The Treasure of the Midnight Isles is the third major DLC for classic cRPG Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous from developer Owlcat Games. It concludes the first Season Pass of the title: you can acquire the DLC separately or as a part of the aforementioned Pass, which also includes the two previous expansions: Inevitable Excess and Through the Ashes.
Previously the developers have revealed that the fight against the demons of the Abyss will continue in the second Season Pass, arriving this Fall.
So far, Treasure of the Midnight Isles is the most unique DLC out of the three released: not only does it expand the main campaign of the game by allowing you to take your Commander and Mythic party on this extra adventure, but it also lets you participate in a roguelike endless dungeon mode with newly created characters that will also gain access to Mythic Powers at some point.
As a part of the main campaign, the DLC takes part in the third, fourth and fifth chapters of the game. You can start the adventure any time before the end of chapter five. But that is the story for another time, in today’s preview we’ll concentrate on the what’s and the how’s of the roguelike mode.
I had a chance to try out the DLC ahead of its release thanks to the early access key provided by Owlcat Games. Without further ado, prepare to sail to the Midnight Isles!
To start your stand-alone adventure, proceed to the New Game -> Treasure of the Midnight Isles and get to creating your new character. Don’t worry when you see that you have no access to the Mythic Paths, unlike the Inevitable Excess, you will get to make your choice later.
Having arrived at the port of Alushinyrra, you will run into a variety of unsavory types (after all, there are no others in the city of Nocticula). There are three NPCs of particular note that you want to pay special attention to.
The Helmsman is a mysterious person that will offer you a frankly highly suspicious deal as well as an invitation to the ship, a creaking mass of misshapen bones that will take you across the sea between the Midnight Isles. He does not care in the slightest about the gold and jewels you might find on your adventure. His interest lies with something else: the treasures of demon lord Nahyndri, slain by the queen of succubi. Every expedition you go on takes you closer to his goal.
Angler is the second most important – if not the most important – person in this tale. He serves as your merc trainer and respecialization specialist, if your game difficulty allows for such an option. If you talk to him after the Helmsman, you will get your first merc for free. From that point on, much like in the campaign, every new mercenary will cost you 3,000 gold – which is the sort of sum you don’t own at the beginning.
Last but not least is the Chaplain that acts as the vendor of weapons and armor, the seller of potions and scrolls and the cleric at the same time – if only certain characters in the campaign were that resourceful! Some of his stock is brand new to Wrath of the Righteous.
Once you are done making your rounds and preparing, it’s time to set sail and start your expedition.
As you leave the meager comforts of Alushinyrra, it’s time to chart your course across the Midnight Isles. It is up to you to decide the way you want to proceed on your expedition – a sequence of islands, usually four or five in a row – based on a number of options.
Each island is ranked in a difficulty scale and also offers an extra reward/bonus of a certain type. Naturally, the more dangerous ones provide more interesting options. Here are some of the bonuses I have run into:
- Safe harbor – allows party to clear Abyssal Corruption while resting;
- Treasure Island – offers extra gold;
- Difficult Route – features more secrets and dangers and thus more experience;
- Arcane Tide – having cleared this island, the entire party will get a beneficial aura till the end of the expedition (until the return to Alushinyrra);
- Winds of chance – the entire party will permanently gain +1 bonus to a random ability score;
- Helping hand – +1 bonus to random saving throw;
- Cursed reward.
You can play it safe and chart your course through the safer islands in the sequence or jump right into the jaws of danger for greater reward. You can also get attacked while you are sailing between islands, leading to a random encounter. Note that you cannot return to Alushinyrra until the end of the expedition – beating the last island in the sequence. You can stuff your spoils into the chests on the ship as well as rest on your sea-faring vessel but it will increase your level of Abyssal corruption, so plan accordingly!
True to its roguelike inspiration, the stand-alone version of the DLC prevents you from saving the game at will. You can only do so at checkpoints called the Abyssal Anchors. Additionally, you are limited to a single save slot per character – thus using an Abyssal Anchor will overwrite your last saved file with the new one.
The islands themselves feature both new and familiar surroundings with some spiffy new locations, filled with traps, treasures, extra buffs and, of course, an entire horde of enemies. If you were worried that the Treasure of the Midnight Isles will feature an overabundance of demons, like the main campaign, fret not.
On your expeditions, you will run into a great variety of enemies, both old (like Kingmaker old) and new: kobolds, mites, insects (spiders, flies, centipedes), beasts such as wolves, werewolves, manticores and so on. Of course, no magical adventure is worth it without magical adversaries: mimics, gelatinous cubes, various elementals and will-o’-wisps.
Last but not least is the fact that you will actually run into a great number of demons and undead of various types but they might not be the most present enemy in a particular expedition.
Usually an island sticks to a certain theme: if you have run into the beasts in the beginning, it will be beasts till the end. The last island in the expedition will feature a boss-like enemy that will also drop an extra reward: a quest item, heavily steeped in lore, bringing you another step closer towards finding your goal.
You can also find a mysterious purple crystal that might be familiar to you from the main campaign that will fill your party with Mythic powers. For me, my first crystal dropped on my fourth total expedition while my party was around level 7.
If your party perishes on their quest, the game features something called the tailwinds: each time you create a new character to set out on this adventure, you can choose one of the available tailwinds, each benefiting the new party in unique ways. So even death is ultimately not the end for the Treasure of the Midnight Isles.
To sum it up: the third DLC provides a wealth of content for the lovers of Pathfinder combat system as well as those who suffer from restartitis and can’t settle on a single character. By conquering the Midnight Isles, you can test out the possible builds for your future Commander of choice. It also provides a way to enjoy the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous experience without having to shackle yourself for a lengthy new playthrough.
However, those who prefer to lower the difficulty of the game and play simply to enjoy the story might find themselves stuck in a loop of rushing through isles with no danger and ultimately only a small addition to the overall experience. So it’s up to you to decide whether the treasures of the Midnight Isles are worth the voyage or not. Either way, return later for a more in-depth look at the campaign part of the DLC, coming soon!
