Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire Histories Guide (2024)

Wandering what histories to pick at the start of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire? This Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire Histories Guide will explain the basic mechanics of the histories feature so you can choose a path more suited to your personal alignment.

If you are a veteran of the original game, you likely won’t need much help here. You can import a save file from the original Pillars of Eternity, assuming you have completed the main story arc of the game. This will import all of the choices you made into your Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire experience. However, if you did not complete the original or you’re new to the franchise, there are readily available histories that you are able to choose.

In the Pillars of Eternity campaign you were able to choose various characters in which you could pledge your allegiance. With various backstories, personality traits and goals, the choice was entirely up to the player, with the resulting story drastically changing depending on the choices given.

Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire Histories Guide

Benevolent Soul
The ultimate good guy. If you’re the kind of player that helps every citizen in need, shows mercy to enemies and prioritizes the “right” outcome over rewards and other variables, this is the path for you.

Fair And Balanced
Driven by logical thought and rational decisions. Also seen as a good guy this path is more about choosing what’s right over what is best.

Survival Of The Fittest
Leave the weak to fend for themselves and align yourself with strong allies. This is a no BS approach, focusing on the ancient survival of the fittest tradition.

Dark Times
You care for very little. Destroying everything in your wake. If a Darth Vader type character appeals to you, this is the path to choose.

Keeper Of Secrets
You prioritize your secrets and the secrets of the God’s over anything else. This is the path to choose if your near godlike status has you looking down on the average citizen.

Everything Bad
You screwed up, big time. You broke every promise, killed every friend, failed every quest. Fun if you want to mix things up but not great for a first playthrough.

The decision you make greatly influences your path through Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. When you see certain conversational choices you will sometimes notice a large icon with a I in the center.

These are the choices that are influenced by the history you choose. Whenever you see one of these icons, the response is based on specific situations and scenarios from your history. Knowing when these pop up allows you to focus on the characters path you chose, in case you’re a little unsure.

There is another choice. If you navigate to the options menu on the start screen of the game, you can build an entirely new history. This is arguably the best way to do it for newer players as it gives a bit of context to each of the decisions made, whilst also providing some additional information on the characters and the gods.