Introduction

Introduction

Released on PC in September 2021 (and consoles a year later), Wrath of the Righteous was the second game from Owlcat Studios made using the Pathfinder RPG system. Its predecessor, 2018's Kingmaker, was known for a number of things: peerless depth, ambitious scope and excellent writing combined with hostile encounter design and showstopping bugs. WotR, massively increases the depth and creates a more pleasant gaming experience while keeping the excellent writing and story. If you were traumatised by some of the brutal encounters in Kingmaker, you may be relieved to know that WotR is a lot more forgiving.

That said, it's not all roses. Crashes are frequent and random, game updates seem to introduce as many bugs as they fix, loading is slow (even on an SSD) and gets worse as the game progresses and saving the game takes an age. Area transitions are particularly problematic because it combines a slow autosave with slow loading and the game may then simply crash anyway. WotR provides a gaming experience of unparalleled scope and depth but you will need deep reserves of patience to get through it.

Expansions

At the time of writing, there are five expansions released for WotR with one more in the pipeline. A legitimate question when it comes to any DLC is whether it is worth buying on top of the game itself. For a game the size of WotR, the question becomes more pertinent: is there any point in adding a few hours of content to a 200+ hour game? I cannot answer this question for you but I can give you my take.

• Inevitable Excess
  This is a short adventure padded out by incessant and obnoxious combat. Given that you're at maximum character level throughout the campaign, the obnoxiousness is compounded by pointlessness. I really wouldn't bother.
• Through the Ashes
  Through the Ashes is CRPG as survival horror. Rather than being a mighty hero, you're a citizen trying to escape from the apocalypse that has engulfed your city. Every turn is fraught with peril and every choice has consequences. Like Varnhold's Lot from the previous game, TtA is completely orthogonal to the main campaign but is well worth playing for being both a different perspective on events in the main game and an excellent adventure in its own right. Of the five expansions, this is the only one that I would actually recommend.
• Treasure of the Midnight Isles
  Treasure of the Midnight Isles is both a rogue-like standalone mode and an expansion for the main game. I cannot speak for the rogue-like mode, not having played it, but the addition to the main game is - frankly - awful: a relentless slog of room after room filled with meaningless combat. I played it for the sake of making a walkthrough but I strongly advise you to save your time and money and give this one a miss.
• Last of the Sarkorians
  When you already have 25 character classes and 11 companions to choose from, asking good money for an expansion that adds a class and a companion is a big ask, particularly when the asking price is 40% of the game itself. The additional content is OK, I guess, but the quests are poorly balanced and anomalously difficult. Given the poor value proposition, you may want to steer clear.
• Lord of Nothing
  This is the continuation of Through the Ashes and completing this unlocks additional content in the main game. Besides the new adventure, which is no more than OK, the expansion also adds 15 character archetypes, some spells and a large number of feats and mythic abilities. The new archetypes are so-so, but some of the feats are decent. Given that the new mythic abilities are intended to make armoured builds more optimal, gating them behind a DLC paywall is unfortunate. Because of this, I do not use the feats and mythic abilities in the sample character builds and companion builds.

The Walkthrough

Firstly, I apologise for the intimidating size of the table of contents. This is mostly due to the character creation system which gives you a choice of more than 200 character classes and 10 mythic paths. In case it's not immediately obvious, Wrath of the Righteous is a very big game and this is a very big walkthrough.

Here's an overview of each section:

Introduction
This section gives an overview of the game rules and tips for playing the game. There is also an overview of the game's trophies.

Character Creation
Character creation in Wrath of the Righteous is not only deep but actually overwhelming - the character creation screen asks you to make choices while failing to give you sufficient information to make informed ones. This section fills in that missing information: details on race, abilities, skills, feats, all twenty six classes and 170 subclasses and all ten mythic paths. If you simply want to get stuck in, I provide a number of effective and thematic builds that you can use in the Character Building section.

Companions
By-and-large, companions in this game follow the Bioware model: they are needy, have lots of baggage and expect you to sort out their problems. I give an overview and build suggestion for each companion. Rather than give details of the many, many companion quests, I provide links to the relevant parts of the walkthrough.

