Welcome to the world of Avowed, a thrilling RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. This guide will help you master all aspects of the game, from basic mechanics to advanced tactics. We’ll cover the interface, combat system, quests, upgrading gear, interacting with companions, and more. Get ready for a journey full of secrets, battles, and incredible discoveries!

Avowed – Complete Beginners Guide

Avowed is a world where every decision matters and every exploration is rewarded. Don’t be afraid to experiment with builds, communicate with companions, look for secrets, and remember: even a humble totem or forgotten cave can change the course of your story .

Content:

Interface: your main tool.
Grimoires: Magic in your hands.
Map and quests: how not to get lost in a huge world.
Totems: Secret Artifacts That Will Change the Way You Play.
Camp: Your base for rest and improvements.
Enchant: Add magic to your weapon.
Cooking: Food as an Important Resource.
Classes and Attributes: How to Distribute Points.
Companions: Their Role in Combat and Exploration.
How to defeat strong enemies.
How to get Godlike abilities.
Secret locations: where to look for the best artifacts.
Don’t hoard resources, otherwise you’ll be left without money.
Merchants have legendary items and better types of equipment.

Interface: Your main tool

The left side of the screen displays portraits of your companions. For example, Yotsli specializes in destroying illusions, while Kai is a master at setting fire to obstacles like webbing without spending mana.

Below the companions is a counter of health potions (for example, 53 pcs.) . Pressing the use button gradually restores HP. Below is the scale of essence (mana), which can be filled with more than 87 units, which indicates the abundance of essence potions in the game.

Throwables (like grenades) are displayed at the bottom center of the screen. Holding the throw button displays the hitbox. Some grenades create temporary ice, but it disappears on contact.

The ability wheel gives you access to companion abilities (upper half) and your spells/abilities (lower half). Hovering over an ability and pressing a number (1-6) adds it to your hotbar. For example, Ice Pillar can be bound to the “1” key for instant use in combat.

Grimoires: Magic in your hands

A grimoire is not just a book, but a source of unique spells. For example, one of the grimoires may have access to:

Spirit Spear – A ranged spirit attack.
Aura Pool – Buffs allies within range.
Ice Pillar – Creates an ice barrier.
Meteor Shower – Calls down meteorites.

Using the grimoire gives bonuses:

-72% to ability cost.
-55% to recovery time.
+1 to spell level.

Important: Do not transfer spells from the grimoire to the hotbar – this will deprive you of bonuses.

Map and quests: how not to get lost in a huge world

In the upper left corner of the screen there is a compass that highlights:

Corpses with loot (red marks).
Plants for crafting (green marks).
Secret items (yellow marks, such as totem fragments).

Collecting all available items is an important part of the game , as even common herbs can be used to create potions.

The quest log divides quests into zones. Side quests allow you to explore locations and find artifacts, companion quests strengthen relationships with allies, and bounty quests allow you to eliminate targets for rewards.

For example, on the bulletin board in the city, you can select a target (for example, Garrick the Bandit ), destroy it and return for gold. Bounty quests are one of the best ways to get rich quick.

Totems: Secret Artifacts That Will Change Your Game

Totems are special artifacts that can be assembled from fragments. For example, a totem core (like the Totem of Fortitude ) is placed in the camp and provides buffs:

+15% critical hit chance.
Accumulation of elemental effects (shock, cold, etc.).

Totem clues are often cryptic. For example, the phrase “Go past the abandoned tower near the lava fields, sealed with stone and thorns” points to a tower in the Lava Wastes zone .

Second Wind and Save Settings: How to Avoid Losing Progress

Second Wind is the ability to resurrect after death . There is a 2 minute cooldown after activation , so it is important to be careful in combat.

Setting autosave to 2 minutes (default is 5) helps to avoid losing progress. It is also recommended to create manual saves every 1-2 hours via menu → Save game → New save .

Camp: Your base for rest and improvements

The camp is a place where you can store items, upgrade equipment, and prepare food.

To send items to the camp, hover over the loot and press R. If you need to disassemble an item for resources, holdR.

To upgrade a weapon, go to a workbench. For example, upgrading the Sword of Dawn to Exquisite requires 12 softwood branches and 6 vines. Upgrading goes through the stages: Normal → Exquisite → Exceptional → Superior → Legendary.

Enchant: Add Magic to Your Weapons

Unique items (like the Tidal Blade) can be enchanted, such as the Crushing Tide effect, which reduces enemy damage by 40% after full combo attacks, and the Tidecaller’s Vengeance, which deals cold damage on a successful parry.

