Spoilers for Ancient Soil and Shadows of the Past. In Avowed, accept Sapadal’s offer in Ancient Soil if you want the Thorn of Sapadal active ability; reject it if you prefer Godlike’s Will, which gives you a bonus ability point for the Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard trees. The later offer in Shadows of the Past also changes your reward based on your story route, and that choice plays a part in the ending.
Ancient Soil: choose between an attack and an ability point
During Ancient Soil in Emerald Stair, Sapadal offers power to help you fight the Dreamscourge. Accepting grants Thorn of Sapadal, an active attack that fires a piercing blast through targets. Rejecting grants Godlike’s Will, a bonus ability point you can spend in the Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard trees. PC Gamer’s guide describes Thorn as useful when enemies line up, though that build assessment is the guide author’s judgment.
- Accept if you want an additional active attack that can hit enemies in a line.
- Reject if a flexible class-tree point is more valuable to your build than another active ability.
Prepare for the Emerald Stair event before advancing
PC Gamer warns that completing this step immediately triggers an important event based on your Emerald Stair exploration. If you want to pursue the favorable regional outcome, resolve the Steel Garrote situation first. The guide lists two ways to do so:
- Clear the Steel Garrote camp in the cave behind the waterfall at River Fork Beacon.
- Complete the Steel Resolve quest from the Ranger Headquarters.
Make that choice before moving the quest forward if the regional outcome matters to you. PC Gamer’s Ancient Soil guide provides this preparation warning.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems#1 Best Overall
- PERSONA ENGINE FRANCHISE — Shape a reactive and evolving NFL league where every athlete has a unique personality influencing motivations, demands, and franchise outcomes.
- AUTHENTIC NFL PHYSICALITY — Experience realistic WR versus DB battles, improved coverage systems, new short yardage mechanics, and greater control in critical game moments.
- SUPERSTAR GOAT JOURNEY — Progress from high school to the Hall of Fame with deeper skill trees, new playable positions, meaningful choices, and long term career progression.
- STRATEGIC GAMEPLANNING — Take command with new gameplan adjustments, streamlined pre play controls, smarter receiver logic, and advanced defensive systems.
- ULTIMATE TEAM CUSTOMIZATION — Build your dream roster with revamped upgrade systems, player progression options, Ultimate Team Captains, and new ways to customize your squad.
Shadows of the Past: the reward depends on your route
In the later Shadows of the Past quest in Shatterscarp, accepting Sapadal’s power leads to a different ability depending on whether you side with Ryngrim or Lodwyn. Rejecting the offer again grants Godlike’s Will. The guide also says this later choice plays a part in the ending, so weigh the narrative route alongside the combat effect.
| Choice in Shadows of the Past | Ability | Reported effect |
|---|---|---|
| Accept Sapadal’s power and side with Ryngrim | Severed Branch | Raises maximum movement speed for 20 seconds. |
| Accept Sapadal’s power and side with Lodwyn | Scion of the Immortal Land | Boosts damage and grants health regeneration for 12 seconds. |
| Reject Sapadal’s power | Godlike’s Will | Grants a bonus ability point for the Fighter, Ranger, or Wizard trees. |
The durations and effects above are reported by PC Gamer’s guide, published in 2025. The guide characterizes Severed Branch as potentially useful for movement and melee approaches, and Scion as a general damage-and-regeneration boost; those are its evaluations rather than independently verified test results.
Rank #2
- BEST VALUE IN GAMING — Experience next-gen speed and performance in the smallest XBOX ever. The XBOX Series S delivers powerful all-digital gameplay in a sleek, compact design.
- UP TO 120 FPS GAMEPLAY — Enjoy smooth, responsive gaming with frame rates up to 120 FPS, powered by XBOX Velocity Architecture, a custom NVMe SSD, and DirectX Raytracing for a heightened level of realism.
- 1TB CUSTOM SSD AND XBOX VELOCITY ARCHITECTURE — Reduce load times dramatically with the custom 1TB NVMe SSD and XBOX Velocity Architecture, enabling lightning-fast performance and seamless world streaming.
- QUICK RESUME — Seamlessly switch between multiple games and resume exactly where you left off. No more waiting through title screens and loading bars.
- FOUR GENERATIONS OF DIGITAL GAMES — Play thousands of digital games from XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, XBOX 360, and Original XBOX with backward compatibility. Many titles are enhanced for better visuals and performance. Smart Delivery ensures you always get the best version for your console.
How to make the choice for your character
- At the Ancient Soil decision, compare an active piercing attack with a point you can invest in a class tree.
- At the later decision, consider whether movement speed or a damage-and-regeneration effect better suits your combat approach.
- For Shadows of the Past, include the story route in your decision: the guide says this choice affects the ending.
These ability descriptions are based on a PC Gamer guide published February 18, 2025. A Game8 guide result was last updated February 20, 2025, but was not available for direct inspection. No official Obsidian source or current patch notes were retrieved, so check current updates if exact ability behavior is critical.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- COMPLETE FOOTBALL JOURNEY — Experience the full path from high school recruit to college standout and NFL superstar with EA SPORTS College Football 27 and EA SPORTS Madden NFL 27.
- TWO FOOTBALL GAMES ONE BUNDLE — Includes the Standard Editions of EA SPORTS College Football 27 and EA SPORTS Madden NFL 27 in one complete football package.
- BUILD YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL LEGACY — Shape your future through Dynasty Blueprint, develop your athlete in Road to Glory, and experience the traditions and excitement of college football game days.
- CREATE AN NFL DYNASTY — Run your franchise with the all new Persona Engine and guide your organization through an evolving NFL experience shaped by player personalities and league decisions.
- AUTHENTIC FOOTBALL GAMEPLAY — Enjoy refined gameplay with realistic player movement, strategic controls, enhanced coverage systems, and competitive action across both college and professional football.
Rank #4
- This product contains a download code inside the box — no disc is included. Customer shipments will begin arriving November 12 for pre-load; game is playable starting November 19.
- Pre-order to receive the Vintage Vice City Pack.
- Grand Theft Auto VI is a single-player experience.
Rank #3
- FASTEST, MOST POWERFUL XBOX — Experience next-generation performance with 12 teraflops of processing power, delivering smoother gameplay, richer worlds, and faster responsiveness than any previous XBOX.
- TRUE 4K GAMING UP TO 120 FPS — Enjoy breathtaking visuals with true 4K resolution, HDR, and frame rates up to 120 FPS, plus hardware-accelerated ray tracing for a heightened level of realism.
- 1TB CUSTOM SSD AND XBOX VELOCITY ARCHITECTURE — Reduce load times dramatically with the custom 1TB NVMe SSD and XBOX Velocity Architecture, enabling lightning-fast performance and seamless world streaming.
- QUICK RESUME — Seamlessly switch between multiple games and resume exactly where you left off. No more waiting through title screens and loading bars.
- FOUR GENERATIONS OF GAMES — Play thousands of games from XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, XBOX 360, and Original XBOX, with many titles enhanced for better visuals and performance on XBOX Series X.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
