Shame, but no biggy. With Julia, Angie and the Doc, I am more than satisfied with my options.
Not sure I’d have even romanced Mia if there was the option.
Edit: Regarding the ending. Can you only end the game with one member of the Rangers not feeling betrayed after I’m outed? Seemed like Dr Mortun was considering busting me out, but Angie was the one that committed to it. Everyone else feels betrayed after I’m revealed to be the villain.
If your relationship with the doc is good enough then they will always bust you out if none of the rangers do it, if one of the rangers do bust you out then there is always dialogue from the Doc about how they think about busting you out etc or if you were never revealed as a villain, the doc monologues about trying to stop thinking of you if you revealed your identity. or they just don’t know where you are and busy themselves with work…
Can’t exactly remember bc it’s been a bit since I’ve played it
Their relationship title still does not change even if they break you out. As in if Ortega breaks you out it’s still broken trust. So my guess is for how they are feeling if they don’t break you out is likely going to involve more then one stat being check. Which is the case in the nobody breaks you out path in the book 3 demo
Is Ortega hypocritical?
-Berating step for keeping these secrets for so long while also keeping their presumed assumptions of them for 7 years
-Admiting over and over they care for them while also grilling them for information against Hollow Ground
-Condemning Step for breaking the law while being very willing to do so themselves
His excuse is that he was afraid Sidestep would run away… Yeh, maybe he did feel that way. He made a mistake but I’m trying to understand him.
What annoys me more is that after discovering that MC was alive, he had no intention of bringing up the topic himself, but returned to his old habit of dancing around it, dropping hints in the hope that MC will start confessing. This didn’t work years ago, maybe it’s time to change tactics, hmm? 
To be fair about that one they only done so after Step comes back and mostly because they think HG might be responsible for their long disappearece especially if you told them the quarter truth in Rebirth or they suspected you of being the villain (Malin’s words not just mine)
Sure, but hypocrisy is such common human behavior am not sure if that charge has any shock value.
Yeah, but keep in mind the theory Ortega had was that you were related to Hollow Ground. And that mean you were on the run, hiding within the rangers ranks. Therefor, it wasn’t something you can go yell over roof top. They kept their presumed assumptions, because they believed that it was Sidestep secret and if they wanted to confess and share…well…it was up to them.
because they are obsessed. And because the MC is a Telepath. This is funny when you think about it, because the MC does the same thing to Ortega because they are the only one they can’t read their minds.
They do say ‘Old Habit die hard’ right? Ortega is still bound by the law and still has a job, so it is expected. Just because of everything that is between them, that doesn’t give the mc a free pass from the Super Heroes telling you ‘Don’t burn a red Light! Dude…I’m sitting right here with you!!’ 
I would say no. Because the MC does the same.
It’s normal human nature really. Everything you mentioned, when put in the context of the story and the world, their behaviors, everything? It makes sense.
What motivation + scar + villain career do you guys think is the most compelling, most interesting, or most fun? I’ve been having a problem where I start a new playthrough with a different sidestep in mind, get doubts on whether or not it will be interesting enough, and then start over and just do the route I always do!
I am looking for some new stuff!
Yes. Very much so. It’s part of what’s so fascinating about them.
I haven’t played through all of them, but so far my favorite combo that I’ve done is anger as Step’s motivation, puppetmaster for scar, and mob boss for career. Imo it makes sense that Step’s sick of being pushed around and manipulated, so he leans into the puppetmaster scar and manipulates others instead. Which I think fits well with the mob boss path, since you literally get people do to your dirty work for you.
That’s one I’ve been thinking about doing for a while now! I really like the puppetmaster scar and I have never done the Mob Boss career before.
I also want to do a run with the “fate” motivation since it’s just so eerie, but I cannot think of an angle for it. Which career and scar best fits?
If you’re thinking of fate as the motivation, maybe go for the friendless or outside scar and then be a hero hunter (not the kind that trains the heroes, though). I haven’t played that combo yet, but I can imagine a Sidestep who believes no one can ever truly care about them or who doesn’t think they’re a “real person” feeling like being on a collision course with the Rangers is inevitable. Actually, I might play that route now myself.
