Avowed: Giatta's Companion Skills and Combat Role Explained

Support characters can be incredibly important to a well-balanced party when designed well, and that is exactly the role Giatta from Avowed seeks to fill in Obsidian’s newest RPG set in the world of Pillars of Eternity. That said, not all support-type characters are created equally, which raises the question: does Giatta have what it takes to stand among the best?

The Best War Games spoke with Avowed lead area designer James Agay, who explained how Giatta works in the game’s combat and how she can influence the environment around the Envoy on their behalf.

Supporting Avowed’s Party

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Narratively speaking, Giatta is a scientist, an animancer to be precise. Animancy is the study and understanding of souls, which fits very nicely with the role of healer and support caster. In this case, it comes with more math than mysticism. That’s not totally untrodden territory for fantasy healers, however, and it means that she can help interact with objects as a mage if the player’s Envoy doesn’t take that path, explained Agay.

"Giatta is an animator. Her primary combat role is support. She can heal the party, shield them with magical barriers, buff their speed, and do some passive healing along with her damage output. This really makes her crazy powerful, but at the cost of less total damage out from the group. Giatta can also cast a Spectral Jolt to activate Essence Generators around the world, which is handy if the player hasn’t pursued their own magic in that direction."

It comes as little surprise to avid players of roleplaying games that healing can be critical to a party’s success. Some games have tried to give every character a means of healing to avoid the need for a dedicated healer figure, but the role–in this case with the capacity of acting as a support and providing out-of-combat utility in exploration–has the potential to make or break a team composition in nearly any game, even if a well-designed party can sometimes make do without one.

As a healer, Giatta fits into any composition of Avowed's companions. Kai can tank, Marius covers ranged, rogue-ish, and nature-like combat abilities, and Yatzli is the magic-based glass cannon. Regardless of how players build their Envoy, Giatta can fit in by keeping Kai, Marius, Yatzli, or the Envoy up and fighting even longer.

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