Starting tips for The Council | Gameplay basics The Council Guide & Walkthrough
Last update: 15 March 2018
Here you'll find some valuable tips & hints.
Use items
The Council offers numerous useful items. They are scattered around the game's world - in chests, wardrobes, stashes or they can be found lying on the ground. Every item that can be picked up is marked with a small ball of light. Some items are related to the objectives, characters or secrets while others have special abilities that can help you during the game. The items listed below can be used at any moment - they are especially useful during verbal confrontations.
- Devil's thorn - reveals strong and weak points of a person you are currently talking with.
- Royal jelly - restores 2 Effort Points which are necessary to activate any of the abilities.
- Carmelite water - the next used ability is free (it won't need Effort Points).
- Golden elixir - removes negative statuses, e.g. fatigue.
The table below shows the keys that allow you to use the aforementioned items during the game:
 | Royal jelly |
 | Golden elixir |
 | Devil's thorn |
 | Carmelite water |
Be cautious
Although it may seem trivial, you shouldn't forget to be cautious and focused. Many secrets can be discovered without a use of any of the abilities - listen to the NPCs or read the books. During conversations each answer is important so selecting dialog lines without thinking about what you are doing can lead to a situation where you can miss a piece of important information. Choosing the right abilities can help you during dialogs but you will often run out of Effort Points which are necessary for activating said abilities.
Choosing a class
At the beginning of the game you have to decide about your character's class - Diplomat, Occultist or Detective. Each of the classes has separate skill trees that are useful in different situations. Choosing one of the classes doesn't mean that you can't access other skills - they are still obtainable but they are more difficult to develop.
- Diplomat's skills are the most useful during conversations - they allow you to avoid answering questions and they let you show your geopolitics knowledge.
- Occultist's skills help you pay more attention to religious or mystical aspects, steal items without no one noticing or to manipulate others.
- Detective's skills are the most useful when you are looking for clues and can be helpful in solving puzzles. Also, they are useful in all situations that require logical thinking.
After choosing a tree you unlock all related skills. For example - by choosing the Diplomat tree you get access to all of its skills. To use skills from other trees you will need to spend points on developing said skills to level one - only then you can use a given ability.
Descriptions of all available skills can be found in "Skill trees" page.
Three useful skills
You can use all available abilities regardless of which class you chose. Each skill is useful but you can't develop them all. In the beginning you should invest in three skills that can be often used during conversations or while you are solving a puzzle:
- Diversion from Diplomat tree - allows you to distract attention and avoid difficult questions.
- Manipulation from Occultist tree - allows you to make characters do certain tasks.
- Psychology from Detective tree - helps you understand other characters better.