Skyrim stealth archers and NCR Ranger wannabes rejoice: I’m 45 hours into Avowed’s hardest difficulty as a glass cannon gunslinger and I’ve loved every minute of it

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Avowed could very well be one of the top wizard games currently available, offering thrilling, bizarre spells adapted from Pillars of Eternity and transformed into a more detailed, action-oriented style. It’s difficult to resist features such as the Pull of Eora, which is essentially a stronger version of Mass Effect’s Singularity that draws enemies towards an anti-gravity vortex. However, I’ve been on a ranger spree lately and felt a strong desire to become a gun-wielding, Skyrim-style stealth archer with a touch of Age of Sail NCR Ranger flair. To my delight, at 45 hours and counting, this style of play is not only possible in Avowed but has also been incredibly enjoyable on the game’s most challenging difficulty level, “Path of the Damned.

In the game Avowed, stealth isn’t as developed compared to The Elder Scrolls or 3D Fallouts, and it wasn’t possible for me to discreetly eliminate enemies from a distance like in those games. However, it’s still enjoyable to initiate a fight with a bonus from sneak attacks. A ranger build in Avowed seems somewhat similar to an Infiltrator from Mass Effect or a Nightstalker from Destiny, utilizing a hidden-at-will ability to escape dangerous situations or set up additional damage.

This Skyrimmy RPG is hiding a great boomer shooter if you want to play it that way.

It’s delightful that the guns in Avowed have an incredible feel, and it’s even more satisfying when you wield two pistols simultaneously. A low-level ranger skill causes time to slow down when you prepare for a powerful attack, and I find myself in a state of rhythm with my flintlocks. I charge up my next shot while the other pistol reloads, firing slowly in what feels like a cinematic slow motion, never running out of ammo as if I’m a fictional early modern Chow Yun-fat. Before even discovering unique weapons or activating some of the more extraordinary abilities, being able to play like this in a fantasy RPG was music to my ears.

Initially, I feared that the game would become monotonous, spending most of my time clicking on enemies’ heads before they could reach me, while simultaneously neglecting Avowed’s more unconventional features. However, this wasn’t the case at all. Enemies in Avowed are surprisingly adept at tracking your movements, with melee attacks that bridge gaps and home in on you when typically, they would merely be hitting thin air as I retreated. Since my character had no shield, minimal health, and armor (all invested in damage), the gameplay felt like a fast-paced first-person shooter, involving lots of evasion to dodge enemies and projectiles, and positioning myself for shots with my powerful rad guns. Essentially, this RPG reminiscent of Skyrim harbors an excellent boomer shooter if you choose to approach it that way.

As an avid fan, I must say that what sets Avowed apart is its extraordinary, one-of-a-kind weapons. In the realm of close combat, I’ve been armed with fiery swords from the get-go, and things have only escalated from there. However, my trusty sidekick throughout this journey has been a lightning pistol that occasionally triggers chain lightning on each enemy I take down.

For a while, I was dual-wielding pistols in one slot and an arquebus in the other, leveraging a perk that automatically reloads holstered weapons to swiftly switch between them instead of enduring lengthy reload times. Recently, I’ve traded my long gun for a bow that discharges a weaker (but still lethal) chain lightning on every powerful attack. This has more than compensated for the scarcity of area-of-effect damage in my earlier stages, as my bolts bounce between enemies, staggering them repeatedly as they struggle to get a word in edgewise.

In addition, I’ve got a formidable companion joining me now – a spirit bear materialized through a ranger tree ability in the game’s later stages. Summoned entities can sometimes be hit or miss, but this one is a powerhouse. It’s quite challenging to defeat him before his time expires, and I haven’t witnessed anyone managing it yet. To top it off, he dishes out some serious damage too.

In essence, Avowed is primarily known as a wizard game due to its powerful spells and intricate grimoire system linked with skill tree enhancements. However, if, like me, your gaming preference leans towards the stealthy sniper DPS character type often labeled an “edgelord,” you’ll find that Avowed caters exceptionally well to this playstyle as well.

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2025-02-14 01:32