Prologue ... Chapter 6
The walkthrough proper comprises the sections from your humble beginnings in Trapped in the Darkness to the final showdown at the Threshold of the End. It is aimed at Core difficulty and tries to give you an optimum path through the game while covering everything. Be aware that it is also a nice walkthrough; while you can be a complete dick to everyone, this will cause you to miss out on a huge amount of content and a walkthrough that missed out a huge amount of content wouldn't be a very good one. It leads you towards the most favourable choices and also leads you to the secret ending (look out for "Ascension" callouts). The game's expansions are given their own sections in the walkthrough, apart from Last of the Sarkorians where that approach doesn't make sense.

Mythic Quests
Each mythic path has a number of path-specific quests and it is not feasible to inline them in the main walkthrough without turning it into spaghetti code. Therefore the main walkthrough simply contains hyperlinks at the relevant points. I have provided exhaustive guides for the Angel and Azata paths along with the Legend mythic quests. I may provide coverage of other paths in future updates but be aware that I have a life and playing Wrath of the Righteous six or more times is not something that I can realistically do.

Miscellaneous Locations
There is a world map with lots of locations to visit. This section is a region-by-region gazetteer of the various locations that you do not visit while following the main quest. The main walkthrough points out the locations that you pass and provides hyperlinks to the detailed coverage in this section.

Items
The game rewards you with lots of cool loot. This section details what you can find and where you can find it.

Crusade Management
There is a game within a game: prosecuting the war against the demonic forces in the Worldwound. This section covers all aspects of that part of the game. This is more of a reference section since the walkthrough proper provides tutorials and pointers at the relevant locations.

Appendix - Ascension
A checklist for unlocking the secret ending.

Trophies
An overview of the game's trophies / achievements.

If you are playing on a PS4, you can only unlock the trophies for the base game. PS5 owners can download the PS5 version of the game which adds the DLC trophies. The PS5 version is a free download if you are an owner of the PS4 version.

Related Walkthroughs

If you can't get enough Pathfinder, I have written a walkthrough for the previous game in the series, Pathfinder: Kingmaker:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/252382-pathfinder-kingmaker-definitive-edition/faqs/79613

Rules

Turns

Even when using real-time-with-pause (RTWP), Wrath of the Righteous uses a turn-based underlying ruleset which determines how your character acts. A creature's turn consists of a move action and a standard action. During a move action, you can move your full distance (30' for most characters) or take certain other actions which are specified as using the move action in the ability description. Moving up to 5' does not consume your move action.

As a standard action, you can make a single weapon attack or cast most spells. You can also take other actions which are specified as using the standard action in the ability description. Rather than taking a standard action, you can choose to take a second move action instead.

If you do not move, you can take a full-round action. During a full-round action, you can make multiple weapon attacks if you are able to or cast a spell that requires a full-round action (such as most summoning spells). You can take certain other actions which are specified as using a full-round action in the ability description.

Certain abilities are described as requiring a swift action (casting a quickened spell, for example). Swift actions do not prevent you from taking a full-round action but you can only perform one swift action in any turn.

Finally, some abilities are described as free actions (for example, a Barbarian engaging his Rage ability). Free actions take no time and you can perform as may free actions as you like during a turn.

Attack Bonus vs. Armor Class

To attempt to hit an opponent, you roll 1d20 and add your Attack Bonus (AB). Your Base Attack Bonus (BAB) depends on your class and level and ranges from 0 to +20 (for, say, a 20th level Fighter). You add any attack modifiers to your BAB to calculate your overall AB. Sources of attack bonuses include:

• Strength: +1 for every 2 points above 10 (values of 9 and below reduce your attack modifier) when attacking with melee weapons
• Dexterity: replaces Strength for ranged attacks and certain weapons if you take the Weapon Finesse feat
• Flanking: +2
• Enchantment bonus such as from a +1 weapon
• Feats such as (Greater) Weapon Focus and Point Blank Shot
• Morale bonus, e.g. from drinking a Potion of Heroism
• Other bonuses, such as luck, competence and so forth.

The total is checked against the opponent's Armor Class (AC). If the modified die roll is >= AC, you hit and damage is calculated. That's not quite true; a 1 is always a miss regardless of AB and a 20 is always a hit (and may be a critical hit) regardless of AC.

