’s duel.
3. "I fight because I'm paid to. That's reason enough for me". Does not change Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “No, I have changed since then. I fight for a new reason now” during Chapter 3’s duel.

NEGATIVE:
1. "To shield those dear to me from the destruction of war". Gives -2 to Hawkins’ approval. Can either be chosen during Chapter 1 or in Chapter 3 by going through a dialogue chain of “No, I have changed since then. I fight for a new reason now”, and then "I fight to protect the innocent people of the outer colonies!".
2. "To support the cause of freedom from the tyranny of Old Earth". Gives -4 to Hawkins’ approval. Can either be chosen during Chapter 1 or in Chapter 3 by going through a dialogue chain of “No, I have changed since then. I fight for a new reason now”, and then "I fight because I believe in CoDEC's cause!".
3. "Revenge for what the Empire had done to my family". Gives -4 to Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “Yes, I still fight for the same reasons” during Chapter 3’s duel and picking this motivation in Chapter 1.
4. "I fight to win!". Gives -6 to Hawkins’ approval. Requires picking “No, I have changed since then. I fight for a new reason now” during Chapter 3’s duel.


Main Character starts with 50% Warrior. This stat is subsequently adjusted by motivation and his behavior during every single chapter. Easiest way to gain as much as possible at the start is the following:

1. "I cannot afford to let three experienced enemy pilots live" / "Why should I let those impie bastards live? I kill them all! ". +20 Warrior, current value – 70%. Deliberation / Passion DO NOT affect Hawkins’ romance.
2. "To kill people with official backing" / "My homeworld had joined the rebellion. It's my duty to defend her". First option gives +10 to Warrior. Second one - +4. Current value – 80% / 74%.
3. "Single-handedly destroying three Imperial warships at the Battle of Crown Station". +6 to Warrior. If “To kill people with official backing” and "Protecting a civilian convoy from repeated enemy attacks during the retreat from Toulon" are chosen together, gains negate each other. Current value: 86% / 80%.
4. "Aggressively: I want my lance-mates just as fired up as I am". +4 to Warrior. Current value: 90% / 84% .

BUILDS:

Perception and Piloting have the easiest time with Hawkins’ romance. Their combat skills and properly chosen armatures help out immensely with winning during the duels. Same cannot be said about Willpower and Presence.

Therefore, we have two ways in front of us: easy one and the hard one. Easy one will go first, and for this to be an easy time you need to do the following in Chapter 1…

1. Perception 4 and Manningam. "Use my tactical genius and eagle eyes to exploit a weakness in the enemy formation" for tagging Perception as MC’s best skill. "Heatsink status of my long-range particle rifle" to set Manningam as Main Character’s mecha of choice.
2. Piloting 4 and Uxbridge. "Power linkages on my sword-like plasma cutter" for mecha. "Rely on my brilliant piloting skills to take out the enemy commander" for tagging Piloting as MC’s best skill.
3. Custom modifications: either upgraded thrusters (Piloting) or improved sensors (Perception).

Hard times, Willpower and Presence.

1. Tag your main skills by self-explanatory means. You will not rely on them too much during duels.
2. High Willpower build: pick Uxbridge and upgraded thrusters during Chapter 1 or Manningam and improved sensors during Chapter 1. You will be able to harm Hawkins’ mecha, which is enough. Do not pick options that tag as worst skill either your Perception or Piloting, you’re going to need them both.
3. High Presence build: do the same thing and DO NOT try to stall the first duel by talking. It won’t work and it will make you lose out on the approval from the duel.

TLDR: Perception for Mannigam, Uxbridge for Piloting, other builds pick the same mechas and patch up the lack of skills with modifications. Picking Picton is a meme.

2. EPISODE 3. A SOUL WEIGHTED DOWN BY GRAVITY! AN ENEMY PILOT AND A FUTURE PARTNER APPROACHES.

If you did everything right in chapter 1, you should have a pretty decent ground to stand against Hawkins. But there are a few traps that might prevent you from coveted +10/+15 approval boost from Hawkins.

1. DO NOT STALL WITH PRESENCE. It gets you literally nothing and you still have to fight him.
2. If you have picked the wrong motivation, it’s better to not say anything at all than to try explaining it. Non-combat builds can’t easily recoup the losses in approval.
3. DO NOT call up your allies for assist. This gives you -6 approval right off the bat, and it can compound up to -12. These losses are unacceptable in most cases.
4. Be consistent. Do not try to withdraw or pick different options after picking your lane.

Hawkins starts with 50 base approval. Accept his challenge and do whatever for the first combat option, it doesn’t matter. When the question about Main Character’s motivation comes up, consult Section One for best answer. Afterwards, the real fight begins. There are two ways to solve the duel in your favour.

