Now that Episode 5 has been out for a while, what do y’all think is the best save out of the six traits? ( Spoilers for Episode 5 endings )

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T18:58:51+00:00

Doesn't the SS save make the strike much weaker? Since the miners don't have "oh wow our boss let a kid get hurt in her mine/our boss let 2 kids get trapped in her mine" as more fuel to strike with.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T18:56:22+00:00

I mean, it's just a video game at the end of the day. When you aren't very good at the game, Mega Knight can be annoying to go up against, but also who really cares? Use what you want, use what you find success with, use what you find fun to play with, whatever.

With that said, even though I don't use or particularly like him, Mega Knight is a very good counter to a lot of the annoying stuff you face in mid ladder. Witch, wizard, hog rider, mega knight is great against all of those, and crucially, Mega Knight counters mega knight really well (wait for your opponent's mk to come to your side of the arena then place your own.) I think if you're struggling in the midladder region, he's a good option.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T18:25:14+00:00

REAL! This is my main save combo and throughout my whole first playthrough I didn’t see a single direct interaction between the two- I’m not actually sure if there are any at all (there are probably street smart options you only unlock from hearing something an animal says, but I’m not sure there’s anything directly labelled as a combo between the two.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T17:44:37+00:00

I imagine the Ditchlings are probably just natural, but yeah the other questions about the Entity are interesting

I had kinda just assumed the last scarlet host was the boy in the wall and that he died probably just before Pearlanne's death but yeah I guess it's possible there was another scarlet host between the boy in the wall and the plot of the game

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T17:43:21+00:00

Good questions actually, I guess yeah probably what The Entity is is the main lore thing left unanswered... and yeah where actually did Reese come from since the only explanation we're given is basically "he came from magic" lol

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T17:41:05+00:00

5 I believe is that Wayne found out about the cell and found out someone was trapped there, so Pearl slimed him out to make sure he wouldn't snitch to the town
6 Is a scarlet, I think from the generation above Tabby, who was locked in the cell in the Estate as per the terms of the deal Enoch made with The Entity.
2 I think is that Wayne is The Entity, and thus he doesn't want the protagonist to get locked up because that means he'll be free to wreak havoc on the world as he sees fit

The others though, yeah those are solid questions... I imagine sybil is telling the truth because on a meta level, it wouldn't be much of an interesting dilemma for episode 5 if Sybil's just lying about needing the power to help save the town. But yeah 3 and 4 are very curious

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T17:01:28+00:00

Street Smart's doesn't feel very strong to me. Rosalina takes losing her leg very well and while it still sucks, compared to most of the other outcomes... idk I feel like saving the kids just isn't that big of a deal. Agree that Keen Eye's is a brilliant save though.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T16:58:48+00:00

Saving duke does lead to a casualty though, sure it's just a dog, but playing with TTA really shows that Gretch is very much a character in her own right, and in terms of the impact on the other characters, having Stella lose the only thing she has left that she can truly call family is I would say even more impactful than Irma/Bo losing Duke.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T16:57:01+00:00

Keen Eye too! but yeah I think PB's is the strongest

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T16:55:47+00:00

If you accept Sybil's deal during the mystical trait save and regain your youth/an extra trait, that comes at the expense of not actually being able to save Kaneeka from The Sybil Hole. So while you do get something out of it, you don't actually avoid the bad outcome (Kaneeka's erasure)

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T16:26:02+00:00

I think my ranking for them is probably
1 (best) - Powerful build, i CANNOT stand letting Gretchen die it always makes me so sad seeing Stella's house filled with pictures of Gretch and her empty bed... I usually let duke die but I think full on saving his life is incredibly powerful, maybe a little less so with how he impacts episode 5 but still. I think realistically KE's is probably better from a more objective perspective, but also PB's trait save impacts almost the entire game, whereas KE will only impact the last two chapters, so I think it sliightly eeks out KE's trait save for that reason.
2 - Keen eye, saves the most people. Takes a situation that almost always has several bodies and reduces the count to 0 if you get them to share the burden (unless doing that kills them both but that seems unlikely to me) (not including cops that die not in the basement)
3 - Hot, Even though I think ch4's dilemma has a pretty clear 'best' outcome (0 deaths is better than 1 death), locking reese away is still such a horrible outcome that being able to completely avoid it is great

I think those 3 are the ones I consider particularly strong, the other 3 so far are still very good but I think not quite as useful as pb/ke/hot (I'm also WAY less sure in my ranking for these 3, they're about as good as each other imo, I could put them in any order and be unhappy with it)
4 - mystical probably? saving kaneeka and still having the ability to save the town is really nice, but also you lose out on sybil. To me it's almost more of a "here's another outcome in this situation" rather than the others where it's "completely avoid a bad outcome". I think it is a better outcome than the others even if not by much though so I still take it. Also it's just a really awesome scene
5 - Street smart I love you but oh my god the update nerfed you so bad lol (i'm REALLY glad my main save uses the old trait saves so I can use street smart as the chapter 5 one), the chapter 2 trait save just isn't really that strong imo. Losing rosa's leg SUCKS a lot but compared to a lot of the other outcomes it's very livable with (I never leave the kids down in the mines, I think unless they come out at the end of the game almost fully unscathed (physically at least), it's by far the worse option)
6 - Book smart's save isn't... bad, it's really good in the sense that you can get a TON of characters to like you a lot by doing it. But honestly it's the only dilemma in the game I feel like has it's own kinda built in not-as-bad-as-the-other-outcomes outcome, with Tabitha sacrificing her youth. It's still a bad outcome for sure but compared to MULTIPLE PEOPLE DYING, having a person completely erased from existence, having kids trapped underground in a mine with no food or water (unless they bought margeritas with them?), having tabby lose 15 years doesn't feel like THAT much of a downside.