AC is not as simple as it should be. There are multiple sources of AC:

• Base (10)
• Dodge bonuses from attribute modifiers (typically Dexterity but possibly Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma) and feats
• Size (+1 for gnomes and halflings)
• Actual armour (light, medium or heavy)
• Shields (or shield AC from feats)
• Natural bonuses (from, for example, Snakeskin due to a Serpentine bloodline)
• Deflection bonuses (from, for example, a Ring of Protection)
• Maluses from negative statuses such as cowering.

Something important to note is that most bonuses of the same type do not stack (that is, two Rings of Protection won't give you twice the bonus). The exception is dodge AC but only when it comes from different sources - for example, the Duelist class which adds both a Dexterity modifier and Intelligence modifier to dodge AC. And presumably combines it with +1 AC from the Dodge feat.

The full lowdown on what does and doesn't stack is discussed in this post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_Kingmaker/comments/9qvr4o/an_explanation_of_what_bonuses_and_penalties_stack/

There are also three different types of AC: full AC, flat-footed AC (where you cannot dodge out of the way) and touch AC (where the fact that you're wearing chainmail is irrelevant). The following table shows which AC types are included in the AC calculation:

If most of your AC comes from dodge AC (i.e. most Dexterity builds), you can lose the lot from being caught flat-footed. The principal cause of being caught flat-footed is losing initiative at the start of combat - if you are attacked before your turn starts you will lose all dodge bonuses. Feats like Improved Initiative and class abilities like Uncanny Dodge can help here. If most of your armour comes from armour and shield, you are in danger from touch attacks from enemy casters.

Flanking

If two creatures are attacking the same opponent, that opponent is flanked and its attackers gain +2 to their attack rolls. If both attackers have the Outflank teamwork feat, the bonus increases to +4.

Wrath of the Righteous is not a forgiving game when it comes to AC. It's either really high or it may as well be nothing at all. An alternative way to avoid being hit is concealment, which is provided by a number of spells, including Blur, Mirror Image and Displacement.

Charging

If you are 10' or more away from your opponent, have a clear path and are not affected by difficult terrain, you can make a charge attack. Charge attacks are a full-round action and you make a single attack against the opponent at full AB +2.

Damage

To calculate damage, the following modifiers are added:

• The wielder's Strength bonus (or Dexterity with the right feats)
• The weapon's enhancement bonus
• Any bonus from feats like Weapon Specialization
• Any bonus from modal abilities such as Power Attack.

This is calculated separately since it feeds into critical hit calculations. Then other damage sources such as sneak attack dice and elemental properties of the weapon are added to come up with an overall total.

Critical Hits

When your attack hits and the unmodified die roll is within the critical threat range of the weapon being used, the hit may be a critical hit. The critical threat range is typically 20 or 19-20. Note that if a roll is high enough to be within the critical range but not high enough to hit, it is still a miss. For example, a 2nd level Fighter with 18 Strength (AB +6) is attacking a tough opponent with 25 AC using a scimitar which has a critical threat range of 18-20. If he rolls 18, it is a miss. If he rolls 19, it may be a critical hit. There is a feat called Improved Critical which will double the threat range of a single weapon type, such as the scimitar in the example.

If a hit may be a critical hit, a second roll is made at +6. If that is also a hit, the critical hit is confirmed and damage is calculated. The base damage (see above) is multiplied by the weapon's critical hit multiplier which ranges from x2 (for most weapons) to x4 (for a scythe or a pick). Certain class abilities may increase the multiplier for a certain weapon type and the Critical Focus feat allows you to add +4 to the confirmation roll.

Some enemies - notably oozes and elementals - don't have any vital areas to target and are immune to critical hits (and sneak attacks). However, these are relatively rare so building a character around the ability to inflict frequent and powerful critical hits is a valid choice.

Coup de Grace

If an opponent is helpless (paralysed or sleeping), you can deliver a coup-de-grace as a full-round action. This is an automatic critical hit and the target must make a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + damage dealt) or die. Creatures immune to critical hits are also unaffected by coup-de-grace attacks.

Damage Reduction

Armour and class abilities can reduce incoming damage per hit (not dice rolled). Damage reduction is expressed as x/Y where "x" is the amount of damage reduction and "Y" is a vulnerability so that 3/silver applies reduced damage per hit unless the hit comes from a silver (actually, mithral) weapon. 3/- would mean that the reduction is applied unconditionally.

