Orianna vs. Syanna Path: Your Preference (Spoilers!)

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Orianna vs. Syanna Path: Your Preference (Spoilers!)

  • Syanna's Path

    Votes: 25 37.3%
  • Oranna's Path

    Votes: 5 7.5%
  • Orianna first, then Syanna before meeting The Unseen Elder

    Votes: 37 55.2%

  • Total voters
    67
Orianna vs. Syanna Path: Your Preference (Spoilers!)

Which way do you prefer to go about the final series of quests in BaW? Go with Orianna and the Unseen Elder/ or follow Regis' advice and go find Syanna? If you prefer to do a bit of both, there is an option for that in the poll.

Please vote.
 
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This is a tough one. I really like to keep Dettlaf alive and Syanna dead. So i voted for Syanna path.

If it would be possible to get the same result with Unseen path, I would definitely go there, because that cave is just amazing and I like that story more.
 
I have not done it like this yet, but I do think that my preferred way would be:

- tell Regis that I don't know yet
- go to Orianna, listen to the song, kill the archgarkain-thing. Learn the nature of Orianna and why the orphanage is dead after the end of the main quest. Get the key to the elder's cave.
- call the ravens and meet Regis
- go with Regis, go into Wonderland, do not get the ribbon.
- let Detlaff go.

I think that'd be the most satisfying path through these quests, for me. So I chose option #3 in your poll.



As for Elder's cave vs. Wonderland... that is a tough one. I loved the Wonderland the first time I was in there. But I was also snared in by Syanna then, given the similarities of facial expressions she shares with Yennefer and all that. Wonderland was much more bland on the 2nd time in there, when I purposefully avoided being empathic and nice to her and made a wide berth around the Girl Who Has Anything.

Elder's cave was phantastic, but I've only seen it one time so far.
 
Ughhh tough one. Especially if you need to choose between that red vampire gears, and the Toussaint armor. But for the sake of the story, I'd go the path where Syanna dies, so I'll choose option #3.

Here are some advantages of either paths:
1. Unseen Elder
- Vampire Armor and Sword
- Cantata Silver Sword
- some back story regarding conjuction of spheres
- seeing Geralt get f'ed up by the elder :D
- a chance for "worst" and "happy" endings
- you can get the 5000 crowns bounty for killing the Beast of Beauclair

2. Land of Thousand Fables Path
- Vitis Steel Sword
- Gesheft Silver Sword (this can be crafted too, although this has Dark Souls easter egg)
- Toussaint Armor
- Golden Egg (adds one additional ability point)
- only way to do the prison path which is more fun than the Beauclair awarding ceremony
- you can get the prison poster
- you can see Dandelion again
- you can either get a portion of the bounty or none at all
- A chance for all three endings
- A chance for Regis to not get banished from Toussaint (but he leaves anyway)
 
As much as i like the fairytale land, i prefer the elder unseen path.... Much better atmosphere. And he is really spooky.
I also did the mixed path, orianna first then syanna to get the key. Thought i could visit the cave afterwards, but no chance... he is not amused :D
 
Unlike the main game and the first expansion, here I was really not sure what the best way to the end, simply because I like both. I wanted to have the two paths in the same gameplay, but it is not possible, then to this poll I chose the number 3.
 
Never got around to doing the Blood Simple quest or meeting Orianna. I will probably go back and do that on a second playthrough just to see what the Elder is like and all that.
 

sv3672

Forum veteran
Here are some advantages of either paths:
1. Unseen Elder
- a chance for "worst" and "happy" endings

I do not think it is possible to get the "happy" ending on the Unseen Elder path, that requires reading the diary in the playhouse, but reading the diary triggers the "Beyond Hill and Dale..." quest and locks out "What Lies Unseen".
 
Never got around to doing the Blood Simple quest or meeting Orianna. I will probably go back and do that on a second playthrough just to see what the Elder is like and all that.

That is definitely worth doing :)
 
Never got around to doing the Blood Simple quest or meeting Orianna. I will probably go back and do that on a second playthrough just to see what the Elder is like and all that.
I had a save right before the Capture the Castle quest so I was able to reload that and do Orianna's entire path. It's quite dark and definitely worth checking out.
 
I do not think it is possible to get the "happy" ending on the Unseen Elder path, that requires reading the diary in the playhouse, but reading the diary triggers the "Beyond Hill and Dale..." quest and locks out "What Lies Unseen".

Hmmm... I already deleted my save before meeting Anna for the awarding ceremony, but you can see Syanna before that right? When I did this, I almost had the same dialogue choices similar to the happy ending, only I intentionally wanted the worst ending, so I irritated Syanna rather than go to the calmer choices leading to Syanna's forgiveness to Anna.
 
