To smite the Pathfinder: To smite the demonic hordes of Wrath of the Righteous, players can take the mythic path and transform their heroes and villains into one of six very special feats: Angel, Demon, Lich, Trick Star, Aeon, and Azata. According to developer Owlcat, these are the centerpiece features of Wrath of the Righteous, and a recent AMA reveals more details about how they work.
I'm a sucker for lychees. They are theatrical, well groomed, and have a way with spell books. I used to frustrate my friends by resurrecting Liches in long campaigns, and Wrath of the Righteous' Lich path looks to be almost as entertaining. It could replace the party with undead servants.
"Lich can raise powerful undead from NPCs and bosses in the game," says Creative Director Alexander Mishlin." Lich can use them as party members, but of course this replaces companions, and there will be no more companion quests or chit-chat."
That doesn't mean you have to forgo companion quests just because you have a party full of corpses. As in any other party-based RPG, you can swap out your companions, including undead ones, so that you can call back your living companions to complete the quest. According to Micheline, there are other uses for undead companions besides replacing them.
You do not start out as a mythic character. You first choose a normal race and class, and then you actively take the appropriate path. If you want to become an undead immortal master, you must begin acting as such.
"To become a lich," says Mishlin, "one must act wickedly, which draws the alignment to wickedness. Each alignment favors a particular alignment, but you can still make your own choices once you become a myth. If you are going the way of the Lich, you probably won't be good. Neutral, perhaps.
Transforming into a celestial warrior or cosmic judge - Owlcat describes the aeon as "Judge Dredd meets Merlin" - requires more than adherence to a particular alignment, but the specifics are still a mystery.
"You take the mythic path, but some choices need to be unlocked first." Says scenario designer Arseniy Krymov.
Companions can also become mythic, but the progression path is different. They gain mythic feats, which, according to Mishulin, are more general. The protagonist, on the other hand, will gain more thematic abilities, spells, and feats, as well as unique mechanics such as undead training. Each seems to have at least one game-changing trick.
Owlcat also touches on the subject of Pathfinder: the "Kingmaker's" acrimonious launch. The studio underestimated the amount of choices and reactivity it packed into the game, but this seems to have been remedied in Wrath of the Righteous, thanks to a tool that catalogs the consequences of every decision in the game. The sequel will also feature an expanded tutorial system to teach players the rules of both the tabletop game and Wrath of the Righteous.
I am still playing the first game, which is very long, but since no release date has been announced, I am hoping that I will have enough time to finish one Pathfinder adventure before the next one appears. We've gone through several updates and haven't had any problems; the Kickstarter has now raised over $1.5 million (the original goal was $300,000), so there should be more resources available.
As noted in the comments, two more mythological paths were added in the stretch goal: "Swarm-That-Walks" and "Gold Dragon". One can also ignore them all and become a legendary human being.
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