Dialogues Tyranny Guide
Last update: 17 January 2017
The following chapter contains the most important information about the usage of dialogues, their meaning and the functions they have in the gameplay. Certain aspects were described in separate sections.
- General information
- Conversations
- Reputation in a conversation
- The impact of conversations on the surroundings
General information
Dialogues are an inseparable element of Tyranny. In contrast to most similar titles the role of dialogues isn't limited to contact with NPC characters and to exchange story-related information. Not only what you say (your choices) count, but also the way in which you address the people you speak with. Those two factors, as well as the decisions you've made in the past influence the opinion of someone about your character. This in turn translates into the Reputation points you are able to gain or lose during a conversation.
Additionally, by choosing a dialogue option that was marked with a specific annotation you are able to make decisions that are crucial to NPC characters, the world or your party members. Note that the most important dialogue options are closely related to the story of the game. Often enough you will notice that after a victorious encounter with a group of enemies you won't be able to save the game until you complete a dialogue that comes with important consequences. If you, however, aren't pleased with the outcome of the conversation you can always load up an earlier save game to go through it again, but you must keep in mind that you will have to go through the encounter as well - which might not end with a positive result for your party. The developers linked those two elements to encourage the players to bear the consequences of their own choices. This is precisely why you should always pay attention to the dialogues, allowing you to make the most of a situation and be left with an outcome that satisfies you.
If you care about reaching a specific outcome and you're not sure which dialogue options lead to it, check the chapter that describes a specific quest. There you will be able to find a detailed analysis of the dialogues you can choose, their consequences and effects, as well as the outcomes they ultimately lead to.
Conversations
If you issue order towards an NPC and a dialogue screen will appear, it means that a specific character has something interesting to tell you. That information might be a part of a quest, it might cause a quest to initiate and in some cases it might simply be there for you to learn more about the mechanics of the game, the story, as well as the rules governing the world of the game.
The dialogue doesn't have to be initiated by you. Some of the characters might force you into a conversation without any interaction from you and in most cases it means that the conversation will have an impact on main and/or side quests. There can be multiple characters taking part in a conversation and their dialogues will appear in a given order, after accepting the words of a predecessor by pressing the "Accept" button that appears at the bottom of the dialogue screen.
You always carry on the conversation from the perspective of the character you've created at the beginning of the game, but often enough other party members will join the conversation in reaction to the dialogue options you select. Nevertheless, you only answer for the words that come out of the mouth of your character. It's very important, because during a conversation you will often stumble upon locked dialogue options that would be normally available, but your character lacks necessary parameters associated with his/her stats, abilities or background. Even if other party members have access to the necessary abilities on a given level, it won't help you during a conversation. If a blockade appears because of a lack of one of the skills, you can simply load an earlier save game, avoid the conversation and come back later when your character will have access to the required ability. The requirements in most cases relate to three stats: Lore, Subterfuge and Athletics. As you can learn from the chapter focused on character development, those three contradict each other. By creating a character one of those will always be highly developed, whereas the other two will be significantly lacking. Note that you can always use the services of a trainer to increase the level of a stat - this is relatively cheap, especially when the abilities are on low level.
Note that if you use dialogue options that are associated with character stats you will also receive experience points that will increase the development of those stats.
Reputation in a conversation
The information about reputation, the consequences and the benefits it can bring can be found in a separate chapter about this mechanic, but it's worth noting that those points are generated, in most cases, during a conversation.
This is simply because of the fact that most decisions are made during conversations with characters. Each dialogue option might have consequences, changing the attitude of an NPC or the whole faction towards your character. You can turn brackets in the game menu that will show the consequences of your choices, but keep in mind that they won't be visible in every case. In some situations you will learn about the consequences of your choices only after you've made them. In those cases an additional screen will appear above the conversation screen, telling you how your decision influenced the Reputation.
Your character can also hold a conversation with other party members. They will join some conversations on their own, but you can also speak with them privately. Thanks to that you will be able to learn more information about them, as well as cause a specific effect that will lead to gaining some Reputation points. Depending on the outcome of the conversation you will gain or lose points associated with the Loyalty and Fear of the party members towards your character. Note that those effects can also be caused during a conversation with characters not belonging to your party. If you will hold conversations with your party members often enough it will allow you to learn about their motivations and their attitude towards the world. This in turn will allow you to keep the reputation in specific branches on a proper level.
The impact of conversations on the surroundings
By selecting specific dialogue options you can cause interactions with your surroundings, or with NPC characters. Those dialogue options are always marked with round brackets, inside of which you will find an information what your character is going to do. The decisions you make during such a conversation will influence the world as soon as the conversation is over, or soon after you leave a given location.
By using those types of actions you can kill NPC characters and enemies during fights, as well as decide about the fate of locations or issues associated with a specific quest. Those actions always come with serious consequences - you should always think twice whether doing something will lead to an effect that you want to achieve during the game.