Why is Izual a demon again?

Question

At the end of Act IV, before getting to Diablo, we have to fight a once-again demonic Izual. How did this happen? Didn't we free his soul when we killed him in Diablo 2?

Asked by Kappei

Answer

It's worth remembering that even after defeating Izual in Diablo II, he was never really redeemed - in fact, he took the time to give some extra villainous speeches in spirit form.

Tyrael was a fool to have trusted me! You see, it was I who told Diablo and his brothers about the Soulstones and how to corrupt them. It was I who helped the Prime Evils mastermind their exile to your world. The plan we set in motion so long ago cannot be stopped by any mortal agency. Hell itself is poised to spill forth into your world like a tidal wave of blood and nightmares. You and all your kind...are doomed.

Further, we know that it's extremely difficult to get rid of an angel or demon's spirit just by killing them - Tyrael took a mere twenty years to reform his body after being caught up in the destruction of the Worldstone, while our good friend Diablo and company persistently refuse to stay down.

Though I don't believe it's fully explained how he returned to form - his original fall is mentioned in the Act IV lore books, but I haven't found one detailing his second fall if such a thing exists - it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that at some point he returned to the Great Evils again, or that Diablo specifically sought him out on his joyride to go smash up the High Heavens.

Answered by Ashel

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Player Character Lore

Question

I'm almost finished with one play-through of the game, and I'm pretty depressed at the lack of lore concerning my character. I'm playing a demon hunter, and he keeps hinting at how his entire family was murdered by demons, and how he's been ruthlessly hunting them down ever since. They also hint that he is one of the nephalim (sp), without much explanation there. The only other thing I've learned is that he traveled through the Dreadlands once.

For an RPG that forces the way you look and act, I feel pretty disconnected from the person I'm pretending to be. Is there any more lore on player characters throughout the game that I either missed or haven't discovered yet? Or is it something I'll just have to make up on my own?

Asked by Ben

Answer

There is only so much lore in the game. I suspect this is to preserve the focus on the action and adventure, and to allow the player to identify with the hero more, making it more 1st-person than 3d-person. However, Sanctuary is a world rich in storytelling.

For lore on the heroes, I recommend reading the 5 short stories released by Blizzard shortly before the game: The Heroes of Sanctuary. I have read a few of them and they are excellent, not just hack promotional literature, but vivid character pieces in my opinion.

Second, there are novels set in the world of Sanctuary: List and Chronology of Novels. The novels Moon of the Spider and The Order take place in between D2 and D3, and The Order features a Monk character as well. Here is an interview with the author of The Order which goes into some details.

Then there is of course The Book of Cain, which is a book posed as written by Deckard Cain. It goes into lore, histories, angels and demons, and more. It also covers evebts in between D2 and D3.

There is also the Sword of Justice comic series, an ongoing miniseries that takes place right before D3, and involves a Wizard character.

There may be other lore pieces that Blizzard has produced and released as part of the game's marketing and media, but I think the above covers most of the official lore releases.

Answered by Wikwocket

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What is the lore behind Jarvan IV and Jericho Swain?

Question

In Jarvan IV's Relations, it said this quote.

Jarvan IV is the arch-enemy of Jericho Swain.

I looked at their lore.

And didn't find any information about this relationship.

Why they are arch-enemies? When did this occur?

Asked by Michel

Answer

Try reading the first paragraph of Jarvan's lore again; I'll quote the relevant section:

In his most crushing defeat, he was outmaneuvered and captured by a Noxian battalion under the command of Jericho Swain. This mistake nearly cost him his life at the hands of Urgot, but he was rescued by the Dauntless Vanguard, an elite Demacian strike force led by Jarvan’s childhood companion, Garen.

Jarvan hates Swain because Swain captured him and nearly had Jarvan executed.

Additionally, Swain hates Jarvan because Noxus hates Demacia, and the two are each prominent leaders of their respective city-states.

If someone tried to have you executed after embarrassing you and slaughtering all your men, wouldn't you hold a grudge? ;)

Answered by Raven Dreamer

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What is the book mentioning torches and lockpicking?

Question

The following answer and question references a book claiming that the heat of a torch somehow helps lockpicking:

• How do I succeed at lockpicking?
• Does equipping a torch actually make picking a lock easier?

Although it's been proven a false rumor nobody ever mentioned the name of the book or it's location. What is it?

Asked by Renan

Answer

The book you are looking for is called: Advances in Lock Picking

It exists in both Skyrim and Oblivion. In Skyrim it can be found at:

• Bannermist Tower, on the second floor on a table on the other end of the room entrance. (North-West of Falkreath.)
• Chillwind Depths, on a table located in the last room of the cave.
• The Ragged Flagon - Cistern, on a barrel in the north east room.
• In the Riften Sewers behind a grate, on top of a barrel.
• On the body of a dead Redguard, west of Heartwood Mill.

