GreedFall is a fantastic RPG adventure created by Spiders, but it's arguably less forgiving than some RPGs in quite a few aspects. As a result, many players miss out on a lot of great content in the game or don't get decent results to certain quests as they don't realize the mistakes they're making.
Just below, we've covered some of the top mistakes that new players make when playing GreedFall, and cover exactly how you can avoid these. Fair warning — there are some spoilers ahead relating to the main storyline.
They Lock Themselves Out of Romance Options
When it comes to romance in GreedFall, players have four different options depending on the gender they chose for De Sardet: Aphra, Kurt, Vasco, and Siora. The problem is, the game is really unforgiving when it comes to romance, and if you choose the wrong dialogue option even just once — there's no romance for you.
To romance each character, you must complete their three personal side quests and then choose the correct dialogue option at the end of each quest. Make even one mistake and you won't be able to get the romance achievement/trophy for that character. Additionally, you can only romance one character per playthrough, so this makes it even more of a chore to get all the accolades relating to romance.
To avoid missing out on your chosen romance, be sure to follow a guide for your favorite companion so you choose the right options when speaking with them:
They Get Kurt Killed
Kurt is the first companion that players get in the game, and storyline-wise he has known De Sardet since childhood. Players who don't pay enough attention to their companions and don't undertake their sidequests can see themselves accidentally losing Kurt — permanently.
Approximately halfway through the storyline, there is the main quest called "Treason!" that sees the Coin Guard attempt a coup against the governors of New Serene, San Matheus, and Hikmet. Kurt leads the coup and if players haven't completed Kurt's side quests, then they'll be forced to fight their former-companion. Whether you decide to spare Kurt's life or not, the end result is the same as he will shoot himself if you let him live.
To avoid Kurt dying, be sure to complete his first two side quests called "Missing in Action" and "Among the Ghosts" before commencing with the main story quest called "A Prince's Secret". Once this is done, during the coup Kurt will instead defect to your side and help you to defeat the Coin Guard.
They Don't Pay Attention to Conversations
The great thing about GreedFall that makes it stand out from a lot of other RPGs is that it's actually far more streamlined and doesn't feature filler quests and nonsense fetch quests. All of the quests, including the side quests, have an impact.
Though not all side quests have a direct impact on the storyline, all of them impact relationships with the various factions within the game and so can affect the storyline that way. Players are too used to sidequests being inconsequential and so often just button mash their way through dialogue, but that's a serious mistake in GreedFall where your dialogue choices can make or break relationships with your companions and other factions.
They Don't Level the Right Talents
There are six different kinds of talents in GreedFall and it's impossible to level up all talents in one playthrough, so you have to be super picky about what you choose to unlock. There is equipment that helps to increase talents, and your companions can also give a level increase too while they are in your party. The talents are as follows:
- Charisma: Reduces the price of items from merchants, improves the combat abilities of companions, and increases the chance of success for certain dialogue choices.
- Science: This allows you to make potions and you can destroy weak walls using explosive vials.
- Lockpicking: This allows you to pick locks and see traps more easily.
- Intuition: This allows you to see gathering spots more easily, increases the number of items obtained from gathering and looting, and unlocks extra dialogue options.
- Vigor: Allows you to pass through difficult areas, such as balancing or rock climbing, increases maximum ammo capacity, and lets you recover HP and magic outside of combat.
- Craftmanship: This allows you to craft armor and weapons.
However, not leveling the right talents can see players falling short when it comes to important parts of the story. It is highly recommended to level Charisma and Intuition as early as possible in order to open up more dialogue options throughout all quests, helping you to get the best outcomes and improve your relationships with various factions, which is needed to get the best possible ending in the game.
Players are able to reset their talents with a Memory Crystal item, however, you are only given one of these for free, all others have to be earned and there is only a limited number that you can obtain in total.
They Don't Keep Disguises on Hand
There are specific points in the story where you are required to disguise yourself as a certain faction in order to gain entry to somewhere restricted. However, it's actually useful to keep disguises on hand for different factions, as you can find yourself being able to enter certain areas or get past NPCs more easily when you do so.
You can tell whether a piece of armor can count as a "disguise" for a certain faction based on the faction symbol on the bottom right of the item. Additionally, only body armor is required for a successful disguise. The different faction symbols are as follows:
- Nauts: A pale blue shield with a gold symbol.
- Coin Guard: A black shield with white crossed swords.
- Theleme: A red shield with a gold sun symbol.
- Congregation of Merchants: A white shield with a blue upside-down "V" with gold spots.
- Bridge Alliance: A blue and green shield with a gold lion in the center.
- Natives: A grey diamond with a white swirl.
They Don't Choose Their Party Carefully
There are five different companions that you can choose to have in your party: Kurt, Siora, Aphra, Vasco, and Petrus. However, in addition to De Sardet, you can only have two others accompany you at any one time.
While it's tempting to just choose your favorite characters and go for it, it's more important that players weigh up the pros and cons of each companion. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to battle, and it's crucial to try and maintain some kind of classic party set-up that utilizes a tank and a healer at the bare minimum. Taking into account your own choice of combat style, that might mean taking companions who can heal or tank for you, that you wouldn't necessarily have chosen otherwise.
Additionally, each character has their own perks to contribute in terms of talents, so having certain companions in your party will level up your talents while they are with you. These are all things that players should factor in when choosing who is in their party.
They Don't Pay Attention to the Different Factions
There are different factions within the game, and as previously mentioned, everything you do affects your relationships with them. It's super important that players take the time to complete all side quests available to them, select the best dialogue options, and choose the best story-based decisions in order to get the best possible ending.
Near the end of the game in the main quest titled "Together for Teer Fradee", players will need to try and reconcile all of the factions (except The Congregations of Merchants) to get the best ending, but this is only possible if you have a "Friendly" reputation with all of them. Additionally, the leader of some of the factions may change depending on the choices you made, so be sure to choose people who will support you when the time comes.
They Don't Keep Multiple Saves
The golden rule of most RPGs is to save often and keep multiple save files too, but this is especially true of GreedFall as the game is full of decisions that can severely impact your ending. Save often and keep different files on hand so that if you need to backtrack to fix a past decision, at least you don't have to restart from the very beginning.
Additionally, this is helpful for achievement/trophy hunters, as there are points where branching decisions each reward you with an accolade. Saving before you make the decision allows you to reload and choose the other option to get both accolades without having to replay the game through all over again.