Vulnerabilities are as follows:

• Slashing / Blunt / Piercing: overcome by weapons that do the specified damage type.
• Magic: overcome by any +1 weapon or better
• Silver: overcome by mithral weapons (and +3 weapons or better)
• Cold iron: overcome by cold iron weapons (and +3 weapons or better)
• Adamantine: overcome by adamantine weapons (and +4 weapons or better)
• Good / Evil / Law / Chaos: overcome by holy / unholy / axiomatic / anarchic weapons (and +5 weapons or better).

Damage reduction does not stack - the highest reduction is applied instead. If you have multiple types of reduction, the lesser reduction is checked if the greater one is bypassed. An exception is the Stalwart Defender prestige class whose class-based DR (5/- at level 10) stacks with any reduction obtained from armour.

Be aware that in most cases, not getting hit in the first place is better than damage reduction when hit. It is better to build for high AC than high DR.

Attacks of Opportunity

A combatant threatens an area around him. Certain actions by an enemy in the threatened area leave that enemy open to attacks of opportunity (AOO). These include:

• Attacking with a ranged weapon
• Attacking unarmed (unless you have the Improved Unarmed Combat feat)
• Casting most spells, drinking a potion, using a scroll
• Moving into or out of the threatened area
• Getting up after being knocked down.

Certain teamwork feats will allow attacks of opportunity under other circumstances. Typically, you can make one such attack per round, although there is a (recommended) feat called Combat Reflexes which allows you to make a number of such attacks equal to your Dexterity Modifier.

Most AOOs can be avoided by the "don't do that" principle: ranged attackers should not be using ranged attacks at melee range in the first place. Spellcasters can avoid such attacks if they succeed in a Concentration check (or by casting a Quickened spell).

Movement is more problematic since you will typically want to take out the Wizard standing behind the guys with the pointy sticks. You can move 5' without provoking an AOO or you can invest points in the Mobility skill so that you pass the necessary Mobility checks to avoid provoking them.

Both the Concentration and Mobility checks have a base DC (see below) of 15. Certain feats or class abilities can give you bonuses when making them.

Difficulty Checks

Succeeding in skill checks or shrugging off the effects of magic require you to pass a check against a Difficulty Class (DC). Roll a d20, add any modifiers, and check the total against the DC. The modifier might be your Persuasion skill if you're trying to bring someone round to your way of thinking or your Will Save if you are trying to shrug off an enemy Wizard's Dominate Person spell.

Spell Combat

Some spells require you to make an attack roll before any other factors come into play. Typically, these will target touch AC.

When spells are subject to spell resistance, the caster must overcome the target's Spell Resistance (SR) if any. His caster level (i.e. the number of character levels in classes with level progression in the type of magic being cast) is added to a d20 roll. If this roll is less than the target's SR, the spell fizzles. Spell Penetration feats and certain racial traits and bloodline abilities can increase your effective caster level for the purposes of overcoming Spell Resistance.

Spells which allow a saving throw have a DC of 10 + spell level + the caster's attribute modifier (Intelligence / Wisdom / Charisma). Spell-like effects usually use caster level / 2 in place of spell level. Spell level can be increased by Herighten metamagic and the DC can be increased by (Greater) Magic Focus as well as certain racial traits and bloodline abilities.

Overcoming the DC requires a d20 modified by the relevant saving throw and attribute bonuses:

• Fortitude save + Constitution bonus
• Reflex save + Dexterity bonus
• Will save + Wisdom bonus.

Note that the consequences of failing Fortitude and Will saves (dead or controlled) are often worse than the consequences of failing Reflex saves.

Non-Lethal Combat

Not all combat actions are attempts to kill your opponent. With the right training, you can attempt to bring your opponent to the ground or knock his weapon out of his hand. In game, these are called Combat Maneuvers and to succeed you add your Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB) to a d20 roll in attempt to overcome your opponent's Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD).

Your CMB is your BAB + Strength modifier + Size modifier (large creatures get a bonus, small creatures receive a penalty). Your CMD is your BAB + Strength and Dexterity modifiers + Size modifiers + Dodge bonuses. The Agile Maneuvers feat allows you to use your Dexterity modifier to calculate CMB while the Defensive Combat Training feat allows you to use your character level in place of BAB to calculate CMD.