Excerpt (emphasis mine):

Sometimes the locks have weird spings. They all spring differently, which makes picking it hard. I hold my torch close to the lock. This makes it hot. When it's hot, the springs are all the same. They don't bounce so differently any more. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Answered by yx.

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Was I a bad Hero by taking so long to catch up with Zelda?

Question

So, Zelda fell through the clouds and like a good young Hero I rushed after her to save her. I ran through the forest in desperation searching and dowsing for her. I found a Kikwi who said she was with him, but she ran off to the "very dangerous" Forest Temple. Annoyed, I rushed after her... only to reach the end of the Forest Temple to find she has ran away again, to the even more dangerous Earth Temple.

So, I set off for the Eldin Volcano area. But, to be honest, by this point I am quite frustrated with Zelda. She clearly doesn't need my help! And there's all this Questing to be done! There's bugs to be collected and treasures to be found! So many Pieces of Hearts to collect and things to buy in Beedle's Airshop! People in Skyloft need my help! People who don't run away from me when I am trying to help them!

So, after I had done all the Questing I could, I finally reached the Earth Spring where I found Zelda, perfectly safe might I add, and some tall, annoying, bitter woman. This... person... had the gall to tell me I was late! Late! And she said I should be ashamed of myself for taking so long. I know she's right, I was supposed to be going after Zelda... but, Questing! Rupees! Treasures! Bugs! Crystals! Potions! Upgrades! If I actually rescued Zelda she'd just want to settle down, probably start a family, booo-ring! Questing is so much more fun!

Was I a bad Hero by waiting so long to reach Zelda? Do you always get chastised for being too slow, or did I actually hit some time threshold which changed the storyline?

Asked by Josh

Answer

Nope! You're not a bad hero! Unless you think leaving a damsel in distress hanging is bad... then yeah, you are, sorry buddy.

Whatever you do, you will always be late and Impa will brandish it over your head, so keep questing! I suppose you could call that a character-building experience for Link?

As far as I remember, there are only a few time-limited quests, and you are notified before you set off to complete it. Why have side-quests available if you are supposed to be rushing through the main plot, right?

Answered by Kareen

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Can you leave the Prison?

Question

I'm getting pretty close to the part of the game where you have to go to the Prison Island. I've payed alot of games where the last level is the last level, and you can't leave it to return anywhere. Is Dead Island like that, in that you can't leave the Prison Island once you go there?

Asked by Aceofgods

Answer

Sorry, no you can't. Once inside the prison you are set to finish the game. They even warn you when you are about to leave the lab and go that you can't go back after this point. However, you can restart the story when you finish the game. You keep all weapons( unless starting a new character for the achievement) and you keep your level and money.

Taken from here.

Answered by Taz

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Are Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan romantically involved up until Wings of Liberty?

Question

I have played through Starcraft, Starcraft Broodwar and Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty. Yet I do not know if Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan had some kind of real love relationship.

Sure there was some flirting, but was there more?

I am asking this because I find it quite confusing that in Starcraft you had like 2-3 missions with Kerrigan as Terran and in Starcraft II Jim seems very attached to her.

Asked by ayckoster

Answer

It's been ages since I played the game, but...

... When Jim and Sarah first meet, there's a definite bad first impression (she's a telepath; his first unguarded thought when he meets her is about how well she fills out that tight uniform; she calls him on thinking it), but a few missions later, they're on first name basis -- enough that when Mengsk orders Kerrigan to protect a nascent Zerg hive from the Protoss, Raynor protests loudly about the danger, and only acquiesces when Kerrigan tells him to have faith because she trusts Mengsk has a good reason for it.

(He doesn't, unless "I sold you off to the Overmind so I can have my empire unmolested" counts as a good reason)

Mengsk's subsequent betrayal of Kerrigan to the Zerg by ordering all air forces to withdraw when the Zerg start overrunning the base is what enrages Raynor to the point where he decides to quit, and his escape from Mengsk's new empire ends the Terran campaign.

The first - and pretty much only - mention of their relationship during the Zerg campaign is during the mission where the Queen of Blades hatches from her Chrysalis -- apparently, some kind of telepathic emissions were manifesting in Raynor's dreams and called him into the area containing the Chrysalis, where he has a few heartbroken words when he finds out what Sarah turned into and that the Queen of Blades is absolutely not interested in being rescued.

For more references, see here and here on the official Starcraft wiki.

