Revelations from Patch 5.1

[Anonymoose]

I'll probably be a little late with mine today, but...
A new day, a new patch, and maybe some new revelations! Let's do this!

[YianKutku]

Unukalhai finally has new dialogue. Nothing we don't already know, but at least he acknowledges events now.

[KageTokage]

I didn't find the events on the First terribly remarkable, but everything at the end...boy howdy.

Garlemald swiftly degenerating into civil war with Varis being gone was rather expected considering how chaotic things were in wake of his father's demise. I'm still a bit disappointed that he's actually gone, though. They're evidently conducting some pretty screwed-up experiments in the capital too, what with seemingly turning their people into bio-weapons (Previously I thought it was just Zenos' legion being involved in such).

I'm curious as to who this new mystery Ascian is or what his motives are, since it's obviously not Elidibus if Zenos could seemingly recognize the color of his soul but was not immediately dismissive of him. I have a very strong feeling that things are going to end up spiraling out of Elidibus' control if there are rogue Ascians acting outside of his interests; much less sharing critical information with someone as powerful and unpredictable as Zenos.

As for Ardbert seemingly being back...I'm smelling more Ascian foolery, especially with that remark about keeping the light of hope alive. Not mention he's the only one of the First's Warriors of Light whose body was unaccounted for.

[ShadowMeowth]

Alright. I will speak of the MSQ, which is what I have a better grasp of.

What. The. Everloving. Fuck.

I mean, I already knew that they would blow up our minds at the very, very end, but waiting for a continuation of this is going to be hell. I am already biting my nails up to my elbows and it is only patch day. Kill me now.

I will have to go through the 5.1 story with my alts to fully get what is going on, but for now, the three main points.

1) All the soul talk. Very interesting, especially the events with Halric and the familiar. The Eulmore arc seemed a needed formality after Vauthry's fall, but perhaps it plays a larger role later. The main point is that they discussed something I theorized it would become a main theme: untempering.

2) Zenos and the Garlemald arc. Taking control of Estinien was great, even though he is OP as hell. The Arch Ultima thing was both creepy and interesting, being powered up by a poor Garlean corpse-or-whatever. Civil war in Garlemald, yay. And a mysterious white-robed figure. Could it be the first of the supposed "Warriors of Light" Elidibus seeks to pit against us?

3) Call me skeptical, but by no means do I believe that is "Ardbert" at the very end. The Nu Mou did say our souls are denser than others, and we all knew that he did rejoin with us. I would have to pay more attention to his words in subsequent playthroughs, but... well, the craziest theory got into my mind. With all this talk of souls latching into items that we begin the patch with... This is not exactly an item, however, but... when we confronted Hades, we threw Ardbert's made-of-Light axe right through him. So, if we shattered his soul, or whatever... what if the fragments of Hades's soul, or a fragment, took the shape of Ardbert because of it? That way it would be a third interpretation of the arc words "become the Warrior of Darkness". Tinfoil theory, aye, but for now... it seems the most logical.

[Remedi]

about the final stinger

that's elidubus right? I mean it would fit

[JeanneOrnitier]

MSQ just up to the end of the dungeon. Irrelated to the story, is anyone else crashing constantly after this patch? It's making playing it a real pain.

I'm a big fan of Beq Lugg already. I want them to meet Matoya somehow, that'd be great to see.

On the other hand, I'm rather disappointed Thancred and Ryne seem to be taking a leave of absence from the MSQ for Eden. I had hoped that them going "let's not talk about this with the others" during Eden would be Square's way of letting them stay in the MSQ too. Ryne quickly became one of my favorite characters in the game over the course of 5.0 so I missed her a lot here, and hope she has larger roles in future patches instead of staying in the Empty the entire time.

[Berethos]

about the final stinger

that's elidubus right? I mean it would fit

It's definitely an option that fits.

Or a reconstituted Mitron or Logrif is possible, brought over from one of the other shards by Elidibus...though I don't how well bringing one of them back would serve the narrative.