Size

Most character races are medium-sized apart from gnomes and halflings which are small. Size comes with various bonuses and penalties, shown in the following table:

You can change a character's size category using the Enlarge Person / Reduce Person spells. Forms assumed by a Druid's Wildshape ability or certain magic spells can be huge. Weapons wielded by small characters do slightly less damage while those wielded by large creatures do somewhat more. Reach is the radius that the character threatens. If you equip a weapon with "reach", your reach doubles. An optimum strategy for your two-handed weapon fighter is to cast Enlarge Person on them and stand them well behind your frontline.

Size Damage Modifiers

The following table shows how damage dice are modified by a character's size. The Medium column is the baseline value.

There are oversized weapons which inflict an attack penalty but do damage as though you were one size larger. The Lead Blades spell increases the effective size category for melee weapons while the Hurricane Bow spell does the same for missile weapons.

Conditions

A creature may be affected by a number of status conditions. They are:

• Blinded
  You suffer -2 AC penalty, lose your Dexterity bonus and take -4 penalties to Strength and Dexterity based skill checks and Perception checks.
• Confused
  You only have a 1-in-4 chance of acting normally. Otherwise, you might do nothing, attack the nearest creature or hurt yourself.
• Cowering
  You suffer a -2 AC penalty and lose your Dexterity bonus.
• Dazed
  You are unable to act.
• Dazzled
  You take a -1 to your attack rolls and Perception checks.
• Entangled
  You suffer a -2 AC penalty and -4 Dexterity. You move at half speed and cannot charge. Spellcasting requires a DC 15 Concentration check.
• Exhausted
  You move at half speed and cannot charge. You suffer -6 penalties to Strength and Dexterity. After an hour's rest, your condition changes to fatigued.
• Fatigued
  You cannot charge and suffer -2 penalties to Strength and Dexterity. Anything that would leave you fatigued leaves you exhausted.
• Frightened
  You attempt to flee. If unable to do so, you take a -2 penalty on all rolls.
• Grappled
  You cannot move and take a -4 penalty to Dexterity. You take a -2 penalty to all rolls except those related to grappling.
• Nauseated
  You can make one move action per turn but cannot do anything else.
• Panicked
  You drop everything and try to get as far away from the source of your fear as possible. This is worse than merely frightened.
• Shaken
  You take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks.
• Sickened
  You take a -2 penalty to all rolls.
• Staggered
  You may take a move action or a standard action but not both. You may not take full-round actions.

Calendar

Pathfinder uses the Gregorian Calendar but the months have silly names.

The sequence of days is as follows:

Tips

General Tips

I advise you to use turn-based combat rather than real time with pause (RTWP). Wrath of the Righteous is a mechanically complex game and real time combat is too hectic to keep up with. Use the ↑ button to toggle between modes.

Do not depend on autosaves since they are volatile and can be overwritten at any time (e.g. by a random encounter when travelling). Use saves and quicksaves instead. Just about to rest? Quicksave. Rest went well? Quicksave. Forgot to apply a crucial buff? Load your quicksave, apply it and quicksave again. There is so much to remember and it is so easy to screw up that I recommend you become an obsessive save-scummer.

Quick save before leaving or entering an area or bringing up the Crusade Management screen. This is when the game is most likely to crash. Later on, the game will simply crash intermittently (every two or three hours) regardless of what you're doing so make sure you quick save regularly since the last autosave might be from some time ago.

After a boss fight, loot enemies before doing anything else. Loot can vanish if you quicksave and reload (because, for example, you got a rubbish roll with a healing spell).

Junk items are recorded in your save file, bloating it and increasing load times as you progress in the game. On PS5 (at least), the "Destroy uncollected loot" feature does not work. You can get rid of junk in two ways: drop it in a random encounter map or drop it on the world map. Be careful when doing so because it is possible to drop and permanently lose essential quest items, making further game progress impossible.

Only sell items to a single vendor (for example, Wilcer Garms the quartermaster). That way, if you accidentally sell a quest item you know who to buy it back from.

You can fast travel to your headquarters from anywhere in Drezen by bringing up the resting interface. You don't have to rest but you will regain control in your personal chambers.

When entering the world map, bring up the resting interface and assign the character with the highest Stealth skill to the "Camouflage" slot. You do not need to rest but having that slot filled allows you to avoid annoying and boring random encounters by making a successful Stealth check.