Answered by Shadur

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Starting a love interest in Mass Effect 2 from a Mass Effect 1 save file

Question

I may have skipped a point or convo or something. But I currently have a (female) Shepard file from Mass Effect 1 and I'm playing Mass Effect 2. In the original Mass Effect, the Shepard's love interest was Liara T'Soni.

However, I'd like to move on to another possible love interest in Kelly Chambers. (Wanted to see the dance scene.) But something is, wrong, I think.

I talked with Kelly and told her she can feed my fish when I'm away and even had the dinner scene. But, I can't go further than that. I know I'm supposed to be able to call her to the loft. but that's not showing up in the file.

Did I skip a dialogue somewhere?

Asked by Paul Williams

Answer

You cannot call Kelly up to your cabin until after you travel through the Omega 4 relay.

SPOILERS

Even then, you can only call her up if you manage to save her from the Collectors by doing only one mission after you get the Reaper IFF (which will likely be Legion's loyalty mission), otherwise she will die.

Answered by Mr Smooth

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Why was Commander Shepard relieved from duty?

Question

In the opening prologue, when the Reapers are first invading Earth, Captain Anderson and Shepard are talking. Anderson has the following line:

What is Anderson referring to? Last thing I remember was saving the galaxy... twice, so I'm not quite sure why Shepard would get kicked out of the Alliance military.

What gives?

Asked by Raven Dreamer

Answer

This would most likely stem from two things, from Mass Effect 2:

• Shepard's assumed association with Cerberus, a group who has its hands in many less-than-respectable activities.

• Shepard's assumed liability in the deaths of 300,000 Batarian civilians at the end of the Arrival DLC, which threatened to give the Batarians an excuse to wage war against humanity and weaken support for the human race from the other Council races.

  This outcome is hinted at in the dialogue with Admiral Hackett at the end of the Arrival mission, in which he reminds Shepard that [he/she] would be a convenient scapegoat to avoid war and that "when Earth calls, [he/she] be there with [his/her] dress blues on, ready to take the hit."

Answered by Tim Stone

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Where can I find more lore behind Ashe and Tryndamere?

Question

I have learned that Ashe and Tryndamere got married to bring their two tribes together in the limited lore that I was able to find. I am interested in learning why they needed to bring their tribes together and why Sejuani was against the joining of the tribes? Are there any place that offers additional lore that I can read?

A wiki page or a specific journal of justice to read?

Asked by conjim

Answer

From my understanding, the marriage was mostly out of political necessity and without actual love. I don't have much more info than that off the top of my head, but for more info on the lore of League of Legends you can always check out the wiki (http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/League_of_Legends_Wiki).

Answered by BubBidderskins

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What happened with Legion after I completed Priority:Rannoch?

Question

Spoilers all over the question:

I've recently completed the mission on the quarian homeworld Rannoch, and I got the quarians to stop attacking the geth. Legion tried to upload the Reaper code to make the geth more intelligent. Then he said he could not finish the upload and then did something that solved the issue.
A geth prime then approaches and talks to Shepard and Tali, saying Legion sacrificed himself to give all the geth intelligence. What happened? I don't understand what he did, and why he needed to sacrifice himself.

Asked by Vitor De Mario

Answer

I'll try to give you more insight. It's a bit murky what's going on to me as well, but here goes.

The reaper virus allowed for the Geth to evolve to a true organic-like intelligence. When Legion absorbs the code from the dead reaper he is upgraded, signified by his referring to himself as "I" instead of "We".

.

He is unable to TRANSMIT the reaper virus to the other Geth likely because of Legion's programming which makes him unique compared to the rest of the Geth (the 1183 Geth programs referred to in the comment below. Since the other Geth don't have all of this code they can't install the reaper virus until they are upgraded.

.

Legion is able to "go to them" and upgrade their software by contributing his own programs to the Geth network. So in one way Legion dies ... there's only a physical shell that no longer contains the essence of Legion. Once he uploads himself to the other Geth he's no longer Legion either, rather he becomes part of their programming. I think of it like wrapping a pill in bacon to give it to a dog. The "Legion" part was allowed in and it brought the reaper code in with it.

I hope this helps clear up some of what is going on in this scene.

Picture of the line in question

Answered by Stephen

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Why was there no purely human council?

Question

Wasn't there supposed to be the possibility of having a human only council?

In the case where you let the council die and were fully renegade: Udina suggests, and you can support him, to form a council made only of human members as you can hear here in Mass Effect?

Is there any explanation for why this doesn't happen, or is it just that the writers dropped this possibility?