As for other possible combos, I think the hunger scar, life motivation, and being an art thief is pretty self explanatory and consistent. So is the outsider scar combined with the justice motivation and being an anarchist.
There’s probably some more creative combinations that other people have come up with that I haven’t even considered, though.
I enjoyed truth motivation + puppetmaster scar + anarchist career. I wanted to have characters all over morality spectrum, and this Sidestep was meant to be right at the middle. This Step is very logical, pragmatic and goal-oriented, their whole purpose is exposing the truth, and they use any methods available to achieve this goal, including killing people. Puppetmaster scar motivates Sidestep to treat people like chess pieces, which is beneficial when dealing with politics.
Another fun playthrough I did was anger motivation + revenge scar + hero trainer career. This Step was very physical and enjoyed a good fight, but they had anger issues because of all the crap that they had to go through. They didn’t want to hurt innocent people, but they needed to somehow express their pent-up anger, so they decided to channel these destructive emotions into something good: training heroes to become better. You can also make them a hero killer instead, if they failed to contain their anger and decided to unleash it on heroes, which will probably be fun too.
I gave “it’s inevitable” motivation to my “good guy” Sidestep, who doesn’t want to be a villain, but feels like they have no power to stop it from happening. Becoming a villain is inevitable because other means to survive lead to the same results (being found and captured), but since being a villain doesn’t feel right for them, they’re also suicidal (changed to outsider scar in Retribution, which also plays into the idea of not fitting into a role). This Sidestep was a tech thief (steals from villains) in my playthrough.
heh, we have the same goody two shoes it seem 
I mix it with ‘Put a gun in their mouth’ , and take the ‘Anathema’ name…
Also, just heads up but this MC is dirt poor like hell and their vice is alcohol…
When you can’t stand reality? Blurr it with alcohol… 
you picked the store? Lol
Oh wow you people gave some really great responses…
But I feel there were 2 builds that are being somewhat slept on at the moment
The first one is a step with revenge motive, friendless scar and hero-hunter(Not trainer)
This is one of the most consistent and well realised experiences Ive seen in the game, where the desire for retribution, hero exclusivity and step’s feelings of betrayal, distrust and sheer loneliness are given much more focus here.(Fate is decent, but its somewhat flaky and frankly there is just something so much more fitting for it to apply to a mob boss. Anger is close, but its too oriented on punishing everyone in a narrative where step hates heroes specifically).
The second one is a step with the anger motive, hunger scar and thief. I was very surprised by this combination, how the scar feeds itself into the spiteful desires against people who had it all, how there are great narrative examples of step wanting/needing/taking what they are owed, of feeling slighted by the world for thinking you’re just a thief and for metaphorically showing the finger to as many as possible(Heroes, villains, criminal organizations, companies/rich people). Its a very interesting experience, and I really recommend giving it a go.(Life is another great choice given it meshes very well with the scar and career, but honestly it could go either way)
oh, all the paths are Golden. Malin outdid themselves when it came to that. You have plenty of combinations to pick and see what comes out of it.
My Sidestep’s combo is basically a consequence of being a tactician – she’s picked memories of the Farm as the bait for Heartbreak (due to their apparent interest in those), got revenge scar as the result aimed at the Farm, and have determined the way to get there was to blow up the system which enables it, hence anarchist.(who won’t shy away from killing combatants trying to kill her, since she considers being feared a very effective weapon slash deterrent)
I think that an interesting combo is revenge scar, justice motivation and being an anarchist or hero trainer, because i really like the idea of a Sidestep that tries to use their trauma to try and make the heroes/system better and, in a way, take revenge against the world that forced them to be a villain. Also because i find kind of funny imagining this Sidestep making fun of their rival (if it’s one of the Rangers) by being better at doing good that them.
I’ve been having an excellent time with a Step with nearly the same setup as the latter one here! The scar/motivation really feed into each other and constantly motivate the character to go further, do worse, get more while also allowing them to have a very concerning kind of… “My people are my people, and everyone except them can either go to hell or support me” that I think is super fun. (Anger/Hunger/Mob Boss)