GreedFall is a big and beefy game. It’s big and beefy not because it has a huge open world (though it’s not exactly small either), but because it’s got a lot going on. There is a lot of stuff to keep an eye on in GreedFall at any given time, and nearly all of it is systems-driven. It makes for an engaging experience that offers players a great deal of control and agency across the entire experience, but some might also find all the stuff in the game a bit overwhelming. In this feature, as you prepare to journey deep into the heart of the island of Taer Fradee, we’ll be going over a few tips and tricks that are surely going to prove very handy throughout your playthrough. Without further ado then, let’s get started.
START WITH VIGOR
As you begin playing GreedFall, you’ll be tasked, first and foremost, with creating your character, where you’ll be deciding what class, talent, and attribute you want to start out with first and foremost. This is actually a decision that carries a lot of weight. GreedFall doesn’t give you points to upgrade each of these every time you level up and instead spreads them out, which means that unlocking some crucial stuff will take longer than you’d expect- and this stuff can be pretty crucial, right out the gate, with some very useful actions being locked or unlocked to you depending on what build you start with. So what should you start with?
Well, when it comes to Talents, the best one to start out with is Vigor. On a very basic level, it lets you regenerate health and mana when you’re out of combat, which is obviously quite useful, and also means you get to save your potions. Beyond that, outside of combat, Vigor also lets you reach some otherwise inaccessible locations that need you to do things such as jumping across gaps or walking across beams. These can lead to areas with material rewards, but these can also be shortcuts that allow you to bypass combat or stealth in various quests, even early on. All things considered, Vigor is a smart choice for your character as you start out.
SCIENCE AND CRAFTMANSHIP
While Vigor is the Talent you should ideally start out with, there are a few others that can also be very handy early on in the game (and going forward)- such as Science and Craftmanship- and among those two, the one to prioritize should be Science. GreedFall locks some very basic things and abilities behind what Talents your character has. One of these is the ability to craft potions- whether its health potions, or potions to give you buffs and debuffs for combat, or potions that you might need to complete quests a certain way. If you don’t have the Science Talent, your only option will be to buy these, and not every potion you need can always be purchased from a vendor. Getting the Science Talent early on, then, is crucial.
Craftmanship is also important, because that lets you craft stuff (as its name implies). Crafting and upgrading of weapons and armour in GreedFall is quite important, as you’d expect in an RPG, while being able to craft your own ammo is also extremely handy, even if ammo isn’t all that costly. As such, try and get the Craftmanship Talent as soon as you can.
LOCKPICKING
The Science and Craftmanship branches are crucial and let you do some pretty important stuff, as we’ve discussed, but another pretty crucial branch is Lockpicking. It’s not as crucial- but not only does it let you open up certain chests for better loot, it can also open new paths and shortcuts during certain quests.
I’d say you should move on to Lockpicking once you’ve unlocked Science and Craftmanship – and you absolutely should – but there is a way to unlock the first level of Lockpicking early on without having to invest in its branch. Kurt is the first character who joins your party, which happens pretty early on, and he comes equipped with a chest piece that provides a +1 Lockpicking buff. Just take that off him and equip it yourself whenever you need it. Eventually, it’ll be better for you to unlock Lockpicking properly, especially as Lockpicking requirements climb higher and higher, but in the early goings, Kurt’s armour piece provides an easy way out.
INTUITION
If you’re the kind of player that likes to avoid combat as much as possible, the Intuition Talent is heavily recommended. Maybe don’t start out with it- I’d still say Vigor is the way to go when you’re starting out, because the plain and simple ability to regenerate health and mana is very useful. Afterward, Science should also still get priority, because it unlocks some pretty basic stuff. But once you’re a bit farther into the game and have got the more fundamental things out of the way, Intuition should be the Talent to turn to next.
The Intuition branch is recommended for those who want to solve situations through dialogue instead of stealth, combat, or other methods. It unlocks new dialogue options that allow your character to take stock of the situation and make remarks or observations based on that, and often, these can be a quick ticket to victory in various situations. Solving quests through diplomacy in dialogue is a pretty emphasized aspect of GreedFall, and Intuition helps with that a great deal.
CHARISMA
Charisma is yet another Talent branch that is recommended for those who like solving quests non-lethally and through dialogue choices- after unlocking Intuition, move on to this one. Charisma can be a bit trickier, and success with Charisma dialogue options is much less guaranteed than it is with Intuition.
Both are separate though, so it’s not like one renders the other useless, and having both of them unlocked leads to more options in dialogue. Charisma also usually requires skill checks, but if you pass these, they can often allow you to skip entire fights or stealth sections. If you fail, you can just save scum and cheese your way through, hoping for a successful skill check… unless you want to play fair, of course.
ENDURANCE
Enough about Talents- let’s speak about Attributes. In this area, the one that presents the most benefits – at least in terms of combat – is Endurance, especially from a defensive point of view. For starters, it gives you added health, which is always a bonus. Having added health with Endurance and the ability to regenerate with Vigor is a good combination to have, especially if you start out with it, and every point you invest in Endurance gives you even more health..
On top of added health, Endurance also gives you a few other benefits. It also increases your balance, which is not only useful in several situations outside of combat, but also cuts down the chances of you getting stunned or knocked back during fights. On top of that, investing in Endurance also allows you to wear heavier armour, which buffs up your defence even further.
GO WITH A MAGIC BUILD
Let’s move on to combat- except this isn’t a tip about what buttons to press and how to time your dodges when you’re in fights. It’s much more fundamental than that- going with a character that relies on magic in combat instead of melee attacks is heavily recommended. Why? Well, for starters, magic is just much more fun, and makes the combat more enjoyable. There’s also the fact that magic allows to attack enemies from a distance, which minimizes any damage you could potentially take.
More importantly though, when you’re attacking enemies with magic attacks, you don’t have to worry about what armour they have equipped. With melee builds, you have to break their armour first with heavier weapons before you can get to damaging their actual health bars, with lighter weapons doing reduced damage to armour. With magic attacks, that reduction isn’t a factor, and you can just wail away at your enemies from a distance.
DISGUISES
Certain quests in GreedFall will task you with heading into buildings or areas that are under the control of one of the game’s many factions. At such situations, you can either take the stealthy approach, or try to brute force your way through. The latter hurts your reputation with the faction in question, so it’s best to avoid that, and though stealth is the better option out of these two, there’s a third option that trumps both.
And that is to find a disguise and infiltrate these areas- equip armour belonging to the faction, and walk right in. As such, it’s recommended that you keep chest pieces from various factions’ armour sets with you at all times. It’s a tradeoff, sure- chest pieces are heavy, and take up plenty of inventory space. But you never know when you might need them, and the option to wear disguises – when available – is almost always the best way to solve a quest.
EXPLORE EVERYWHERE, LOOT EVERYTHING
This is a much more general piece of advice as compared to all the others we’ve spoken about in this feature, and also something that many of you will already be naturally inclined to do. But it’s something that comes heavily recommended. Every enemy you kill, every chest you see- loot everything you can. From gold to ammo to crafting material to potions to weapons to armour, you’ll find all manner of useful stuff, and stockpiling all of it will prove to be very beneficial in the long-run.
By that token, exploring as much as you can is recommended as well, because the more you explore, the more loot you find. Exploring more also means finding more quests and more activities. On top of that, you might also run into boss fights, which often yield Memory Crystals- these let you respec your character, and having these in your inventory can be very useful indeed.