In the Early minutes of Avowed‘s main quest the Envoy finds themselves victim of a tragic assassination. After solving their own murder mystery, you’ll learn the identity of your killer; Ygwulf. Upon meeting him, you can choose mercy or vengeance. Here’s if you should Kill Ygwulf in Avowed.
After doing some clever detective work with Kai and Marius in Paradis, you’ll discover the identity of your assassin in the Untimely End main quest. This assassin is Ygwulf. He is a member of the Paradisan Rebels, a faction that resists Aedyr’s presence in the area at all costs. As the Envoy of the emperor himself, the player character is a top target.
Eventually, you will track down Ygwulf and his people to find their hideout underground. You’ll need to clear the area of many enemies and complete some platforming to get to Ygwulf, so be sure to bring lots of Health Potions and the best gear you can get.
As you move through this dungeon, you can find some documents revealing Ygwulf’s true intentions, and his remorse. While Ygwulf initially believed the Gods needed him to kill the Envoy, his misguided visions are revealed to himself. He begins to feel remorse. Even if you don’t find these documents, he’ll tell you all this in person when you confront him at the end of the quest. As a result, Ygwulf is apologetic, but is also willing to receive justice for his actions.
To put it bluntly, having Ygwulf turn himself into the Inquisitor of the Steel Garrote is the worst option, and you’d be better off killing him yourself. If you instruct him to turn himself in, Ygwulf will end up facing the brutal Inquisitor Lödwyn’s wrath, which is implied to be a painful death. However, doing this won’t grant you as good of rewards as he’ll give you for sparing him, or the loot he drops upon dying at the Envoy’s hand.
If you choose to spare Ygwulf outright, he will give you 625 Copper Skeyt and a bit of Adra to reward your mercy. While it’s certainly not a life changing amount of resources, it can help. Unfortunately, even if you do spare Ygwulf, his fate his sealed and he will later be killed off in the story.
Since his fate will always result in death, having the Envoy choose the Attack option in dialogue is ultimately the best option. This results in a boss fight, which is solid practice for encounters later in Avowed. In addition, killing Ygwulf awards the best loot of the three options.
Upon defeating Ygwulf, you’ll be able to loot his body for currency, Adra, as well as his set of Unique armor; Blackwing. Aside from simply looking cool, the Blackwing armor also has some incredibly helpful stealth benefits. This armor set gives players a +30% Damage boost when attacking from stealth, as well as a 25% Movement Speed buff when crouching to help you sneak around enemies.
Even though Ygwulf is encountered in the very early game. His fate does have a very slight impact on the ending of Avowed. After completing the final gameplay section (which we won’t spoil here) you’ll be treated to art and narration showcasing the impact your decisions had on the world of Eora across the Living Lands.
No matter how much you work to unify the Living Lands and bring them peace, Ygwulf’s death will always occur, radicalize the Paradisan Rebellion, and ensure they remain a violent resistance to your efforts after the credits roll.
