As you make your way through Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, you'll encounter a mysterious voice. This voice will ask you questions about your purpose and why you've done certain things, but ultimately, it'll ask if you're willing to make a deal. What kind of deal though?
How to find the mysterious voice
This isn't something you can miss, as you'll encounter the Mysterious Voice as part of the main story in Avowed. During the quest Message from Afar, you'll be pursuing the Aedryan ambassador and the Claviger. This journey leads you into the northwest of Dawnshore, past numerous Xaurips and angry bears.
Eventually, you'll find the Aedryan ambassador still alive, but unfortunately, it's too late for the Claviger, who appears to have been slain by a "Dreamthrall" bear. Covered in unnerving fungal sprouts, this Dreamthrall bear is extremely dangerous, and you have no alternative but to kill it in a boss fight.
Slowing it down with ice magic or hitting from range with firearms can be effective, but be ready to dodge when it rears up on its hind legs and starts flailing its paws wildly, as this attack can easily kill you no matter your armor. If you don't have any ranged options in your magic or weapons arsenals, then careful timing is paramount, and you should use ice grenades to freeze the bear and hold it in place so you can deal damage without getting hit.
Once you've managed to kill the Dreamthrall bear, you'll have a brief conversation with the the Aedryan ambassador before investigating the nearby pillar of Adra, the dark green crystal that seems to grow up out of the ground. Once you touch the Adra, the mysterious voice talks with you.
The mysterious voice will ask why you killed the Dreamthrall bear, and you may in turn ask some questions. Eventually, the conversation turns to the Dreamscourge that's ravaging the land and how you're supposed to stop it. The voice offers to give you power to help heal, if you're willing to make a deal.
- If you accept the deal: You'll gain a new Godlike power called Dream Touch, which allows you to heal yourself and your companions in combat. This power can also be used in some quests, letting you heal people who are sick or injured. The mysterious voice is also happy with you,
- If you turn down the deal: You will not gain Dream Touch, but instead, you get an ability called Godlike's Will. This Passive power seems to represent your independence and stubborness, giving you an extra point to spend in your skill tree.
Should you make a deal with the mysterious voice?
There's good role-playing and narrative reasoning for choosing either option, but in sheer gameplay utility, I highly recommend accepting the deal, at least for your first time playing the game. Having an additional way to heal yourself and your allies at the same time will come in clutch for tough fights, and it also gives you some extra options in quests that you'd otherwise miss out on, letting you use Dream Touch to heal non-player characters.
Having another point to spend in the skill tree is nice, but you should only take this route if you're trying to push your builds to the absolute max and you need every possible point imaginable.
In our review of Avowed, writer Zachary Boddy shared that "I spent over 50 hours in The Living Lands, though, and I'm still not entirely confident I saw everything.
• 7 starting tips I wish I knew
• Best settings for handhelds
• All Totem fragment locations
• Treasure Maps guide
• Ancient Memory locations
• Essence guide and tips
That comes down to one thing: Avowed makes exploration far more fun than The Outer Worlds did, and its world feels far more complete.
A varied combat system, gorgeous visuals, and an interesting story all help make Avowed one of the most fun RPGs I've played in a long while."
Avowed launches on Feb. 18, 2025 across Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC via Steam, the Xbox App, and Battle.net. As an Xbox first-party game, the standard edition is included day one in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Anyone preordering the Premium Edition of the game can start playing early on February 13. For more details, consult our Avowed preorder guide.
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