The best uniques in Avowed that you can grab early in the game

In an RPG game like Avowed, regularly switching between equipment every few hours is almost expected, but the distinctive gear in this game makes that routine less tedious. Instead of investing money in a high-quality non-unique item, it’s generally more beneficial to equip unique weapons and armor and then enhance them over time. This has been our observation while playing the game.

In the game Avowed, you shouldn’t hold onto your initial equipment for long as there are numerous distinctive weapons and armor easily obtainable early on if you know the right spots. And yes, sometimes it might involve sneaking into a place, grabbing loot, and running away before finishing a fight – we aren’t above doing that when necessary.

In Avowed, we’ve selected some exceptional unique items that you can obtain relatively early in your gaming journey, either through money, cowardice, or cleverness. Remarkably, many of these items remain top-tier weapons even as you progress deeper into the game.

How do unique items work in Avowed?

Distinctive equipment pieces, encompassing weapons and armor, often carry unique names and special abilities. They may bestow additional skills or possess elemental traits such as the fiery blade known as Last Light of Day. It’s essential to be aware that uniques improve in quality based on your current gear level.

In simpler terms, when you acquire unique items later in the game, they will be as rare as your end-game equipment. However, if you grab these unique items early on, they will initially appear with lower quality (common). Essentially, this implies that you’ll need to focus on upgrading your gear, which is a key aspect of progression in Avowed and something you’d be doing quite a bit anyway.

The best uniques to grab early

Beothel’s Grimoire

Find it: At the magical merchant in Paradis near the bounty board in the merchant district.

In Beothel’s Grimoire, the spells form a robust self-reliant system, functioning effectively with either a pistol or a single-handed melee weapon. Arcane Veil offers damage reduction and uninterruptible casting, while Blizzard serves as an offensive elemental spell capable of dual-purposing as crowd control. Corrosive Siphon allows you to regenerate health by poisoning foes, and Parasitic Staff recovers your Essence each time it strikes an enemy – this spectral staff oddly deals a significant amount of actual damage as well.

In Avowed, you can get hold of this rare grimoire quite affordably and early on. You can find it priced at only 450 from the magical goods vendor right in the heart of Paradis. This price tag will seem insignificant compared to what you’ll earn from one of the initial quest rewards, and it’s even cheaper than the “fine” quality weapons that you might be tempted to buy early game—but should resist doing so, as improving your equipment is a smarter move.

Drawn in Winter

Find it: In a block of ice at Watcher’s Mirror in the northeast of Dawnshore

In the chill of winter, you’ll find a unique one-handed axe named “Drawn in Winter.” This bad boy, without any modifications needed, unleashes an expansive ice blast when you execute a power attack. This icy explosion not only damages nearby foes but also spreads frost, much like an infectious disease. Sounds potent, doesn’t it? To claim this freezing prize for yourself, all you need is a bit of exploration at Watcher’s Mirror in Dawnshore.

Starting with the sketch titled “Drawn in Winter” instantly summons a group of formidable skeletons that you might not be able to defeat right away. But instead, I decided to flee – axe at the ready – and managed to obtain one of the finest weapons in Avowed within just a few hours.

If you combine “Drawn in Winter” with skills that enhance melee combat for Rangers and Warriors, particularly those specializing in one-handed axes, the damage output will significantly increase. Moreover, you can also equip items such as Death Knight Gloves to boost your frost damage.

Stelgaer’s Pride

Find it: The reward for completing the Intimidating Feline Codpiece treasure map in Dawnshore

Surviving during the wee hours isn’t as simple as it sounds, largely due to your subpar protective gear. This is particularly challenging for Ranger and Warrior classes, who often find themselves in close combat situations, only to retreat abruptly when things turn sour. However, Stelgaer’s Pride could be a valuable asset in such situations. It’s a medium armor set that offers versatility right from the start, and I’ve been using it (with significant upgrades and employing various skills to enhance medium armor) for more than 40 hours now.

Stelgaer’s Pride, being medium armor, offers moderate protection overall, but its distinctive features make it superior to anything you currently possess. This armor grants a 5% boost in stamina regeneration speed, beneficial for all character types (including gunslingers and mages), but especially crucial if you’re frequently dodging or blocking, as these actions deplete your stamina significantly.

Additionally, Stelgaer’s Pride is equipped with an automatic Barbaric Shout casting ability when you sustain damage exceeding 30% of your maximum health in a single instance. This primarily occurs during boss fights, but the stun effect accompanying Barbaric Shout can be quite handy.

Steel Garrote Gauntles

Find it: In a small nook covered by webs in Ondra’s Reach, just southeast of Paradis

Utilizing a shield initially can be figuratively vital since blocking without one will continue to diminish your health. However, maintaining this protection isn’t sustainable for an extended period; thus, it’s challenging to land multiple hits following a block before needing a break.

The Steel Garrote Gauntlets are crafted for those who prefer shields, enhancing your parry effectiveness by 10% (meaning parries consume less stamina), and providing an extra 20 points of stamina. Employing the traditional sword-and-board approach becomes more enduring and lenient with these gloves, as you may not have numerous attribute points to invest in Resolve.

Last Light of Day

Last Light of Day location: On the Oracle during the Dawntreader quest in Dawnshore

I’m absolutely smitten with this weapon, I even composed an article urging you to acquire the flaming sword. To avoid repeating myself, let me summarize my thoughts here. There’s something incredibly timeless and striking about a flaming sword, and Last Light of Day doesn’t disappoint in terms of its potency. It boasts extra fire damage and a healing effect when it strikes an enemy, though I’ve opted to replace the former enchantment with a significant boost to stun when parrying, which makes it incredibly fun when used with a good shield.

I’ve progressed to the second level of the game, having spent approximately 20 hours playing so far, and it remains one of my primary weapons. Given the abundance of plant-like monsters in this game, many enemies are vulnerable to fire damage, making it useful, and for my warrior-mage character, it simply fits perfectly, you understand?

Not bad for a unique you can get within the first few hours of the game.

Caeroc’s Pride

Find it: Tempestuous Luandi’s bounty in Dawnshore

Over the course of my 45-hour gaming session so far, this lightning-themed sidearm has been a reliable ally. It’s sleek design catches the eye, its handling is superb, and it dished out consistent bonus electrical damage. Moreover, its enchantments have held their own against every ranged weapon I’ve encountered.

A 25% chance to unleash a powerful chain lightning bolt upon every kill. It appears to activate exactly when I need it the most, and there’s something incredibly gratifying about seeing it bounce between enemies.

The Disappointer

The Disapointer location: The shady merchant in the northwest corner of the Paradis Hightown.

As a fan, I can’t help but reminisce about my casual weapon choice with Caeroc. If only I’d disregarded its dismissive item description and snapped it up the moment I stumbled upon it, rather than returning later for a trial run. The Disappointer, a revamped jest from the original Pillars of Eternity, had once required some acrobatics to make the earlier version worthy. However, in Avowed, the refined enchantment system allows you to swiftly transform this flintlock into a potential champion right off the bat.

Initially, The Disappointer deals 10% less damage yet increases bleed damage by 10%. This equates to being on par with a standard pistol. However, upon upgrading, it gains an area-of-effect debuff that reduces enemy damage, which didn’t particularly excite me. But its other upgrade transforms the -10% damage into +10%, resulting in a significant 20% increase compared to a regular handgun. So, it turns out that The Disappointer isn’t as disappointing as its name suggests, right?

2025-02-19 20:21