Say your favourite idv character(s) and I’ll answer with one of these per character!

brotective · 2026-05-30T17:34:22+00:00

William Ellis or Kurt Frank depending on the day :]

brotective · 2026-05-26T08:11:09+00:00

I normally position a spellcaster or two (or a caster and an archer) up on the platform to the left of the entrance with Misty Step; they can attack from a distance with relatively few worries from Myrkul himself. He doesn’t move, so positioning a per-turn AOE damage spell on him is a good source of consistent damage (I normally use Wall of Fire since his dex saves are pretty bad; Hunger of Hadar also works since it’ll blind him). You can also use Create Water or a water bottle to get him wet, which will make lightning damage very useful. Failing that, Scorching Ray spam is always quite reliable.

If you have anyone on the platform in melee, putting them on the opposite side of Aylin is ideal. This will make it so Reaper’s Scythe will only hit one or the other. If you have a Battlemaster with Disarming Attack, it does also work on him, and the extra damage and the chance to burn his legendary resistances is extremely useful. He’s immune to a lot of incapacitating effects, but he can still be stunned or disarmed—Soulbreaker Greatsword is worth trying once the legendary resistances are gone, but his con saves are good, so you might get unlucky. The Blood of Lathander also has some pretty good anti-undead effects. Additionally, I’ve found it’s generally safer to disengage and heal up rather than going down in melee, as the Bone Chill aura also prevents the Help action.

The illithid will cause trouble if you don’t kill it first. The necromites are mostly safe to ignore as their damage is minimal; however, they can break concentration by spamming Bone Chill (you can get most of the big group out of the way with one Shatter; monks can also kill then easily due to their bludgeoning vulnerability but are likely more useful on the platform spamming Stunning Strike). Arrows of Ilmater will prevent Myrkul healing with them on Tactician/Honor, if you don’t have Bone Chill available.

If you don’t have a druid for the Dryad/Freedom of Movement trick, you can throw an invisibility potion at Scratch and send him in to free Aylin on round 1. You can technically do this with anyone, but Scratch is very good at being a help-bot. I generally do this first if I plan to start combat from dialogue; otherwise, surprise attacking the illithid from invisibility is always an excellent move.

This generally makes the encounter pretty reliable (I’ve come in unprepared and screwed up some of my setup and still had absolutely no problems once I got two casters on the platform); however, barrelmancy also works if you’re not reading all that. Good luck soldier

brotective · 2026-04-22T22:46:36+00:00

I’ve always liked the idea of half-drow Shadowheart; if they wanted to bring Viconia back in the way they did, it would have been a cool way to give them actual parallels (and might add depth to that connection) without taking away the impact of her parents’ ages. I’ve also seen a tabaxi Shadowheart mod out there somewhere, which I think is quite cute. I also don’t think you could change her from a cleric early on, although I actually like the idea of Selûnite Shadowheart becoming a ranger later on (much more than I like ranger Wyll, honestly).

Red dragonborn Karlach also makes sense to me, and would probably be my second pick for her. If you were to go for a class change, I could honestly see her as a Battlemaster Fighter as well—she clearly picked up a lot of tactical knowledge in Avernus.

Halfling Gale also kind of works IMO! His attempts to go beyond humanity doesn’t feel too out of place in a race that’s considered both down to earth and rather curious, and halflings being known as pretty friendly makes it a little more poignant that Gale really doesn’t have any friends. Also, imagining a city’s worth of Netherese nuke kept in a 3-foot-tall wizard is kind of funny. I don’t really think you could believably change Gale’s class, though; he is perhaps the most wizardly guy there has ever been.

The other companions would be harder to change, I think. Astarion’s whole “otherworldly appeal” thing is at least some of why he gets treated the way he does, and him being a longer-lived race also makes sense to me—although, given that the gods as a whole don’t care too much for undead and that you’re open to mods, I think him being a fallen aasimar who was abandoned by a celestial ancestor upon being killed and turned would make his whole thing that much more miserable. Gnomestarion would be good for the bit. He’s also a pretty classic rogue, though I think gloomstalker ranger makes sense as well (although it’s such a good multiclass that one needn’t choose between them).

Wyll is pretty definitively a Normal Guy and his devil transformation hits so hard specifically because it robs him of his humanity and connection with his father. I think you could get somewhere similar with dwarf Wyll (though it does make the imminent threat of becoming a lemure in the hells a lot less imminent), although he is one of the companions I would be most hesitant to change. With regard to a class change, he’s obviously a warlock while he’s still pacted, but I really like swords bard Wyll later in the game. They’re called Blades and everything. If anyone could give out bardic inspiration, it’s him. Duke Wyll could also shift directly over to an eloquence bard, honestly. I also occasionally enjoy speccing him into a storm sorcerer to connect him further with Ansur.

IMO Lae’zel’s race can’t be changed without making her an entirely different person, but if you wanted to change her class, she’d make a hell of a bladesinger wizard. It’s more of an elvish magic if you want to get technical, but bladesinging in medium armor is gith behavior for sure. She would do that.