You need to learn Syanna's past while you are in Fable world. If you don't do that, you won't get the dialogue needed for ending where both sisters live. At least this was said in the guide what I used to see that ending. You also need to read every chapter in that book before going there.
 
I do not think it is possible to get the "happy" ending on the Unseen Elder path, that requires reading the diary in the playhouse, but reading the diary triggers the "Beyond Hill and Dale..." quest and locks out "What Lies Unseen".
I noticed in my last playthrough that I still could have run to Orianna (in Night of Long Fangs) after I had read the diary. There were two mainquests active at the same time. But, as I intended to "just do the wonderland a second time, this time without gwent", I didn't test this.

Important thing would be to grab and read the journal before taking the key and the enchanted book.

It surely seemed to me that I could've run through the Elder's cave instead at this point and with the additional info from the journal, a fairytale ending might have been possible. Not sure if the journal entries or the chats with Syanna in Wonderland are what unlocks the fairytale dialogue lines though.



You know what... my "all things go to hell" playthrough is depressing me anyway, so I'll just try this today.
 
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Hmmm... I already deleted my save before meeting Anna for the awarding ceremony, but you can see Syanna before that right? When I did this, I almost had the same dialogue choices similar to the happy ending, only I intentionally wanted the worst ending, so I irritated Syanna rather than go to the calmer choices leading to Syanna's forgiveness to Anna.

This is the scene that ultimately decides whether you will get the "happy" ending, for that to happen, you need to go through the dialogue path with the bolded line:
Geralt choice: Ever thought to forgive her? (q704_turned_her_back)

Geralt: Perhaps, just for a second, you could stop dwelling on all the wrongs folk've done you - and forgive her?
Syanna: Why should I?

((q704_syanna_blamed AND q704_know_syannas_dream > 1) == false)

Geralt: She's your sister, dammit.
Syanna: You know, before they drove me from my home, I received an education befitting one of my status. Music, poetry, arithmetic… As well as logic.
Syanna: So with complete certainty I can state that the opinion "you must forgive your sister because she is your sister" is utter bollocks.
Syanna: No. I will not forgive her. Nor shall I show remorse or promise to improve. Anything else? Or will you finally leave me in peace?

((q704_syanna_blamed AND q704_know_syannas_dream > 1) == true)

Geralt: For old time's sake. You loved each other, once.
Syanna: Pshh. Please. I don't know who fed you that rubbish, but--
Geralt: Read your governess' diary. You played together, were inseparable. Anarietta'd get you in trouble sometimes, sure… But there were also times she stood up for you. When you had nightmares, only she could calm you.
Geralt: Time eats away at memories, distorts them. Sometimes we only remember the good… sometimes only the bad.
Syanna: If she loved me so, why did she wash her hands of me? Forget me? Hm?

Geralt choice: Might ask her that.
Geralt choice: She was a child.

The conditions "know Syanna's dream" and "Syanna blamed" become true when you read the entry in the diary about Syanna's nightmares and the "girls quarreled today" one, respectively. It is required to read both to unlock the "good" path where she forgives Anna Henrietta.

So, as far as I understood, the ending where both sisters survive requires:
1. reading at least the first two entries in the diary in the playhouse ("Syanna gave me a drawing" and "The girls quarreled today"), so that step 7 will be successful; for me, the option to quit reading the diary appeared only after reading the entry about the Land of 1000 Fables, but that updated the quest objectives and began "Beyond Hill and Dale..."
2. in the conversation with Syanna at Big Bad Wolf's place, listen to her story, this is needed for step 6 to become available
3. give the ribbon to Syanna in the Land of 1000 Fables, otherwise she is killed by Dettlaff
4. investigate the planned fifth victim with Regis (I guess it is needed to be able to talk to Syanna in step 5)
5. talk to Syanna in the palace where she is detained
6. give the correct answer why she wants revenge on Anna Henrietta ("Because she turned her back on you, forgot about you."), this unlocks step 7
7. ask her to forgive ("Ever thought to forgive her?", as quoted above)
 
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tl;dr:

Reading the diary does not provide a path to the "fairytale" ending when visiting the Elder's Cave.
Also, despite the Beyond Hill and Dale quest still open for a long time, you cannot take the fairytale book anymore at some point (probably at the last decision dialogue with Regis at the docks).



Here's the longer version of my observations.

- I told Regis that I'd go with him. Talked with Damien. Went with Regis to the playroom, and explored it. Did not take the key from behind the painting or even touch the cabinet. Read the diary.