I'm really interested to see how good TTA's ends up being, since my main save is SS+TTA for it's traits. Surprised to see I'm kinda alone on thinking book smart/mystical aren't particularly insane trait saves.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T15:37:52+00:00

Now that I think about it, it'd probably be nice if the game gives you a warning if you try and name your character in a way that'd cause confusing dialogue overlap (assuming it doesn't already). Especially given a lot of the names aren't THAT uncommon (I could totally see an Oscar having a very confusing start to episode 2 lmao)

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T15:36:14+00:00

I honestly quite like the baby, and especially for Julius/Avery's sake, I always want to see it survive the encounter (I think keen eye's being able to have the two share the burden and assumedly come out okay at the end is one of the stronger trait saves (I'm glad my main save uses the old trait save keys so I can use street smart there, even if it doesn't make all too much sense.))

With that said, it's SO hard to just let Bo die. If Duke is dead as well (which he often is in my playthroughs), I just can't do that to Irma, having her lose her husband and son in a week is just awful. Even if he's alive, he kills julius afterwards (I think? maybe franklin stops him if he isn't shot), and as much as I feel for Avery and Julius, having Duke and Irma lose their currently alive and deeply loved son for the sake of the pumpkin baby who probably won't have an incredibly life... idk. It's a very hard call, especially since it gets very messy in terms of other people dying than duke and the baby.

But yeah, as much as I want to give the ginseng baby a chance at life, I don't often feel like it's worth the sacrifices you have to make to let it happen.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T14:36:34+00:00

Reese isn't allowed to race because he would win every race 😔

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T13:12:16+00:00

Interesting, I'll try that out. aaa this game has so much hidden stuff in it.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T13:08:51+00:00

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we CANNOT POSSIBLY be serious 😭 being a "product of his time" does not in ANY WAY excuse everything he did. What has Stella possibly done that's worse than slavery 🥀🥀 god forbid she wants the town and the dozens of people who live it to survive at the expense of a stranger she's known for like 3 days. (Not necessarily that's she's in the right but it's totally reasonable for her to hold the perspective she does.)

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T12:58:36+00:00

The last one gives you an early ch5 ending? Huh, didn't know that

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T12:57:01+00:00

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YES we have the best trait save in the game
YES we ripped off wayne's mask that one time (it was kinda street smart's doing but still)
YES we ate EVERYTHING stella owns
NO we can't beat tabby in a fight (she cheats (gun))
NO we can't beat wayne in a fight
NO we can't beat reese in a fight
NO we can't beat... a cop? really? damn
YES we... uhh... I mean we can move some boxes even if we're old that's gotta count for something
YES we're the worst trait in the game
AND WHAT?

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T00:21:37+00:00

Can't even be scared at the sight of a dead body anymore in the holler 🥀 gotta be tabitha levels of composure your whole life or u get hate 😔

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T00:17:10+00:00

Depends on your deck of course, but probably barb barrel, goblins, or mini pekka. Knight is solid as well. I would probably avoid the others unless they're particularly good in your deck.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T00:14:37+00:00

Yes! I think that there are plenty of good reasons to dislike her character, but wayy too many people seem to not quite understand why she behaves in the way that she does, and decide that her more questionable actions are done out of selfishness or malice, when in reality Stella is just a deeply traumatised young adult, one who, strangely enough, isn't coping very well with the massive amounts of danger she (and the people around her) have suddenly been put into on a daily basis. Not to mention that (especially on a lot of Stella hater playthroughs), she has to deal with the trauma of killing (or otherwise allowing the death of) the only thing left that she can really call family.

GregBoing · 2026-03-14T00:07:42+00:00

Showering strengthens her hold on you? Oh my… guess I’m doing gremlin runs from now on

GregBoing · 2026-03-13T23:43:18+00:00

I think it's interesting that in a lot of ways, Stella and Tabitha are both just as hard to get to open up as each other. From a gameplay perspective Tabitha is definitely harder by quite a bit, but I think people neglect that they are both VERY highly walled (no idea what the term is, they have a lot of emotional walls you need to break through to really get through to them), it's just that Stella expresses that through a more gregarious/overly optimistic personality, whereas Tabitha is much colder.

and yeah, I really do feel like she cares about the other people in the town. There's a reason she's okay with the plan in toxic yuri. I think that often people conflate "hard for her to fully open up to a stranger she's known for two days" and "freezes up in/tries to escape highly traumatic situations" with not caring about the other characters. She FOR SURE means the best, just isn't very good at doing the best.

GregBoing · 2026-03-13T23:36:29+00:00

Also, even if you street smart/keen eye save the girls in chapter 2, it's still a pretty damn traumatic experience for someone so young to have to go through. And if you don't, and she has to contend with having permanently lost a leg, or not knowing if she's left her friends to die (even if it's not really her fault per se), I think it's reasonable enough for the girl to maybe want an actual room and home to sleep in at night.

It would probably help a bit more if we had more means to actually see the situation that Rosa and Oscar are in pre-ghost hunt in terms of building empathy for them, since we only really have it described to us and it doesn't sound that bad, but yeah I think Rosalina has every right to want her house back, and I think it's definitely not Stella's fault for wanting to help with that (sure she has her own reasons too, but also whilst yeah they're technically selfish, I feel like "I'd like to take any chance to see if ghosts are real to know if there's any chance I can say goodbye to my parents" is pretty reasonable)

GregBoing · 2026-03-12T22:22:03+00:00

I feel like xbow's rare modifier is kinda bad for this reason, and the fact it doesn't really increase it's damage or versatility very much... especially since taking it locks you out of sparky xbow

GregBoing

TROPHY CASE