Screenshots in the walkthrough show you where you need to go on the world map but if you want to see the big picture, you can use the complete world map here:
https://i.redd.it/i0b3x2a8cdca1.jpg

Kingmaker veterans will be pleased to learn that there aren't any quests that require emeralds and the like so you can safely sell any valuables you find.

Character Creation

You are well served for ranged attackers (Lann / Wenduag and Arueshalae), casters (Ember and Nenio) and a healer (Daeran). Where your companions are rather lacking is upfront offence and survivability. Seelah is OK but you really need another body alongside her which means that you may want to play a strong martial character. Alternatively, a caster with an animal companion (Druid, Nature Oracle, Sylvan Sorcerer) will work but if you choose a pure caster, you may find the early levels challenging, not to mention boring, because a pure caster takes a lot of time to get going.

Don't create a main character who is redundant with your companions. Because she has way better attributes than you can possibly have, your main character can be - at best - only a marginally better archer than Arueshalae. However, if you choose to play, say, a Primalist Bloodrager or Vivisectionist Alchemist, you are much more likely to have a unique role in the party.

You want your party to be able to cover all skills since they are all important, even Use Magic Device! Nenio covers the knowledge skills well and, after you recruit her, Arueshalae can cover several others. You want your main character to excel in at least two skills. Companions don't manage Lore (Religion) well and, if you don't recruit Lann at the start of the game, Athletics and Mobility coverage is shaky as well.

Don't underestimate feats, abilities and gear that increases your initiative. Most fights are going well or going badly after the very first round and in many cases, going first is the most powerful ability you can get.

Class choice is overwhelming, particularly if you're new to the game. If you don't want to wade through the class references (and I don't blame you), these are the overall best choices for your main character:

• Vivisectionist (Alchemist)
• Instinctual Warrior or Mad Dog (Barbarian)
• Primalist (Bloodrager)
• Crusader (Cleric)
• Mutation Warrior (Fighter)
• Kineticist
• Sohei (Monk)
• Sword Saint (Magus)
• Seeker (Oracle)
• Tortured Crusader (Paladin)
• Demonslayer (Ranger)
• Shadow Shaman
• Feyform Shifter
• Arcane Enforcer or Spawn Slayer (Slayer)
• Sylvan Sorcerer
• Specialist Diviner or Exploiter Wizard.

Note that two of these are gated behind DLC. If you're still undecided, the base Fighter is balanced, versatile and lethal.

Since you probably don't want to play a support role, there are a couple of classes that are very good in the grand scheme of things but perhaps better on a hireling: Dirge Bard, Sensei (Monk) and Skald.

Be careful when levelling up if you have more than one class. The default selection is the class that you have most levels in which may not be the class that you want to level up in.

Mythic Path

Wrath of the Righteous forces you to choose a specific path through the game at the end of Chapter 2. Since each path comes with unique interactions and quests, they add considerably to the replay value of the game. In addition, each path has synergies that you will want to factor into your leveling plan. For example, the Angel path synergises with a full divine caster (Crusader, Seeker and Shadow Shaman in the above list). If you want to play an Angel Primalist, I'm not going to tell you you're wrong, but...

No mythic path is initially alignment-locked but there are associated alignments which makes sense: a Lawful Good Demon is going to be conflicted. At rank 3, your character will be forced to conform to the path's alignment if their actual alignment is not within one place of the preferred one. This also makes sense: the superhuman power you acquire actually changes you. Don't complain if you, the player, choose an evil path and find yourself forced to do things that you find distasteful. You may want to roleplay a Demon who tries to keep the rage in check but in the game world, that rage is stronger than you are.

Your first three or four mythic ranks are the ones that really count, since you will spend around half the game at mythic rank 3 or below. Making those first few ranks count is relevant to all characters, but particularly to spellcasters. Depending on your party role and main class features, the following are abilities that you want to prioritise:

• Characters who specialise in buffing will want (Greater) Enduring Spells at ranks 1 and 2
• Characters who specialise in elemental damage will want Ascendant Element at rank 1
• All offensive casters will want to prioritise (Improved) Abundant Casting
• Characters who fight wildshaped will want Master Shapeshifter at rank 1
• Characters with animal companions will want Mythical Beast sooner rather than later
• The "Second x" abilities (Bloodline, Mystery, Spirit) are priorities for the relevant classes.