=> Beyond Hill and Dale started, but The Night of Long Fangs was still active with
- Ask Orianna where to find the Unseen Elder
- Find the book "The Land of a Thousand Fables."

- feeling like a jerk, I now ran off to chat with Orianna. Blood Simple ran its course up until "Talk with the Birds". Beyond Hill and Dale didn't change its status.

As this is about testing if reading the diary is enough to get the fairytale ending (I refuse to call it the "good" ending), I'm now going to summon Regis and visit the Elder.
This dialogue with Regis seemed somewhat different to when I had opted for Orianna straight at the start of Night of Long Fangs. But it's subtile.
I really dislike acting like this, when Regis is so clear about that we shouldn't do this. This is hard. Still going for the cave.
Oh, interesting. What Lies Unseen just started - but Beyond Hill and Dale is also still active and dormant. So, maybe I still could change my mind (needs more testing, but would make sense, as Regis isn't really needed for the final steps of Beyond Hill and Dale.)

The quests remained in this state until I entered the main cave of the Elder.

It's possible to get the gloves of that red armor before committing to this path.
Bitten by the Elder. Still got Beyond Hill and Dale (but now no way back there...) ;)


So, right. Beyond Hill and Dale remained there until I was back out of the cave, but then there was a forced teleport to Tesha Mudna; killed Detlaff; got the 5th letter; went to see Syanna...

... and knowing stuff from the diary did not change anything.


In fact, IIRC the conversation there is like the dialogue between Syanna and Geralt in Wonderland after they collected the first bean (or even after the Wicked Witch died). Syanna needed a lot of work to be molded into fairytale ending, it appears.

Makes me wonder how I actually managed to hit that ending in the first playthrough, with so many roads leading to "everyone dies".


I'm now going to try and see if I really can still make up my mind after having opened the Elder's Cave.
Well... playhouse is still open, key can still be taken, but the fairytale book remains in the cabinet. No way to interact with it.

Awwww.



But, maybe you can get the gloves after having been in Wonderland. I would suppose the Elder might just kill you when you enter his private cave, not the tunnel entrance section.
 
I really like Syanna and the Land of a Thousand Fables (plus, the partnership of her and Geralt is great), so I always go with her, killing Dettlaf at the end. BUT... I also like Orianna and can't leave the chance of go with her into a quest, so I meet her first, then "change my mind" and go find Syanna.
 
So, right. Beyond Hill and Dale remained there until I was back out of the cave, but then there was a forced teleport to Tesha Mudna; killed Detlaff; got the 5th letter; went to see Syanna...

... and knowing stuff from the diary did not change anything.


In fact, IIRC the conversation there is like the dialogue between Syanna and Geralt in Wonderland after they collected the first bean (or even after the Wicked Witch died). Syanna needed a lot of work to be molded into fairytale ending, it appears.

There is a different version of the conversation for when the fairytale quest is not completed. But Geralt needs to listen to Syanna's full story in the fairytale land (after defeating Big Bad Wolf) to understand why she wants revenge on Anna Henrietta ("I'm angry at her because she forgot. About me."), she only talks about the knights in the palace. So, the diary by itself is indeed not enough.

Edit: with the following console commands before the final conversation with Syanna in the palace, I was able to get the ending where both sisters survive, even on the Unseen Elder path:
addfact(q704_fairy_tale_done) - completed Beyond Hill and Dale...
addfact(q704_geralt_interested_pt2) - listened to Syanna's story after retrieving the red bean from Big Bad Wolf
addfact(q704_know_syannas_dream) - read the first entry in the diary
addfact(q704_syanna_blamed) - read the second entry in the diary
 
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as an ending i like the good ending, everyone lives hapily ever after,
but i like more that Dettlaff kills Syanna, the thing is, Geralt goes to prison, which i don't like, it is not fair
Orianna's path is also very interesting, but then its ending is boring
 
As far as how I play it out I prefer to do the Orianna path till you call Regis. Then go look for Syanna.

But I think the one one I won't do again is to get the ribbon. The victim in that path is Regis. He's the one that suffers and has to watch his back. That is just wrong. So I prefer Dettlaff killing Syanna. I then let him go. yes it's wrong that I go to prison. But I do get to keep the land and house and it's probably a good thing that I don't have to get involved in politics as I'm banned from the court.

I think it's the ending that best fits the witcher code.

But here's a question. Is there anyway not to fight Detlaff if you give the ribbon to Syanna? Is there any options where all three Dettlaff, Syanna and Anna all live?
 
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