Asked by mariemo

Answer

There was never supposed to be an entirely human council. It is true that Udina suggests that at the end of ME1 but a human only council is never confirmed to have been a fact in subsequent games. If you let the old council die, the new one will be led by humans but won't be purely human. That's how the council is presented in ME2 no matter what Udina says at the end of ME1.

As for an explanation why exactly the Udina suggestion fails - none is given in the games. We can only speculate that such total control was simply not allowed by the other races in the galaxy.

Answered by Gh0sT

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Purely human council?

Question

Wasn't it supposed to have the possibility to get a only human council?

In case you were let the council die and were fully renegade Udina suggest, and you can support him, to form a council made only of human members as you can hear here in Mass Effect?

Is there any explanation for this, or it's just the writers that had dropt this possibility?

Asked by mariemo

Answer

There was never supposed to be an entirely human council. It is true that Udina suggests that at the end of ME1 but a human only council is never confirmed to have been a fact in subsequent games. If you let the old council die, the new one will be led by humans but won't be purely human. That's how the council is presented in ME2 no matter what Udina says at the end of ME1.

As for an explanation why exactly the Udina suggestion fails - none is given in the games. We can only speculate that such total control was simply not allowed by the other races in the galaxy.

Answered by Gh0sT

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Which reaper ground forces derive from which races?

Question

It's fairly clear that some forms of the reaper ground forces derive from other races - for example Husks were once Human and Banshees were once Asari, and there are several others that seem fairly obvious.

Others are less so. The Brute, for example, immediately makes me think Krogran because of the size and strength, but the head isn't Krogran-like, which doesn't seem to conform to the "looks like a corrupted version of the species" pattern followed else where.

So, I'd like a full list of which of the reaper ground forces have been derived from which races.

Asked by DMA57361

Answer

This is all explained in the in-game codex. Going from memory:

• Husks: Human
• Cannibals: Batarian (and human, see FAE's comment)
• Brute: mix of Turian and Krogan
• Banshee: Asari
• Ravager: Rachni
• Marauder: Turian
• Harvester: Harvester :p

Answered by Bethor

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Do the Reapers only kill sentient life?

Question

The opening of Mass Effect 3 says Reapers come to purge the galaxy of organic life every 50,000 years.

I know it's fiction, but life evolves much slower than that, in fact the human race is already 50,000-200,000 years old in current times, depending on what you consider a human. There's been life on earth for hundreds of millions of years and it seems an odd oversight for a plt dirven, sci-fi game to make.

Does the game mean Reapers only purge the galaxy of sentient/humanoid life or is this not elaborated on in the game's story?

Asked by Ben Brocka

Answer

This answer contains spoilers from ME 1 and 2.

The Reapers do not seek to destroy all organic life, nor do they try. Their interest in organic life seems to lie solely in that they use it for reproduction - i.e., to make more Reapers.

To this end, they seed the galaxy with their artifacts - The Mass Relays and The Citadel itself - such that life will develop in such a way to best serve their inscrutable purposes.

From Mass Effect 1:

Sovereign: Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

Commander Shepard: Whatever your plan is, it's going to fail. I'll make sure of that.

Soverign: Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken.

Squad Member: Cycle? What cycle?

Sovereign: The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance, and at the apex of their glory they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them - the legacy of my kind.

Commander Shepard: Why would you construct the mass relays and leave them for someone else to find?

Sovereign: Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. Our technology. By using it, your civilization develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic life. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.

The Cycle, as mentioned by Sovereign, occurs every 50,000 years (presumably as the Reaper fleet travels between galaxies), and involves the methodical destruction of every space-faring species. If you haven't discovered FTL travel, the Mass Relays, and the Mass Effect, the Reapers pretty much ignore you.

This is why Humans were not wiped out when the Protheans were, despite there being prominent Cro-Magnons rutting about on Earth (the Protheans even had an observation base on Mars specifically to watch Humans). We were effectively "beneath their notice".

This focus on space-faring races is further confirmed in ME3, where Admiral Hackett remarks that the Yahg homeworld is being completely ignored, even intentionally passed over, by the Reaper fleets invading nearby (they haven't achieved space travel). In his words "If we fail, it might be them in our shoes, next time".

Answered by Raven Dreamer

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Who is Kai Leng?

Question

Who exactly is Kai Leng? What is his motivation to help The Illusive Man, and why? I feel left in the dark after completing the game about this new character.

Asked by Zeno

Answer

Kai Leng is another character who was originally introduced in the Mass Effect novels, specifically Mass Effect: Retribution and the one everyone should ignore Mass Effect: Deception.