1. Piloting. Pick “attack aggressively” and “attack in melee” until cows go home. Depending on the mecha and your level of Piloting you will either harm him or cut off his arm entirely. Either one will result in his approval.

2. Perception. Attack from distance, attack from distance, exploit a flaw in Hawkins’ fighting style. Once again, even landing a single hit will do wonders for your approval.

After three rounds of combat the duel with conclude. If you see these replies in Hawkins’ post-combat conversations, you did everything right.

“… you are the first to have ever come so close to defeating me. You…fascinate me, pilot.” [equals +15 approval]

“… you are one of the finest pilots I have ever had the honour to face on the field of battle." [equals +10 approval]

However, if you see these replies, you have messed up. In non-combat builds every little bit matters.

“… Though your understanding of the concept of fairness is rather lacking, your piloting skill cannot be doubted”. [equals -4 Approval, appears if allies are called up]

“You defended yourself with the bravery and cunning of a true warrior, and for that, you have my respect”. [equals no approval change, you lose completely]

And reload is especially warranted if your Main Character chose to run away from the duel. In this case you will see this.

“You disappoint me, pilot. I had hoped for a good fight today. Instead, you have only offered me a fruitless chase“. [equals -20 approval and -10 Reputation].

In the final tally for the chapter, Hawkins’ approval, which is incredibly necessary for romance and hard to raise, can change to:

1. +6 and +15, which equals 21. 50+21 will give you 71 approval, which is more than enough for the later stages of romance if you keep it up.
2. +6 and +10, which equals 16. 50+16 will give you 66 Approval, which is barely enough for later stages of romance if you keep this up.
3. +6. Equals 56. Not sure if you can bag the Char now, my tomodachi.

EPISODE 6. MC, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! FINAL DUEL APPROACHES.

In chapters between, during and before Hawkins you can earn a very, very important resource – Reputation. It affects the possibility of a happy ending with him, and thus, unless you heavily invested into Presence, it is highly important to keep it steady. Generally speaking, failing checks and losing will poorly affect your reputation. Starting from Chapter 4, you will usually get a range of checks to cover your main stats in combat, and it’s very easily to earn Reputation if you follow your strengths.

In Chapter 5, you are tasked with defending CODEC’s combat ships and evacuation vessels. Why is this important, you may ask? Because it affects Hawkins’ approval, although indirectly!

During Chapter 6 you are very busy retreating from your enemies. An enemy approaches, and it soon enough turns out to be Camille, your future suitor. You have several ways of dealing with this situation.

1. Fight him alone.
2. Tell your allies to fight him.
3. Try to talk him down.

Let’s analyse the yield from these options.

1. Sending your allies to fight him will not be beneficial at all. If you’re not fast enough, you will end up with fewer pilots. If you are, it still gets no approval from Hawkins and thus is useless.

2. Trying to talk him down will only succeed with high Presence and information from his personal files in Interlude 1. It skips the fight and gets you no approval.

3. Fighting him is the only actual way of earning it. See what I’m getting at?

“But вера, how could I possibly do that?” I can hear the voice of dear readers who picked Willpower and Presence builds. True, your stats will quickly prove very, very lacking in an actual confrontation. While Piloting and Presence builds will continue to turn Hawkins’ Vallier into scarp metal, you will have to think outside of the box. But first, let’s tell Piloting and Perception builds about dealing with their beloved enemy.

1. Piloting builds should always pick options for melee confrontation and getting closer to their enemy. This approach will not fail them here either – after two options Hawkins will be a scrap. Don’t forget to install a sword afterwards.

2. Perception builds should always pick options to attack from the distance. I also advise them to not leave the box that appears in Chapter 3 right before the duel behind. They will enjoy a victory over Hawkins as well.

Willpower and Presence do have their trump card, however. Yes, in singular. Remember me talking about Caliburn battlegroup and how it indirectly affects Hawkins’ approval?

If you choose to ask for support and you have kept the battlegroup in a good state before by choosing to prioritize it over evacuation vessels, you will be able to utilize Caliburn’s missile support in the duel. It’s impossible to fail if available and it nets easy +6 Approval! Just pick “I'll call in fire-support from the Caliburn and fight defensively until help arrives“ for a fresh new achievement.

It's not +10 from another won duel, but it does help. Now, onto the tally.

1. Duel won by combat means: +10. Even in the worst case of 65 by picking the wrong motivation your pilot still will be able to push past all the necessary gates.

2. Duel won by missile circus: +6. In the best case scenario it finally pushes Main Character over 70 points of approval to 72, which is still enough. In the worst case scenario it makes it 62, which is not enough anyway.

3. Other options. If you didn’t protect your battlegroup and have a wrong build for open confrontation, just skip the fight with Presence or take an L in a form of -4 Approval. Well, it's L in both cases...

EPISODE 8. A CHAR BY ANY OTHER NAME! WELCOME TO IMPERIAL PRISON.