Important: the choice of effect is irreversible, so it is worth considering the style of play (mage, warrior, ranger).

Cooking: Food as an Important Resource

There is a cauldron in the camp where you can cook dishes. For example, fried meat restores 25% of health, and essence brew – 30% of mana.

Don’t hoard ingredients – they’re easy to find in the world. Use them to create healthy dishes that will help you in battle.

Classes and Stats: How to Distribute Points

There are three main classes in Avowed: fighter, ranger, and wizard. Each class has its own unique abilities and passive skills, but you can combine them to create hybrid builds. It is best to level them in parallel, as each class has its own unique passives that will help you in passing the game. Now let’s move on to the characteristics and which ones are better to take based on the build.

Strength : Increases carrying capacity and damage. Recommended for warriors.
Constitution: Increases maximum health and poison resistance. Best for tanks.
Agility: Increases attack and action speed. Ideal for damage dealers.
Intelligence : Increases the pool of essence for spells. Important for mages.
Perception : Increases critical hit chance and attack range. Useful for rangers.
Determination : Increases the recovery time of Second Wind (the ability to resurrect after death) and increases stamina.

After level 10, attribute bonuses are reduced , so distribute your points evenly. For example: investing 1 point in perception gives you 9% crit chance and 15% max range, and when you invest a second point, these values increase from 9% to 12% and from 15% to 20%. A third point increases from 12% to 15% and 20% to 25%. So for each point, we add 3% to crit chance and 5% max range, but this works up to point 11. After that, you will only increase crit chance by 1% instead of 3%. And instead of increasing range by 5%, we increase it by 2%. So there is a pretty significant rate of diminishing returns when investing too many points in the same stat.

Companions: Their Role in Combat and Exploration

Companions not only help in combat, but also solve puzzles . For example:

Yotsley : Uses the Dispel ability to destroy illusions.
Kai : Sets barriers (such as webs) on fire without costing mana.
Giada : The best healer. Her barriers absorb damage and heal after the fight.
Marius : Great for crowd control and deals solid damage.

Tip: Use the passive skill Inspiring Triumph (Warrior) – each kill heals companions by 10%.

How to defeat strong enemies

Strong and dangerous enemies can make you sweat, so we’ll give you a couple of useful tips to help you in battle:

Use the environment : Lure enemies into narrow passages to avoid being surrounded.
Combine elements : For example, freeze an enemy and then hit them with fire for extra damage.
Control the distance : Mages should keep their distance and warriors should engage in close combat.

Example: Against a boss with high melee damage, use long-range spells like Meteor Shower.

How to get Godlike abilities

Interact with the Ancient Symbols (ancient memory) as shown in the screenshot, then visit the camp, then the Aedra Stone at the end will initiate a conversation with you. In the dialogue with the deity, select:

Accept Gift : Gain a unique ability (such as Mass Heal, which can also resurrect any fallen comrades).
Abandon : Gain a passive bonus (extra skill points for the Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard ability tree).

Examples of abilities:

Healing Sphere : Restores 20% health to you and your companions.
Wrath of Heaven : Deals light-elemental area damage.

Tip: Some abilities affect the plot – choose carefully!

Secret Locations: Where to Find the Best Artifacts

Here you can give standard advice, be more attentive and study every centimeter, but you are unlikely to find good artifacts this way. In this regard:

Dive into lakes and rivers – caves with unique loot are often hidden underwater.
Look for passages behind the waterfalls – there may be chests with rare items.
Climb cliffs and towers – chests and artifacts await you at the top.
Use companion abilities (such as Dispel ) to access hidden areas.

Don’t hoard resources otherwise you’ll be left without money

Saving is good, of course, but Avowed is not a strategy game where the outcome of a battle depends on the amount of resources. The strength and effectiveness of the character are important here, so forget about saving and sell everything that you no longer need or will not need, for example :

Collect all the weapons and armor that you don’t use. Sell them to merchants – this is the main source of gold.
Don’t hoard crafting materials – they are easy to find in the world.

Merchants have legendary items and better types of equipment

Yes, you can craft gear or enchant it, but it’s best to check out the vendors’ inventory first, as they often have better weapons and armor. If you have enough gold, buy better gear before challenging areas.

Example: In the city of Troskovitsa, a merchant offers a Legendary Bow for 5000 gold.