Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – Interview With the Dev Team

With cRPG Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous now expanded with the addition of major DLC#3: Treasure of the Midnight Isles, it’s time to sit down with the team and ask some burning questions about its development – and perhaps what awaits the players in the future.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Owlcat Games’ Creative Director Alexander Mishulin and getting his opinion on DLC#2: Through the Ashes, the design philosophy behind Treasure of the Midnight Isles and some crumbs on what the team is doing currently.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is still in for the Enhanced Edition (and the console version) as well as an entire Season Pass worth of new DLC. However, the developers were unwilling to reveal whether it will have more content for the beloved Commander or if will focus entirely on the new characters introduced in DLC#2 such as Sendri and Rekarth.

Note that the bits about DLC#3: Treasure of the Midnight Isle are mostly aimed at those who have not yet had a chance to play the DLC – perhaps waiting for the EE or for some other reason.

Gamespace: Hello! We are thankful for the opportunity to have this interview. Please introduce yourself and tell us – are you excited about the release of DLC#3: Treasure of the Midnight Isles?

Alexander Mishulin: My name is Alexander Mishulin, I am the creative director of Owlcat Games. We are very excited about the Treasure of Midnight Isles. It is the DLC that allows players to explore the ever changing Isles by taking multiple voyages each with different islands, trying out different builds and finding new treasures.

Gamespace: Is the studio happy with how players received DLC#2: Through the Ashes? Were there any interesting lessons the team learned from it?

Alexander Mishulin: A lot of players enjoyed the story and characters of Through the Ashes, as well as this story being about less powerful characters that are trying to survive in the impossible situation, using every tool at their disposal, including the environment, to overcome deadly foes.

The most important lesson we took from the feedback is that players expect to see more integration of the DLC into the main storyline. There is far more integration into the original story in the Treasure of Midnight Isles and there will be even more in the upcoming DLCs in the second Season Pass, including the new adventures of Rekarth and Sendri, characters that player loved from the Through the Ashes.

Gamespace: In Beneath the Stolen Lands, players could create new characters to run in the roguelike mode. How does it work in DLC#3 with the Mythic Paths? Can you create a character from scratch and choose their Mythic Path + Feats the same way you could in DLC#1: Inevitable Excess?

Alexander Mishulin: Treasure of the Midnight Isles works in quite the same way as Beneath the Stolen Lands, it can be played as a stand alone adventure and as a part of the main campaign. If played as a new adventure, players will create a character from scratch, starting from the 1st level and working their way through the whole progression, including mythic levels.

Players will embark on several journeys to complete the story of the DLCs and there will be some changes in each of them. Each journey in turn is a set of expeditions where players will visit 5 isles of their choosing, each with specific rewards similar to some roguelike games. We enjoyed adding roguelike elements in the Beneath the Stolen Lands, and players liked them as well, so now there are more of such elements in the Treasure of Midnight Isles.

Gamespace: The Tenebrous Depths dungeon was available in sections over the course of the many chapters of Kingmaker. How will it work with DLC#3 in the main campaign? Does the entirety of the dungeon unlock simultaneously? Can you leave it at certain checkpoints and return to Alushinyrra for supplies and rest or do you have to commit to conquer the entirety of it in one go?

Alexander Mishulin: If players want to explore the Midnight Isles as a part of the Main Campaign, they will be able to start their journey in the 3rd chapter (I will not go into the details on how this adventure starts to avoid spoilers) and there will be 3 parts of this journey. 2nd part is available in the 4th chapter, and the last one in 5th. And yes, it is possible to leave the dungeon to rest and resupply.

Gamespace: Are there any buffs/debuffs/affixes that can affect your run in DLC#3, Darkest Dungeon style?

Alexander Mishulin: Yes, there are some, not exactly as in Darkest Dungeon though. First of all after players’ party reaches at least 4th island in the 1st expedition on the next journey they will be able to choose Tailwind which is a buff for the whole party. They could boost party strength significantly, but usually work only for particular classes or build elements. For example, additional damage for the bludgeoning weapon or additional hit points for the characters with rage powers.

During the journey players can visit islands that will provide them with buffs to certain stats or grant powerful temporary buffs until they return to the Alushinyrra. On some islands there are special effects, called Undertows that can drastically change island conditions (for example, spells will have random effect if character fail concentration check, or there are places on the island where lightning continually strikes)

Gamespace: Does DLC#3 feature any new archetypes/feats or gameplay additions like the survival elements in Through the Ashes?

Alexander Mishulin: There are gameplay additions like Tailwinds and Undertows, but apart from that there are no new build elements.

Gamespace: In Through the Ashes, you have ramped up the number of in-engine cutscenes. Is it something players can look forward to in the future DLCs or/and the Enhanced Edition?

Alexander Mishulin: Yes, there will be more cutscenes in the Treasure of Midnight Isles, including ones introducing epic bosses.

Gamespace: How story-heavy would you say the DLC is and how long would it take to beat it on average as a part of the main campaign? Should we keep vigilant for secrets and puzzles?

Alexander Mishulin: DLC is more focused on combat but there are some interesting story twists as well. It will span for several hours as a part of the main campaign. As for the secrets, there are some in the stand alone version of the DLC.

Gamespace: Will the Endless Dungeon feature a variety of enemies such as crazed humanoids, Undead, Demons, Daemons, Fey, other Outsiders, etc. or does it primarily focus on Demons?

Alexander Mishulin: DLC features a wide variety of enemies, including several ones that were not featured in the original campaign. There are Demons, Undeads, Elementals, Fey, Monsters and of course quite a lot of humanoids.

Gamespace: As Golarion is rapidly running out of demons thanks to the Mythic Commanders, any chance we’ll get to visit the Worldwound In Space, aka the Moonscar, and do some good ol’ crusading over there?

Alexander Mishulin: We have a lot of cool ideas and who knows what adventures will come next.

Gamespace: In April you announced Season Pass #2. Can you tell us if the second bunch of DLC will consist of side-stories like Through the Ashes or will the Commander and the Mythic party get some love as well?

Alexander Mishulin: We will be sharing details about the new DLCs a bit later 🙂

Gamespace: Any chance you can release tools to support players making custom campaigns?

Alexander Mishulin: Right now we don’t have such plan as the team is focused on releasing console version of the game as well as Enhanced Edition

Gamespace: Recently, you have announced the Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and, according to the new info, the studio is working on a new AAA-project as well. What does it mean for the future of the Pathfinder franchise?

Alexander Mishulin: There is a dedicated team in our studio working exclusively on Pathfinder. This team formed from those of us who really love Pathfinder, both tabletop and digital, and they play quite a lot of it. And this team has a lot of ideas and plans for the future adventures.

Gamespace: Thank you, it was awesome chatting with you again! Is there anything else you’d like to add for our readers?

Alexander Mishulin: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our players for their continuing support and interest in our game. We hope that they will enjoy the new adventures we are preparing for them!

This concludes our latest Pathfinder interview with Owlcat Games. Previously, we had an opportunity to chat about the development of the base game as well as some plans for the future, such as the Season Pass#2. Additionally, our own Ed Orr was present at Gamescom 2022 and got an early look at Owlcat Games’ upcoming title Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.

Until next time!