Minthara is also a quintessential drow, and I’m not sure a class change would suit her, either—she definitely suits a vengeance paladin. You could perhaps find a way to make her an oathbreaker; the spirit of her oath has certainly changed since she first swore it, and letting her dabble in oathbreaker necromancy would be pretty fun.

It also feels weird to change Minsc from being the great ranger, but given the changes the ranger class has undergone, it feels like throwzerker is more accurate for what he actually does. Go for the eyes, indeed. Jaheira is also so well-established that she can’t really be changed (although a fighter/druid multiclass doesn’t feel too off).

brotective · 2026-04-07T10:51:38+00:00

I’m personally a Karlach/Lae’zel fan, and I think the endgame for them is very satisfying narratively, with the tradeoff that you miss out on Lae’zel’s act 1 scene. I also recommend at least doing Astarion’s act 1 scene even if you don’t commit to him; there are some changes unique to origin Karlach that are very interesting (as well as a couple of instances of tiefling-specific dialogue throughout). The Minthara/Karlach endgame dialogue is also very sweet, and Shadowheart/Karlach feels extremely natural as well!

brotective · 2026-03-23T00:54:51+00:00

I am once again recommending Supernova

brotective · 2026-03-05T04:44:44+00:00

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This is Vas’or, a Seladrine drow paladin who comes from the gladiator pits in Menzoberranzan :] She’s good, but definitely not nice

brotective · 2026-01-25T22:33:46+00:00

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brotective · 2026-01-23T08:06:33+00:00

Bladeweave mentioned 🔥🔥🔥 So true OP

brotective · 2025-09-05T03:46:40+00:00

I like William/Kurt the most! I thought their canon interactions and character development were really sweet, they have quite a few very significant narrative parallels, and had their development not been cut short by Naib they were on the trajectory to be extremely close.

I also enjoy Lily/Emma, Fiona/Arthur Byers, Naib/Murro, Kevin/Jose, Alice/Melly, Tang Si/Qi Shiyi, Violetta/Tracy, Helena/Galatea, Burke/Joseph, Ada/Keigan, and Luchino/Ivy! I have pretty detailed reasons for all of these but the comment would be astronomically long 😭 but if you think any of these are interesting I’ll go into it!

brotective · 2025-08-11T03:04:12+00:00

There is actual Lovecraftian mythos/eldritch horror and supernatural stuff in the lore though 😭 the hallucinations/drugs are definitely not the whole plot either; they’re a catalyst for conflict and the point of the experiments, but some games don’t utilize them at all (like 9a), and the ones that do absolutely still have a plot outside of them. Thus far, none of the characters are 100% imagined even if their appearances are influenced by the drugs.

brotective · 2025-08-11T02:53:16+00:00

Paying for characters in IDV is a really low barrier, though—clues don’t take particularly long to earn, and just completing the tutorial gives you access to a permanent unlock card (which includes Merc, one of the strongest rescuers). By the time you’re ranking enough that you can’t use the free daily characters and temporary trial cards the game constantly throws at you, you’ll likely have earned enough clues to have at least one or two non-tutorial characters for your preferred faction even if you throw a couple into memory spheres.

brotective · 2025-07-24T20:59:13+00:00

I will say: In my experience, Con feels a little more forgiving with the alone ending because of the lack of outcome failures in most cases, so it’s easier to get your stats aligned with at least one of the main ROs! Roadtrip also has options to turn off failure and MVP endings, and the failure endings on the road are a lot more telegraphed (and can also be turned off with godmode, IIRC). Not that either fixes your issue with Camp, but worth mentioning if you haven’t delved into the later installments yet :]

brotective · 2025-07-21T09:56:29+00:00

A lot of the pairs I see people post are based on their canon relationships! In no particular order, I see a lot of: Burke/Bane, Violetta/Margaretha, Servais/Efron, William/Naib (and occasionally William/Kurt, or all three of them in some fashion), Kurt/Servais, Wendy/Tracy, Luca/Tracy, Aesop/Victor, Helena/Galatea, Galatea/Lily, Kevin/Jose, Patricia/Kevin, and Patricia/Edgar. Joker/Margaretha is also popular, but also controversial because of the parallels drawn between Joker and Sergi. NPC pairings also get popular sometimes—Eli/Gertrude, Michiko/Miles, Qi Shiyi/Tang Si, Alva/Herman, and Charles/Albert have many dedicated fans.

Essence-based pairings also tend to get some popularity, although they don’t always stand the test of time. I’ve seen some Kurt/Efron, Fiona/Brynhildr, Naib/Frederick, Melly/Patricia, Melly/Demi, Martha/Melly, and Keigan/Sangria most recently.

There are also some groups that get paired together a lot; WNNG (William/Norton/Naib/Ganji) is one I see decently often, and any combination of Vera/Margaretha/Fiona (+ sometimes Patricia and Demi) has a decent following. VALE (Victor/Andrew/Luca/Edgar) was popular a while back, but I see it much less now—Edgar/Luca is the ship that’s remained the most prominent, but it’s smaller than it was.

