Owlcat Games released Wrath of the Righteous on 2 September 2021, built on the Pathfinder first edition tabletop rules and the adventure path of the same name. Character creation offers 25 classes, 12 races and more than a thousand spells, feats and abilities, and combat switches between turn based and real time with pause at any moment. Above all of that sit the Mythic Paths and a crusade layer where you command the Fifth Crusade against the Worldwound.
Starting Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition is a rpg game built around Mythic Paths and Crusade army management. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paladin | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Slayer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Sorcerer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Cleric | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Magus | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Slayer. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Magus as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Mythic Paths
You gain mythic power at the end of Chapter 1 and commit to a path early in Chapter 2. Ten exist: Angel, Demon, Lich, Trickster, Aeon, Azata, Gold Dragon, Swarm That Walks, Devil and Legend, with the last few branching off later choices rather than appearing at the first fork.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Mythic Paths works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Kenabres
The crusader city where the campaign opens and which is destroyed by a demon assault during the Armasse festival within the first ten minutes. Chapter 1 plays out in its ruins and the caverns beneath them.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Finnean the Talking Weapon: it's the most accessible early upgrade. A sentient weapon that reshapes itself into whatever weapon type you ask for, and comments on the choice. In practice it is a free proficiency solution while you wait for real loot to appear.
Step 4: Understand Crusade army management
From Chapter 3 you run the Fifth Crusade out of Drezen, recruiting units, building forts and fighting army battles on a strategic map. The difficulty settings include an option that resolves those battles automatically if the layer does not appeal.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Gray Garrison
The demon held fortress that closes Chapter 1. Clearing it is what turns a survivor of a city collapse into a mythic commander with an army to run.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Mythic Paths
You gain mythic power at the end of Chapter 1 and commit to a path early in Chapter 2. Ten exist: Angel, Demon, Lich, Trickster, Aeon, Azata, Gold Dragon, Swarm That Walks, Devil and Legend, with the last few branching off later choices rather than appearing at the first fork.
Crusade army management
From Chapter 3 you run the Fifth Crusade out of Drezen, recruiting units, building forts and fighting army battles on a strategic map. The difficulty settings include an option that resolves those battles automatically if the layer does not appeal.
Turn based or real time with pause
Both modes are live and you can switch mid encounter. Turn based makes attacks of opportunity, initiative and buff durations readable, while real time clears easy fights in seconds.
Pathfinder first edition rules
Armour class, attack bonus, saving throws, spell resistance and roughly a thousand feats and spells all come straight from the tabletop system. The combat log prints every roll, so a fight you lost can be read back to find the exact number that failed.
Six chapters from Kenabres to the Worldwound
The campaign runs The Worldwound Incursion, Sword of Valor, Demon's Heresy, The Midnight Isles, Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth and City of Locusts. Drezen becomes your permanent base from Chapter 3 onward.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Playing the whole campaign in real time because it is faster
Pathfinder's rules are built on discrete turns, and boss fights are dramatically more winnable in turn based mode.
2. Dumping Constitution on a caster
Demons hit hard enough that a wizard with 10 Constitution dies to a single attack of opportunity that a tabletop group would have shrugged off.
3. Picking Lich or Demon without reading the consequences
Both paths permanently remove good aligned companions and close several endings.
4. Ignoring the crusade layer completely
Losing army battles costs resources and forts, and the auto resolve setting exists precisely so you do not have to play it by hand.
5. Never respeccing anyone
Default companion builds are intentionally suboptimal, and the trainer in Drezen exists to fix exactly that.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Mythic Paths and Crusade army management
- Choose Slayer as starting build
- Clear Kenabres main content
- Acquire Finnean the Talking Weapon or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Gray Garrison
- Switch to turn based mode for any fight that killed you in real time. The same encounter becomes readable once you can see initiative, attacks of opportunity and buff durations, and you can switch back afterwards.
- The combat log names every roll. When a boss shrugs off your spells, the log will show spell resistance or a successful saving throw, which tells you whether to buy a caster level item or change spell school.
Tips for New Players
- Switch to turn based mode for any fight that killed you in real time. The same encounter becomes readable once you can see initiative, attacks of opportunity and buff durations, and you can switch back afterwards.
- The combat log names every roll. When a boss shrugs off your spells, the log will show spell resistance or a successful saving throw, which tells you whether to buy a caster level item or change spell school.
- Choose your Mythic Path deliberately at the Chapter 2 fork. Angel, Demon, Lich, Trickster, Aeon and Azata are the ones offered there, while Gold Dragon, Swarm That Walks, Devil and Legend branch off later from specific paths and choices.
- Legend is the odd path out. Taken at Mythic Rank 8, it strips your mythic abilities in exchange for continued class progression past level 20, which suits a pure martial character and wrecks a mythic caster.
- Buff before you open the door. Long duration spells cast in camp cost a slot each and save entire encounters, and the game lets you queue them from the spellbook rather than clicking each one during initiative.
- Set crusade battles to auto resolve in the difficulty menu if the army layer is not why you bought the game. Doing so does not lock you out of any story content.
- Camping supplies are a real resource. Buy rations in Drezen before every expedition, and assign your highest Perception character to the watch so ambushes do not open with a free round for the enemy.
- Lann and Wenduag are effectively exclusive. Choosing one closes the other's companion arc, which is the single most common surprise in a first playthrough.
- Difficulty is a set of sliders, not one setting. You can keep enemy statistics at normal while disabling party friendly fire and enabling an additional saving throw, which is how most people run their first campaign.
- Companions are deliberately built badly to match their characters. Respeccing Camellia, Woljif or Nenio at the trainer in Drezen costs gold and turns three awkward sheets into functional party members.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many classes are there?
25 base classes, each with several archetypes, plus prestige classes and more than a thousand spells, feats and abilities. Paladin, Slayer, Sorcerer, Cleric and Magus are five common starting picks, but they are a small slice of the options.
What are the Mythic Paths?
Ten of them: Angel, Demon, Lich, Trickster, Aeon, Azata, Gold Dragon, Swarm That Walks, Devil and Legend. Six are offered at the Chapter 2 fork and the rest open later, with Swarm That Walks growing out of Lich and Devil out of Aeon.
Do I have to play the crusade minigame?
No. The difficulty settings include an option that resolves army battles automatically, so you can keep the campaign and skip the strategic layer entirely.
Is it turn based or real time?
Both, and you can switch mid combat. Turn based makes the Pathfinder rules legible, real time clears trash encounters quickly, and most players end up using each for different fights.
What did the Enhanced Edition add?
It landed on 29 September 2022 as a free update for existing PC owners alongside the console release, bundling bug fixes, balance work, quality of life changes and extra content on top of the September 2021 original.
More Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Guides
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Overview
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Best Builds
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Tier List
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Walkthrough
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Tips & Tricks
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Weapons Guide
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Combat Guide
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Boss Guide
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Maps & Locations
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Crafting Guide
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition Classes & Characters
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