Elex 2: Destruction - reputation system Elex 2 guide, walkthrough
This Elex 2 guide page explains what Destruction is, how the reputation system works, and how to pay to reduce Destruction bar.
Last update: 28 June 2022
This page of the guide to Elex 2 contains the most important information about Destruction, which is the equivalent of the morality system. You will learn e.g. how to increase or decrease Destruction, how to check the current Destruction level, how to pay for reducing Destruction and what you can lock/unlock by having high Destruction.
- What is Destruction and when can it change?
- Checking the Destruction status
- Impact of Destruction level on the game
- Paying for reducing Destruction
What is Destruction and when can it change?
Destruction is quite similar to reputation or morality system. The higher the Destruction, the more "destructive" Jax is and the lower is his reputation in the game world. Lowering Destruction, in turn, makes him a better person and increases his reputation.
Your actions and choices influence Destruction. Here is a list of the most important ones:
- Helping people and choosing positive dialogue options during conversations (helping others, giving someone a gift, showing cunning or courage, etc.) can lower Destruction.
- Killing innocent people and choosing negative dialogue options during conversations (hostility, cold attitude towards others, greed, laughing at others, etc.) can increase Destruction.
The game will always tell you about the change in Destruction through a notification on the screen. The changes can be minor, "normal" or substantial - it depends on how serious your actions are.
If you are aiming low or high Destruction, you may want to save the game frequently. Not all in-game choices are obvious, and you may accidentally change Destruction in the opposite way to the one you want. Loading an earlier save file will correct this mistake.
Checking the Destruction status
You can view the current Destruction status in the skill window - it's the bar at the bottom of the screen. The picture above shows the bar being closer to the maximum Destruction level (right side of the bar), so more decisions have been made previously to increase Destruction.
You can aim for minimal or maximum Destruction, or you can have a more balanced gameplay and try to avoid extreme results.
Impact of Destruction level on the game
Most importantly, a high Destruction level may prevent you from joining some factions. In the picture above, for instance, Jax was unable to join the Berserkers due to an inappropriate Destruction level. The game will "block" the option to confirm that you want to join a faction even if you have met all other requirements beforehand. You'll have to lower Destruction and try again.
In extreme cases Destruction may cause you to lose one of your companions. You would have to travel with that particular companion all the time and make decisions they disagree with, thereby lowering their loyalty. Most companions prefer decisions that reduce Destruction. The main exception is Nasty, whose attitude and chaotic nature make her enjoy Jax's decisions that increase Destruction.
Fortunately, losing a team member isn't very quick and you will see a lot of warnings that your relationship has deteriorated significantly. You can counteract that by temporarily replacing the team member when your making the "unpopular" decision or quest, or by travelling with CRONY U4, whose attitude to everything is neutral.
Destruction may also affect the availability of unique dialogue options. In this case, high Destruction level may help you, because you can gain access to a special response. They are marked in the list of dialogue options.
Paying for reducing Destruction
If you run into any problems caused by a high Destruction level, you don't have to lower it only by slowly making opposite decisions. Thialg, whom you will meet for the first time in Western Carakis, shortly after the prologue, can help you out.
You have to make enough progress in the storyline, specifically in the quest Preparing the Bastion, and make Thialg reach the Bastion.
When you meet Thialg in the Bastion, you can donate to the local community by selecting the appropriate dialogue option. You can make one of the available donations: 500, 1500, 5000 or 10,000 elexit. The amount of the donation will, of course, affect how much Destruction will go down.