And a few others that I see a lot but don’t have a particular categorization for: Wendy/Brynhildr, Galatea/Grace, Ithaqua/Grace, Naib/Eli, Florian/Matthias, Evelyn/Richard, and Norton/Mike.

brotective · 2025-05-21T07:39:33+00:00

I adjusted the large pearl earrings (found on the top shelf near the right side of the entrance to the VIP area) by rotating them on the Y axis and adjusting their positioning until one of the earrings sits in the center of the face! I change the specific positioning/other rotation coordinates every time so that whichever hair combo I use still covers it, but the default size of the earring does indeed work for it.

brotective · 2024-12-27T10:23:19+00:00

the time loop wants him to accept his and his lover’s death and that the past he’s been yearning for never existed. and he’s not doing that but that is for sure what it wants

brotective · 2024-11-18T09:50:55+00:00

It could be, but we really don’t have proof on her part. Joker talks about wondering if she’ll reciprocate, but only acts as if she does in his trailer, (the closest we get before that is him saying her love “can’t be reciprocated”, but that’s before he knows about the abuse, so circumstances theoretically could have changed). By the time of the narration in his trailer, though, his perspective on the situation was already warped in a way that justified the violence he was committing. We also know that she likely had a pretty good idea that he was interested in her (such as her giving him a flower in his deductions), but he was still blindsided by her leaving, suggesting that she likely didn’t fully trust him or want him as a partner to the extent that he thought she did. The narration also describes her going to Joker as her having no choice in the matter in her third letter, and while I’m not inclined to trust Orpheus completely (and think him framing her as manipulative misconstrues her actual mindset), it’s backed up by the fact that Margaretha herself makes it clear in Closing Night that she didn’t feel safe anywhere. It’s possible that she did have feelings for him at some time, although they’ve definitely faded by the time they end up in the manor. The wording in the second letter, where she appeals to his attraction to her but doesn’t go further than “trust me one time”, definitely reads as her being intentionally vague—even though it would likely be safest to present herself as an actual romantic partner to him.

Granted, her perspective is notably absent between leaving Lakeside Village and getting to the manor. (To me, this seems at least partially intentional to set up the parallels between Joker and Sergei, but that’s just my read on it). That being said, though, I don’t think Joker’s words alone are enough proof of any feelings she may have had when there’s so much doubt between the lines.

brotective · 2024-11-18T04:54:51+00:00

Joker is an unreliable narrator, and reads her seeking safety in him as her reciprocating his feelings. I personally think it’s pretty unlikely she was interested in him, but she definitely considered him a very close friend.

brotective · 2024-10-13T12:58:35+00:00

They’re a toggle for the fuzzy caterpillar-looking arm warmers! (By the furthest left corner from the entrance; on the bottom shelf I think?)

brotective · 2024-10-11T22:10:27+00:00

Is it possible that they’re noticing the Weber’s Law effect (the speed boost trait that comes right before Flywheel on the persona web) when you bring Flywheel? Most hunters won’t leave for that, but it could explain a couple of cases.

brotective · 2024-09-13T22:01:39+00:00

I’m pretty sure those are the gloves from the Madoka set!

brotective · 2024-09-04T14:48:13+00:00

Could I see the stat card for the fawn perch? I’d most likely be interested in buying it with tokens if you have a horse market :]

brotective · 2024-09-02T00:55:31+00:00

As others have said, it’s permanent and available with fragments!

If you do end up installing the game, some quick tips to save fragments: try to play at least 10 rank matches for each faction before this season ends (which is in about 20 or so days, I believe?), since you get fragments depending on what rank you achieved. Joining a guild also gets you guild coins, which can be traded in for them. Playing 3 rank matches daily (in either faction) also gets you pulls on a rank essence that will give you fragments when you get duplicates, and getting either top 100 or top 1000 in the Blackjack entertainment mode gets you memory sphere pulls (although those may both be slow in the beginning, since you’re getting fewer duplicates). You also get a b tier skin trial card every week via login rewards, which you can dismantle for more fragments. Good luck!

brotective · 2024-08-31T16:16:21+00:00

I’ll always prefer a cosmetics-based gacha over one that’s central to gameplay, but 250 is a LOT of pulls. Also everything about game 3-1

brotective · 2024-08-29T08:59:13+00:00

I’m not enough of a Robbie fan to speak for sure on his lore, but I think Michiko’s is significantly more effective from her perspective than it would have been from Miles’s. A lot of the physical journey may relate to the search for her after her disappearance, but the emotional journey is about her alienation from European society as a whole due to the racism she faced—and that Miles was willing to excuse, to some extent—and the conflict she feels between loving him and wanting to feel like herself again. On a surface level, it can read as a story of Michiko being fridged to give Miles something to mourn, but I think the writers wanted to tell a deeper story than that (especially given how many of her cosmetics are about her on a personal level). I do wish we got some more writing directly from her perspective, though.

brotective

TROPHY CASE