When choosing mythic feats, look to get +2 to something at a minimum. For example, Two Weapon Fighting (Mythic) is +2 AB for anyone fighting with two weapons. However, Weapon Focus (Mythic) is only +1 AB unless you have (or will later take) Greater Weapon Focus. Of course, at some point you may only have weak choices remaining but don't actually prioritise Mythic Dodge.

Magic Tips

Most of the enemies you face are spell resistant. Therefore any offensive caster will need to make room for three feats: Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration and Mythic Spell Penetration. When you unlock the mythic feat, enemy resistance stops being a problem but until that point, you may see a lot of fizzles against the more resistant enemies. Alternatively, spam Grease which is not affected by spell resistance.

Resistances and immunities are commonplace. Practically all enemies are immune to poison and spells with "poison" in the descriptor require the Corruptor mythic ability to be effective. Elemental resistance and outright immunity (notably to electricity) is also extremely commonplace but this has a simple fix: the Ascendant Element mythic ability which completely bypasses any resistance or immunity. Note that mind-affecting immunity and immunity to fear are quite rare.

Many enemies use Mirror Image and Displacement which are readily countered by True Seeing and less readily by Echolocation. If you can manage it (Brown Fur Transmuter or Alchemist), Echolocation is preferable because it isn't blocked by Mind Blank.

Try and cover all three saving throw types with your debuffs. Grease is excellent for targeting Reflex saves while Slow targets Will and affects most enemies. Fortitude is harder because of near-universal poison immunity. However, relatively few enemies are immune to Baleful Polymorph while a ray caster can ruin enemies with Ray of Exhaustion. The latter spell weakens enemies significantly even when they make their saves.

A secondary role of casters is stripping buffs from enemies. The difference between an unmanageable boss and a beatable one is often a couple of casts of Greater Dispel Magic.

You can keep good but low-level spells like Grease and Slow effective by using metamagic to increase their spell level. This is achieved using Heighten metamagic which increases spell level and, unlike other metamagic, increases spell DC as well. It cannot be replicated with items and can be applied to any offensive spell. Slow heightened to level 6 is better than most level 6 spells. Save-or-else spells are made twice as effective with Persistent metamagic and the two level increase is a low price to pay, although you can get the same effect with the Favorable Magic Azata superpower. Damage casters will want Bolster which in most cases is both more effective than Empower and cheaper. With the Favorite Metamagic mythic feat, it's free. The effects of Empower, Maximize and Quicken are best applied using rods because the power increase isn't worth the level increase.

Enlarge Person is exceptionally powerful for a 1st level spell. It looks as though you're trading Strength for Dexterity and then lose another point of armour class into the bargain due to the size penalty. However, it also gives you extended reach and increases the base damage of your weapons, providing a respectable boost to your lethality. The upgrades to Enlarge Person - Righteous Might, Legendary Proportions and so forth - are also some of the best spells of their level.

Shield is another good 1st level spell since you'll be a good part of the way through the game before you start finding better shields. In the spellbook of an Alchemist, this becomes even better because it can be cast on other party members, including animal companions.

Buffs which level scale (such as Shield of Faith and Barkskin) can replace gear. You do not need an Amulet of Natural Armor if Barkskin is giving you an equivalent or better bonus for hours at a time.

Caster Level 25

Although the maximum character level is 20, you can increase your effective caster level through various means. The magic number is CL 25 since this is the level at which spells with a duration of 1 round / level can be extended to five minutes which, combined with the Greater Enduring Spells mythic ability, can make certain powerful buffs, notably Haste (Transmutation) and Greater Invisibility (Illusion), last for 24 hours.

If you follow the Lich mythic path, you will reach CL 25 with arcane magic around the start of Chapter 5. For other characters or paths, there a number of ways of increasing caster level:

• Spell Specialization feat gives +2 CL for 1 spell
• School Mastery mythic feat gives +1 CL for 1 school
• Gear can add +2 CL for Transmutation school and +3 CL for Illusion school
• Certain classes can increase CL for one or more spells:
  • Arcanist (any) and Exploiter Wizard can add +2 CL through Potent Magic
  • Ley Line Guardian (Witch) can add +1 - 4 CL through Conduit Surge (and the Agility Patron grants Haste)
  • Spell Master (Wizard) can add +4 CL to three spells per day.