[YianKutku]

about the final stinger

that's elidubus right? I mean it would fit

Yeah, I'm almost certain that's Elidibus, having yoinked Ardbert's corpse from where it was buried. The rest of Ardbert's crew got re-animated by Vauthry into the Cardinal Virtues, but we didn't see Ardbert.

It would also fit with Elidibus's mutterings at the end of the 5.0 stinger, where he was going "the Warrior of Darkness should fall at the hands of a Warrior of Light", and Ardbert counts. We've also seen Elidibus make use of Zenos's abilities when he was inhabiting that body, so possessing Ardbert's corpse might also give him Ardbert's Blessing Of Light skills.

Not entirely sure what his mumblings about hope is all about, though. That's the one bit that would make me doubt it's really Elidibus.

(Adding the tyranny of ten characters.)

[Rocl]

MSQ

Also disappointed about the lack of Thancred and Ryne in MSQ, but honestly since I expect Thancred to stay with Ryne in the First, it makes some degree of sense to me.

All the soul lore dump was vaguely interesting; weird choice of spooky glamour though Beq Lugg. Reversing Tempering because Sin Eaters are basically over-aspected/Tempered is weird, but okay—and glad there was some attempt at an explanation of the "voidsent" in the tank role quest (some kind of soul shenanigans). Halric mumbers "Nect... Al..." now... I wonder what that could be? Angelo being the name of the Leivelleur's dog (if you go back and talk to Alisaie in Amh Araeng later) is cute.

Eulmore arc was necessary and didn't feel too drawn out, but I'm not sold on Chai-Nuzz being a good mayor. At least he himself acknowledged that as well. (Also is he really an "entrepreneur" if he inherited his company? I digress...)

The ending though, oof. What is this new foe Gaius seeks out? Why did Arch-Ultima appear to have four Hearts of Sabik? I suspect that's the "auracite" they mentioned in the pop-up text but that's also been my pet theory for basically ever that the Heart was a 'black auracite.' So I feel a strong amount of bias toward it.

All of the Legions fighting for the Throne feels weird... unless we're supposed they're backing royal claimants again. Good to finally see the First and Third Legions, I guess? Also, my go-to-guess for our white-robed figure is another of the Warrior of Light/Darkness/PC's soul shards. Weird that we're just now getting reveals that Zenos can see the colour of folks' souls. Given that he's wearing white, I also suspect it's Elidibus' doing since he tends to send his servants in that colour, also given that the body is a diabolic coat (or later facet) I'm also betting on it being our Thirteenth reflection, who was also put in stasis with Unukalhai.

And our weary warrior? Definitely betting on Elidibus structuring an Ardbert suit. Beq Lugg's words do seem to indicate we absorbed Ardbert so that puts any doubt about that to rest. Anyways, Elidibus wearing the Ardbert suit makes another "Warrior of Light" to stir up trouble, and would likely give the WoLDPC some pause. (Let us not forget, while the actual player has the knowledge, our PC didn't know Zenos' soul lived on until this patch...I think, anyways)

Definitely thinking the next expansion is going to be Ilsabard and Garlean provinces now, but I also thought that would be 5.0 so... It just feels like a good set up and we're spending a lot of time in the First so it gets around the "we waited so long!" because the players might've, but the characters did not.

Pixie dailies

I didn't cheat and look ahead this time. I suspect our white pixie is the reincarnation of the Titania we killed though and we'll get backstory on them, I guess. Disappointed Ezel is a porxie and not nu mou, but I actually was rather fond of him even if he seems far removed from his namesake, lol.

NIER

Very excited to how they utilize the Collections feature going forward!!! I don't have a lot of other thoughts on it, other than the machine lifeform head that was locking the door is noticeable after the cutscene when blowing up the lock. (It's by the entrance/exit to Kholusia) However, after the raid, the head is gone. EMIL!

[YianKutku]

MSQ

All of the Legions fighting for the Throne feels weird... unless we're supposed they're backing royal claimants again. Good to finally see the First and Third Legions, I guess?

Speaking of which.

Anyone know who "Lord Nerva" is supposed to be? The Third Legion were fighting on his behalf. I don't know if it's a reference, or an original name.