Tell them to go to Strand with an escort and Eirik will ask to go with them.

Allow Eirik to return to Strand when given the chance - You will find some villagers hiding in a hatch.

When given the option, choose to save the Dredge baby (TBS 1).

There are also specific choices you need to make during your runs to ensure the best outcomes in Banner Saga 3.

Rook/Alette, Gunnulf, Ludin, Hakon, Mogr, Aleo, Egil, Griss, Yrsa, Hogun, Mogun, Nid, Tryggvi, Oddleif, Ro'Ech, Scathach, Derdrui, Canary, Fasolt, Petrus, Gudmundr, Eirik, Zefr, Iver, Bersi, Krumr, Sigbjorn, Folka, Oli, Sparr, Bak, Dytch, Eyvind and Juno From what I have been able to find the characters you MUST have when you start TBS3 are. It is also a little disappointing that all the women characters with the exception of Juno are archers.The reason you want to play through both games again is because one achievement in particular requires you end the game with all possible characters still alive. It’s a bit of a shame that we never get to see any female Varl. The Banner Saga impresses with its nuanced characters overall and with several really cool women in particular. In a twist the main antagonist of the game is revealed to be female and out for revenge after the murder of her child. One of the greatest heroes of the Varl is revealed to have attacked the Dredge leader known as Bellower while she was giving birth.

Yrsa is treacherous and if the player tries to trust her he or she will be punished for it…Īs the player progresses through the story it becomes clear that the Dredge are not the mindless killing machines that they’ve been made out to be. Lubin is portrayed as a spoiled child and it’s clear that Yrsa might very well be the one telling him what to do. She has seen the future and shows Rook what must be done to defeat the Dredge.įinally there’s Yrsa, a witch and right hand of prince Ludin. Halfway through the game the group is joined by Juno one of the most powerful seers in this world. She reasons that realizing this is perhaps what truly makes her a strong woman. However Oddleif declines stating that in this world more people will join their cause if the group is led by a man. Rook would actually prefer Oddleif to lead the caravan and tells her this on more than one occasion. Oddleif and the player have several conversations during the course of the game. She inspires other women in Rooks caravan and teaches them to become expert archers like herself. The chieftain of Skogr married her to bask in her father’s fame, yet she quickly ends up being the person really in charge of the place from behind the scenes. She hints that she was given a mans name because her father a well-known warrior really wanted a son. Oddleif is perhaps the most interesting character in the entire game. It is an interesting choice by the designers and one that I have a hard time faulting the game for. If the player goes against her wishes he or she will lose out on an achievement called “Innocent”. However Alette is very adamant that she doesn’t want to kill people. As such her portrayal is very much based on how the player wants her to evolve as a character. The player can choose to have Rook be an overprotective father or he/she can choose to let Alette grow and become a formidable warrior who in the end saves the day. Their relationship is something the player can very much influence by the choices he or she makes. The game centres around Rook and Alette, a father and a daughter. Those women you see in war are only there because the men who protested are now lying beneath a pile of loose stones and soil, feathered with hand-made arrows.” In fact, it is fair to say they were never accepted. The description of the Archer unit (all archers are female) is quite telling: “Women were not accepted for a long time when it came to joining in battle. The world is one that is least as sexist as our own, yet the desperation of the situation forces old prejudices to be challenged. When the Dredge invade, the humans and varl have to band together and flee their villages in search of a way to combat the oncoming horde. In this world humans live alongside horned giants known as Varl and are forced to fight as a mysterious race of stone creatures known as the Dredge attack their homes. The Banner Saga is a story based turn-based tactical game set in a fantasy world very much inspired by Norse mythology. (Note: this analysis contains major plot spoilers) But first a little bit about the game in general… I want to address the way this game portrays women. Bioware veterans and has a wonderful art-style reminicent of classic Disney films, but that’s not why I want to write about this particular game. The Banner Saga was one of the first major Kickstarter successes a few years back.

The banner saga characters