Of the regular companions, Nenio can get CL 25 with Greater Invisibility or Haste, but only one since she needs Spell Specialization. If you don't mind hiring a mercenary, a Brown Fur Transmuter can do better. Be careful not to make Transformation last 24 hours, however, since the only character that this would really work on is a Rogue.

Unfair Difficulty

The walkthrough covers Core difficulty and some fights which are straightforward (or at least do-able) on that difficulty are anything but on Unfair. Fundamentally, Unfair difficulty is a reload simulator but there are a number of considerations that will make your path through the game less frustrating.

Enemies do double damage which makes abilities and items that improve armour class and damage reduction twice as valuable. This changes the economics of character building. On the "kills enemies" / "does not get killed" axis, you will want to favour the latter. Because dead enemies don't hit back, abilities which improve initiative are essential.

Although enemy attributes are greatly boosted, their levels are unchanged. This means that the cultists in the Shield Maze, for example, are vulnerable to Sleep and Greater Dispel Magic does not lose any of its potency.

Even if you buff a character so that an enemy only hits on a 20, the chances of enemies getting a critical hit and forcing a reload are uncomfortable. The Protective Luck hex can change this from 1-in-20 to a much more comfortable 1-in-400 so get cackling.

The difficulty is very front-loaded. Manipulate the XP-sharing toggle so that you level up more quickly in the early game. You may want to hold off recruiting Ember and Woljif so that you reach 5th level sooner.

Certain class dips are very powerful. For example, 1 level of Stigmatized Witch gives you Mage Armor, +2 AC from the Iceplant Hex and, if you choose Plagued, a more or less harmless curse. It also opens up the Beneficial Curse mythic ability and Powerless Prophecy without any downside is extremely powerful.

Choose your fights. While you can try to take on Playful Darkness for bragging rights, you do not have to beat it to beat the game. Given that the hardest part of the game is the early game, this applies doubly to all the optional bosses in Chapter 1.

Trophies

If you are playing for trophies, you need to be comfortable playing on Core difficulty. This is two steps up from Normal, so moderately difficult, and disables character retraining which means that you need to be comfortable with your level-up choices as well.

The Ascension trophy is easily and repeatably missable. However, you should unlock it if you follow the callouts in the walkthrough. If you want to plan ahead, I list the requirements in a dedicated appendix.

If you are comfortable with Core difficulty, there is no reason why you can't aim for Sadistic Game Design at the same time. I rarely call this trophy out specifically, but if you follow the walkthrough and explore the linked-to optional areas, you will unlock it. You will need to play the Crusade minigame on standard difficulty although you don't need to fight actual battles if you don't want to since you can simply build up your forces, achieve numeric superiority and auto-resolve battles. One of your party members will need to be built as a dedicated spotter since some of the optional boss locations require very high Perception checks and you will also need a high Lore (Religion) skill on someone to track down another one of the bosses. Finally, you will need to keep a note of how many times you rest. See the trophy description for the exact (and exacting) requirements.

Copyright and Acknowledgements

Copyright 2023 Christopher Williams

This guide may not be reproduced without my express permission for anything other than personal use. Use of this guide on any site where permission to use has not been sought and given is a violation of copyright and forbidden. Permission to use is extended to www.gamefaqs.com.

Walkthroughs and strategies are my own original work and taken from my own playthrough.

I used the trophy guide by Rqsb_ and Shikotei-Kun:
https://psnprofiles.com/guide/15479-pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous-trophy-guide

I am indebted to Reddit user Ranadiel's data mining for Through the Ashes:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1393372354

I used Reddit user BladeOfNurgle's guide for romancing Arueshalae:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_Kingmaker/comments/13hv22c/arueshalae_romance_guide_aka_how_to_get_a/

I took advantage of ALEC's achievement guide to help with the unlock requirements for the trophies added to the PS5 version of the game:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2931018658

Thanking the following Reddit users:

• SMNRM and Ok_Communication6291 for bringing a couple of things that I'd missed to my attention.
• ash-dev for giving me details about the Hall of Trials in the Lord of Nothing expansion.

Corrections and clarifications are welcomed. Please contact me at c.c.williams at hotmail dot com.