In the books, it's established that he was originally part of the Alliance, but he was imprisoned and dishonorably discharged after committing first-degree murder (killing a krogan with bare hands). He is/was very xenophobic, showing open disgust of other races. That, plus his excellence in combat, drew The Illusive Man's attention. Cerberus broke him out of prison to acquire him as an agent.

He has very strong loyalty to Cerberus and is willing to do whatever The Illusive Man orders him to do, without question. He was initially ordered to hunt down a man named Paul Grayson in order to capture him to do some... questionable experiments on him. Kahlee Sanders, another character originally introduced in the novel, was a friend of Paul Grayson's, and when he contacted her prior to his kidnapping to warn her about Cerberus, she was drawn into a rescue attempt. Kahlee, in turn, is acquainted with David Anderson, who was a Councilor at the time, and enlists his help. He uses his influence help her, motorizing a Turian rescue team to go after Grayson, which ultimately contributes to his removal from the Council.

Though I would be hard-pressed to name a "right hand man" to The Illusive Man, if he had one, Kai Leng would be it. He's pretty much a physical embodiment of the Illusive Man's ideals, pro-human and uncompromising, and The Illusive Man uses Kai Leng's skills accordingly.

Answered by FallenAngelEyes

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Is it possible to save the ventboy?

Question

I've played the demo for Mass Effect 3 and was a tad upset when the ventboy died. I was wondering if there was a certain choice that actually lets you convince him to come with you?

I had put my game on action for the story experience but would definitely go back if saving him was a possibility. During the full game my character had a nightmare about him and I found it interesting yet dumb as far as the story part of this game goes.

Asked by SmashinMuffinz

Answer

I played the demo and the full game with different choices, and there's no choice that gives you a way to save the little boy in the vent. Sadly, he is destined to die no matter what choices you make.

I believe he's there for the "shock factor" and to raise the stakes of the introductory sequence. They want you to have a more "personal" connection to the invasion of Earth, rather than just watching a bunch of futuristic buildings get lazer'ed.

Answered by agent86

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Where does James come from?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Am I supposed to know who James Vega is?

James just struck me when I started the game with him? Who is he? Where does he come from? Why is he, all of a sudden, in my crew?

Bottom-line: WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY?

Asked by Fredy31

Answer

Vega was tasked with gaurding Shepard while Shepard was in 'prison' on earth. When the reapers attacked he helped Ash/Kaiden get to the Normandy and helped them pick you up. So he is in your crew by pure chance.

Answered by MrHealthy

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What happened with Ashley between ME2 and ME3?

Question

What happened between ME2 and ME3 that changed Ashley's attitude toward Shepard?

In ME2:

She didn't even want to talk with you because you were with Cerberus. She acted like you just made the biggest act of treason ever.

In ME3:

You start back with a her still a little mad, but in your party, and the relation starts back again.

So what happened

(except for Shepard leaving Cerberus) that made her like Shepard again?

Asked by Fredy31

Answer

Even after her angry reaction towards Shepard's decision to work with Cerberus, Ashley sends him a mail apologizing for her outburst. In part, it reads:

I'm sorry for what I said back on Horizon. When I lost you two years ago, it tore me up. I prayed for you every day. I read a lot of Tennyson, thinking about you, just like I did when my dad passed. And then you came back, and it was like my prayers were answered. But I'm not who I was then, and neither are you.

I wouldn't have expected you to work for Cerberus, but I know why they sent you to Horizon. I saw how many people were lost there, and if anyone can stop the Collectors, you can. I can't go where you're going, but I can wish you luck.

Even so, she gives Shepard a very hard time on Mars, and in several exchanges between them you can try to convince Ashley that you did what you did for the good of the galaxy.

Shepard's also returned to working for the Alliance, and has more or less severed ties with Cerberus. It's pretty clear by the end of the Mars mission that Shepard is not on the best of terms with them.

I think taken as a whole, it's not too farfetched to conclude that Ashley's concerns about Shepard's temporary alliance with Cerberus have been overshadowed by Shepard's continual struggle against the Reaper threat.

Answered by agent86

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Is it possible to save ventboy?

Question

Ive played the demo for mass effect 3 and was a tad upset when the ventboy died, i was wondering if their was a certain choice that actually lets you convince him to come with you? i had put my game on action for the story experience but would definantly go back if saving him was a possibility, during the full game my character had a nightmare about him and i found it interesting yet dumb as far as the story part of this game goes.

Asked by SmashinMuffinz

Answer

Due to the way the situation resolves before the end of that chapter I'm fairly certain you cannot.

I think the point of it, from a story point of view is to give Sheppard something else to be traumatized about (especially since they take some asking about how traumatized you are in the "I don't have a save game" character creation).

Answered by Stephen

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