If the previous two chapters have laid the necessary groundwork for the blossoming romance, this one is the one where you can finally reap the first fruit of your labour. When Hawkins appears near your bed the first time (cute!), make sure to not call him imperial scum by accident and generally try to have a polite conversation with him.

After he leaves, do the interrogation however you desire. Even if you lose your hand, worry not – if you do everything right, you will get an easy way out of final confrontation.

During the second meeting Hawkins will bring you food and water. This is one of the crucial scenes for development of your blossoming romance.

First, don’t accept the food immediately. Make sure to ask why is he doing this – and after the explanation of his reasonings, say “I understand completely and I agree” even if you actually don’t. If his approval is higher than 65, he will ask if you two count as friends and this will appear.

"I am very glad that you do, $!{rank} $!{lastname}, very glad indeed. I should hope that our mutual understanding should make us friends." The Imperial pauses for a moment, unsure of himself. "Are we friends?"

YOU MUST PICK "Friends? Of course, or maybe a bit more…." TO PROGRESS HIS ROMANCE FURTHER.

This sets up his first romance flag and is crucial to ensure you will get an option to romance him afterwards. If your approval is higher than 65 and you get Hawkins asking if you’re friends, you have secretly attained another approval boost, this time to +6 and it pushes your approval to 71. While the romantic option doesn’t affect approval, it is still crucial for the romance.

Afterwards, keep on keeping on with the interrogation. Anything is fine, it does not affect Hawkins.

Our rival pilot comes in for the third time with a gun and a plan. Pick whatever singular question you desire and move onto the scene with the guard.

If you have lost your right hand, none of the available options will affect Hawkins’ approval. If you didn’t, do not pick “I shoot to incapacitate” if you have Perception equal or higher than 3 [-2 Approval] or ‘’I make sure my shot grants the enemy a slow and painful death’’ if you have Perception equal or higher than 3 [-4 Approval].

If your Lionheart is in a good shape, make sure to let Hawkins take Roland to avoid -8 Approval hit. If your Lionheart isn’t, you don’t get to choose.

But if it is in poor shape, he carries you all the way to the CODEC base… so kakkoii!

INTERLUDE 3. JUST WILD BEAT COMMUNICATION! FRUITS OF YOUR LABOUR.

After arriving back to CODEC you get three options about Hawkins and how much you trust him. What we do have to know is simple – picking anything but “He's on our side! I trust him with my life!” will not get you any approval. Or worse, will cut it in -2 chip if it’s the first option.

If you have Presence equal or higher than 4, you can gain +4 approval instead of +2 by picking the quoted option above.

What you say afterwards is not important. It does not affect your approval, even if text notes the potential discrepancies.

What is important, however, is making sure you answer “Yes, I do” when Hawkins asks if you have any questions for him after the briefing. Then, after the dialogue tree is open, make sure you have "What are you going to do after this battle is over?".

This question IS MANDATORY FOR ROMANCE PROGRESSION AND REQUIRES THE FIRST FLAG IN IMPERIAL PRISON.

After Hawkins deflects the question, you have two paths. First one, "To find someone worth living and fighting alongside" will immediately transfer you to the romance-specific content. Second path requires a dialogue chain in form of:

"What are you going to do after this battle is over?" -+ "I don't have any plans". -+ "Yes, you could live your life for me".

If you don’t have any started romances (you will have to bluntly deny Asadi’s offer, no “I might think about it” stuff), he will not take his gaze away from yours. He will admit that, for the first time, he is afraid to lose someone in battle.

You did the most important step. Now, onto the finale!

EPISODE 9. HAWKI-I-I-INS, COME BACK AND KILL ME! PRESENCE IS NOT MANDATORY.

After trudging through the fight with imperial forces you will meet with your something at the Lightbearer. After he reveals his grand plan of becoming world’s first imperial who did not suggest that a colony drop will fix the entire world, you have several ways of responding to it. Calling him insane will give you -4 Approval, but it won’t affect much if you have already started his romance.

What will affect the romance is the way you choose to deal with him.

THE ONLY WAY TO GET ORLANDO INNAMORATO IS TO PICK THE FOLLOWING ACTION CHAIN:

Try to talk Hawkins down. -+ Try to convince Hawkins through a personal appeal.

He drops his weapon and wonders about his fate. High Presence builds should pick "I'll convince CoDEC not to harm you" in order to save their blond war criminal. Everyone else should hope and pray that their reputation is EQUAL TO 75 OR HIGHER for a successful resolution. When a smile appears on his lips again, you know you have won.

The ending doesn’t matter. All that he can appear in are dictated by hawkins_ally, which you will need already for a happy ending.

Love won! Enjoy a sight of maskless pilot and thank you for reading!

Not as hard as it had seemed before now, is it?