Finally, The Lord of Nothing expansion is here! It’s the direct continuation of the storyline from Through the Ashes. That DLC had a pretty interesting tale about a group of ragtag survivors of the apocalyptic demonic attack on Kenabres. However, not very surprising it ended on a giant icy cliffhanger, which we will get to see the end to here. Through the Ashes felt smaller, while still being part of the bigger picture, aka the main game. That aspect made it unique. So, the question stands – how does The Lord of Nothing fare comparable and does it have a satisfying conclusion to the story?
A tale of Ice
Well, right from the start you can tell that this story will not be the same as Through the Ashes, since it takes the appearance of a more traditional DnD adventure. The surviving part is over, with you now being tasked to find shards of the soul of one particular angry demon. You have been upgraded from a mere surviving peasant to a demon-fighting crusader and taker of heads. To be fair, you could already tell at the end of the previous expansion that this would probably play out differently. After playing through The Lord of Nothing, I did miss the basic struggle, and the unique mechanics that Through the Ashes introduced, but I’m always fine with another classic adventure too. If you are expecting more of the low-key adventure surviving stuff, you are unfortunately out of luck though.
The four soul fragments you need to find and recover to put this evil demon lord to rest are found in four different beings of distinctive flavors. They all are located in unique worlds, accessed through portals. You see, these fragments have a habit of digging themselves into the flesh of the ones who found it. What it also does is give ice-themed powers to the host in the form of magic, and the more fragments you carry, the more powerful you become. However, they come with a heavy price. The fragments corrupt the soul of the host. Even one fragment is enough to have a big effect and this leads nicely into the new mechanics.
Don’t put on it something sensitive
While “consuming” the fragments gives you unique powers, or enhances current ones, which is very cool, they also corrupt as stated. The more shards your flesh consumes, the stronger the penalty and corruption. I tried to spread out the fragments among my companions, so as not to corrupt any single one too much, yet, even one fragment was enough to give a hefty handicap in persuasion for my main character. The bonuses, which come into play during the fights are good though, so you have a lot to consider. Evil soul of a demon lord in your body, versus increased and unique powers – a classic fantasy tale dilemma if nothing else. Especially if you run a character that is not an evil insane murder hobo, then the choice might have a bit more nuance.
All in all, the story wasn’t bad, and while short, it takes you to many fantastical locations through the portal system. It ended pretty satisfying too considering. You can say it was abrupt in a way, but I didn’t expect that much fanfare seeing the fast pacing of the story. Each area you visit comes with its own predicaments to fix, and moral choices to be made. However, my relationship with the Pathfinder games is of a volatile brand. It’s an intense love-hate relationship. If the games were played at a table, the GM would be there to see you dead and miserable again and again, and The Lord of Nothing is no different. I played on the CORE setting with a few changes to make it more balanced – everything that buffs the enemy was taken down to normal. For the most part, I found the game fair, however, the last dungeon and the final boss with these settings turned my smile upside down.
The last segment has so many energy and level-draining attacks that you better buy out the store when it comes to restoration scrolls. I also recommend you go heavy on the deathward spell if you have a cleric with you. Trust me on this one, it will lessen the suffering greatly. An additional trouble is the bosses, which Owlcat Games love to grant super high AC and other bullshit abilities. Missing every attack or spell for fifteen minutes straight is not exactly fun. The main problem I have with this is that it requires a lot of META knowledge to succeed. It’s my number one pet peeve with RPGs in general. There is no on-the-fly thinking allowed, it’s either you have these spells/resistances or you die. You can say it’s fair, that preparedness should be rewarded, and I agree with this in general, but it’s not possible to prepare for every single encounter the game throws at you, especially when resting is limited as it is in The Lord of Nothing.
I’m stuck in the middle over how it makes me feel. I like the increased challenge, particularly by limiting resting, but I always seem to get stuck on the damn bosses for hours, or some godly enemy type that has some kind of mechanics that screws my party up. There is just something with the Pathfinder games that just pisses me off when this happens, and usually, it slows the game down to crawl. Hence the love-hate relationship. The most frustrating part is when you buff your party to unholy levels that shouldn’t be possible, yet it still isn’t enough to even make a dent in the bosses. And don’t get me started on the Unholy nimbus aura. The person who cooked up that one must be a real-life demon serving hell at this current moment.
Still good?
Is it a skill issue? Most likely, so take my ranting with a grain of salt. Beyond that, I found the expansion enjoyable, even if the story changed to a more generic hero adventure setting. It felt a bit buggy though. The camera got constantly blocked and clicking just refused to work at times. It was like the foreground blocked my mouse clicks somehow. At one point half of my crew fell through the floor and got stuck in the endless black void that is The Underneath. The new companion, while semi-interesting, felt a bit phoned in. Particularly her voice acting, which had a clear Russian accent to it. It made it sound like it was some in-house developer who did her role as a last-minute thing. It should be noted that this DLC also adds stuff the to main game, but I do not know what exactly. So, the content is not limited to this story alone since affects the main game, which is nice I guess.
Do I recommend it? Yes, but only if you played Through the Ashes and have a party to import. Buying it for any other reason than to finish the side campaign seems pointless, as far as I know. Just remember to put on the big boy pants if you decide to play on anything above easy!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Blog 